Compound or practice · Supplement
Taurine
A conditionally-essential amino acid with broad but mostly modest effects on exercise, blood pressure, and metabolic markers.
- Overall grade
- Grade C
- Last revised
- 2
- graded outcomes
- 0
- references listed
A structured monograph in Prometheus's bundled library. Its grades are the monograph's own reading of the evidence, not a peer-reviewed review.
2 at grade C — 2 graded rows
What is known
Each outcome with its grade (how strong the evidence is, A to D), the size of the effect where the entry records one, and how often studies agree.
- Endurance performanceEvidence grade C
Small, inconsistent
Smallmixed
- Blood pressureEvidence grade C
Minor reduction
Smallmixed
What is uncertain
Read off the same rows as above. Nothing here is added that the entry does not itself record.
- Thin evidence: Endurance performance (grade C); Blood pressure (grade C).
The evidence in words
What it is
Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid abundant in heart, muscle, and brain, and a common energy-drink ingredient. Humans make some and get more from animal foods; vegans run lower.
How it works
Taurine stabilizes cell membranes, buffers calcium handling, supports mitochondrial function, and has osmoregulatory and antioxidant roles across excitable tissues.
What the evidence shows
Small trials suggest minor endurance benefits, modest blood-pressure and glycemic improvements, and possible antioxidant effects, but pooled effects are small and heterogeneous. A high-profile animal study on taurine and aging generated headlines but has not been validated in humans. Reasonable and safe, not established.
How to use it
1–3 g/day; ~1–2 g pre-exercise is a common ergogenic dose.
Safety & interactions
Very safe with no notable toxicity at these doses.
Bottom line
Cheap, safe, broadly-studied, and consistently modest. Worth a look for endurance or metabolic support; don't expect the anti-aging headlines to hold.
How it is used
As the entry records it, from the studies it summarises. Not a recommendation for you — doses that suit a trial population may not suit you.
- Standard
- 1–3 g/day; 1–2 g pre-exercise.
Related reading
Entries that share this one's tags or conditions.
- Taurine for Blood pressureEvidence grade C — Minor reductionEvidence grade C
- Beetroot / Dietary NitrateDietary nitrate lowers the oxygen cost of exercise — a legit endurance aid, best in recreational athletes.Evidence grade B
- Beetroot / Dietary Nitrate for Blood pressureEvidence grade B — Modest reductionEvidence grade B
- Taurine for Endurance performanceEvidence grade C — Small, inconsistentEvidence grade C
Sources
This entry lists no references of its own.
Last revised . A grade is this entry's reading of the evidence, not medical advice.