More Info On Taurine And Constipation, Please

RePeatRePeat

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I posted this morning elsewhere, on an old post. I repeat myself here, hoping for helpful info.

Taurine is something I tried a few years ago. 1 gram gave me nearly explosive diarrhea so I never touched it again. Until a few weeks ago, that is. I have been slowly getting healthier and taurine is now something I cannot imagine going without. I started with 500 mg and now use 1 g daily. BUT, the rabbit poop constipation is awful. I had it even with 500 mg, so it is not a question of dosage. Does anyone know why this happens?

I started eating a lot more butter thinking it would help. It moistens the track a bit but does nothing to prevent the compact little balls and only slightly helps to evacuate them. Before taking taurine, I had not been eating a carrot salad because I had daily, easy, full bowel movements every morning and sometimes again later in the day. Two days ago I began eating a raw carrot in the afternoon. Too soon to tell, but I am hoping that solves the problem.

Again, does anyone know why taurine has this effect? It must not happen with everyone or it would not be so popular! It is great for keeping me calm and thinking more productively. If it helps produce more bile then fats are being digested more easily and completely, I would guess. Wouldn't that make for even better poops? Does one simply need to consume more fluid daily when taking taurine? What is the mechanism behind it pulling every possible bit of fluid from the intestines?

Your help is appreciated.
 

Blossom

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This is a decent medical editorial article that mentions taurine, bile acids, diarrhea and constipation.
https://www.cghjournal.org/article/S1542-3565(17)31358-7/pdf
Less emphasized is the consid- eration of ileal malabsorption of BAs (BAMs) as a possible cause of diarrhea. In this issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Vijayvargiya et al1 at the Mayo Clinic raised the possibility that BAs may play a role in a subgroup of patients with functional con- stipation (FC) and constipation-associated irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C).
The primary BAs, cholic acid and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA), are synthesized in the liver from cholesterol and largely conjugated with glycine and taurine.
 
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RePeatRePeat

RePeatRePeat

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Thank you for the reply, Blossom. I wonder how many other folks on the forum have a similar reaction to Taurine?

I never thought I had IBS-C and everything was fine until my recent love affair with Taurine. The article says people with IBS-C have less bile acids in their stool. Taurine would increase the amount of conjugated bile acids, which have a laxative effect. I am not sure I buy their idea that perhaps too much colon absorption of BAs is the problem since I didn't have the problem with even less bile acids (before taurine). They do say it's possible that "slow colon transit could lead to deconjugation of BA by sulfation- producing bacteria, thus neutralizing the laxation effects of secretory BAs", but this seems to be backwards thinking since the slow transit time comes before the decongugation. I am increasing conjugation and then getting slow transit time. Maybe I am not looking at this right.

I am still going to take taurine (1g daily) and find an answer to the resulting constipation. Hoping the carrot will help. Have started substituting coconut oil for most of the extra butter I am consuming to see if it is more effective.

I hope anyone else who has faced this problem with taurine will chime in.
 

Blossom

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Thank you for the reply, Blossom. I wonder how many other folks on the forum have a similar reaction to Taurine?

I never thought I had IBS-C and everything was fine until my recent love affair with Taurine. The article says people with IBS-C have less bile acids in their stool. Taurine would increase the amount of conjugated bile acids, which have a laxative effect. I am not sure I buy their idea that perhaps too much colon absorption of BAs is the problem since I didn't have the problem with even less bile acids (before taurine). They do say it's possible that "slow colon transit could lead to deconjugation of BA by sulfation- producing bacteria, thus neutralizing the laxation effects of secretory BAs", but this seems to be backwards thinking since the slow transit time comes before the decongugation. I am increasing conjugation and then getting slow transit time. Maybe I am not looking at this right.

I am still going to take taurine (1g daily) and find an answer to the resulting constipation. Hoping the carrot will help. Have started substituting coconut oil for most of the extra butter I am consuming to see if it is more effective.

I hope anyone else who has faced this problem with taurine will chime in.
Maybe your body is just adjusting to the change in your bile from taurine? Hopefully you will get more input.
 

