An amino acid called taurine plays a number of vital functions in your body, including promoting healthy nerve and immune system function. Although taurine is mostly produced by your body naturally, supplements can also help you get enough taurine.
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Before our workout the day after high school, my friend and I went at a convenience store to get an energy drink.
My companion was looking through the energy drink coolers when he noticed Red Bull. He pointed me in the direction of the fighting bulls on the can and told me that taurine, a component in Red Bull, was supposedly taken from the semen of bulls.
I was so repulsed and perplexed that I chose to use a rival brand to invigorate my workout that day.
I didn’t realize my friend’s claim wasn’t entirely true until my early college years, when I started to get more interested in nutrition and sports supplement studies.
Red Bull still uses taurine in its mix today. Additionally, taurine is present in a number of energy and pre-workout products. Moreover, your body may create it and certain foods contain it.
Everything you need to know about taurine is included in this article, including its advantages, disadvantages, and whether or not to take taurine supplements.
What is a taurine?
One amino acid that naturally contains sulfur is taurine. It is mostly concentrated in your heart, muscles, brain, and eyes.
Taurine isn’t utilized by your body to make proteins, despite the fact that amino acids are frequently referred to as the building blocks of protein. Rather, it is regarded as a conditionally essential amino acid, which means that it only becomes necessary during stressful or sick situations.
You may be guaranteed that taurine is not taken out of bull pee or semen, as is sometimes believed. Instead, it was initially separated from ox bile in 1827. The name of the amino acid comes from the Latin Bos taurus, which is also the name for an ox.
Certain foods contain taurine, and your body can also manufacture it on its own. Thus, in healthy individuals, taurine insufficiency is unusual.
Nevertheless, since their bodies aren’t able to produce taurine as well as adults can, neonates and babies must rely on breast milk or formula with taurine added.
Taurine’s sources
Meat, shellfish, and dairy products are examples of animal proteins that are good sources of taurine. There is not a significant quantity of taurine in plants.
As a result, those who follow a vegan or vegetarian diet consume lower amounts of taurine. Compared to those who routinely consume animal proteins, they often have lower taurine levels.
It is improbable that taurine shortage exists. This is because taurine is produced by your body in the liver from other amino acids.
You may obtain taurine from some energy drinks in addition to meals. About 750 mg are usually included in each 8-ounce (237-mL) dosage of these.
To put this in perspective, a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet, which consists of both dairy products and eggs, only delivers around 17 mg of taurine per day compared to the 123–178 mg found in a normal American diet.
The taurine used in energy drinks and supplements is often synthetic, meaning it doesn’t come from animals. It is therefore appropriate for anyone following a vegan or vegetarian diet.
Your body’s functions
Taurine has several advantages and is present in many organs.
Taurine’s primary functions in your body are:
keeping your cells’ electrolyte balance and hydration levels optimal
producing bile salts, which are crucial for digesting
controlling the levels of minerals in your cells, including calcium
promoting the overall health of your eyes and central nervous system
controlling the health of the immune system and antioxidant activity
Since taurine is an amino acid that is conditionally necessary, the body of a healthy adult may manufacture the bare minimum needed for these vital everyday activities.
When you’re sick or under stress, though, your body can require more. Individuals suffering from heart or renal disease, as well as preterm newborns fed intravenously, may experience this. Taurine may need to be obtained by these people through food or supplements.
Taurine insufficiency has been linked to chronic liver illness, weakening of the muscles, eye impairment, and an increased chance of developing diabetes in animal studies.
Since human taurine insufficiency is uncommon, little is known about its consequences. However, these disorders have also been linked to low taurine levels.