1. Taurine could improve your exercise performance
There’s a lot of studies dating as far back as 2011 that show that taking extra taurine leads to higher physical performance in humans.2 Taurine was also shown to increase the time until exhaustion, reduce exercise-induced fatigue and diminish damage from intense exercise.2 This is why taurine is commonly found in energy drinks.
All of this means that adding taurine to your diet could help you have a better workout or sports session, where you’re able to go further, lift more, and exercise for longer without experiencing muscle soreness. Try taking it at the same time you’d take your
pre-workout, or at least 60-90 minutes before working out.
2. Taurine may be good for your heart
The use of taurine as a therapy to treat heart-related conditions shows a lot of promise. For example, in Japan, taurine has been approved for the treatment of congestive heart failure.2
This is because there’s been a few studies that show taurine can lower cholesterol.2 One study in particular that looked at 50 different groups across 25 different countries showed that having elevated levels of taurine – i.e. more taurine than normal – decreased the risk of heart problems.8
3. Taurine might be able to help with obesity
Obesity can be caused by insulin resistance and certain inflammatory responses.2 As taurine is effective in treating insulin resistance and as an anti-inflammatory, it was suggested that taurine could be effective at also treating obesity.2
A comprehensive review of obesity-taurine studies in 2015 found that taurine had been effective in decreasing the body weight of obese animals and in suppressing inflammatory responses. As much of the research was in small sample sizes and mouse models, more robust trials are needed to determine whether taurine could help with obesity.
4. Taurine might help with arthritis
Taurine is thought to be anti-inflammatory and, therefore, could help with supporting symptoms associated with inflammatory diseases, such as arthritis.2 Taurine protects tissues from oxidative stress associated with the pathology of various inflammatory diseases.10
While more research is needed in this area, taurine has been identified as a potential future drug to treat arthritis.4