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. "