Health Benefits of Taurine

A few years ago, I got to noticing this ingredient popping up in a lot of energy drinks. I knew that Taurine was an amino acid but was curious as to why it would be listed on energy drinks. In less words, I was wondering what the whole "Taurine Craze" was about. However, I'm not a fan of energy drinks for many reasons, with one being that most of the people who I see drink them, are usually the ones who are tired and lazy half the time - but that has nothing to do with the amino acid I'm talking about in this post, since most of those type of drinks that claim to have ginseng and other special ingredients, often only have trace amounts and just rely on the sugar and caffeine to give them their "kick" or energy boost. Anyway, that's beside the point... 

---The Health Benefits of Taurine:

 

Taurine is a "free" type of amino acid, as it is not a structural protein, and it roams freely throughout the blood and tissues. In the human body, the highest concentration of this amino acid is found in the eyes and heart. 

Taurine plays an important role in brain, eye, and heart health, among many other facets of human health and increased well-being. 

Taurine is thought to strengthen your heart muscle and to lower blood pressure, in addition to having many other cardiovascular benefits. 

Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid, and it increases and/or helps with liver function, increases bile production which aids in fat digestion and the removal of toxins, and lowers cholesterol via the bile release. Taurine is also known to help detoxify the body, which this would also parallel with the enhanced liver function, obviously. 

Taurine has antioxidant properties and can have anti-inflammatory effects. It has been used to help treat alcoholism, chronic fatigue, anxiety, depression, and several other psychological ailments. 

Taurine has shown to have benefits for people who have Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes. 

I have read that Taurine helps reduce the amount of lactic acid in the body and, if true, this would be great for the ones who have a lot of physical exertion, workout regularly, etc. 

---What are some natural sources of Taurine? 

Taurine is found in abundance within certain exotic types of seafood. It is also found in a variety of meats, fish and other common seafood, eggs, and milk. Basically, if you're a strict vegetarian who refuses to eat meat and you would still like to take advantage of the health benefits of taurine, you will have to take pill supplements, protein powders, or start downing energy drinks that contain this amino acid albeit those types of drinks usually have a lot of unhealthy sugar, etc. The body does make a fair amount of taurine, but the major source of this particular amino acid still comes from your diet. So, whether you eat a lot of meat or not, you may still want to purchase this beneficial amino acid in supplement form... 

Click the Image Below (Affiliate Link), to Browse through a large selection of Taurine:

Related Blog Post Links: Health Benefits of Vinegar and the Health Benefits of Lycopene. 

---End of Post