How much taurine do you need per day?

There is no official daily recommendation for taurine alone for healthy adults. The WHO does have a combined standard for all sulphur-containing amino acids (methionine, cysteine and taurine together): 13 mg per kilogram of body weight per day. Taking two to three times that amount is still considered safe, unless you were born prematurely, have an enzyme disorder, or have reduced liver function.

The body produces taurine itself from sulphur-containing amino acids, but that production capacity is limited. In healthy people following a varied diet, this generally does not lead to a deficiency. That changes when you get virtually no taurine from food: in one study, vegans had average blood levels of 45 micromol/L, compared with 58 micromol/L in non-vegans, and their urinary excretion was dramatically lower at 266 versus 903 micromol per day. The body's own production therefore only partially compensates for an absent dietary intake.

For people who receive long-term artificial nutrition without taurine, the picture is clearer: their taurine levels dropped after an average of 44 months to between 35 and 49 percent of normal values. For this group, taurine is considered essential and should be added to their nutrition. The same applies to premature infants: taurine in formula milk improved their fat absorption and brain development.

Whether extra taurine does anything for heart health or ageing is not yet sufficiently substantiated to attach a dosage recommendation to it. The indications are there, but they are still too preliminary for a concrete recommendation. The same applies to muscle function and protection against oxidative damage: the findings come primarily from animal research.