Taurine: From Energy Drinks to Cardiovascular Powerhouse?

In today’s episode of Daily Value, we explore new research that affirms taurine's heart benefits, focusing on its effects on heart rate, blood pressure, and heart function in healthy and conditioned populations. Taurine is thought to be the most abundant amino acid in the heart, accounting for approximately 50% of the total free amino acids in this organ. As such, it’s no surprise that taurine plays a critical role in cardiovascular physiology. To some taurine may be associated with energy drinks, but it is now [and becoming more] recognized for its role in improving heart function and improving cardiovascular health.

Episode Talking Points:

• Mechanisms through which taurine promotes cardiovascular health: calcium regulation, nitric oxide production, and influencing effects on the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system.
• Findings from a recent meta-analysis affirming the heart benefits of taurine (PMID: 39148075).
• Dosing strategies: how daily taurine supplementation, at specific amounts, can help improve certain cardiovascular markers.

Tune in to see if taurine supplementation makes sense for your heart.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Hello everyone, welcome to Daily Value. I'm William Wallace, and today we're going to be looking at some pretty major benefits of what is considered a non-essential amino acid. Although, as more data continues to accumulate on the usefulness of this amino acid, it would seem that its intake could be essential to yield some of these health benefits for both healthy populations and non-healthy populations with heart conditions or at risk for cardiovascular diseases. That amino acid is taurine. While taurine is often associated with its inclusion in energy drinks or pre-workout supplements, its health implications, especially for the heart, extend far beyond what most people typically know. Today, we're going to look at exactly how taurine works in the body to promote and even improve cardiovascular markers and heart health. We're then going to be looking at a recent high quality meta-analysis that affirms the cardiovascular and heart health benefits of taurine in both healthy and non-healthy populations. And lastly, of course, we will look at taurine dosing strategies that have yielded some of these benefits. Before we get into it, remember this podcast is for educational purposes only and should not replace professional medical advice or substitute for standard medical practice. Cardiovascular disease consists of a group of conditions that include hypertension, cardiomyopathy, heart failure, arrhythmia and atherosclerosis. Collectively, this set of conditions is the leading cause of global mortality, accounting for approximately 32% of deaths worldwide. As such, there is a lot of worldwide interest in strategies that can be combined with typical medical care or things that can be used as part of preventative measures. These include things like regular exercise, maintaining a healthy body weight, good sleep and even supplementation with unique compounds. Now enter taurine. Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid that is considered non-essential because the human body can synthesize some of it, but dietary intake is essential to maintain optimal levels of it, as we'll see in a bit here. Providing even more taurine through the diet or supplementation than what is needed for baseline function can yield benefits beyond these baseline functions.

Speaker 1: 2:18

Taurine is found in high concentrations in the heart, brain and skeletal muscle. In fact, it's one of the most abundant amino acids in those three organs. For instance, it's thought to be the second most abundant amino acid in skeletal muscle, next to glutamine, and is thought to be the most abundant amino acid in the heart, accounting for approximately 50% of the total free amino acids in the heart. As such, it's no surprise that taurine plays a critical role in cardiovascular physiology. Clinical trials have shown its potential to reduce blood pressure, improve left ventricular function of the heart and enhance exercise capacity in healthy and non-healthy individuals. There are now numerous studies supporting the potential cardioprotective effects of taurine. In fact, taurine was approved as a drug for the treatment of heart failure patients in Japan back in 1985.

Speaker 1: 3:07

So what roles does taurine play in cardiovascular health and why does supplying it in sufficient quantities seem to be so beneficial? Well, there are several unique mechanisms at play. Firstly, taurine plays a major role in calcium regulation, both in skeletal muscle and the heart regulation. Both in skeletal muscle and the heart, taurine influences what is called the phosphorylation state of proteins involved in a process known as excitation-contraction coupling. This process links electrical signals to muscle contraction when calcium is released from the sarcoplasmic reticulum of cardiac and skeletal muscle cells. That process is essential for initiating muscle contraction. Taurine administration causes a rise in a protein called calsequestrin-1, which binds to large amounts of calcium ions, allowing for the sarcoplasmic reticulum to maintain a high concentration of calcium without causing excess stress. This results in a higher availability of calcium for muscle contraction. Taurine also has ionotropic effects here, by possibly increasing the sensitivity of cardiac and skeletal muscle cells to calcium. The result of that is an enhanced muscle contraction. So taurine plays a role in how strong muscles contract and their endurance capacity in contracting with adequate strength, which obviously influences the heart's pumping ability, but also skeletal muscle contraction ability. The calcium-sensitizing effects of taurine on muscle tissue have also been shown in human performance research, where doses of over one gram of taurine have been able to improve running performance. A single three gram dose of taurine with six milligrams per kg of caffeine has also been shown to improve peak and average power values in elite male boxers compared to a group using that amount of caffeine by itself. But I digress here with the human performance research. Another mechanism through which taurine promotes vascular function is through its ability to increase nitric oxide availability.

