Researchers See Potential Tool in Fight Against Aging

The reason you might be hearing about "taurine" a lot in the near future: A new study in Science suggests the amino acid boosts longevity, at least in animals. Nobody is asserting the same applies to humans, and the researchers emphasize that they don't recommend people start taking supplements, per Nature. This is just seen as an intriguing starting point for more studies. Taurine is an amino acid that our bodies produce naturally and abundantly, explains New Atlas. It's also found in seafood, especially shellfish, and dark meat, but people might be most familiar with it as an ingredient in energy drinks.

On the latter point: While taurine itself is beneficial in regard to cell development and nutrition, the Mayo Clinic points out that energy drinks are typically so crammed with caffeine and sugar that the health risks may outweigh any benefits. In the new study, researchers played off the observation that taurine levels decrease with age. They fed supplements to mice, monkeys, and worms and found that it seemed to help: "When the amount of taurine was increased in preclinical models, the subjects' health span, or length of healthy life, increased and they lived for longer,” said study co-author Ankur Sharma.

The mice in particular saw life spans increased by up to 12%, along with better health; the worms also lived longer and were healthier. The biggest effect for the rhesus monkeys wasn't so much longevity as better health, specifically "lower body weights, denser bones, and reduced signs of liver damage," per Nature. But scientists involved in the study, as well as outside observers, warn so many complex factors are involved with aging that it would be dangerous to reduce all this to a taurine-fights-aging shorthand. The next big step involves "a multicentric, multinational intervention trial in humans," says co-author Vijay Yadav of Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. "We are very excited to take on that journey." (More discoveries stories.)