2023-08-19 12:15:03
Energy drinks were previously considered extremely controversial by doctors and food experts because of their stimulating effect – until scientists examined the effect of taurine on lifespan more closely.
Researchers from the Technical University of Munich and the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University were able to show that a lack of taurine can significantly shorten life expectancy. Since then, the question has been: Are energy drinks possibly healthy after all?
In the course of life, the taurine concentration in the body of animals and humans decreases. By the age of 60, our taurine content is already more than 80 percent lower than in young people. Taurine is an amino acid that is formed in the liver and absorbed through food. A biogenic amine is formed when sulphur-containing amino acids are broken down. In addition, the body itself is able to form taurine.
However, taurine is also found in foods such as eggs, fish and poultry. Scallops and red meat are particularly high in taurine.
Taurine is found throughout the body, in high concentrations particularly in the eyes, heart, blood, brain and muscles. Other clinical effects include pronounced antioxidant properties and involvement in digestion. It also activates the detoxification function of the liver.
Taurine: Life expectancy extended in animal studies
The New York researchers were able to show that daily administration of taurine increased the life expectancy of mice by 10 to 12 percent. The same results are also obtained with rhesus monkeys. Studies on roundworms also confirm these data. In addition, it is unanimously shown that not only life expectancy is increasing, but also the period of time in which the individual living beings are healthy. Positive effects on bones, muscles, pancreas, immune system and brain are also described.
In this context, a data set of around 12,000 people from the Leibnitz Research Institute for Age Research in Jena attracted attention. There was a connection between low concentrations of taurine with obesity, type II diabetes and higher blood sugar concentrations and higher cholesterol levels in the blood. Smaller studies have shown that taurine lowers blood pressure in hypertensive patients and improves well-being in Parkinson’s patients.
We know from sports medicine that athletes take taurine as a dietary supplement. This should have a positive effect on mileage. However, the study situation on this topic is still relatively thin.
It remains critical to note that the studies mentioned have not yet proven that there is a direct connection between taurine and the aging process in humans. When extrapolating the results of animal studies, one should also keep in mind that the amounts used in the studies would be very high if used in humans. If you compare the doses used in animal experiments with commercially available energy drinks, that would mean a daily dose of 15 to 19 liters of energy drink.
What we need now are clinical trials of whether supplementing with taurine has a positive effect on aging and staying healthy. Such a study has started in Brazil. Only at the end will it become clear whether side effects or interactions that have not yet been recognized occur when taking taurine. And only after completion can we say whether taurine supplementation should be used as a prophylactic therapy.
If taurine is really a good anti-aging agent that gives wings, it would also have to be clarified what the optimal route of intake would be: whether as a calorie-rich energy drink or as a tablet with significantly less sugar.
So far, doctors have advised against supplementing with taurine via energy drinks. On the one hand, the taurine dose in these drinks is far too low and, on the other hand, these drinks are not healthy due to other ingredients such as caffeine and sugar. The hope of drinking oneself old with energy drinks therefore remains more than unlikely.
To person
Prof. Dr. medical Curt Diehm is one of the leading physicians in southwest Germany, he is the author of numerous specialist and patient books and has been President of the German Society for Vascular Medicine for many years. He has been the Medical Director of the renowned Max Grundig Clinic in Bühl since mid-2014. You can read all the articles in this series at www.max-grundig-klinik.de.
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