Printed from https://bottledhope.co/supplements/taurine/. Last reviewed 2026-10-19. Check the site for the latest version.
Taurine
A sulfur-containing amino acid in seafood and meat, also added to energy drinks. People take it for exercise, heart health, blood sugar and focus.
Explained simply · Last reviewed
What it is
Taurine is a sulfur-containing amino acid that the body makes and that people also get from food. EFSA, the EU food safety agency, says it occurs naturally in food, especially in seafood and meat, and is mainly made in the liver from another amino acid, cysteine. A 2022 review notes that taurine is produced as a supplement and as an ingredient in drinks.
More about Taurine
EFSA, the EU food safety agency, says it occurs naturally in food, especially in seafood and meat, and is mainly made in the liver from another amino acid, cysteine. A 2022 review notes that taurine is produced as a supplement and as an ingredient in drinks.
Taurine is an ingredient of energy drinks, where it is often paired with caffeine. In 2009 EFSA assessed taurine as an energy drink ingredient, based on new studies a drink manufacturer submitted. A 2025 review says caffeine and taurine are widely regarded as the two main active compounds in these drinks. The claims below keep taurine on its own apart from energy drinks and from taurine taken with caffeine.
Most of the trials behind the claims below were small and short. Many were in people who already had heart failure, diabetes or other conditions, and the exercise and thinking trials gave single doses to healthy adults. The 2022 review of heart failure notes that taurine is not licensed for medical treatment in the UK, EU or US.
Also known as: 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid
At a glance
Safety: known risks. See Safety ↓Claims made about Taurine, and how strong the evidence is for each:
- Lowers blood pressureEvidence rating: Limited
- Lowers blood sugarEvidence rating: Limited
- Lowers triglycerides or cholesterolEvidence rating: Limited
- Helps with weight lossEvidence rating: Limited
- Improves exercise performance when taken on its ownEvidence rating: Limited
- Improves focus, memory or reaction timeEvidence rating: Limited
- Improves heart function in people with heart failureEvidence rating: Insufficient
Each rating follows our published rules and the sources cited for it. We don’t add our own medical judgment. How we rate
Safety
Read this before the ratings below.
Risks
- EFSA, the EU food safety agency, assessed taurine as an ingredient of energy drinks in 2009. It concluded that taurine at the levels then used in energy drinks was "not of safety concern". It states that it "does not evaluate the safety of “energy” drinks as such."
- The same EFSA opinion reviews studies of taurine used in medicine and states that "oral daily ingestion of taurine doses in the 3-6 g range for periods up to one year, did not produce adverse health effects." It notes that the main aim of those studies was not to look for side effects.
- EFSA also describes reports of serious effects, including deaths, in people who drank energy drinks, after drinking very large amounts, during exercise, or most often with alcohol. It considers that some could be due to the known side effects of high caffeine intake, and that a causal link with taurine "is lacking scientific evidence".
- A 2024 meta-analysis of randomized trials found no significant difference in side effects between taurine and control groups. Its authors describe the events reported as mild and transient, mainly digestive problems, headaches and tiredness. That result is too uncertain to show a difference either way.
- A 2022 systematic review in heart failure reports no significant safety concerns. The one study it describes in detail gave taurine inside a multivitamin and mineral drink, so the reviewers say the nausea, vomiting and diarrhea seen there are unlikely to be due to taurine.
Safety sources: Source [1]Source [2]Source [3]
What the evidence says
Each claim is rated on its own evidence. Ratings follow the scale on our methodology page.
Lowers blood pressure Evidence rating: Limited
People take it hoping it will bring their blood pressure down.
A 2024 review of 12 small trials in mixed groups found slightly lower blood pressure with taurine; a review of trials in diabetes found no difference. Neither graded certainty.
A 2024 meta-analysis pooled 12 randomized trials that measured blood pressure. The people in them had heart failure or other heart muscle disease, diabetes, borderline or high-normal blood pressure, or high pressure in the blood vessels of the liver, and one trial was in healthy young men. On average, systolic pressure (the top number) was about 4 mmHg lower with taurine than in the comparison groups, and diastolic pressure (the bottom number) about 1.5 mmHg lower.
The systolic results varied widely from trial to trial. In the review's own chart, one trial, in women with heart muscle weakness around childbirth, found higher systolic pressure with taurine. That trial used a taurine-containing solution, and the review does not say how it was given. The reviewers judged no trial at high risk of bias, but most did not report how treatment was concealed when people were assigned, which they counted as some risk of bias. They note that most trials lasted no more than two months.
A 2022 meta-analysis of trials in people with diabetes found no significant difference in systolic or diastolic pressure, from three trials. One of those trials gave taurine together with another supplement, N-acetylcysteine. Three trials are too few to show an effect either way.
