Taurine and L-arginine

[www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]


For those who use this.....where do you purchase? brand?

Any health food store or vitamin shop is fine. Neither one of those is particularly expensive or needing to be in a particular formulation like the magnesium. Easiest just to order online at iherb.com in larger quantities if you ask me.

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wolfpack
Any health food store or vitamin shop is fine. Neither one of those is particularly expensive or needing to be in a particular formulation like the magnesium. Easiest just to order online at iherb.com in larger quantities if you ask me.

If you use it, have you found it helpful?

I do use both. Taurine has some cardio benefit, just don't go crazy with it. I take 2g/day, split between AM and PM. L-arginine I take in the morning a few hours before I usually workout in the gym at lunchtime. It's supposed to relax blood vessels and lower blood pressure by helping create the blood gas nitric oxide. There's supposedly an exercise benefit. I don't have any empirical data for myself on its effectiveness. I'm going on 45 and don't take blood pressure medication. It's normal when I check it and also at the doctor's office. Plenty of salt in my diet, I admit I totally ignore that. But with running 5 miles/day I probably lose tons of sodium in sweat so I wouldn't necessarily attribute normal BP to L-arginine for myself.

Edit: I should add that people on BP medication should use caution when taking either L-arginine or L-citrulline as the combination could cause unsafe drops in blood pressure.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/25/2019 03:42PM by wolfpack.

Early in my afib remission career (14 years ago), I was using magnesium, potassium & taurine. I went 4 months without an episode, then had one (which I created a vagal trigger for - snowshoeing in 3 miles of 3' snow with 70# pack and then constructing a 3 person snow cave nearly single handedly). Then had another episode a month later and I could not figure any trigger for it. I went through what I'd been doing (I was still tweaking my remission protocol). Realized I'd run out of taurine (which I'd been taking 4g/day of powder) and not bothered to replace it. Started taking it again and went two years without an episode. The two year one was because I thought I was "cured" and stopped taking any of the supplements. Afib came within a day or so.

I continue to take it to this day.

George

You get taurine in meat, don't you eat very much meat? I don't take taurine, I do eat meat, I need it also for the protein.

I do take BP meds. And eat meat.

The supplement (Heart Calm) has 1000 mg of Taurine daily. I have not consistently taken it 3X per day (the daily recommendation).

I was more interested in the L Arginine and the article that claims it can stop palpitations and Afib. It's interesting (and encouraging) that it stopped your Afib (George).

I need to read through the past posts because I did a search and noticed there are many posts on the use of Taurine and Larginine.

Five miles a day Wolfpack. Wow - I've never enjoyed running, but there is not way I could do that now because of these beta blockers.

Seriously doubt the connection between L-arginine and reduction in palpitations or a-fib. If it’s even on the list, it’s number 100-and-something.

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katesshadow
It's interesting (and encouraging) that it stopped your Afib (George). .

For me, it is part of the mix. In my case, magnesium (or lack thereof) is clearly the main actor. I haven't removed taurine from the mix except when I do extended water fasts (5-7 days). I do fine during these. I do take magnesium during fasts (magnesium hydroxide for this purpose as it is not an organic salt).

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Elizabeth
You get taurine in meat, don't you eat very much meat? I don't take taurine, I do eat meat, I need it also for the protein.

Don't know if this was directed at me, Liz. At the time afib started for me, 14.5 years ago, I was eating a high carb vegan diet. Hence taurine could have been an issue. Today I eat eggs, whitefish and shellfish.

George

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wolfpack
Seriously doubt the connection between L-arginine and reduction in palpitations or a-fib. If it’s even on the list, it’s number 100-and-something.

From the study referenced in the OP:

"Adding 4-6g of l-arginine immediately terminated essentially all remaining pauses and PACs, maintaining normal cardiac rhythm with continued treatment."

I really don't know anything about the site or the study cited.

In the "End of Alzheimer's", researcher Dale Bredesen, MD has an analogy of "36 holes in the roof" for AlzD (he's now identified over a hundred). He notes that people without AlzD will have some holes (5,6,7), people with AlzD will have more: 15 to 20 and on up. He points out that many of the drug approaches only target one "hole." His approach has been successful in reversing cognition issues in some people, there are points of no return past which it doesn't work.

I bring this up as I think there are parallels for us. This is why different approaches work for different people. The trick is to figure out where one's "holes" are with respect to afib. For me, this was largely a trial and error process. As long as there was little health downside, I have been willing to try many things singly and in combination. It can be a time consuming and frustrating process. One size clearly doesn't fit all.

Trying supplementing an amino acid seems to have little downside to me.

Yes, no downside unless you have an allergy to a supplement or something that’s in it. Always start off in small doses and ramp up. Remember it takes time, patience, and a little bit of the scientific method.

From the article referenced by the OP:

“Arrhythmias may also respond to taurine because it dampens activity of the sympathetic nervous system”

Does this contraindicate taurine for vagal AFrs?

I wouldn’t think so. I use it and I’m a textbook vagal AFer.

It may depend on the dose, but my experience ...(former vagal afibber) .. is that taurine did not promote AF.
There are so many other important benefits from taurine, it's worth trying initially with small doses.

Jackie

I have been taking taurine for about 6 months now (10 grams a day) and found it to be helpful with ectopic beats and overall better sleep much like magnesium. Arginine on the other hand isn’t really helpful or needed for those that workout frequently or already have normal blood pressure.