Taking Taurine By The Horns: Three Good Reasons For Self-Experimentation
Every now and then, the media presents some molecule as a newly discovered anti-aging miracle drug. Presently these honours go to #taurine.
The kick-off was a recently published paper titled “Taurine deficiency as a driver of aging” [1].
Typically, a closer inspection of the research uncovers that the media hype is not supported by the studies they quote.
Which is why my knee-jerk reaction to the Taurine frenzy was to read the paper and then highlight the chasm between fiction and fact.
But in this case, kudos to the researchers, this study is an exhibit of methodical excellence.
This is why my message is now:
Taurine could become your safe starting point for biohacking your health- and life-span.
Such words don’t come easily to me. As a researcher, I was trained to be methodical and rigorous.
So let’s have a closer look at why I am cautiously optimistic.
What is Taurine?
Taurine is an amino acid. You know amino acids as the building blocks of proteins. Only, you won’t find taurine in proteins. Rather, taurine is essential for many cellular and physiological functions. Its deficiency has been implicated in cardiovascular and muscle function, glucose metabolism, neurological impairments, and, most importantly, aging.
What Was The Study Question?
The researchers asked whether taurine deficiency is a driver of aging and aging-related decline in health.
The rationale behind this question is that taurine concentration declines substantially as we age.
How Did They Investigate?
They used the consensus hallmarks of aging, nine observational biomarkers of old cells and tissues [2], and looked at how taurine supplementation affected several of them.
They also looked at the life and health span of their experimental model: mice, not humans — for the obvious reason that 1 mouse year is equivalent to 25 human years.
What Did They Find?
Taurine-supplemented mice did a lot better than their non-supplemented peers in all hallmarks of aging, in physical function, and in survival. Their median survival benefit was a 10–12% longer lifespan. If this would translate into humans 1:1, then half of taurine-supplemented people would live 8–10 years longer than without supplementation, and the other half would see a shorter lifespan extension.
Which brings us to the question:
Do These Results Translate To Humans?
The researchers made it very clear that their findings should in no way suggest that taurine supplementation has the same effects in humans. That's, of course, an inconvenient point for the media.
So, let’s look at this point in greater detail.
Mice Are Not People
The first and most important thing you should know about translational research is that more than 92% of studies done in mice can’t be replicated in humans [3]. Simply because the human organism is orders of magnitude more complex than a mouse. And the metabolism is not necessarily identical.
The Dose And Age
The intervention was applied to 14-month-old mice until their deaths—equivalent to a 30-year old human receiving the daily supplement for the next 50 years.
Then there is the dose: 1 gram of taurine per kg of body weight. If we translate this directly into a 75-kg man or woman, that is 75 grams per day.
OK, I know, interspecies translation of dose is not as simple as that, but it gives you a perspective, when you compare the 1 gram/kg used in mice with the 3 gram total daily Taurine supplementation typically used in human experiments (and certainly not for 50 years) [4].
Should You Start Supplementing With Taurine?
That's, of course, your decision.
But taurine comes with a unique advantage: no upper limit of taurine intake has been set (yet); the official observed safe limit (OSL) is 3 gram/day, but no side effects have ever been reported even at higher intake levels [5].
Three Good Reasons Why You Might Want To Self-Experiment:
1. It won’t hurt: There are no observed side effects to taurine supplementation.
2. You can’t wait: Human health- and lifespan studies simply take too long.
3. The DIY tool box for self-experimentation is now available: My team and I have made clinical self-experimentation accessible to laypersons
How To Self-Experiment?
To me, only rigorous experimental methods count. That’s what I was taught at university. That’s what I have been practicing ever since.
There is an experimental method, called N-of-1 (the “N” referring to the number of participants in a clinical experiment). N-of-1 is the FDA- and EMA-endorsed gold standard for single case experiments.
My team and I have operationalized this method to make it accessible to lay-persons.
Think of it as the Swiss Army Knife for individualized lifestyle medicine.
