Why Taurine and Glycine Matter More As You Age
Sep 20, 20255 minute read
As we get older, staying healthy and energetic becomes even more important. While exercise, sleep, and a balanced diet play a big role, specific nutrients can give our bodies extra support. Two of the most overlooked yet powerful nutrients for healthy aging are taurine and glycine.
Your body can make both of these amino acids on its own. But as we age, natural production can slow down, and our diets don’t always make up the difference. This is especially true for people with lower protein intake, including vegetarians and vegans.
That’s where smart supplementation can come in.
What Are Taurine and Glycine?
Taurine is a sulfur-rich amino acid mostly found in the brain, heart, and muscles. It’s not used to build protein, but it plays a role in several vital functions. You’ll find it mainly in animal-based foods like fish, meat, and milk, and in smaller amounts, certain seaweeds.
Glycine is the simplest amino acid in structure, but it does a lot behind the scenes. Your body uses it to create important compounds and maintain many systems. It’s found in both animal and plant protein sources.
Research shows that low taurine and glycine levels are linked to higher risks of conditions like heart disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. That makes these nutrients worth paying attention to as we age.
Taurine’s Role in Healthy Aging
Taurine supports your body in many ways, including:
Metabolic Health
Taurine helps with healthy blood sugar, cholesterol, and fat metabolism. In a large global study, people with higher taurine intake had healthier blood pressure, cholesterol, and BMI.
Mitochondrial Support
Taurine protects the mitochondria, the energy producers inside your cells, keeping them running efficiently as you age.
Brain Function and Mood
Maurine acts like a signaling helper in the brain. It helps regulate mood, memory, and learning and may protect the brain from overstimulation.
Heart and Blood Vessel Health
It helps blood vessels relax and improves nitric oxide levels, which supports healthy blood pressure.
Antioxidant and Inflammation Control
Taurine reduces oxidative stress and calms inflammation by helping your body manage free radicals and inflammatory markers like TNF-α and IL-6. It also helps reduce harmful compounds like advanced glycation end-products (AGEs), which are linked to aging.
Taurine helps your body digest fats, supports liver detox, and maintains fluid balance within cells.
Glycine’s Role in Healthy Aging
Glycine may be small in size, but its benefits are wide-reaching:
Building Blocks for Key Compounds
Your body uses glycine to make creatine (for muscles), glutathione (a master antioxidant), heme (for red blood cells), and collagen (for skin, joints, and bones).
Inflammation and Oxidative Stress Support
As a glutathione precursor, glycine helps fight age-related inflammation, sometimes called “inflammaging.” Since glutathione levels decline with age, glycine becomes even more important.
Nervous System and Sleep
Glycine supports restful sleep and a calm nervous system. It acts as a natural calming agent and supports the NMDA receptors that affect memory, mood, and cognitive health. One study found that 3 grams of glycine before bed improved next-day energy, focus, and mental clarity.
Joint and Tissue Support
Glycine helps your body build and repair collagen, which is essential for strong tendons, cartilage, and bones. It’s been shown to help with recovery from tendon issues and support cartilage regeneration in people with joint discomfort.
Digestion and Nutrient Absorption
Like taurine, glycine supports the digestion of fats and absorption of fat-soluble nutrients by helping form healthy bile salts.
Why Taurine and Glycine Work Better Together
Taurine and glycine each have their own benefits, but together, they’re even more powerful. Here’s why:
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Both support cell health by reducing oxidative stress and protecting your mitochondria
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Both help calm the body’s inflammatory response
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Both assist in neurotransmitter function, helping with mood, sleep, and brain clarity
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Together, they offer strong support for heart health, metabolic health, and overall energy
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Both support fat digestion and detox, which is essential for healthy aging
Their synergy offers a well-rounded way to care for your body as you age, whether your goals are better energy, fewer aches, or simply aging with more comfort and clarity.
Aging Well Starts With What You Feed Your Cells
Adding taurine and glycine to your daily wellness routine may help support everything from energy and metabolism to brain and joint health. While food sources matter, it’s not always easy to get enough from diet alone, especially with modern eating habits and age-related changes in nutrient production.
That’s where high-quality, science-backed supplements can make a real difference.
At Curated Wellness, you’ll find a handpicked selection of taurine and glycine supplements from the world’s best wellness brands. Every product is vetted by experts for quality, safety, and effectiveness.
Top Recommended Taurine and Glycine Supplements:
NAC + Glycine powder - Pure Encapsulations
N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine and Glycine combination to support glutathione production, immune defense, and detoxification.
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Taurine is a conditionally essential amino acid that is not utilized for protein synthesis, but is mainly found free in most tissues, especially throughout the nervous system.* It functions in tissues by stabilizing cell membranes and aiding the transport of potassium, sodium, calcium and magnesium in and out of cells.
The amino acid glycine plays a key role in maintaining a healthy central nervous system (CNS).* It is considered one of the most important inhibitory neurotransmitters in the CNS, particularly in the brainstem and spinal cord.* Studies show glycine may help improve memory retrieval in individuals with sleep-depriving conditions such as jet lag and overwork.
