Taurine
Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid that is never built into protein. The body makes it from cysteine and uses it to digest fat and to keep heart, muscle and eye cells in balance.
1,000 mgin a typical 250 ml energy drink
Not essential for adults, who make it from cysteine
Daily requirement · none set, because healthy adults make it
- Main sources Shellfish and fish then dark poultry meat and other meat
- Made from Cysteine in the liver, with vitamin B6
- Plant foods Almost none the body makes its own
- In Caltide Not totaled yet no food data for it
The energy drink figure is a typical label amount; check the can. No official daily amount or upper limit exists for taurine. Sources are listed at the end of this page.
Foods High in Taurine
Taurine comes almost only from animal foods, and shellfish and dark meat have the most. Plants have almost none.
- Shellfishscallops, clams, mussels and oysters are the richest foods
- Fishmost fish, such as tuna, cod and salmon
- Poultry and meatdark chicken and turkey meat has several times more than breast meat
- Milk and breast milksmall amounts; many infant formulas add taurine because breast milk contains it
- Supplements and energy drinkscapsules, powders and many energy drinks, all made with synthetic taurine
Caltide's food data does not list taurine yet, so foods are named without figures.
What Is Taurine?
Taurine has the amino group of an amino acid but a sulfonic acid group in place of the usual carboxyl group, so it cannot link into protein chains. It is one of the most plentiful free molecules inside heart, muscle and retina cells, where it works on its own rather than as part of a protein.
What Taurine Does in the Body
Helps digest fat. The liver attaches taurine or glycine to bile acids before releasing them into the gut. The taurine version, taurocholic acid, stays dissolved and mixes fat into tiny droplets that enzymes can reach.
Keeps cells in balance. Cells hold taurine to manage how much water they draw in, and use it to steady the flow of calcium that makes heart and muscle cells contract. The retina holds some of the highest levels in the body.
The body makes taurine in the liver from cysteine, in steps that need vitamin B6. Adults make enough, which is why there is no daily requirement.
Why Cats Need Taurine in Food
Cats make very little taurine, so they need it in food. In the 1970s, cats fed diets low in taurine went blind as their retinas broke down, and in 1987 vets found that a common form of heart failure in cats, an enlarged and weakened heart, was taurine deficiency too. Adding taurine reversed the heart disease, and cat food has contained it ever since. People make their own, which is the difference.
Taurine and Energy Drinks
A typical 250 ml can of energy drink lists about 1,000 mg of taurine. EFSA reviewed those amounts in 2009 and concluded they are not a safety concern for adults. The ingredient to watch is the caffeine, which is what to count when you drink several cans.
Common Taurine Myths
It comes from bulls. Only the name does. Taurine was first isolated from ox bile in 1827 and named after taurus, Latin for bull. The taurine in drinks and capsules is made synthetically.
It is a stimulant. Taurine is not. The lift from an energy drink comes from its caffeine.
Taurine is not in the food library figures yet; its protein and other nutrients are listed for every food.
Taurine Supplements
Your liver and animal foods supply taurine, but supplements are a source too, along with energy drinks.
Taurine Supplement Forms
Plain taurine powder or capsules, and taurine bound to a mineral, as in magnesium taurate. In a taurate, most of the weight is taurine, so check the label for the amount of the mineral itself.
What Studies Show About Taurine Supplements
Small human trials have tested taurine for blood pressure and exercise, with modest and mixed results. A 2023 study found that taurine extended life in mice and improved health markers in middle-aged monkeys. No trial has shown that it slows aging in people.
Sources are listed at the end of this page. Ask a doctor or pharmacist before combining a supplement with a medicine. Not medical advice.
Tracking Taurine in Caltide
- Not totaled yetCaltide's food data does not include taurine, so Caltide does not add it up in the Nutrition tab yet. You can still list taurine as an ingredient when you add a supplement.
Taurine Sources and References
The figures and claims on this page are checked against these sources.
Questions About Taurine
Yes, but an unusual one. It has a sulfonic acid group where other amino acids have a carboxyl group, so it is never built into protein. It stays free inside cells instead.
The liver attaches it to bile acids so they can digest fat. Inside cells it helps keep water balance steady, and it is concentrated in the heart, muscles, retina and brain.
Animal foods only, in practice: shellfish such as scallops, clams and mussels have the most, then fish, dark poultry meat and other meat. Plant foods have almost none.
Usually not. Adults make taurine from cysteine and methionine, so it is not essential, and no deficiency disease from a vegan diet has been shown in healthy adults.
A typical 250 ml can has about 1,000 mg. EFSA concluded in 2009 that taurine at the amounts used in energy drinks is not a safety concern for adults; the caffeine in the can matters more.
Not shown in people. A 2023 study found taurine supplements extended life in mice and improved health markers in middle-aged monkeys, but no trial has tested whether it does anything similar in humans.
Cats cannot make enough of it. Without taurine in their diet they go blind and develop a weak, enlarged heart, so commercial cat foods add it. Humans make their own.
Only its name. It was first isolated from ox bile in 1827 and named after the Latin taurus, bull. Supplements and energy drinks use taurine made synthetically.
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