Magnesium-taurate compounds are referred to as magnesium taurate. Magnesium is a mineral and taurine is an amino acid. Once inside the body, magnesium taurate combines with water and separate into magnesium ions and taurine. Magnesium and taurine both have potential as anti-anxiety agents.
Background
Taurine is an amino acid that helps to maintain fluid balance. It has antioxidant properties and also aids in eye and brain development. Magnesium is a mineral that helps maintain the function of muscles, nerves, the heart and the immune system. It reduces the level of free calcium in the body, influencing blood pressure and heart function. It also supports bone health, energy metabolism and protein synthesis.
Both magnesium and taurine help regulate blood sugar.
Taurine Effects
Taurine may be an anti-anxiety agent in the central nervous system, according to a 2006 study published by Jing Zhang and colleagues in Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior. The researchers administered taurine to rats, then put them in anxiety-producing situations and noticed a decrease in anxious behaviors. Effects may be more limited than traditional anti-anxiety medications, however.
Conflicting Results
In another study published in the Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, taurine was not shown to have an anti-anxiety effect on mice. This 2008 study by Brad K. Whirley and Haim Einat used a different strain of mice that were younger. The study also used a situation that may have been more stressful to the mice than the earlier studies provided.
Magnesium
Magnesium deficiency may cause increases in anxiety-related behavior in mice, according to a 2004 study published by Nicolas Singewald and colleagues in Neuropharmacology. In addition, magnesium can significantly reduce anxiety symptoms when used in combination with anxiolytics, or anti-anxiety medications, according to a 1992 study published by E. Bocková in Ceskoslovenská Psychiatrie.
Synergy
The body uses taurine to transport magnesium ions into and out of cells through the cell membranes. Magnesium mostly works inside cells. Magnesium and taurate can improve heart function, reports James Heffley, Ph.D. in The Austin Chronicle. If you choose to supplement your diet with magnesium and taurine, a synergistic effect may occur by taking them in a combined supplement. Most people can get enough magnesium and taurine from diet alone. Magnesium is found in green vegetables, beans, peas, nuts, seeds and whole grains. Taurine is found naturally in meat and fish.
References
- "Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior;" Effects of Taurine on Rat Behaviors in Three Anxiety Models; Jing Zhang, et al.; February 2006.
- "Life Sciences;" Possible Anxiolytic Effects of Taurine in the Mouse Elevated Plus-maze; Xi Kong, et al.; August 2004.
- "Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences; " Taurine Trials in AnimalModels OfferNo Support for Anxiolytic, Antidepressant or Stimulant Effects; Brad K. Whirley and Haim Einat; 2008.
- "Neuropharmacology"; Magnesium-deficient diet alters depression- and anxiety-related behavior in mice---influence of desipramine and Hypericum perforatum extract ; Nicolas Singewald et al.; Dec. 2004.
- "Ceskoslovenská Psychiatrie;" Potentiation of the effects of anxiolytics with magnesium salts; E. Bocková et al.; Aug. 1992.