You can read about it here (in English) and here (in German). Or visit our website www.adiphea.com and watch the 3 short introductory videos there.
In the Post Scriptum section below, you’ll find a brief explanation of how it works.
If you decide to go for a self-experiment with taurine, using our platform tool, either message me here on LinkedIn, or send me an email via our website.
Will I Self-Experiment With Taurine?
Yes, absolutely! I will use the N-of-1 based method to turn myself into a clinical trial.
It will show me, whether supplementation has an effect on vascular function, the most important determinant of healthy aging.
Once I start the experiment, I will provide regular updates publicly.
What To Expect
You and I should not expect a dramatic result.
Here is why:
First, the age: the researchers started their mice on taurine at an equivalent human age of 30 years. If you are like me, that is, on the wrong side of 50, we don’t know whether taurine will work its magic on us. I don’t see why not, but we don’t know.
Second, the vegetarians: vegetarian and vegan diets do not provide any taurine at all. That’s because taurine occurs exclusively in meat and fish. Yet, vegetarians and vegans don’t seem to die earlier than omnivores. So, maybe taurine is not the key?
Third, the 9 hallmarks of aging: they responded impressively to taurine, yes, but as it says on the label, they are hallmarks, i.e., observations of old cells and tissues. It doesn’t mean they are the cause of aging.
Final Word Of Caution
Consuming taurine-enriched energy drinks IS NOT supplementation. These drinks are loaded with sugar and other stuff that is not good for you!
You’ll find suppliers of pure taurine at your favorite online supplier.
Caution: supplements are not regulated by either the FDA or the EMA, so the taurine concentration on their labels may not always reflect the real concentration.
So, if you decide to start the “biohacking” self-experiment, link with me here, or send me an e-mail, and Ask Me Anything. I’ll try t respond within 24–48 hours.
It’s better than waiting for the next miracle molecule to be paraded through the media.
Enjoyed reading? Come say Hi on LinkedIn. I am happy to connect.
PS
The N-Of-1 Protocol.
In a single-case experiment, the subject (you) first enters a baseline phase of no intervention. That is, for the first (ideally) 14 days you DO NOT take taurine. During this time, you measure daily our biomarker of interest, in this case pulse wave velocity, PWV, as a sensitive marker of vascular function. After the first 14 days, you start with a fixed daily dose of taurine supplementation. You continue to measure PWV for another 14 days or more.
Our algorithms will help you find out whether taurine has an effect and how large the effect is.
That’s all there is to it.
How do you measure PWV? We collaborate with the company Withings, which has developed a WiFi capable bathroom scale that measures PWV while you are taking your weight.
The data are automatically transmitted to your personal record on our platform, which is built on the architecture of an electronic patient record (meeting all data protection and privacy requirements).
PPS
Am I Trying To Sell You Something?
NO.
You do not have to pay me anything to participate in this experiment.
And neither I nor my company earn anything from you buying the Withings scale.
Hashtags
References
[1] Singh P, Gollapalli K, Mangiola S, Schranner D, Yusuf MA, Chamoli M, et al. Taurine deficiency as a driver of aging. Science 2023;380:eabn9257. doi:10.1126/science.abn9257.
[2] Lopez-Otin C, Blasco MA, Partridge L, Serrano M, Kroemer G. The hallmarks of aging. Cell 2013;153:1194–217. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2013.05.039.
[3] Mak IWY, Evaniew N, Ghert M. Lost in translation: Animal models and clinical trials in cancer treatment. Am J Transl Res 2014;6:114–8.
[4] Shao A, Hathcock JN. Risk assessment for the amino acids taurine, l-glutamine and l-arginine. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol 2008;50:376–99. doi:10.1016/j.yrtph.2008.01.004.
[5] Hathcock JN, Shao A. Expanded approach to tolerable upper intake guidelines for nutrients and bioactive substances. J Nutr 2008;138:1992S-1995S. doi:10.1093/jn/138.10.1992s.