Speaker 1: 5:03

Now, more interesting, taurine shows anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting what is known as the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system. This hormone system helps control blood pressure, fluid balance and salt levels in the body. It begins when the kidneys release renin in response to low blood pressure or low sodium levels. Renin converts angiotensinogen, a protein from the liver, into angiotensin 1, which is then turned into angiotensin 2 by angiotensin converting enzyme, which is then turned into angiotensin 2 by angiotensin converting enzyme. Angiotensin 2 constricts blood vessels, which raises blood pressure and triggers the release of aldosterone from the adrenal glands. Aldosterone signals the kidneys to retain sodium and water, which increases blood pressure. This system is overactive in people with kidney disease, liver disease and people with heart failure. Also, people who have conditions of chronic hypertension. Taurine both suppresses the release of renin at the beginning of this system and also inhibits angiotensin-converting enzyme, preventing angiotensin I from converting into angiotensin II, 1 from converting into angiotensin 2.

Speaker 1: 6:18

Now, despite numerous studies demonstrating the health benefits of taurine, there have been inconsistencies at times which have made it difficult to determine if indeed taking additional taurine through something like supplementation can be helpful for healthy people and people at risk for different cardiovascular diseases. According to a very recent systematic review and meta-analysis published in BMC Nutrition Journal, which pulled data from 20 randomized control trials and over 800 participants, turing's supplementation does, in fact, significantly improve key markers of cardiovascular health, including heart rate, blood pressure and left ventricular ejection fraction. Left ventricular ejection fraction is a measurement of how much blood the left ventricle, that's the heart's main pumping chamber, pumps out with each heartbeat. It's expressed as a percentage, so a normal percentage is somewhere between 50 and 70 percent. A lower percentage can indicate heart failure, where the heart isn't pumping very efficiently. The specifics of this study's results were as follows.

Speaker 1: 7:22

Turing supplementation reduced heart rate significantly in healthy people and people with heart failure. On average, participants experienced a reduction of 3.5 beats per minute compared to placebo groups. That might not seem like a very big difference, but when it comes to cardiovascular health, even small changes can have a significant impact, especially for people with compromised heart function. Although clinically meaningful in this case would be closer to 10 to 15 beats per minute, in this case would be closer to 10 to 15 beats per minute. A reduced heart rate here was directly related to improvements seen in left ventricular ejection fraction. The meta-analysis showed that Turing was able to increase left ventricular ejection fraction by 5%, with the effects being most notable in heart failure patients. This 5% increase is considered clinically meaningful and not just statistically significant.

Speaker 1: 8:16

As for blood pressure, taurine supplementation decreased systolic blood pressure by 4 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 1.4 mmHg. Interestingly, the drop in systolic blood pressure by taurine supplementation was most notable in healthy people, and although this isn't a massive decrease in blood pressure, you do have to consider how things would start looking if other health-promoting behaviors started to be stacked on top of taurine supplementation. Obviously, taurine by itself is not going to be entirely curative or preventative on its own, but these findings are very noteworthy. So now we've come to it.

Speaker 1: 8:54

What's the optimal dosage of taurine? Well, I can't speak to optimal, but the studies included in the meta-analysis range from one to six grams of taurine per day. The most often doses used were 1.5, three or six grams per day, usually for weeks or months at a time. All doses were found to be safe and well-tolerated. As taurine has a very strong safety profile, many companies selling taurine in supplement format recommend doses between 1 and 3 grams daily, 3 grams being the average dose used in the meta-analysis. The FDA classifies taurine as generally recognized as safe, which we also call GRAS, making it a low-risk option to administer in those dosing ranges for those looking to support cardiovascular health.

Speaker 1: 9:39

So who benefits the most from taurine supplementation? It turns out that taurine benefits a wide range of people. The data suggests that the vasodilatory properties of taurine are effective across a broad range of people, from healthy individuals looking to support overall cardiovascular health to individuals at risk for cardiovascular complications. If you're considering taurine supplementation to support your heart health, a daily dose of three grams could be beneficial. However, it's always a good idea to consult with your doctor, especially if you're taking medications or if you have pre-existing conditions like the ones mentioned in this episode. Taurine is more than just an ingredient in energy drinks. It's a potent amino acid with real cardiovascular benefits, as shown by this comprehensive meta-analysis that we just talked about, as well as numerous other randomized trials not mentioned in this analysis. Thank you for tuning in to Daily Value. If you found today's episode insightful, make sure to subscribe and share this podcast with others who might benefit. Until next time, take care of your heart and stay healthy.