nutrient deficiency

Is It Really Rare?

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It seems that just about every case study one reads, especially about nutrient deficiency-induced illness or medication-induced side effects, begins with the premise that such events are rare. This is not based upon any mathematical concept of infrequency derived from solid data. Nope, that would be entirely too logical. Rather, these proclamations of rareness are often based upon two suppositions: 1) the practicing physicians have not personally seen such cases, and hence, the desire to publish the case in the first place, and 2) the literature tells us these cases are rare, because every ‘rare’ case that is published is denoted as being rare in the introduction. If these two conditions are met, then it must, in fact, be rare.

Is it though? If we have never measured a particular nutrient or assessed the frequency of a particular side effect in our patient populations, can we really assert that what we have discovered in a particular patient is in fact, rare? It is entirely possibly that if one were to measure these variables in each and every patient one sees, that the deficiencies or side effects would present quite regularly. It is a logical fallacy to assume that somehow our ignorance of said effects proves those effects do not exist. That is precisely what happens though in the case literature, but also, in much of the research and meta-analyses of those studies. It is as though if we say something is rare often enough, it becomes the overarching truth, no matter the lack of actual data to support the claim. By way of example, I challenge you to find any case report that does not begin with some derivation of ‘X is rare’.

In my area of research, thiamine deficiency, here are just a few examples.

A severe depletion is not commonly seen, except in cases of inadequate nutrition and/or alcoholism.”

Cardiac beriberi, or heart failure due to thiamine deficiency, is considered rare in the developed world.”

“Thiamine deficiency is rare in developed countries and is most commonly associated with chronic alcoholism. The other predisposing conditions include chronic dietary deprivation and impaired absorption or intake of dietary nutrients.”

“Nowadays, in the developed world, it is relatively rare.”

Indeed, search the case and research literature on just about any nutrient deficiency and you will see the same assertions of rareness. Ditto for medication side effects. Read enough of these reports and one might think that we are a population of super healthy individuals who suffer no chronic illness and experience no side effects from any medication or vaccine.

I suppose if one ignores the data showing that 50% of the population lives with at least one chronic illness, generally of metabolic origins, and 27% have multiple, then sure, we can consider all of this rare, especially if one falls for the logical fallacy that an absence of evidence equates evidence of absence. Is it really, though? I cannot help but wonder if the assertion of rareness is a collective salve to save ourselves of the embarrassment of not ever having looked; a hear no illness, see no illness, speak no illness approach to medicine.

Can something be rare if it is never measured? Is it really rare or simply rarely measured?

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The Myth of Nutritional Equivalence

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Over the last several months, I have been fascinated by the fuel preferences of the mitochondria in the different organs of the body. It seems that the mitochondria in each organ system have specific fuel preferences. The muscles like protein and carbs, the heart likes fatty acids, and the brain has all sorts of fuel preferences depending upon region and state of health. This is mind-blowing and contrary to medical textbooks on the subject. For as long as anyone has cared to address the fuel preferences of the mitochondria, an overly simplistic, black-box model has prevailed. The gist of which is the errant presumption that so long as there are sufficient calories ingested, no matter from where those calories originate, carbohydrate, protein, or fats, real food or processed garbage food-like products, the mitochondria will magically convert those foods into ATP, the energy used by our cells to perform the myriad functions of living. To some extent that is true, but woefully short of the real picture. Nevertheless, we have built an entire economy of medical thought supporting the ‘it just doesn’t matter’ model of feeding.

Based upon this equality of calories presumption, I have seen doctors ‘prescribe’ ice cream and other processed foods devoid of nutrients to children with growth deficiencies. Just as egregious, are the sugary chemical concoctions (Ensure, Boost, and the like) served to severely ill patients in any American hospital under the banner of ‘medical nutrition’. Admittedly, financial interests play a role, but undergirding those interests is the long held belief that calories are all that matter; a belief, that I would argue, we as a society, are all too happy to accept. It is a simple idea, one that doesn’t require much thinking, and best of all, lets us eat anything we want as long as the calories are balanced in our favor. Who among us has not convinced ourselves of the ‘healthiness’ of some low-calorie treat?

The Wonder of Fortified Foods

A similarly troubling assumption about food equivalency and one I see all too often is that enriched and fortified foods are nutritionally equivalent to native foods. This is certainly the reasoning behind the hospital protein drinks where calorie density plus fortification equals nutrition. But does it really? Do we really believe so strongly in the powers of modern industrial food chemistry that the foodstuffs we produce with seemingly infinite shelf lives, all manner of chemically derived flavor enhancers and colors, loaded with corn syrup, trans fats, and other delectable substrates are somehow converted into ‘healthy’ foods by the magic of fortification? Moreover, do we really believe that those processed substrates appropriately fuel the mitochondria?

