Cenegenics, a Las Vegas-based company with offices in many large cities in the United States, specializes in age management. The company claims that its program, which includes dietary supplements and blood testing for nutriitional deficiencies, decreases the effects of aging. Its anti-aging formula includes the amino acid taurine. Cenegenics also stresses exercise and low-glycemic diet. In many cases, Cenegenics also prescribes injectible human growth hormone. Ask your doctor before taking supplements that contain amino acids.
Premise
Taurine is classified as a non-essential amino acid, meaning your body manufactures it and you don't need to obtain it from dietary sources. Your body uses amino acids, normally obtained from foods high in protein, to repair and replace damaged tissue throughout your body. Taurine may act as an anti-oxidant, meaning that it may destroy free radicals, substances that damage cellular DNA. Anti-oxidants may have anti-aging properties. Taurine may have protective effects on the heart, according to the October 2010 "Cenegenics Newsletter."
Taurine Doses
Taurine often finds its way into energy drinks as an energy booster. Body builders and athletes also take taurine supplements as a performance enhancer. Doses of up to 3,000 milligrams per day of taurine are considered safe, according to Mayo Clinic registered dietitian Kathleen Zeratsky. Your body excretes higher doses in the urine. Cenegenics recommends between 500 and 3,000 milligrams per day of taurine in its October 2010 newsletter.
Studies
Other researchers have echoed Cenegenic's claims of potential heart benefits for taurine. Texas Tech University researchers presented evidence supporting the use of taurine supplements to lower lipid levels and decrease the risk of heart disease in a report published in the October 2004 issue of "Nutrition Research." Taurine may also have some benefit in treating congestive heart failure, diabetic cardiomyopathy, hypertension and ischemic heart disease, Canadian researchers say in the summer 2008 issue of "Experimental and Clinical Cardiology."
Risks
Clinical testing has not proven taurine safe for use in pregnancy or while breast-feeding. Taurine may also worsen symptoms of bipolar disorder, although only one case has been reported and it's not clear that taurine was to blame, according to eMedTV. More studies on long-term effects of taurine supplementation are needed, Zeratsky states.
References
- Cenegenics Newsletter: Introduction -- Cardiovascular Health
- Mayo Clinic: Taurine in Energy Drinks
- Nutrition Research: Dietary Taurine Supplementation: Hypolipidemic and Antiatherogenic Effects
- Experimental and Clinical Cardiology: The Potential Health Benefits of Taurine in Cardiovascular Disease
- Cenegenics: The Age Management Experts
- eMedTV: Taurine
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