Reviewing What is Known of the Mechanisms of Taurine Supplementation Relevant to Aging and Metabolism

Taurine is a semi-essential amino acid. Dietary taurine supplementation has been shown to modestly slow aging in mice, though as for all such interventions there is always the question of whether it will prove to be less useful in humans, and also whether these results in mice will be disproved by the much more rigorous Interventions Testing Program (ITP), once that group gets around to assessing taurine supplementation. Few of the numerous interventions thought to modestly slow aging in mice on the basis of earlier research actually held up once subjected to the ITP degree of experimental rigor. Speculatively, taurine may produce its benefits by affecting levels of the antioxidant glutathione. More research is needed on this topic, but if confirmed it would make taurine supplementation more interesting given the benefits produced in a human trial of supplementation with glutathione precursors. The benefits observed in that trial were large for a supplementation approach, and might improve on exercise - though one has to mention that the trial was small, and that benefits to patients tend to diminish in size as trial populations increase. In today's open access review, researchers discuss what is known of the effects of taurine supplementation on metabolism. As one might imagine, effects are broad and varied, and little to nothing is known of the relative importance any specific effect when it comes to a potential contribution to slowed of aging. This is par for...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Medicine, Biotech, Research Source Type: blogs