Immune
When 15-year-old rhesus monkeys were given a six-month course of taurine – too short to notice a difference in life expectancy – researchers again found improvements in body weight, bone, blood-sugar levels and the immune system.
The researchers were unable to say whether the same results could be achieved in humans, why taurine levels drop with age, or whether there were any health risks to taking taurine as a supplement. To take the equivalent amount used in the research, a human would have to consume 3-6g of taurine each day. Research did show that people with more taurine in their blood were generally in better health. If the data from mice applied to people, it would be the equivalent of an extra seven to eight years of life, they say.
The next step in research would be clinical trials where some subjects are given the nutrient and others a placebo to see if any benefit can be detected.
Other potential anti-aging drugs—including metformin, rapamycin, and NAD analogs—are being considered for testing in clinical trials.
“I think taurine should also be considered,” Dr Yadav says. “And it has some advantages: Taurine is naturally produced in our bodies, it can be obtained naturally in the diet, it has no known toxic effects (although it’s rarely used in concentrations used in this study), and it can be boosted by exercise.
“Taurine abundance goes down with age, so restoring taurine to a youthful level in old age may be a promising anti-aging strategy.”
In conclusion the researchers suggested that a healthy diet and exercise were the more reliable way to improve health and longevity, saying that concentrating on the significance of taurine would risk ‘driving poor nutritional choices.’
