A healthy cat requires this amino acid

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http://www.hfn-usa.com/articles/021206taurine.html

 

Smart Publications

Health & Wellness Update

 

If you have a cat, you may be familiar with taurine. This amino

acid is added to your pet's food because without it cats develop

dramatic health problems, including reproductive failure, growth

retardation, retinal degeneration and heart failure.

 

But whether you have a cat or not, you'll definitely want to learn

how the amino acid that improves the nutritional health of our

feline friends can help us humans live a life with added protection

from:

.. Congestive heart failure

.. High blood pressure

.. Brain aging

.. Muscle damage (due to strenuous activity)

.. Diabetes

.. Retinal damage

 

While we may not gain nine lives from taurine supplements, it

seems certain-based on new and continuing research into this

remarkable amino acid-that it can improve the health of our one

life.

 

Taurine is much more than " the cat's meow " of amino acids-it is

a powerful addition to your supplement program.

 

In good health,

 

 

John Morgenthaler

 

Taurine: An amino acid that " meows " and " roars "

 

Amino acids are the components of proteins. These amino acids

are strung together like the links on a chain, where they form the

proteins that make our bodies work properly. There are a few

exceptions to this rule, amino acids that perform their function

individually, not as components of proteins. Taurine is one such

amino acid. In fact, taurine is the most abundant free amino acid in

the body.

 

What does taurine do?

Taurine is a non-essential amino acid produced by the body

through the synthesis of two other amino acids, methionine and

cysteine. It is an important component of bile acids, which are used

to absorb fats and fat-soluble vitamins. It also regulates heartbeat;

maintains the stability of cell membranes; transports calcium in

and out of cells; and regulates the activity of brain cells. It is also a

potent antioxidant.

 

Taurine is believed to play a role in treating a number of

conditions, including congestive heart failure, high blood pressure,

diabetes, and retinal damage.

 

Normally our bodies manufacture taurine rather than obtain it from

our diet. It is produced by a combination of cysteine, methionine

and vitamin C, but low amounts of these substances can in turn

lead to taurine deficiency.

 

Can we get taurine from food?

Taurine is found in eggs, dairy products, fish and red meat. If

you're a vegetarian you probably suffer from a taurine deficiency

.. and if you're a meat eater, it's unlikely that you're taurine

deficient. But as we age we may not produce an optimal

amount of taurine . and research has shown that it's definitely

worth taking a taurine supplement-irregardless of your diet-

because our need for taurine can often exceed our normal dietary

intake or our body's ability to manufacture it. And taurine has

tremendous health benefits when you get more than what your

body normally needs to prevent a deficiency.

 

Much of the impetus for this research has been based on the

discovery that cats require a dietary source of taurine, or they

develop dramatic health problems including reproductive failure,

growth retardation, retinal degeneration and heart failure. In fact,

taurine is so important to the health of felines that it is now added

to cat food to ensure their health and longevity. While this has

been a tremendous help in enhancing the health of our cats, there

are many reasons why we want to make sure we are getting extra

amounts of taurine every day.

 

A powerful antioxidant

Taurine is an important antioxidant in the body, and especially

high amounts are found in the retina of the eye.1 Deficiencies of

taurine are known to cause retinal lesions and visual deterioration,

which can be reversed with dietary taurine.

 

In a 1975 study, a diet deficient in taurine was associated with

retinal degeneration in cats.2

 

Protects against macular degeneration

Taurine is believed to enhance the rods and cones-the pigmented

epithelial cells in the retina of the eye that serve as visual receptor

cells. The greatest visual acuity occurs in the macular area of the

retina near where the optic nerve enters from the back of the eye.

As we age, the macula commonly degenerates as rods and cones

die, which can result in blindness. The cause of the degeneration is

unclear, but it occurs more commonly in diabetics and may be the

result of free radical damage from ultraviolet light or oxygen

exposure.3

 

Heart health

Your heart beats more than 2 billion times in your lifetime,

transporting blood and oxygen to your body's various systems.

One consequence of aging can be heart failure, a decreased ability

of the heart to pump out all of the blood that flows into it. Research

has shown that in humans taurine enhances the contractile strength

of heart muscle and is believed to help prevent heart failure.4, 5

 

In a 1984 animal study, taurine protected against heart failure,

reducing mortality by 80 percent in the taurine-treated group with

no diminishment of cardiac function.6 In a later animal study in

1988, taurine was shown to lower blood pressure.7

 

Taurine has also been shown to prevent the development of

atherosclerosis in animals with elevated cholesterol levels.8

 

Helps protect normal brain activity

Large amounts of taurine are also found in the brain. Recent in-

vitro research has shown that among its brain-specific roles,

taurine helps prevent the damaging oxidation of certain

neurotransmitters implicated in Parkinsons disease9, in addition to

its already established neuroprotective roles.10

 

Improves glucose tolerance

One of the negative consequences of our " sugar laden " modern

diets is the harmful effects of excess fructose. In animals, high

fructose diets are known to cause a diabetes-like syndrome and

dramatically lower antioxidant levels and glucose tolerance.

