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Make darker cuts of poultry, such as legs, part of your heart healthy diet [Image: 4028mdk09 - Wikimedia Commons]

Eat more dark poultry meat to protect against heart disease

Natural Health News — Forget all those sugary ‘energy drinks with added taurine. The dark meat of poultry contains natural, beneficial taurine that can help protect against coronary heart disease (CHD)

The analysis, published online in the European Journal of Nutrition, used data and samples from the NYU Women’s Health Study. The original study enrolled more than 14,000 healthy women, 34 to 65 years of age, between 1985 and 1991 at a breast cancer screening centre in New York City.

The comprehensive data collected allowed researchers to evaluate the effects of taurine, a naturally-occurring nutrient found in the dark meat of turkey and chicken, as well as in some fish and shellfish, on CHD in women with high cholesterol. Blood taurine levels were measured at the beginning of the study in 1986 and again in 2006.

Better for ‘at risk’ women

Results showed that while higher taurine intake from food sources was not protective overall it was associated with significantly lower CHD risk among women with high blood pressure.

In this group of women, high levels of serum taurine were 60% less likely to develop or die from CHD in the study, compared to women with lower serum taurine levels.

Coronary heart disease is the leading killer of American men and women, causing one in five deaths. Also known as coronary artery disease, it is caused by the build-up of plaque in the arteries to the heart. Large prospective epidemiologic studies have provided evidence that dietary modification can reduce the risk of CHD.

Some animal studies that indicate taurine may be beneficial to cardiovascular disease, this is the first published prospective study to look at serum taurine and CHD in humans.

Food source is best

The source of the taurine was important says lead researcher Yu Chen, PhD, MPH, associate professor of epidemiology at NYU School of Medicine, part of NYU Langone Medical Center.

“We studied taurine found in the blood that originated from natural sources,” she said. “The nutrient being added to energy drinks or supplements is man-made and is added in unstudied amounts. These products also often contain not only very high amounts of taurine, but a multitude of other ingredients as well – such as caffeine and ginseng – that may influence CHD risk.”

“If these findings are confirmed” she added “one day we might be able to suggest that someone with high cholesterol eat more poultry, specifically dark meat.”

Apart from dark poutry meat other good sources of natural taurine include beef and lamb, fish, eggs, dairy products and brewer’s yeast.