Could This Nutrient be the Elixir of Life?

A recent animal study shows how the deficiency of a nutrient known as taurine could act as a driver of aging in mammals.

Aging is a natural and beautiful process, but if there was a way to delay it, who wouldn’t jump at the chance? Have you spent hours googling about anti-aging creams and supplements? The answer could lie in a particular amino acid known as taurine.

A recent study () has shown that a deficiency in taurine, a nutrient produced in the body and found in many foods, could be the main driver in the aging of mammals. The researchers suggest that the nutrient could be the elixir of life everyone has been looking for.

The study, published in the journal Science, also discovered that taurine supplements can help worms, mice, and monkeys in slowing the process of aging.

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Taurine Could Increase Lifespan by 10-12%

A large experiment with mice showed that taurine increased the average lifespan by 12% in female mice and 10% in males. For the mice, that meant three to four extra months, equivalent to about seven or eight human years.

"For the last 25 years, scientists have been trying to find factors that not only let us live longer but also increase healthspan, the time we remain healthy in our old age," said lead researcher Vijay Yadav, from Metabolic Research Laboratories at the National Institute of Immunology in New Delhi.

"This study suggests that taurine could be an elixir of life within us that helps us live longer and healthier lives," added Yadav, who is also an Assistant Professor of genetics & development at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

While clinical trials are needed to confirm the benefits of taurine in humans, the researchers said two experiments suggest taurine has potential.

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In the first, Yadav and his team looked at the relationship between taurine levels and approximately 50 health parameters in 12,000 European adults aged 60 and over.

Overall, people with higher taurine levels were healthier, with fewer cases of Type-2 diabetes, lower obesity levels, reduced hypertension, and lower levels of inflammation.

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Deficiency of Taurine Could Possibly Cause Faster Human Aging

"These are associations, which do not establish causation," Yadav said, "but the results are consistent with the possibility that taurine deficiency contributes to human aging."

The second study showed taurine levels increase with exercise in athletes (sprinters, endurance runners, and natural bodybuilders).

"No matter the individual, all had increased taurine levels after exercise, which suggests that some of the health benefits of exercise may come from an increase in taurine," Yadav said.

"Taurine is naturally produced in our bodies, it can be obtained naturally in the diet, it has no known toxic effects (although it's rarely used in concentrations), and it can be boosted by exercise.

"Taurine abundance goes down with age, so restoring taurine to a youthful level in old age may be a promising anti-aging strategy," Yadav said.

Reference:

Taurine deficiency as a driver of aging - (https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abn9257)

Source-IANS