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Taurine may be a key to longer and healthier life

Jun. 09, 2023.
2 min. read Interactions

Taurine supplementation increased lifespan in mice and monkeys — a promising strategy for humans

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Amara Angelica

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Amara Angelica is Senior Editor of Mindplex

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A deficiency of taurine—a nutrient produced in the body and found in many foods—is a driver of aging in animals. That’s a key finding of a new study led by Columbia University researchers, involving dozens of aging researchers around the world. It was published June 8 in the journal Science.

“This study suggests that taurine could be an elixir of life within us that helps us live longer and healthier lives,” says the study’s leader, Vijay Yadav, PhD, assistant professor of genetics & development at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

In mice and monkeys, supplementing with taurine increased lifespan

Experts found that at age 2 (60 in human years), mice supplemented with taurine for one year were healthier than untreated mice in almost every way.

They saw similar health effects in middle-aged rhesus monkeys, which were given daily taurine supplements for six months. Taurine prevented weight gain, reduced fasting blood glucose and markers of liver damage, increased bone density in the spine and legs, and improved the health of their immune systems.

Promising anti-aging strategy for humans

The researchers don’t know yet if taurine supplements will improve health or increase longevity in humans, but two experiments they conducted suggest taurine has potential. “Taurine abundance goes down with age, so restoring taurine to a youthful level in old age may be a promising anti-aging strategy.”

Other potential anti-aging drugs—including metformin, rapamycin, and NAD analogs—are also being considered for testing in clinical trials.

Foods high in taurine

According to WebMD, turkey (dark meat) has the highest taurine content of any animal meat. Other foods with high taurine include tuna (dark meat), tilapia fish (dark meat), octopus, chicken (dark meat), seaweed, and beef. Sources for this data include the American Heart Association, Harvard Medical School, and Frontiers in Physiology.

Citation: Singh, P., Gollapalli, K., Mangiola, S., Schranner, D., Yusuf, M. A., Chamoli, M., Shi, S. L., Bastos, B. L., Nair, T., Riermeier, A., Vayndorf, E. M., Wu, J. Z., Nilakhe, A., Nguyen, C. Q., Muir, M., Kiflezghi, M. G., Foulger, A., Junker, A., Devine, J., Yadav, V. K. (2023). Taurine deficiency as a driver of aging. Science. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn9257

What are your thoughts on taurine as a key to a longer and healthier life? Other ideas? Please comment below!

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7 Comments

7 thoughts on “Taurine may be a key to longer and healthier life

  1. ama zin ing
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  2. When I was a kid and many energy drinks were gaining traction, I recall people often warning about them along with lines "They include taurine and other ingredients whose long term impact are unknown." Now, after this research was published, Dr Peter Attia published a blog post and tweeted: "A new study set off a media storm over taurine’s potential in delaying aging and extending lifespan. Great news – if you’re a mouse." In the blog he discussed this in more detail and presented some very reasonable arguments. Earlier this month Dr David Sinclair reminded how red wine consumption went up by 30% when they published their research paper about resveratrol's impact on mice health. This despite the fact that corresponding daily resveratrol dose requires 200 glasses of wine. With this background (and even without it) these news about taurine are not exactly bad ones for some beverage brands and maybe reminders for common sense skepticism come in handy. However, it seems to be the case that, for this specific nutrient, the future is turning out brighter than the most pessimistic scenarios used to expect. Sources: https://peterattiamd.com/taurine-deficiency-as-a-driver-of-aging/ https://twitter.com/PeterAttiaMD/status/1672967941455769600 https://twitter.com/davidasinclair/status/1668003156025049088 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature05354
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  3. Fish, fish and always fish, the secret ingredient for a longer life! Thank you Amara!
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  4. The news could have benefited if you had mentioned food sources that contain this elixir.
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    1. Good idea! I just added that. -- Amara
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      1. I didn't think the writer will reply, Mindplex is cool.
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      2. Wow, you are so kind, thank you.
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