If there are days you wish you could tell your body’s aging process just to slow down, or times you wish you could capture some of the energy and vitality you felt as a younger person, you’re not alone. Most of us would relish feeling more youthful and extending our health span further into our later years. Well, something close to such a magic elixir may be on the horizon, based on research just published in Science.

Scientists have known for a while that the amino acid taurine, produced naturally in the body, plays an important role in human functioning. In varying amounts, it can be found in your brain, spinal cord, eyes, heart, and muscles, and we know that taurine works as a neurotransmitter, supports your nervous system, and aids in the formation of bile salts for proper digestion. Taurine is also found in such protein-rich foods as meat, shellfish, and dairy, so those following a vegetarian or vegan diet may have lower levels of taurine. Interestingly, taurine is also found in many common “energy” drinks, such as Red Bull. 

Researchers were aware that as humans get older, taurine levels in the body drop significantly so that by the age of 60, your taurine levels are likely to be ⅓ of the level found in a typical 5-year-old. The question then becomes, does this drop in taurine levels contribute to biological aging, or are lower taurine levels just a byproduct of the aging process? Scientists at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, led by Dr. Vijay Yadav, set out to determine whether taurine supplementation in mice, worms, and monkeys would affect the aging process, to see whether there might be the potential to slow down aging in humans. The results have been hailed as a major advance in our analysis of the aging process and will likely herald the beginning of large human trials to determine whether taurine supplementation in humans can have equally dramatic and life-prolonging effects.

In this research, Dr. Yadav and his colleagues provided older mice, worms, and monkeys with taurine supplementation to raise their taurine levels up to a more youthful level. The taurine supplementation boosted the health of the mice and monkeys and even extended the lifespan of the mice.  With the supplementation, the mice had denser bones, stronger muscles, better memory, and younger-looking immune systems. In a 6-month supplementation trial in the monkeys, the animals had lower blood glucose levels, improved bone density and immune systems, and less-than-expected weight gain. The lifespan of the mice, compared to mice taking the placebo, was also longer: 10% longer in males and 12% longer in females, the equivalent of 7-8 human years. There was also an analysis of data from a European registry of thousands of people followed for 25 years. Those with higher levels of taurine had significantly lower rates of obesity and Type 2 diabetes, along with better cholesterol and liver health. Based on the strength of these results, experts are calling for large human trials of taurine supplementation to determine the safety and efficacy of enhancing taurine levels in human adults.

But given that taurine is already readily available in energy drinks (and sold as a supplement on Amazon) would it be safe to just start dosing yourself with added taurine? While that sounds enticing and beneficial, experts warn you to be cautious and conservative when it comes to adding taurine to your nutritional intake. First, we don’t really know exactly how it works in the body. It is possible it could cause digestive problems in large doses or kidney strain. If you’re hoping that just adding extra energy drinks to your diet should do the trick, beware: there are lots of other potentially harmful ingredients in those drinks that would counteract whatever additional taurine you took in. Also, the amount of taurine typically in use today as a supplement is around 1.5 grams/day, while the amount equivalent to what was used in the study was closer to 3-6 grams/day. We simply don’t have enough data to tell us what the long-term results of such large doses of taurine would do to humans. And while the results from this study are promising, it remains unclear whether similar results could be produced in humans. But if you’re itching to up your taurine levels, there’s one thing you can do that we know has a positive effect on aging: exercise. Researchers found that human participants who rode an exercise bike in a lab to the point of exhaustion had a significant rise of taurine metabolites in their bloodstream. To find out more, strap on your cycling shoes and read here.