I tried creatine before finding taurine. Creatine did not help with fatigue or improve my workouts. Before I started taurine, I did 18 months of a variety of workouts (low and high intensity) without seeing any improvement. I was still struggling with 10lb weights for overhead presses after 18 months. By that time, I had lost muscle mass and maintained fat mass which is exactly the opposite of what I was working out for. It's what clued me in that there was a problem with mitochondrial function. That was a hard lesson to learn. Exercise with poorly functioning mitochondria means muscle loss (used up for glucose) and a starvation response including a drop in daily calorie requirement (weight gain). The opposite is true when mitochondria has everything it needs to burn fat. From that point, it was easy to find the research about improving mitochondrial repair and biogenesis which meant providing the missing rate limiting nutrients and exercise.Thank you for your message above. I am considering your suggestion for Taurine. I was thinking of creatine. what are your thoughts. I have access to books through YMCAFIT Uk and other various publication and I will research about Taurine. I am just praying that it won't upset my gutIt is very sensitive.
There is one argument for supplementing with some creatine. To make creatine, the body uses a lot of methyl groups which are required for everything from DNA and cellular repair to detoxification of external and endogenous toxic compounds. Methylation declines with age. Taking creatine frees up some of the methyl groups to work elsewhere so everything stays in balance. I add it to my water on strength days when I remember.
I can take taurine on an empty stomach without any problem. You can take it with food. It is absorbed the same with and without food. Start with small doses if you decide to go ahead. I wouldn't go for more than 2 to 3 grams if you're average size like me. The highest concentration of taurine is in the retina followed by the brain and heart. The kidneys use it to reduce loss of minerals like calcium and magnesium. They also tightly control the amount of taurine in the body. They preserve all available taurine under deficiency conditions but get rid of up to 40% of it when there is excess. That why the dose is important. The 1.5 to 2 gr dose solved the issues I was having with my heart. My maximal heart rate is back where it was when I was 20.
It will take months to return to normal assuming that no other nutrients are missing. Safety studies have been conducted with 6 grams of taurine for 6 months without any issues but I wouldn't ever go that high. Supplements are not regulated like pharmaceuticals. Make sure to buy from a manufacturer that uses independent third party testing for every lot. Since we're all genetically different, aim to get routine blood tests to make sure everything is normal especially kidneys and liver. That's what I did. HTH.
Please don't take anything until you understand how the body clears it and what doses are appropriate. I don't have a book to recommend. I read the raw research.
