How does taurine work to prevent diarrhea?

Good morning all, happy holidays and NSR to you. Will someone please explain this to me? I am taking taurine for the magnesium runs, and because i have found some studies that claim it has a cholesterol lowering effect.

My doctor wants me to take statins to lower my cholesterol, and i don't want to take them because of the reports of deleterious effects. If i develop some kind of diagnosable heart disease i will reconsider, but right now i think the cure is worse than the disease where statins and cholesterol are concerned. Lone afib is by definition not caused by heart disease, and so far no medic has diagnosed any kind of heart disease in myself. Every emergency room visit has been accompanied by all the tests they can think of, and the verdict has always been that my heart is perfectly healthy and they can't figure out why it should do this. There is heart disease on both sides of my family, but the doctors all have said that i don't have it [yet?].

The studies mentioned 6g/day for taurine intake, and i have been taking this in 2 divided doses. There will be another checkup 6 months from now, and then i will find out whether it worked for cholesterol reduction.

Taurine definitely works to eliminate the diarrhea sometimes caused by 800 mg Carlson's Mg glycinate. It is this effect that i am curious about. Can anyone tell me what the mechanism is by which the taurine does this? Idle curiosity, i suppose, but the body's workings are wonderful to me and i enjoy finding out more about its marvelous intricacy.

Thanks for any and all responses. Yours for a greater understanding,

Peggy

Peggy - I learned about taurine from the web site [coldcure.com] please go to that site - it's worth reading about magnesium and taurine....as well as the zinc the host of the site, George Eby invented and patented.

Following is an excerpt from the section on taurine

"Taurine is one of the most abundant amino acids in the body. It is found in human and animal central nervous systems, skeletal muscles and is very concentrated in brain, heart and eye tissues. It is synthesized from the amino acids methionine and cysteine, in conjunction with vitamin B6. Animal protein (particularly seafoods) is a good source of taurine, but it is not found in vegetable protein. Vegetarians with an unbalanced protein intake, and therefore deficient in methionine or cysteine will have great difficulty manufacturing taurine. Dietary intake is thought to be more important in women as the female hormone estradiol depresses the formation of taurine in the liver.

Taurine functions in electrically active tissues such as the brain and heart to help stabilize cell membranes. Taurine seems to inhibit and modulate neurotransmitters (like glycine and GABA) in the brain and helps to stabilize cell membranes. It also has functions in the gallbladder, eyes, and blood vessels and appears to have some antioxidant and detoxifying activity.

Taurine aids the movement of potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium in and out of cells and thus helps generate nerve impulses. Zinc seems to support this effect of taurine. There have been reports on the benefits of taurine supplementation for epileptics. It has also been found to control motor tics, such as uncontrollable facial twitches. In Japan, taurine therapy is used in the treatment of ischemic heart disease.

Low taurine and magnesium levels have been found in patients after heart attacks. Like magnesium, taurine affects cell membrane electrical excitability by normalizing potassium flow in and out of heart muscle cells. Supplements decrease the tendency to develop potentially lethal abnormal heart arrhythmias after heart attacks. People with congestive heart failure have also responded to supplementation with improved cardiac and respiratory function. Taurine is necessary for the chemical reactions that produce normal vision, and deficiencies are associated with retinal degeneration.

Besides protecting the retina, taurine may help prevent and possibly reverse age-related cataracts. Low levels of taurine and other sulphur containing amino acids are associated with high blood pressure, and taurine supplements have been shown to lower blood pressure in some studies. Other possible uses for taurine supplementation include eye disease, cirrhosis, depression and male infertility (due to low sperm motility) and hypertension, and as a supplement for newborns and new mothers. It is vital in maintaining the correct composition of bile and the solubility of cholesterol. It has been found to have an effect on blood sugar levels similar to insulin.

Jackie

Very interestingly, taurine and glycine exist in the presence of a time- and dose-dependent exchange mechanism. After administering glycine to rats, researchers discovered that it produced a notable suppression of hepatic taurine content in the liver.

Yet, this taurine decrease was not found in other taurine-rich organs such as the brain, heart or kidney. The mechanism for hepatic concentration of these two amino acids serves to alter liver concentrations of these amino acids without adversely affecting the rest of the body.
The significance of this is very high, because as glycine goes up and taurine goes down in the liver, bile production is impaired and intestinal absorption of magnesium becomes greatly impaired, helping to explain why diarrhea resulting from magnesium taurate is essentially non-existant.

In some people sensitive to this reaction, magnesium glycinate would be contraindicated, while magnesium taurate would be very helpful. Further, I believe that my PAC and PVC cardiac arrhythmias were caused by too much glycine, and that by changing from magnesium glycinate to magnesium taurate they are prevented. "

Jackie,

Thank you for the weblink and a most informative post.

PC

Thanks, Jackie. So the magnesium is all absorbed in the presence of sufficient taurine, leaving none hanging around in the gut to cause diarrhea, is that it? Please correct me if i have misunderstood.
Peggy

Jackie,

What a fantastic site. Thank you for sharing. I don't know for the life of me, why it didn't occur to me to take Mg. taurate, esp. in lieu of the fact that I'm really low in taurate, and all sulfur aminos. I'm a bit low in glycine, but not near as low as taurate. I can only take 1- 200mg of Mg glycinate, and anything beyond that causes diarrhea. I have been taking taurine, but think I'll also incorporate Mg taurate. I partly attributed my intolerance to Mg because I was normal/high intracellularly, but it may be more due to the fact that my levels of taurine are off. (See conf room post for more about intracellular test efficiency). Also see conf room for one, like myself, that excretes taurine at higher levels. If this is the case, then one is low in molybdenum, as I was. Copied this from your link, as I found it to be great information.

Carol's and my personal beliefs have major, scientific support. Taurine prevents glutamate excitotoxicity through regulation of calcium and mitochondrial energy metabolism according to scientists writing in the November 1999 issue of Journal of Neuroscience. They clearly and unambiguously point out that the control of intracellular calcium concentrations is a fundamental process in neuronal survival and function. This, prevention of glutamate excitotoxicity, is exactly what we need, and is a powerful reason I switched from magnesium glycinate to magnesium taurate. This importance of this point cannot be over emphasized. Further, I believe that my PAC and PVC cardiac arrhythmias were caused by too much glycine, and that by changing from magnesium glycinate to magnesium taurate they are prevented.

Thank you, Jackie.
Richard