Like GABA, taurine is a protein building block, an amino acid. Unlike GABA, taurine is not a chemical messenger, but it behaves like one. Taurine docks in the brain where GABA belongs. Taurine matches the GABA receptor. When the GABA receptor is occupied, the brain radios “relaxation.”
Taurine helps stay away from alcohol. Pharmaceutical industry researchers played around a bit with the taurine molecule and made N-acetylhomotaurine out of it. The substance came on the market as “acramprosate” and is prescribed for alcohol abuse.
Taurine is a real all-rounder when it comes to getting the alcohol-addled brain back on track. Taurine not only imitates GABA, it also stimulates the body’s own GABA production – exactly where it is needed: In the brain. Likewise, taurine makes the atrophied GABA receptors sprout again. At the same time, taurine mutes the docking sites of the excitatory messenger glutamate.
More information in the book “Bye bye, booze!“
