I'm taking the Taurine for its possible anti-anxiety and membrane stabilizing effects. I cant say if I've necessarily felt any releif of anxiety or whether there is even evidence other than anecdotal that it is effective in this area. The membrane stabilizing effects MAY have some benefit and since i have a huge bottle from AOR i thought i might as well use it up. I will discontinue it soon as it runs out
I advise keeping the taurine, but cutting back to one capsule (and perhaps saving money by buying the Now brand from I-Herb). Oxidized PUFAs or glucose or fructose react with lysine to start the chain leading towards AGEs. But if taurine gets there before lysine you get products that are metabolized to innocuous compounds.
Med Hypotheses. 2005;64(2):394-8.
McCarty MF.
NutriGuard Research, 1051 Hermes Avenue, Encinitas, CA 92024, USA. mccarty@pantox.com
Increased endogenous generation of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) contributes importantly to the vascular complications of diabetes, in part owing to activation of the pro-inflammatory RAGE receptor. However, AGE-altered oligopeptides with RAGE-activating potential can also be absorbed from the diet, and indeed make a significant contribution to the plasma and tissue pool of AGEs; this contribution is especially prominent when compromised renal function impairs renal clearance of AGEs. Perhaps surprisingly, foods rich in both protein and fat, and cooked at high heat, tend to be the richest dietary sources of AGEs, whereas low-fat carbohydrate-rich foods tend to be relatively low in AGEs. Conceivably, this reflects the fact that the so-called "AGEs" in the diet are generated primarily, not by glycation reactions, but by interactions between oxidized lipids and protein; such reactions are known to give rise to certain prominent AGEs, such as epsilonN-carboxymethyl-lysine and methylglyoxal. Although roasted nuts and fried or broiled tofu are relatively high in AGEs, low-fat plant-derived foods, including boiled or baked beans, typically are low in AGEs. Thus, a low-AGE content may contribute to the many benefits conferred to diabetics by a genuinely low-fat vegan diet. Nonetheless, the plasma AGE content of healthy vegetarians has been reported to be higher than that of omnivores - suggesting that something about vegetarian diets may promote endogenous AGE production. Some researchers have proposed that the relatively high-fructose content of vegetarian diets may explain this phenomenon, but there so far is no clinical evidence that normal intakes of fructose have an important impact on AGE production. An alternative or additional possibility is that the relatively poor taurine status of vegetarians up-regulates the physiological role of myeloperoxidase-derived oxidants in the generation of AGEs - in which case, taurine supplementation might be expected to suppress elevated AGE production in vegetarians. Thus, a taurine supplemented low-fat vegan diet may be recommended as a strategy for minimizing AGE-mediated complications in diabetics and in patients with renal failure.
PMID: 15607576
