The Benefits of Taurine for Managing High Blood Pressure

Maintaining normal blood pressure is vital to living a healthy and long life. High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a medical condition that increases the risk for stroke, angina, and heart attacks. Over 65 million Americans are diagnosed with high blood pressure and an even higher percentage of the population may have high blood pressure but have no presenting symptoms. In fact, high blood pressure is sometimes referred to as the silent killer, because people usually cannot feel the physical effects of hypertension. Long-term high blood pressure is a significant coronary heart disease risk factor. It contributes to over 500,000 strokes and more than a million heart attacks annually. The higher blood pressure is above the normal 120/80 mmHg, the greater the risk of heart disease.

There are two types of hypertension: primary and secondary. Hypertension without an identifiable cause is categorized as essential or primary hypertension. When high blood pressure has a specific cause, such as in the case of kidney disease, it is considered secondary hypertension.

The Bountiful Benefits of Taurine

Taurine is an amino acid that may help lower blood pressure by promoting immune modulation, hearing function, electrolyte balance, insulin sensitivity, and cardiovascular health. It also has been shown to protect against heart failure and reduces mortality by nearly 80 percent in animal studies. Its benefits are so extensive that scientists have described taurine as a miracle molecule.

Taurine is found abundantly in healthy people. However, diets such as vegetarian or vegan lack adequate amounts of taurine. Liver and kidney diseases or heart failure, diabetes, and cancer all show a deficiency in taurine. Boosting taurine levels can contribute to better neurologic, metabolic, and cardiovascular health. Some of the key benefits and features of taurine include:

• It is the most abundant amino acid found throughout the body, particularly in tissues containing excitable cells, such as the heart muscle and nerves.

• Evidence indicates that particular societies with long life spans consume larger amounts of taurine than the rest of the population.

• It protects inner ear and retinal cells from harm by normalizing the required flow of calcium ions needed to function properly.

• Evidence is increasing for the role taurine plays in preventing liver disease and epileptic seizures, two conditions that can be attributed to toxic effects on delicate tissue.

Taurine relaxes blood vessels by boosting the production of endorphins, resulting in lowered blood pressure.

The Function of Taurine in Your Body

Taurine is an amino acid produced in the liver. Unlike other amino acids that link together to create proteins, taurine’s function is to shuttle minerals into the heart. It also enhances your body’s sensitivity to the minerals you obtain from supplements or diet. Taurine is particularly beneficial for those who use many medications, or whose medications may cause damage to liver function, such as cholesterol and heart medicines including beta blockers. It is also useful for people who suffer from excessive perspiration, malabsorption, or adrenal stress, or who have been exposed to a poor diet most of their lives and are currently experiencing inefficient mineral use.

Benefits of Taurine for High Blood Pressure

Extensive research studies show that 6 g of taurine once a day for a week can substantially decrease blood pressure in people with primary high blood pressure. Taurine appears to regulate the advanced nervous system activity linked to hypertension. When taken with the amino acid L-arginine, it may also be more effective in widening blood vessels by increasing the levels of nitric acid. The effects of these amino acids may also improve angina and abnormal heart rhythm or chest pain resulting from an inadequate amount of oxygen and blood flow to the heart.

The Need for Taurine Supplements

As we age, our bodies often cannot produce an optimal amount of taurine internally, making supplementation vital. That’s why those interested in longevity should consider this vital and relatively affordable nutrient. Taurine is without a question one of the most essential substances in the body considering its functional significance, protective attributes, and broad distribution in cell survival, nutrition, and development. Although your body produces taurine on its own, you still need to obtain taurine through diet and supplements to achieve optimal amounts of this essential nutrient. Supplements are also beneficial for the following reasons:

• Taurine supplements reduce obesity and prevent diabetes in animal models, and can help manage the effects of both conditions in humans.

• Taurine strengthens the cells of the heart muscle, shields them from damage, and increases their life spans while defeating many of the determinants that result in atherosclerosis and its fatal outcome.

Because of taurine’s essential role in the body, supplements can provide various health benefits, including repairing insulin responsiveness, alleviating diabetic difficulties, reversing cardiovascular disease agents, inhibiting and managing fatty liver disease, mitigating seizures, reversing tinnitus, and more. If you want to live a healthy, more active and longer life, make sure to consider taurine supplements.