Apparently so.

Just last week, some internet troll tried to argue that there was no such thing as vitamin or mineral deficiencies in modern America, citing food fortification programs as his example. Similarly, a few months ago I spoke at a conference on this topic and the physicians in the audience were incredulous about the idea of nutrient deficiencies for the same reasons. Even prominent researchers bang the food fortification drum. Consider this study.

“Only a small percentage of the population had total usual intakes (from dietary intakes and supplements) below the estimated average requirement (EAR) for the following: vitamin B-6 (8%), folate (8%), zinc (8%), thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-12, phosphorus, iron, copper, and selenium (<6% for all).”

It seems that we have solved malnutrition once and for all. Foodstuff fortification equals nutrition. You can have your Oreos and meet minimal nutrient requirements. End of story.

food fortification

Or is it?

Dig a little deeper and we see that we have done nothing of the sort. About the same study cited above, a secondary study said this:

“Without added nutrients, a high percentage of all children/adolescents had inadequate intakes of numerous micronutrients…”

“Among all age/sex subgroups, when considering only intrinsic nutrient intake from foods, approximately 25% to 100% had inadequate intakes of numerous nutrients, including vitamins A, D, E, folate, and calcium. Among females aged 14 to 18 years, approximately 23% to 92% also had inadequate intakes of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6, vitamin C, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, and zinc…”

“When nutrient intakes contributed from fortification were added, the %<EAR for vitamins A, D, B-6, C, the five enrichment nutrients, and zinc shifted sharply lower.”

Translation: most of the nutrients contributing to the presumption of nutrient sufficiency come from fortified food products and not actual food. So while fortification provides a bare minimum of nutrients and staves off outright malnutrition, can it be considered healthy? I don’t think so, but when we buy into the nutritional equivalence, calories in, calories out model of health, what we are saying is this:

fortified foods

Is nutritionally equivalent to this:

meat and vegetables

We are saying that it does not matter what types of foods we consume so long as they are fortified and so long as the calories balance. We are back to the notion that prescribing ice cream to spur growth in kids, fake ‘nutrition’ drinks for the ill and elderly, and all manner of other convoluted dietary machinations are okay, somehow healthy, and even, logical.

Of Fructose, ATP, and the Magical Mitochondria

If we take this logic one step further, we arrive at the door of that magical mitochondrial black box that will take any fuel we give it and turn it into ATP. Admittedly, to some degree that is true. No matter the origins of that fuel, mitochondria will break it down into its carbon skeleton and through a series of reactions produce ATP. That’s their job. The question, however, is at what cost. That is, are these food products the most efficient and desirable fuel substrates? More specifically, what is the energy cost to convert garbage food into ATP? Consider something as simple as fructose and how it moves through the glycolytic machinery:

“The flow of fructose into the glycolytic pathway gives the appearance that fructose is a benign fuel suitable for human (over)consumption; in reality, fructose’s conversion to fructose-1-phosphate drains ATP from the cell, promotes a dramatic inflammatory response, and leads to clinical features of insulin resistance, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome via several mechanisms, one of which is increased production of uric acid.” Alex Vasquez

Although the mitochondria will convert these fructose-dense foodstuffs into ATP, there are costs; costs that can only be accounted for if one moves beyond the black-box model of mitochondrial metabolism. And yes, I know, fructose comes in fruit and vegetables too, but where most folks get their fructose is not from fruit or vegetables but in the form of high fructose corn syrup, the staple sweetener in all processed foods.

Fortified Versus Real Food

The way I see it, there are at least two issues to consider when assessing the healthiness of food. Firstly, and as I mentioned previously, the mitochondria in the different organ systems require different macronutrients, one a well-balanced diet from real food would provide. In contrast, a diet derived from starchy, high fructose corn syrup sweetened and chemically processed carbs no matter how strongly fortified will never be able to match a well-balanced diet of whole foods.

Second, to get from macronutrient to ATP takes a whole host of nutrient co-factors, vitamins, and minerals, to power the enzymes responsible for this process. Take a look at the figure below from our book.  There are 24 vitamins and minerals needed to convert what we eat into ATP. More, if you consider all of the ancillary processes not charted here.

Mitochondrial Nutrients

mitochondrial nutrients

Even when the scales balance on our calories in, calories out model, they do not balance in the mitochondria and health depends entirely on the mitochondria. Diets heavy in processed foods not only lack the basic macronutrients, typically protein and good fats, but the minimal nutrients provided by these foods are neither sufficient to power the mitochondrial enzymes tasked with converting these products into ATP, nor are they sufficiently ‘nutritious’ to overcome the ATP costs of clearing all of the garbage that these products contain. This leaves us with decrements in ATP, and in a state of constant metabolic distress, which itself demands additional energy to resolve. It is a downward spiral to be sure; one where the use of ice cream or pseudo-nutritional drinks only hastens.

