Taurine |
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Taurine is found in abundant quantities throughout the body, particularly in the heart (more than 50 percent of the amino acids in the heart is taurine). It is also found in other muscles, as well as in the brain and central nervous system. It is the second most abundant muscular amino acid (glutamine is number one).
Rather than manufacturing protein, this amino acid instead is found free (it does not link up with others). Taurine acts as a building block for all the other amino acids and has a protective effect on your brain. Levels of taurine are depleted when you are under either physical or emotional stress, causing your body to require more of this supplement during stressful, and difficult periods in your life.
Low levels of taurine are associated with an increase in anxiety, poor brain function, and seizures. Taurine has been used to treat epilepsy. Experts theorize that a lack of taurine in the developing brain of a child (where it is usually found in concentrations of up to four times greater than in adults) is associated with seizures.
Taurine is referred as a conditionally essential amino acid, meaning that while your body can manufacture it on its own from cysteine in the liver there are certain times, especially when you are under physical stress or injury that it cannot make enough to meet your body’s demands. Deficiencies of this amino acid are related to a number of conditions, including retinal damage, growth retardation, immunodeficiency, and cardiovascular disorders.
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