Human study · Supplements / medicine · 22 Oct 2026
In UK Biobank genetic analyses, higher tyrosine lined up with about 0.9 fewer years of life in men, and not clearly in women
Source: Aging
What the research found
Study (cohort plus Mendelian randomization), not a supplement trial. Jie V. Zhao, Yitang Sun, Junmeng Zhang, and Kaixiong Ye report in Aging (published 3 Oct 2025; PMID 41045493; DOI 10.18632/aging.206326). ScienceDaily carried it on 6 Sep 2026. They used UK Biobank, a cohort recruited at ages 40 to 69. Reports of the paper describe 272,475 participants, including 125,359 men. After the genetic analysis accounted for phenylalanine, higher tyrosine lined up with 0.91 fewer years of life in men (95 percent CI 1.60 to 0.21 fewer). In women the estimate was 0.36 fewer years and the interval crossed zero (0.96 fewer to 0.23 more). Phenylalanine was not tied to lifespan once tyrosine was in the model. Tyrosine is in protein foods and in some focus supplements. The authors' suggestion that lowering a high level might extend life is their reading of a genetic association. This did not test a diet or a pill, and it is not a reason to avoid protein foods. Not medical advice.
Evidence level: Human study. A study in people, but an association isn't proof of cause.
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