Supplements of taurine have been shown to effectively counter this

in laboratory animals.11 Taurine works by increasing the action of

insulin, improving glucose tolerance and enhancing antioxidant

levels12-which are important functions to balance the negative

effects of high sugar diets.

 

Decreases risk of muscle damage

Large amounts of taurine are also found in muscle, where it is

believed to play an essential role. Taurine has shown the ability to

lower muscle damage from intense exercise, and improve

performance.13 Exercise depletes the muscles of taurine14, making

supplementation essential for anyone concerned with getting the

maximum benefit from their exercise program.

 

Enhance your health with taurine supplementation

Although there is no set required daily allowance for taurine, a

good multinutrient supplement will contain 250mg per daily dose.

 

There is overwhelming evidence, however, based on the research

that's been done, that all of us could benefit from increasing our

taurine intake to 500-2000mg per day.

 

So, do what our feline friends do. Add taurine to your daily

nutritional supplement regimen. You may not gain nine lives .

but you might just gain health benefits that you wouldn't want to

pass up in this lifetime.

 

References

1. Militante JD, Lombardini JB. " Taurine: evidence of

physiological function in the retina. " .Nutr Neurosci 2002

Apr;5(2):75-90.

2. Hayes, K.C., Carey, R.E., et al. " Retinal degeneration associated

with taurine deficiency in the cat " Science l88(4191): 949-51, May

30, 1975.

3. Gaby, A.R., Wright, J.V. " Nutritional factors in degenerative

eye disorders: Cataract and macular degeneration. " J Adv Med

6(1): 27-4O, Spring 1993.

4. Azuma J, Sawamura A, Awata. " Usefulness of taurine in

chronic congestive heart failure and its prospective application. "

Jpn Circ J 1992 Jan;56(1):95-9.

5. Azuma J, Sawamura A, Awata N, Ohta H, Hamaguchi T,

Harada H, Takihara K, Hasegawa H, Yamagami T, Ishiyama T, et

al. " Therapeutic effect of taurine in congestive heart failure: a

double-blind crossover trial. " Clin Cardiol 1985 May;8(5):276-82;

6. Azuma, J., et al. " Beneficial effect of taurine on congestive heart

failure induced by chronic aortic regurgitation in rabbits. " Res

Commun Chem Pathol Pharmacol 45(2): 261-70, August, 1984.

7. Fujita, T., Sato, Y. " Hypotensive effect of taurine. Possible

involvement of the sympathetic nervous system and endogenous

opiates. " J Clin Invest 82(3): 993-97. September 1988.

8. Murakami S, Kondo Y, Sakurai T, Kitajima H, Nagate. " Taurine

suppresses development of atherosclerosis in Watanabe heritable

hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbits. " Atherosclerosis 2002

Jul;163(1):79-87

9. Biasetti M, Dawson Jr R. " Effects of sulfur containing amino

acids on iron and nitric oxide stimulated catecholamine oxidation. "

Amino Acids 2002;22(4):351-68.

10. Foos TM, Wu JY. " The role of taurine in the central nervous

system and the modulation of intracellular calcium homeostasis. "

Neurochem Res 2002 Feb;27(1-2):21-6.

11. Balakrishnan SD, Anuradha CV, Anitha Nandhini AT.

" Taurine Modulates Antioxidant Potential and Controls Lipid

Peroxidation in the Aorta of High Fructose-fed Rats. " J Biochem

Mol Biol Biophys 2002 Apr;6(2):129-33

12. Nandhini AT. " Anuradha CV.Taurine modulates kallikrein

activity and glucose metabolism in insulin resistant rats. " Amino

Acids 2002;22(1):27-38

13. Dawson Jr R, Biasetti M, Messina S, Dominy J.

" The cytoprotective role of taurine in exercise-induced muscle

injury. " Amino Acids 2002;22(4):309-24.

14. Matsuzaki Y, Miyazaki T, Miyakawa S, Bouscarel B, Ikegami

T, Tanaka N. " Decreased taurine concentration in skeletal muscles

after exercise for various durations. " Med Sci Sports Exerc 2002

May;34(5):793-7