Neither review graded how sure it could be (certainty). The 2024 review found lower pressure across mixed groups; the 2022 review found no difference in its three diabetes trials. This page takes the lower reading and rates the claim limited: small, short trials in mixed groups.
Sources: Source [1]Source [2]
Lowers blood sugar Evidence rating: Limited
People with diabetes or high blood sugar take it hoping it will bring their levels down.
Two reviews of small trials, many in type 2 diabetes, found lower fasting glucose with taurine; one also found lower HbA1c. Neither graded certainty.
This claim is about laboratory measures of blood sugar, not about diabetes complications. A 2022 meta-analysis pooled five randomized trials in people with diabetes, four in type 2 and one in type 1. Compared with control groups, it found lower HbA1c, a measure of average blood sugar over recent months. It also found lower fasting blood sugar, from two trials, and lower insulin resistance. One of the five trials in its HbA1c result gave taurine together with another supplement, N-acetylcysteine.
A 2024 meta-analysis of trials in mixed groups found fasting blood sugar about 6 mg/dL lower with taurine, from nine trials. The review's reference list describes one of them as a study in adults after surgery who needed parenteral (intravenous) nutrition. The 2024 reviewers link the lower fasting blood sugar to the trials in people with diabetes, and say the effect "might be less pronounced in those with normal blood sugar regulation".
For HbA1c, the 2024 review's text disagrees with itself. One passage calls the result a significant reduction; another calls it only a marginal benefit. The figures it gives for the result also conflict with each other. This page reports both and does not settle the difference.
The 2022 reviewers say most trials were small and short. Neither review graded certainty, so this page rates the claim limited: small, short trials, mostly in people with diabetes.
Sources: Source [1]Source [2]
Lowers triglycerides or cholesterol Evidence rating: Limited
People take it hoping it will improve their cholesterol and triglyceride numbers.
A 2024 review of mixed groups found lower triglycerides and LDL cholesterol with taurine; a review of trials in diabetes found no significant change. Neither graded certainty.
A 2024 meta-analysis of randomized trials in mixed groups found triglycerides about 18 mg/dL lower with taurine than in comparison groups, from 11 trials. Total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol were also lower. HDL cholesterol showed no significant difference.
The reviewers point out that many of their trials were in people with heart failure, whose usual medicines can themselves change blood fats. They also note that most trials were short.
A 2022 meta-analysis of five trials in people with diabetes found no significant difference in triglycerides, total, LDL or HDL cholesterol. Its authors write that taurine "may have effects on serum lipids", but that their study found no statistical difference. Results that small trials cannot separate from zero are too little evidence to show an effect either way.
The reviews disagree, and neither graded certainty, so this page takes the lower reading and rates the claim limited.
Sources: Source [1]Source [2]
Helps with weight loss Evidence rating: Limited
People take it hoping it will help them lose weight.
Two reviews of small, short trials found no significant change in body weight or BMI with taurine, which is too little evidence to show an effect either way.
A 2024 meta-analysis of randomized trials in mixed groups found no significant difference in body weight or body mass index (BMI) between taurine and comparison groups. Its authors write that taurine "did not appear to significantly affect BW or BMI". They say only one trial, in people with type 2 diabetes, showed a drop in body weight, and that diet and exercise likely matter more.
A 2022 meta-analysis of trials in people with diabetes also found no significant difference in weight, BMI or waist size, each from only two trials. One trial in the weight and waist results gave taurine together with another supplement, N-acetylcysteine.
These are small, short trials. Results this uncertain cannot show whether taurine changes weight, so this page rates the claim limited rather than evidence against.
Sources: Source [1]Source [2]
Improves exercise performance when taken on its own Evidence rating: Limited
Athletes and active people take it hoping it will help them go harder or longer.
A 2025 review of six small trials found a small gain in physical performance with taurine alone, with signs of publication bias and wide uncertainty; it did not grade certainty.
This claim is about taurine on its own, not energy drinks or taurine with caffeine. A 2025 network meta-analysis compared caffeine, taurine and the two together with placebo in randomized trials. Six trials tested taurine alone on physical performance, in healthy young adults the review classes as trained. Each gave a single dose 45 minutes to an hour before testing.
In the review, taurine alone showed a small improvement in physical performance over placebo, similar in size to caffeine alone. The reviewers found no substantial differences between caffeine, taurine and the two together. For endurance tasks, they call the effect of taurine less certain.
The reviewers found signs of publication bias for physical performance, meaning studies with positive results may be more likely to appear in print. Their range of likely results for a future study crossed zero for every treatment. They describe the number of studies as small. The review's headline finding is about taurine taken with caffeine, which this claim does not cover.
