All animals studied can conjugate bile acids with either glycine or taurine. Guess where that puts us omnivores…You guessed it, right in the middle.īut it’s a little more nuanced than that. A notable exception in herbivores is ruminants, who mostly conjugate with taurine. Healthy herbivores conjugate bile acids with glycine while healthy carnivores conjugate with taurine. The funny thing here is we see another stark contrast between herbivores and carnivores. To prevent bile acids from damaging your cells, they get conjugated with either glycine or taurine before they get sent to your gall bladder. Though necessary for proper digestion, bile acids are toxic. It also plays a major role in the GI environment and composition of bacteria located within.

Animals use bile acids to emulsify fat, making it easier to digest. There’s another large difference between herbivores and carnivores that involves taurine worth mentioning. That puts omnivores somewhere in the middle, and this can cause some problems. Carnivores have a tougher time making it but don’t need to since they eat plenty of it. Herbivorous animals tend to be better at making it which makes sense if you need it but don’t eat it. If you’d like to check out the many reasons why, this article is a good start.įortunately, animals have a pathway to synthesize it from the amino acids methionine and cysteine if their diet lacks it. There is little doubt that taurine is important for animal life. For the sake of comparison, plants contain about 1/100 the amount found in meat( 1). Taurine is the most abundant amino acid in animals, but found sparingly in plants. People with:īefore we get in to these lists, let’s look a bit at the history of taurine and how it plays in to its biological effects. I have no doubt that the following people would benefit from supplementing with taurine. These lifestyle choices can lead down a path where digestive disorders pop up. Those who cook their meat(I’m not telling you not to, jus’ sayin’).Diets high in meat that also eat a lot of soluble fiber.But there are a few groups that should be aware that their lifestyle may lead to a lack of it. Improves fat digestion and fat soluble vitamin absorptionĬertainly one can get enough taurine in their diet.Plays a central role in the regulation of inflammation throughout the body.Enhances gastric acid and enzyme production.Let’s start off by telling you what it does:

While you may know taurine from its starring role in energy drinks or the neurological problems experienced by Pottenger’s Cats, it plays a powerful role in the gastrointestinal environment. If you’re sick of dealing with digestive issues and haven’t looked in to the amino acid taurine, I’m here to wake you up.

Taurine effects my psoriasis