Paleo fellow Ward Nicholson posted us a
reference to his excellent Web-Site
beyondveg.com where his (famous) interview
and much other information about meat-eating
and also paleo-themes can be found.

There i found under the topic "taurine" the
following:
>Taurine is an amino acid which is not found
>in any plant-based
>food [Laidlow et al. 1990]
>and which is an essential nutrient in all
>mammalian cells.
>Herbivores are able to synthesize taurine
>from precursor amino acids
>derived from plants, whereas cats have
>completely lost the ability
>to synthesize taurine. ...

Interested and trying to get more information
i analysed a game meat, didn't find anything,
and posted the
following to the list:
>looking for taurine. Which one is it? Or
>where else to look?
>Game meat, deer, raw
>Amino acids
> Threonine  Isoleucine
> Leucine  Lysine    Methionine
> Cystine  Phenylalanine  Tyrosine
> Valine   Arginine  Histidine
> Alanine  Aspartic acid  Glutamic acid
> Proline  Serine

My own searches in the internet revealed the
following, wich i wanted
to share, and possibly hear more from you all:

1.Taurine isn't an amino acid (not essential
  nor non essential) it's
  just one (useful) chemical used by the
  mammalian body
  (no wonder USDA didn't show anything)
2. Taurine may be an "essential nutrient for
  all mammalian cells" but
  it's simply built up by the body.
  Same applies to much, e.g. glucose.
  One might write a similar article on
  glucose synthetisation.

I'd suggest the beyondveg authors to correct
that error (no amino acid).

Some citations on taurine may be informative:

>Taurine does help in thinning the blood by
>reducing platelet activities,
>which then has an effect that is beneficial
>for the entire cardiovascular system.
> Taurine is an amino acid metabolite or
>derivative of
> L-Methionine >>>>> L-Cysteine >>> Taurine.
>  (Each > indicates a chemical reaction)
>Taurine synthesis occurs in the liver
>and the brain. Concentrates of Taurine have
>also been found in extremely high
>concentrates in the brain, intestines and
>skeletal muscles.

>While taurine does not have a genetic codon
>and is not incorporated into
>proteins and enzymes, it does play an
>important role in bile acid metabolism.
>Taurine is incorporated into one of the most
>abundant bile acids,
>chenodeoxychloic acid where it serves to
>emulsify dietary lipids
>in the intestine, promoting digestion.

>Taurine is another non-amino acid found in
>meat (and fish, and blood,
>especially fish blood), though it is a
>breakdown product of an amino acid,
>cysteine. It is an sulfoaminoacetic acid.

I hope this helps others not to step into
the same pit :-)

regards,
Amadeus


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