L-taurine is a conditionally essential amino acid, so-called because your body needs it to function efficiently, but it usually can produce the substance on its own. In rare instances where individuals are unable to produce the amino acid, the body's needs must be met through dietary sources or supplements. L-taurine appears to offer health benefits for a wide variety of medical conditions. Consult your doctor before self-treating with L-taurine or any other health supplement.
What L-Taurine Does
L-Taurine is responsible for maintaining the integrity of cell membranes, according to "Dr. Atkins' Vita-Nutrient Solution." Unlike most other amino acids, which serve as building blocks of protein, L-taurine focuses on maintaining optimal levels of magnesium and potassium inside cells while also keeping out excess levels of sodium. In performing these particular functions, L-taurine acts much like a diuretic. However, it differs from most prescription diuretics in that it has no negative effect on the kidneys. Atkins says that L-taurine should be the treatment of choice for most conditions in which fluid retention or tissue swelling is an issue. Such conditions include liver disease, ovarian cancer and congestive heart failure, or CHF.
Helps Prevent Seizures
A team of Spanish cellular biology researchers conducted an animal study to evaluate the neuroprotective properties of L-taurine. To create an animal model of human temporal lobe epilepsy, researchers injected laboratory mice with kainic acid, which replicates most of the symptoms of that seizure disorder. Twelve hours before the injection of kainic acid, some of the mice received L-taurine in a variety of treatment modalities. In an article published in the May 2009 issue of the "Journal of Neuroscience Research," researchers reported that the animals pretreated with L-taurine exhibited a reduction in or total absence of seizures, together with little or no cellular or molecular effects that are usually associated with kainic acid treatment.
Treats Hypertension
Two researchers at Texas Tech University's Health Sciences Center undertook a review of the literature covering animal and human studies on the efficacy of oral L-taurine as a treatment for hypertension. In an article in a 2002 issue of "Amino Acids," they reported that multiple animal studies, most using laboratory rats, had shown that L-taurine was effective in lowering the blood pressure of animals exhibiting various forms of hypertension. They also cite a human study in which treatment with daily oral doses of 6 g of L-taurine for as few as seven days produced significant decreases in blood pressure. Although both animal and human studies seemed to credit taurine's hypotensive effects on the amino acid's modulation of overactive sympathetic systems, the researchers said there may be other mechanisms at work, suggesting the need for additional study.
Eases Symptoms of CHF
A team of Iranian researchers conducted a study to determine the effect of L-taurine on the exercise capacity of patients who had been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, or CHF. They assembled a study group of 29 CHF patients with left ventricular ejection fractions of less than 50 percent. Fifteen patients received 500 mg doses of L-taurine three times daily, and the remaining 14 patients got placebo. In reporting their findings in the May 2011 issue of the "Journal of Cardiology," researchers reported that CHF patients taking L-taurine performed at significantly higher levels during exercise than those who got placebo.
References
- "Dr. Atkins' Vita-Nutrient Solution"; Robert C. Atkins; 1999
- "Journal of Neuroscience Research"; Prevention of Epilepsy by Taurine Treatments in Mice Experimental Model; F. Junyent, et al.; May 2009
- "Amino Acids"; Treatment of Hypertension With Oral Taurine: Experimental and Clinical Studies; J.D. Militante, et al.; 2002
- "Journal of Cardiology"; Effect of Taurine Supplementation on Exercise Capacity of Patients With Heart Failure; M.R. Beyranvand, et al.; May 2011
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