What do the Mitochondria Need?

A diet rich in real, organic foods is a good start. Look what happens when someone who is disabled by a chronic, neurodegenerative illness changes her diet. Health becomes possible.

Dr. Terry Wahls: Minding your mitochondria

Although a change in diet may not be all that is required, it is the foundation upon which health can be built; a foundation that is just not possible when ice cream is prescribed as nutrition.

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More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, and like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

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This article was first published on August 13, 2018.

Adult Onset TMAU: Intense Fishy Body Odor Syndrome

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I am 24 year old male from the UK who has developed trimethylaminuria (TMAU). TMAU is a condition where the liver enzyme called Fm03 fails to oxidize the smelly chemical compound trimethylamine (TMA), resulting in a smell of rotting fish, fecal material, and rotting eggs combined that leaves the body via breath and bodily fluids. I learned recently that I am heterozygous for this condition and although the research suggest only those who are homozygous develop symptoms, I believe that my poor diet and lifestyle that included heavy alcohol use, recreational drugs, a variety of prescription drugs, including potent antibiotics, long term antacids and a brief stint with anabolic steroids, combined to trigger this disease process. TMAU is rare disorder and there are no clear treatments. I am writing this in the hopes that someone can help me to put my life back together.

Early History: Setting the Foundation Ill-health

My diet for young lad was not great. I ate a lot of processed foods. I don’t believe I had any childhood illnesses, but I got my doctors medical records and I believe I was on and off antibiotics as a young infant. I have a hiatal hernia but that came later on around 19 years of age. My lifestyle wasn’t great either. Growing up I smoked a lot of weed daily, and on the weekends I would drink. I thought I was healthy though. I had a good life growing up no worries in the world, played high level sports, and had some good friends.

Things slowly started changing for me when I was 17 or 18 years of age. I noticed my stomach was in bad pain 24/7 especially in the morning, and would throw up and be sick after eating. I got acid reflux pretty bad as well. I saw my doctor, and of course, they did no investigating. They just shoved me on acid reducing drugs (proton pump inhibitors –PPIs). I took PPIs for two years approximately, and they did wonders for my reflux, so I thought they were pretty good. I clearly failed to realize the importance of stomach acid in the body.

I developed chronic constipation. I wouldn’t have bowel movements for at least a week at a time. I had inflamed hemorrhoids that seemed to prolapse. I got major brain fog, and after eating, I would become extremely tired and would bloat. I also developed bad breath, and after exercise or anytime I would need to use my muscles for lifting heavy objects at work, I would get painful radiating aches all in my joints, especially elbow and shoulders. I knew things weren’t right but I was so uneducated about everything that I didn’t even realize any importance of gut health. Becoming sick was the only reason I stumbled across this unknown world.

The Decline

When I was 19 years old, I had an infected tooth. I ended up having a root canal and the tooth extracted. I took strong antibiotics at that point. I don’t remember which ones. Before it healed though, I went on a lads’ holiday and drank heavily. Thinking back, I can’t believe how stupid I was.

I also took strong antibiotic several times for reasons I cannot remember, including metronidazole (Flagyl) and amoxicillin. Sometime between the ages of 18-20, I also had inflamed ball/tonsil on one side of my throat and ended up having that removed for reasons I cannot remember. Just looking back at everything, it is clear that I put my body under major stress.

Fast forward a year, I split up with my girlfriend of three years. This was a very stressful time. I took it upon myself to take some steroids as my close mate at the time was doing it and seeing results in the gym. So stupidly, I organized and put it upon myself to experiment. I thought I had nothing to lose as I was already feeling sorry for myself. The anabolic steroid I was taking was Anavar. I was 22 at this point and I took the steroids for only a month, but looking back, this may have been the last straw. While I was taking them, I carried on my normal activities of drinking on the weekends with these steroids still in my system.

By taking these steroids, my breath odor got worse by tenfold. People two meters away from me would cover their noses when I spoke. I was shocked and baffled on how this could actually happen. It was humiliating. By this time my hair started falling out and thinning. It still happens to this day. I finally did some research, and boom. I found that if one is predisposed to the male pattern baldness and take steroids, the baldness gene is activated early. The conversion of testosterone to the hormone DHT, attacks your hair follicles. At age 22, I had bad breath, severe stomach issues and was going bald.

