Taurine is found in energy drinks Peter Dazeley/Getty Images
Taurine is found in energy drinks Peter Dazeley/Getty Images© Provided by INSIDER
  • A study found that taurine supplements helped monkeys become healthier and mice and worms live longer.
  • Mice given taurine lived up to 12% longer than those who weren't. 
  • But taking taurine supplements for longevity is not recommended until trials on humans have taken place.

A nutrient produced by animals including humans could be the key to a longer and healthier life, according to a new study.

The purpose of the study published on Thursday in the journal Science was to uncover whether levels of taurine — yes, the stuff you get in energy drinks — in the blood affects aging. So the team measured concentrations of the amino acid during the aging process in several animals, and also studied the potential effects of supplementing it.

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Tech execs like Bryan Johnson and Sam Altman are optimizing their diets to live longer. Here's what experts say to eat to expand your lifespan, from pomegranates to red onions.

  • As a quest for longevity sweeps the nation, people are taking supplements and prescription pills to reverse aging.
  • Research shows that diet also plays a role in determining — and even increasing — a person's lifespan. 
  • Here's a list of fruits, vegetables, spices, and drinks that experts say can lead to a longer life. 

Some billionaires, like Elon Musk, opt for a donut for breakfast and barbecue for dinner.

Others, like biotech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson, methodically prepare smoothies with compounds like creatine, spermidine, collagen peptides, and consume copious amounts of vegetables. Tech billionaires clearly don't have similar diets, or even goals for their health. Still, those like Johnson aren't abiding by fastidious nutrition plans simply to stay healthy — they're aiming to live longer. 

And though there's certainly an overlap between eating for general health and eating for longevity, Dr. Anant Vinjamoori, chief medical officer of longevity-focused healthcare company Modern Age, told Insider there are also a few key differences.  

Mind your protein intake

Vinjamoori suggests looking at protein intake as an example. 

"Protein is essential for building and maintaining muscle mass, and having adequate muscle mass is important for healthy aging." At the same time, Vinjamoori said, "protein intake is also known to work against some of the beneficial, restorative pathways in our body."

That idea is corroborated by the work of Dan Buettner, who founded the longevity brand Blue Zones. Buettner spent years studying the habits of those in what are called "Blue Zones," regions of the world where people tend to live to the age of 100. 

Across all five Blue Zones — Loma Linda, California; Nicoya, Costa Rica; Sardinia, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan — Buettner and his team found that people consume less protein (especially animal protein) than the rest of the world. 

Go vegetarian or vegan

David Sinclair, a Harvard Medical School professor and longevity researcher, takes the argument against animal protein one step further, contending that the best way to live longer is by dropping meat entirely.In an interview with The Knowledge Project Podcast last December, Sinclair said that high animal protein diets may help people look and feel great, but only in the short term.

"I'm convinced, and the data shows it from population studies, that a carnivorous diet is not a longevity producing diet in the long run," he said. 

Several powerful figures in the tech industry don't eat meat either. OpenAI's Sam Altman is vegetarian while Twitter co-founder Biz Stone is vegan.

Breaking it down to the cellular level 

Vinjamoori said that it can also be helpful to think about eating for longevity from the cellular level. "I start with the question of what cellular processes I want to optimize, determine which compounds have been shown in research to optimize those processes, and then to find foods that have high concentrations of those compounds," he said. 

Insider set out to figure exactly which foods would optimize those processes, and ultimately, help you live longer. Read more, below. 

Like humans, both mice and monkeys naturally produce taurine and levels decline with age — the study found that taurine levels in elderly people were 80% lower than in younger humans.

The team gave mice daily doses of taurine, and found they lived 10 to 12% — or three to four months — longer than those who weren't. They made similar findings in worms. 

Taurine also appeared to have benefits including suppressing age-related weight gain in female mice, increasing energy levels and bone mass, improving strength, and reducing depression-like and anxious behaviors.

Related video: Good2Know: Study Says Taurine Could Be 'Elixir of Life' (Dailymotion)

The team gave taurine supplements to middle-aged rhesus monkeys and saw similar health benefits, although the study wasn't long enough to measure longevity.

The study also found that a bout of exercise appeared to increase concentrations of taurine in the blood of both athletes and sedentary people, which could explain the antiaging effects of exercise, the authors said.

We don't know if taurine can help humans live longer 

Vijay Yadav, the study's lead author and professor of genetics and development at Columbia University, said: "This study suggests that taurine could be an elixir of life within us that helps us live longer and healthier lives."

But this does not mean we should be knocking back energy drinks in the name of longevity just yet. Not only because they tend to be filled with sugar — drinking lots of sugary drinks is linked to early death — but it has not yet been tested on human lifespan.

Only a randomized clinical trial in people will provide answers, Yadav said.

Taurine is used in the body for energy production and to process salts and minerals. The study comes on the back of previous research that found taurine deficiency during early life in some animals was linked to problems with skeletal muscles, eyes, and the nervous system in similar ways to aging-related disorders. 

Ilaria Bellantuono, professor of musculoskeletal aging at the University of Sheffield, UK, who was not involved in the study, said a clinical trial on humans is vital to see if taurine supplements are effective, if there are side effects to taking them, how often they need to be taken, and from what age.

She also said that the research was conducted on mice the age equivalent of 50-year-old humans who were still quite healthy, and so more research needs to be done in older animals with more signs of aging.

We can't actually infer that much from this study on the impact it will have on humans, she said, and we definitely should not start taking taurine supplements yet until more research has been carried out.