Taurine Decreases Oxidative Stress After Eccentric Exercise in Rats: Human Equivalent Dose ca. 3.5g-4g

Regular readers of the SuppVersity will certainly be familiar with the sulfur-amino-acid taurine and its various benefits on exercise performance, insulin sensitivity and weight management. So, it may not come as a surprise that a recent study conducted by young scientists from the Postgraduate Program in Health Sciences at the Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense in Brazil found that 14-days "preloading" with 300mg/kg taurine per day reduced the exercise induced increase in oxidative stress in rats.

Taurine supplementation was found to decrease superoxide radical production, CK [creatine kinase], lipoperoxidation and carbonylation levels and increased total thiol content in skeletal muscle, but it did not affect antioxidant enzyme activity after EE [excentric exercise].

It is rather speculative, whether standard dose equivalent calculations apply to one situation or another - IF they did, you could probably get away with as little as 3.5-4.0g of taurine per day to achieve similar results. It would however warrant further investigations to find out, how, for example, the consumption of beta-alanine (cf. News on the Taurine vs. Beta Alanine Antagonism) would increase the need for supplemental taurine.

Additional advice: Do not buy your taurine in caps. Rather go for some bulk powder. It is cheap as hell and, at the suggested dose of 4.0g, a 500g pot will last you 125 days. And just another thing: Better take your taurine in divided doses. I've heard of people getting severe diarrhea from doses greater than 2g.

Rat Study Suggests Increased Selenium Requirements in Athletes

Calcium and magnesium, zinc and maybe chromium those are the top sellers among minerals and trace-minerals. Others, such as selenium are likely to be overlooked by the average fitness maniac, who says to him/herself "Selenium? Its in my multi, anyway!"

Yet, a recent study published in Biological Trace Element Research (Akil. 2010) reports well measurable effects of selenium supplementation to rats on an exhaustive exercise regimen. The scientists measured the impact of acute swimming exercise on erythrocyte-reduced glutathione (GSH), serum glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) and lactate levels of the animals and found:

Results of the study indicate that the increase in free radical production and lactate levels due to acute swimming exercise in rats might be offset by selenium supplementation. Selenium supplementation may be important in that it supports the antioxidant system in physical activity.

On a side note: With its importance in the deiodinasation of T4 to the active thyriod hormone T3, the provision of adequate selenium supply is also of great importance to maintain a healthy thyroid metabolism. If this means that it is necessary to consume 0.98 mg Selenium /kg body weight per day (this is the human equivalent dose to the dosage the Turkish scientists used in rats), is yet questionable. Dependend on ones diet and other supplements a quality selenium supplement or an anti-oxidant complex, would however be worth considering.