Extending life and beauty: Researchers link taurine to healthy aging

12 Jun 2023 --- Researchers have probed the effects of taurine on the health span and life span across several living species. In a new study, they measured the blood concentration of taurine during aging, while seeing how supplementing with this amino acid can help support life quality.

Taurine, a semi-essential micronutrient, is one of the most abundant amino acids in humans and other eukaryotes. Earlier studies have shown that the concentration of taurine in blood correlates with health, but a gap in research has been the question of whether this affects aging.

“Taurine abundance decreases during aging,” outline the researchers writing in the journal Science. “A reversal of this decline through taurine supplementation increases health span and life span in mice and worms and health span in monkeys.”

“This identifies taurine deficiency as a driver of aging in these species. To test whether taurine deficiency is a driver of aging in humans as well, long-term, well-controlled taurine supplementation trials that measure health span and life span as outcomes are required.”

Investigating several areas of impact
Blood concentration of taurine declines with age in mice, monkeys and humans. To investigate whether this decline contributes to aging, the researchers orally fed taurine or a control solution once daily to middle-aged wild-type female and male C57Bl/6J mice until the end of life.

The positive impact of taurine supplementation was recorded across different species.Taurine-fed mice of both sexes survived longer than the control mice. The median life span of taurine-treated mice increased by 10% to 12%, and life expectancy at 28 months increased by about 18% to 25%.

“A meaningful anti-aging therapy should not only improve lifespan but also healthspan, the period of healthy living,” state the researchers.

“We, therefore, investigated the health of taurine-fed middle-aged mice and found an improved functioning of bone, muscle, pancreas, brain, fat, gut and immune system, indicating an overall increase in health span.”

Similar effects observed in across species
The researchers observed similar effects in monkeys. To check whether the observed effects of taurine transcended the species boundary, they investigated whether taurine supplementation increased life span in worms and yeast.

“Although taurine did not affect the replicative life span of unicellular yeast, it increased life span in multicellular worms,” they reveal. “Investigations into the mechanism or mechanisms through which taurine supplementation improved the health span and life span revealed that taurine positively affected several hallmarks of aging.”

Taurine reduced cellular senescence – biological aging – while protecting against telomerase deficiency, suppressing mitochondrial dysfunction, decreasing DNA damage and attenuating inflammation. 

The researchers highlight that, based on an analysis of metabolite clinical risk factors in humans, lower taurine, hypotaurine and N-acetyltaurine concentrations were associated with adverse health, such as increased abdominal obesity, hypertension, inflammation and prevalence of type 2 diabetes. 

“Moreover, we found that a bout of exercise increased the concentrations of taurine metabolites in blood, which might partially underlie the anti-aging effects of exercise,” they note.

Taurine spotlighted in formulation
Taurine remains a common additive in energy and sports drinks, due to its function in helping boost energy levels.

A study published last July revealed taurine supplementation may improve the body’s antioxidant defenses and lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and high blood pressure, based on findings from a University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, clinical trial.

The amino acid recently made headlines as critics of the popular plant-based lifestyle argued removing meat from diets completely would reduce its presence in our diet, among many essential nutrients.

But even in spite of these documented benefits, pushback against some of taurine’s perceived risks – such as being hard on the kidneys at levels above the recommended dose – has led to consumers seeking switches. Alternative carbohydrates like Beneo’s Palatinose are offering healthier alternatives to taurine, particularly in the context of supplementing for mental concentration.

By Benjamin Ferrer