Amino acids are the components of protein and proteins are the building blocks of life. And if you’ve got all your amino acids – you’ve got protein!

Do you eat fish, other animal products, eggs or sea plants such as algae? If not, then you may not be making enough taurine. That’s right. Your body makes taurine from two other amino acids called methionine and cysteine, provided it has the enzyme for it. Don’t worry – there are more food sources for taurine than sushi! More on food sources (including vegan) below.

Taurine is a non-protein amino acid that is sulfur-bearing and crucial for the metabolism of fats. It is necessary for building skeletal muscles, the central nervous system, retinas, and for cardiovascular function. Actually, it is an acid containing an amino group, rather than an amino acid in the usual meaning of the term.

Taurine is so important that the lack of this amino acid in commercial cat food led to the deaths of many animals before the deficiency was discovered. Many cat food cans now list the percentage of taurine. Even though humans and cats are so biologically different – the human need for taurine cannot be stressed enough.

Below is a list of all the research-backed beneficial effects of taurine.* Try to get taurine from a variety of foods listed below. Talk to your preferred healthcare practitioner before upping your taurine intake with a supplement.

22 Amazing Taurine Benefits

1. Fatty-liver disease – effective at treating fatty-liver disease in children with simple obesity. Helpful adjuvant therapy regardless of whether or now they gain or lose weight.

2. Lowers blood pressure – improves cases of pre-hypertension.

3. Protects against fluoride induced neurotoxicity – taurine was found to be neuroprotective against sodium fluoride-induced biochemical and behavioral effects in rats.

4. Ameliorate toxicant-induced memory loss – taurine helped rats with memory impairment (amnesia) induced  by alcohol, pentobarbital, cycloheximide, and sodium nitrite without compromising the behavioral aspects of the animals tested.

5. May improve certain complications to diabetes – particularly neuropathy.

6. Reduces cardiovascular risks – middle-aged males and females who excreted greater 24-hour urinary taurine and magnesium had lower cardiovascular risks in one study.

7. Helps reset circadian rhythm that was damaged by high-fat diet – taurine has been found helpful in obesity, diabetes and in this rat-study, helpful in ameliorating a damaged circadian rhythm.

8. Could help hypothyroidism – a test of experimental hypothyroidism showed increased serum paraoxonase and arylesterase activities after high-dose taurine supplementation.

9. Could prevent thyroid disruption as a result from pesticides and lead – an rat-study showed taurine to help prevent thyroid disruption from exposure to chlorpyrifos (organophosphate) and lead.

10. Can help reduce left-ventrical size – combined with coenzyme Q10 and carnitine, taurine helped replete essential cardiac myocyte nutrients and reduced left-ventrical size.

11. Cure liver diseases such as cirrhosis, fibrosis and viral hepatitis – with the help from silymarin (milk thistle). Taurine was found to be a free-radical scavenger and anti-inflammatory.

12. Helps relieve the abnormal accumulation of fluid known as ascites – by inducing diuresis and natriuresis.

13. Can improve liver injury in patients with chronic hepatitis.

14. A supplementary therapy for cystic fibrosis. Decreases fecal fatty acid and sterol excretion.

15. Alleviates adverse effects on eyes from computer use – reduces visual fatigue.

16. Can help carbohydrate metabolism and skeletal muscle – particularly during post workout phase.

17. Potentially counteract age-related muscle loss – researchers highlight the potential use of taurine as a therapeutic molecule for the amelioration of skeletal muscle function and performance severely compromised during aging.

18. Protects against gastric damage done by drugs for bone loss.

19. Protects against degenerative changes in urinary/bladder function – induced by various kinds of stress/injury.

20. Potentially helpful in treating breast cancer – in one study, it reduced breast cancer rates from 80% down to 40% in rats.

21. Can improve brain development – taurine has important functions in brain development.

22. Has no toxic effect on humans – the previous study also found it is non-toxic to humans.

Certain health conditions can allegedly reduce taurine levels such as heavy metal toxicity, candida, infection, vitamin B6 and zinc deficiency and overconsumption of MSG. If you are concerned about getting enough – please get a complete blood work up and add a variety of foods to your plate.

Food sources of Taurine

• Fish
• Lamb
• Eggs
• Meat
• Dairy

Note – a complete, nutrient-dense plant-based diet provides the tools for making this amino.

Vegan food sources for making taurine

Note – this list contains amino acids that help the liver make it.

• Seaweed and red marine algae
• Brewer’s yeast
• Soy (only choose whole food, organic and fermented foods – not isolates)
• Hemp seed
• Quinoa
• Buckwheat
• Amaranth

Gentle World recommends (emphasis added):

Adults can produce taurine by a combination of cysteine with the help of pyridoxine-Vitamin B6, methionine and vitamin C. (Cysteine is found in red peppers, garlic, onions, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, oats, granola and wheat germs. B6 is in whole grain products, vegetables, and nuts. High levels of methionine can be found in Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds and butter, sesame seeds, oats and a huge long list of vegan foods.)

However, some scientific research does advise vegans to supplement taurine.

*DISCLAIMER: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.