Blossom

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Here’s an interesting post I found that might help explain your experience.
I have been having a great time taking Taurine. At first it disturbed my sleep and gave me intestinal difficulties because it was increasing my bile output by quite a lot. But then I took my copper supplement around the same time I took Taurine, and the excess bile secretion stopped immediately. I thought this was really odd, so I started reading about Taurine's effects on copper and various minerals. It turns out that if you cannot process copper properly, supplemental taurine fixes this issue, and Taurine is very specifically necessary for repairing many liver conditions (I have had elevated Triglycerides for some time) It seems from a Peat point of view that the Taurine does not really eliminate copper, but helps the body utilize it, and I theorize, transport it into cells to make it viable for various enzymatic functions.
http://www.pubfacts.com/detail/19640654 ... nd-healing.
viewtopic.php?f=75&t=6406&hilit=taurine
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5119&p=59860&hilit=taurine#p59860

Turns out that taurine is also crucial to maintaining proper electrolyte balance, and basically without Taurine your electrolytes go haywire. Dr. Peat's work is often focused on metabolic problems associated with loss of magnesium and the inappropriate excitation of cells by calcium and sodium. Turns out Taruine is magnesium sparing and helps regulate calcium, sodium and potassium too! I can only imagine that if you supplement these minerals while taking Taurine, your health would improve at a more rapid rate as your body would actually be able to hold on to them.
http://www.coem.com/backup03.11.10/envi ... rine.shtml

Hypothyroid/obese/diabetics have naturally very low levels of Taurine. Taurine supplementation helps prevent obesity and complications from diabetes.
Taurine improves obesity-induced inflammatory responses and modulates the unbalanced phenotype of adipose tissue macrophages. - PubMed - NCBI
http://www.lef.org/Magazine/2013/6/The- ... ?checked=1

I recently discovered that amino acid ratios in my diet have more potent and longer lasting effects on weight, sleep, libido, etc, and are all even further supported by thyroid supplement. Taking Taurine, Lysine, and Glycine specifically has had very positive improvements in my condition, and now I seem to feel an even better improvement in taking Taurine in addition to various mineral supplements, especially copper and potassium. I also take Zinc, eggshell calcium, and sea salt.
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6217

Here is a study that found a direct relation between platelet Taurine level and thyroid status
Correlation of platelet taurine levels with thyroid function. - PubMed - NCBI

And last but certainly not least, Taurine increases testosterone production and libido in males (and probably has a very similar positive hormone association if females). This I can personally attest to.
Taurine enhances the sexual response and mating ability in aged male rats. - PubMed - NCBI

If anyone else has specific experience with Taurine, especially it's relation to copper and liver function and/or other specific health issues, please post about them.
 

CLASH

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@repeat
Bile acids are somewhat antibiotic in the intestine, and the pebble like stool is often associated with decreased bacterial fermentation in the colon. Perhaps the taurine by inducing bile acids is having an antibiotic effect.
 

Frankdee20

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Can't you just take Magnesium Citrate ? Like 400-600 Mg A DAY ?
 
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RePeatRePeat

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Blossom, that is so interesting that you sent natedawwg's post. It was that very post a few years ago that encouraged me to try taurine the first time. I didn't think to look at it again, I was just searching "taurine constipation". Thank you.

Clash, that is a fascinating angle to look at and something I did not know. So, I think you and Blossom are right that some good process is happening that is causing temporary awful constipation.

Frankdee20, I only use magnesium chloride because all other magnesiums give me unpredictable loose bowels. I cannot take the chance of needing to go to the restroom at any random moment because my work is such that I cannot suddenly leave my station. If I knew I could use mag citrate before bed and have a normal bowel movement in the AM when I wake up, I would do that.

I noticed this morning that the pebbles are getting a little larger, so maybe my intestines are acclimating, clearing, healing.
 

LegendeLic

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you could try even lower dosages..and see if it still gives you the benefits without the downside of constipation? @Mossy reported on 25-50mg in this thread
TAURINE The Key To Restoring Metabolic Function?

I have the same problem... 500mg constipate me (also half a red bull)...I reorderd some taurine now to see what 25-50mg will do.
I tried NAC also, it provides similar benefits but not the same, also constipates me a little but not as much even in 600-1200mg doses. There is a study that shows NAC helps insuline sensitivity peripheral and TAU does it in the liver.
I think i want to combine the two... http://www.mccordresearch.com/sites/default/files/research/NAC-and-taurine-2.pdf
 
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RePeatRePeat

RePeatRePeat

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Legend, that is a reasonable idea, but I am not reasonable enough to do it, LOL! I love what taurine does for me and would hate to go below 500mg in case I don't get the continued benefits. It has really helped with mental clarity, mood elevation, hopefulness, digestion (I can eat more things without any indigestion), and more energy! If the constipation doesn't really get better I will be forced to try your idea.

Combining NAC and taurine sounds like you will have some great results. Let us know how it goes.
 

Mossy

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This is insterestung to see others are getting constipation on taurine as well. I even get it on the very low doses. Apart from the constipation, it’s probably the best supplement I’ve taken, and even then it’s not perfect (for me). In general, I do have constipation issues but it had improved a bit. I say had because I’m dealing with it again. I’m not taking taurine currently but would like to. @RePeatRePeat, using the same approach you suggested, I do have fats, tallow and butter, in a light coffee everyday, but that did not solve it for me. But, this is in relation to constipation not caused by taurine. I may just up the tallow and butter.

