7 Foods High in Taurine (and Why You’re Seeing This Amino Acid in Energy Drinks Everywhere)

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You may have heard of taurine because it's added to many energy drinks and supplements. Taurine is an amino acid, one of the building blocks for making protein. And it has many important functions in your body.

Unlike some other amino acids, taurine is a nonessential amino acid. This means your body can make the taurine it needs, even if you don't get it from food.

For this reason, there's no need to supplement taurine. But because of its potential health benefits, some people might want to get more taurine. Here we'll discuss why taurine is important and which foods to look for if you want more of it in your diet.

Why is taurine important?

Taurine is found in many parts of your body. For example, it's found in your:

• Eyes

• Heart

• Muscle tissue

• Brain

• White blood cells

It has several vital functions in your body:

• Infant brain and neurological development: Taurine plays an important role in fetus and infant nervous system development. But infants aren't able to make taurine on their own. So, they have to get taurine from breastmilk or formula.

• Digestion and absorption of fats: Taurine combines with bile acids in your liver to form bile salts. When you eat, bile salts help with the digestion and absorption of fats and fat-soluble vitamins in your intestine.

• Heart health: Taurine affects levels of calcium and potassium, which play an important role in electrical activity and heart muscle contraction.

• Eye health: Taurine is the most abundant amino acid in your eye. It's needed for the development and protection of your retina.

• Antioxidants: Taurine has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Supplementation with taurine has been shown to reduce inflammatory markers after exercise in people with heart failure and a BMI more than 30.

There are more potential benefits of taurine that experts are still learning about. Some of the most promising include:

• Reducing your risk of cardiovascular disease: Taurine is thought to help support the lining of your blood vessels, called the endothelium. This may affect blood flow, vascular inflammation, and blood pressure.

• Boosting muscle strength: Taurine is abundant in your muscles and may help with muscle contraction.

• Improving exercise endurance and muscle recovery: The research in this area is conflicting. Some research suggests it can help with muscle recovery, but the studies on exercise endurance are mixed.

7 foods high in taurine

Taurine is naturally found in animal proteins. It's also found in smaller amounts in some plant foods. Because of its potential role in exercise and endurance, some energy drinks have added taurine.

Here are the seven foods highest in taurine (per 100 g), in descending order.

1. Shellfish

The most abundant source of taurine comes from the ocean. Shellfish are some of the most highly concentrated sources of taurine. Research on the amount of taurine in shellfish varies based on the sample. But scallops (827 mg) and mussels (655 mg) usually contain the most.

2. Poultry

Both light and dark meat poultry products contain taurine, but the darker cuts are better sources. Dark meat turkey is the highest with 300 mg of taurine, and dark meat chicken is the runner-up with 170 mg.

3. Seaweed

Seaweed is one of the only plant foods to contain taurine. It can vary between species, but red algae and green algae seaweeds have been shown to contain the highest amounts. Red algae seaweed typically contains around 227 mg of taurine, while green algae seaweed contains around 28 mg.

Nori (seaweed sheets used to make sushi) and some seaweed-fortified pastas and crackers are also good sources of taurine. They may be a good choice for people who follow a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle and don't get taurine from animal products.

4. Fish

Finfish also contain a fair amount of taurine. As with shellfish, the amount varies based on the report:

• Canned tuna:39 mg

• Albacore tuna filet:176 mg

• Cod: 30-108 mg

• Farmed salmon: 60 mg

5. Beef and Pork

Beef, veal, and pork products contain moderate amounts of taurine and are the primary source of this amino acid for most people in the U.S. They contain between 38 mg and 47 mg of taurine. But note that dietary recommendations recommend limiting your meat consumption, and choosing mostly lean and unprocessed meats when you do include it.

6. Dairy products

While other animal products contain good amounts of taurine, dairy products contain smaller amounts. Milk, yogurt, and ice cream usually contain up to 8 mg.

7. Energy drinks

Energy drinks are often fortified with taurine and marketed to boost exercise performance. On average, energy drinks that contain taurine have about 750 mg of taurine per 8-ounce drink.

Note that these drinks also usually contain additional ingredients that may boost your energy levels, including:

• Caffeine

• Ginseng

• Sugar

• Vitamins and minerals

It's recommended that children, teenagers, and pregnant women avoid energy drinks. This is because of their caffeine and sugar content, as well as the unknown effects of taurine on growth and development.

How much taurine do you need each day?

As mentioned above, taurine is a nonessential amino acid because your body makes it. So deficiencies of taurine are rare. A daily recommended amount hasn't been established.

But people who don't eat meat or fish typically consume less taurine through food than do meat-eaters. They often have lower taurine levels and may benefit from taurine supplements or making sure they get enough of other foods containing taurine.

Can you have too much taurine?

It's unlikely to get too much taurine from food. To date, no safe upper limit has been set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

That said, other agencies have established limits for taurine. These are aimed largely at supplement and energy drink use. For example:

• The European Food Safety Authority suggests that 1,400 mg per day is safe for most adults.

• Health Canada suggests a maximum daily limit of 3,000 mg per day.

These recommendations have been established due to the recent popularity of energy drinks and their potential effects on cognitive and behavioral health.

As with any supplement, too much of any one nutrient can cause problems. Too much taurine may lead to:

• Nausea

• Vomiting

• Diarrhea

• Dizziness

• Tremors

• Headaches

And these symptoms may be worsened by other ingredients in energy drinks such as caffeine.

It's important to speak with your primary care provider before taking any supplements. This is especially true if you're taking medication for another condition, or you're pregnant or nursing.

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