The review did not grade certainty, so this page rates the claim limited: a few small trials of single doses.
Sources: Source [1]
Improves focus, memory or reaction time Evidence rating: Limited
People take it hoping it will sharpen their focus and thinking.
A 2026 review of single-dose trials in healthy adults found, at best, small and inconsistent effects of taurine alone and says it cannot be recommended as a reliable cognitive enhancer.
This claim is about short-term test scores in healthy adults after a single dose. A 2026 systematic review found eight randomized trials with 244 healthy adults. Several tested energy drinks or taurine with caffeine, which cannot show what taurine does on its own. Where taurine was tested alone, results were mixed: one trial found better scores on a color-word task and another faster responses on a memory task, while others found no effect on reaction time or attention.
The reviewers write that taurine produced "at best, small and inconsistent improvements in cognitive function", and that most outcomes showed no effect. They conclude that "acute taurine supplementation cannot currently be recommended as a reliable cognitive or mood enhancer".
A 2025 network meta-analysis of caffeine and taurine trials found no clear effect of taurine alone on thinking tests compared with placebo. Only the combination with caffeine showed one.
The 2026 review's funding section names a supplement company, Viridian Nutrition, while its conflicts section says the funding was for unrelated work and the company had no role in the review. This page rates the claim limited: a few small, single-dose trials with mostly null results.
Sources: Source [1]Source [2]
Improves heart function in people with heart failure Evidence rating: Insufficient
People with heart failure take it hoping it will help their heart pump better.
A 2022 systematic review found 11 small studies in heart failure, about half with a placebo group; pooled measures of heart pumping showed no significant difference with taurine.
This claim is about people living with heart failure, not about healthy people. A 2022 systematic review found 11 studies of taurine in heart failure. The reviewers rated only one as high quality. Only about half had a placebo group, and seven came from two research groups that in many cases reported the same patients more than once.
Some studies described better heart function, exercise capacity or symptoms. But only two measures could be pooled across three placebo-controlled studies: the share of blood the heart pumps out with each beat (ejection fraction) and the amount (stroke volume). Neither differed significantly with taurine.
No included study was specific to dilated cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle that the review set out to study. The reviewers write that it "cannot conclude whether taurine supplementation is beneficial" to those patients, and that a clinical trial is needed. One author discloses consulting for companies. This page rates the claim insufficient: too little reliable research to say either way.
Sources: Source [1]
Which form the evidence used
Supplements are sold in several forms. This is what the sources on this page say about them — which form the research used, and any comparison those sources themselves made. Where they made none, this page does not rank the forms.
Taurine supplements, What the sources supportDetails
Most trials in the cited 2024 meta-analysis gave taurine as capsules. Its table lists others that used a tablet, a powder, a sachet and two taurine-containing solutions. The review does not say how the solutions were given, but its reference list describes one of those trials as a study in adults after surgery who needed parenteral (intravenous) nutrition. In the cited 2025 exercise review, taurine on its own came as capsules in five trials and in a drink in one. None of the cited sources compared forms of taurine with each other, so this page cannot compare them. Source [1]Source [2]
Seafood and meat, Details
EFSA, the EU food safety agency, states that taurine "occurs naturally in food, especially in seafood and meat", and that intake from a strict vegetarian diet was found to be low or negligible. None of the cited reviews studied taurine from food. Source [1]
Sources
- Taurine reduces the risk for metabolic syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trialsNutrition & Diabetes, 2024 · Meta-analysis · Primary source
- The effects of taurine supplementation on diabetes mellitus in humans: A systematic review and meta-analysisFood Chemistry: Molecular Sciences, 2022 · Meta-analysis · Primary source
- Caffeine and taurine: a systematic review and network meta-analysis of their individual and combined effects on physical capacity, cognitive function, and physiological markersJournal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2025 · Meta-analysis · Primary source
- Cognitive Effects of Taurine and Related Sulphur-Containing Amino Acids: A Systematic Review of Human Trials and Considerations for Plant-Based Dietary TransitionsFoods, 2026 · Systematic review · Primary source
- Effect of taurine administration on symptoms, severity, or clinical outcome of dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure in humans: a systematic reviewWellcome Open Research, 2022 · Systematic review · Primary source
- The use of taurine and D-glucurono-γ-lactone as constituents of the so-called "energy" drinksEFSA Panel on Food Additives and Nutrient Sources added to Food (EFSA Journal), 2009 · Health authority summary · Primary source
Page history
Show all 2 changes to this page
- — Published.
- — First drafted. Blood pressure, blood sugar, triglycerides or cholesterol, weight loss, exercise performance on its own, and focus or memory rated limited; heart function in heart failure rated insufficient.