It’s also interesting to read how taurine potentiates minerals. They do sell a magnesium taurate, which I’ll make on my own sometimes. I haven’t taken that in a while, and was not aware that taurine was causing constipation when I did; so, it may be the solution to the problem. I’ll have to try that and report back.

@RePeatRePeat How do you take your magnesium chloride, external or internal? If internal, I’d be curious to know if you use the flakes that note “not for internal use”.
 
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RePeatRePeat

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Hello Mossy, sorry for the delayed response but it's been a long work day. The magnesium chloride I use is a liquid designed for internal use. I have used the spray at times if I have sore muscles.

I slowed down my fats and daily carrot to see what would happen and constipation started to return after almost going away. Now I am going to eat a daily carrot and consume the amount of fats I consumed before taking Taurine to see what happens. Hoping carrots are the key because they are less expensive than good fats!

I think the taurine is keeping me from sleeping deeply and I wake up feeling tired and I yawn all day. Tonight I will skip it and take it in the morning instead.

I am also starting to feel weepy and melancholy, yesterday almost depressed. All I can think is maybe because my bowels aren't moving as well as usual, my estrogen is going up. NOOOOOOOO! :arghh:

Will report later how everything works for me in case it is useful to anyone else playing with taurine.
 

Mossy

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Hello Mossy, sorry for the delayed response but it's been a long work day. The magnesium chloride I use is a liquid designed for internal use. I have used the spray at times if I have sore muscles.

I slowed down my fats and daily carrot to see what would happen and constipation started to return after almost going away. Now I am going to eat a daily carrot and consume the amount of fats I consumed before taking Taurine to see what happens. Hoping carrots are the key because they are less expensive than good fats!

I think the taurine is keeping me from sleeping deeply and I wake up feeling tired and I yawn all day. Tonight I will skip it and take it in the morning instead.

I am also starting to feel weepy and melancholy, yesterday almost depressed. All I can think is maybe because my bowels aren't moving as well as usual, my estrogen is going up. NOOOOOOOO! :arghh:

Will report later how everything works for me in case it is useful to anyone else playing with taurine.
No problem. Thank’s for the magnesium info.

Taurine helps me to sleep, but I don’t know what the effectiveness would be every night, because I only take it occassionally as needed for sleep. Maybe adding magnesium could help you to sleep better with it.

As for yawning and being tired, taurine will do that to me if taken during the day, which makes sense, considering energy drinks have it to counter the caffeine.

Yeah, slow moving bowels are the worst—definitely good to work on getting that moving. Coffee with fat seems to be effective enough for me, to prevent serious problems, though far from perfect.
 

LegendeLic

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reporting in...
first dose 400-500mg taurine w/ 300mg NAC at morning felt okay during the day. second dose same mg at night, made me sleepy... woke earlier than usual during the night, still had somewhat good sleep.
next morning same dose...constantly tired - no taurine or NAC dose at night, next morning still feeling sleepy af. at this point bowel movements definitely slowed down.
kind of torn about what to do next, i think i will try 600mg NAC only at night and see how it goes. maybe will integrate lower doses of taurine only at night dose. but it's hard to dose...since i only have 1g scoops.
I totally know that the view here on NAC is a bit iffy, but I tried a lot of things on here and it seems the only thing that somewhat helps. also found that study in relation to pufa or high fat... although i don't think i eat high fat - N-acetylcysteine Protects Mice from High Fat Diet-induced Metabolic Disorders. - PubMed - NCBI
 

Inaut

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Has anybody else tried msm with taurine? I’ve been taking it in this combo lately and like it so far
 
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RePeatRePeat

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I haven't got this figured out completely yet, but wanted to give an update so far. I am still using 1g taurine daily, usually taken before bed. I have varied how much fat I eat and I don't really think that is the solution to the constipation Taurine caused for me. It seems to make no real difference in my bowel movements.

I realized, however, that I had stopped consuming my usual 2g of lysine daily (1g AM, 1g PM) a couple of days after starting the Taurine. That coincided with increasing lethargy and emotionality - basically depression. It seemed weird since at first I felt more energetic and calm with the Taurine. I thought maybe the constipation was preventing estrogen from being flushed out. Wrong. As soon as I resumed the Lysine I felt fine again. I think it may be part or all of what is helping the constipation resolve.

However, I have been increasing my magnesium chloride as well. I used to only be able to take 100mg, 200mg at the very most, or I would become overwhelmingly sleepy , constantly yawning. But, with Taurine, I notice I can consume more and more without feeling that way. Last night I used 400mg and feel fine today! So, this may be the other element helping get rid of constipation. Before you say that of course Mg helps constipation, I will say that MgCl has never had any noticeable effect on bowel movements for me in the past. That is why I have used it over other kinds. But, now I can use so much more so it could be doing its magnesium magic on my bowels.:partydance

Could it be that Lysine is lowering Serotonin which could have gone up when I stopped the lysine and the serotonin caused constipation? Is it possible Taurine is helping to finally make truly good use of the magnesium I am consuming so it is now helping with my constipation? Or, maybe the taurine was helping me use what magnesium I had and my body didn't have enough and so constipation happened? I do not know for sure but things are indeed improving. I will report back when I have more news.
 
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RePeatRePeat

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Okay, here is the latest, in case anyone is interested. This whole Taurine experiment has been difficult and yet eye opening.

I kept feeling worse and worse with Taurine. I started having frequent horrible irritability, even though the resumption of Lysine helped my overall mood. I played with varying amounts of Taurine and even on a small amount (250mg) I had constipation, great difficulty sleeping (and bad dreams when I did), lethargy all day, and horrifyingly lower temperatures! I had been trying to raise my temps which were sometimes normal before Taurine but mostly in the low 98's for at least a year. Now I couldn't even get into the 98's, spending most of the day in the low 97's if I was lucky, usually in the 96's! Sometimes it would be in the 94's and 95's. I could not figure out what was going on and just confused myself with questions and convoluted theories to make sense of it. Keep reading for what the problem really is.

Anything I would try would be good for one day and then either not work or make things worse. Taking magnesium was definitely important for constipation but then I noticed horrible loose bowels if I took more than 100mg. Lysine helped me with not being depressed but didn't stop my irritability. Lots of coconut oil started to help the constipation and then didn't. I added Panquinone thinking it would help my energy and stopped after one use because everything got even worse. I knew all these things were wonderful tools but I wasn't using them right, somehow. Or they were wrong for me right now.

I thought the daytime lethargy was from not sleeping but it wasn't just being sleepy all day. It was body fatigue. Suddenly going upstairs was painful and slow. Actually difficult enough that I would use the rail to partly pull myself up as I stepped. And then my muscles would ache.

Holy crap - what was going on? So, I decided to stop Taurine. I stopped my Pansterone and Lanosterol. Obviously stopped Panquinone. I continued magnesium 100mg nightly. I lowered my fats to how it was before Taurine. All I use for supplements is Lysine, Tyromax (which if I lower, as I tried again to do, I get even more tired, sleepless, gain weight, and get depressed), Vit D and K2. My bowel movements began to be more regular again. My fatigue was not quite as bad but not much better. Sleep maybe a little better, not much. Irritability just as bad, maybe not as frequently through the day. Temps? Still in the toilet!

Maybe, I thought, the low temps were low blood sugar and that was fueling the irritability. I always felt better after eating. So, I decided to test my blood sugar. After doing the low carb high fat thing about 5 years ago I wrecked my digestion further and also started having morning glucose of 102-105. I started eating Peat and stopped testing it. Tested two days ago when I woke up and WOW. Morning glucose was 133. What a shock. I thought it was going to be too low!

Next day I tested when I woke up at 4am as I always do and have trouble falling asleep...133 again. Same when I got up at 7am. Tested randomly in the day and was either 105 or 114 most of the time. Today I tested mornings at 133 again and 2 hours after bfast and lunch - 115 and 117. Pretty normal. 3 more hours later I was getting irritable and thought I needed food. Glucose 102.

All these years "Peating" I thought I was becoming a sugar burner but I guess not. I realize now I have insensitivity to insulin (insulin resistance - had no idea). I knew I had blood sugar dysregulation but I thought it was too low most of the time. I am actually a bit confused now. Maybe it is clear to some of you and you can give me insight into this. I have a lot of work to do that I thought I was doing all these years, but apparently not! Any help is appreciated.

It's a lot for me to rethink. I am going to do some blood work and look at a few things (insulin, cortisol, thyroid, iron/ferritin) to see where I am in comparison to last tests a couple of years ago. Going to lower fat. I always feel awful on low fat and now I know why - I can't burn sugar. But I need to become a sugar burner. Maybe when I accomplish that I can revisit Taurine.
 

Blossom

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I decided to test my blood sugar. After doing the low carb high fat thing about 5 years ago I wrecked my digestion further and also started having morning glucose of 102-105. I started eating Peat and stopped testing it. Tested two days ago when I woke up and WOW. Morning glucose was 133.
I’m glad you decided to check. Please keep us posted.
 

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