After I found the steroid hair loss connection, I spent the next few months vigorously searching for answers. I scoured the internet, and fell into a depression. I overwhelmed myself into trying to figure out what was going on inside my body. The stress of this was crippling as I wanted to avoid everybody. Things got even worse as my breath odor slowly transformed into body odor as well, especially after sweating.

Intense Body Odor: A Clear Sign of TMAU

I first noticed after a long 90 minute football match, people were avoiding me, and holding their breath when they walked past me. I could not understand why. I’ve not long come out the shower, surely it can’t be me? Can it? My head became a complete mess. I thought I was going crazy. Fast forward a few months, and my friends asked me to go to a music festival. I reluctantly accepted as I had been cooped up in my bedroom for too long. I was very stressed over my socially debilitating situation, so desperately purchased some Chlorella supplements from Holland and Barrett, as I found a small print on the internet that they freshen you from the insides.

During this festival I ended up taking around 12 tablets of chlorella whilst I was there, hoping for some sort of reduction of symptoms. Since being at a festival, I drank and took some narcotics. A few hours passed and then I suddenly realized people around me was “reacting” to me. I started to part crowds like the river Nile. As the horrible cold feeling of me becoming a human sewage tank dawned over my whole body. I couldn’t smell a single bad thing off me, but the way everyone was holding their noses and pointing at me confirmed the nightmare is actually happening and I’m living it. The ONLY positive thing about this awful situation is the fact it confirmed for me that all this isn’t in my head and it’s actually happening. I wanted the ground to swallow me up I couldn’t take the humiliation and degrading feeling anymore. I ended up running two miles out the festival and locked myself in my hotel room in a flood of confusion and tears.

I noticed that I was making people cough, and clear their throats and also made peoples noses run. So whatever my body was emitting was obviously an irritant to everyone else. Whilst I lay there in my bed trying to get my head around this disturbing nightmare I’m living in, people in the next room were coughing profusely and shouting what is that smell. So whatever I was emitting was penetrating through walls and causing people to have allergic reactions.

Finding the Strength to Discover a Cause

By the time I made it home, I had completely hit rock bottom. I became a hermit, I never wanted to leave the house, I had no one to speak to, and no doctor wanted to listen. Suicidal thoughts raced through my mind every day and the thought of death felt pleasant, as I would not have to continue living this nightmare. I somehow found the determination to dive my head into overwhelming research. My eyes wouldn’t leave my laptop screen throughout the day. It became an obsession, and I would wake up and go to bed with my head dived into the internet. All this information got way too much for me to handle and started to take a step back.

I ended up obtaining certain tests to help paint a picture of what the hell is going on. I spent a bit of money on these tests what I will list here.

  • Organic acid test (Oat)
  • GI map test
  • 23andme genetic test
  • SIBO
  • Candida test
  • Heavy metal test

I noticed on the GI map tests, it shows gut dysbiosis. I had low good bacteria and high bad or opportunistic bacteria. I also had H Pylori, leaky gut and low IgA levels.  The heavy metals showed high arsenic levels and the OAT test showed that everything was out of balance.

The Source of the Foul Smell: Trimethylaminuria or TMAU

With research, I discovered the condition called trimethylaminuria -TMAU. TMAU is a condition where the liver enzyme called Fm03 fails to oxidize the smelly chemical compound trimethylamine (TMA), resulting in a smell of rotting fish/fecal and rotting eggs and more to leave the body via breath and bodily fluids. TMA is produced in the gut. I always thought I could not have this condition because you are born with it, and I most definitely didn’t think I was born with this. So this is where the genetic test came into play. I looked at what genetic variants are associated with TMAU, and I found that I had the genetic variants, but they were highlighted in yellow, meaning I only have them from one parent.

Genetic TMAU 1 is diagnosed by receiving both faulty genes from both parents. I am thinking that maybe I have an underactive enzyme, that works at maybe 50 percent, but that is overridden by the excess TMA in my gut and which it cannot keep up. Also, I would like to refer back to the steroid period. As I stumbled across a research article on doctors injecting mice with the hormone DHT and it was said that it reduced the FM03 enzyme by 90 percent, and it seems very coincidental this condition peaked while taking steroids.

Where I am Now

A year has passed since the festival, and my life has never been the same since. The only emotions I have felt are sadness, anxiety and hopelessness. Everyone treats me like a piece of trash, the constant comments I hear behind my back, and having to stand there in a group of people noticing them silently taking the piss out of me takes its toll. I can no longer go and exercise or play football with a group of people because of this condition and I used to play semi-professional. The days I muster up the strength to go to work as a plumber if end up sweating, I get reactions and comments making me feel like I don’t deserve to even be there.

Everything in this life what I used to take for granted, and also what around 80 percent of the population do, are the small things: socially meeting up with your friends, speaking to people face to face without having crippling social anxiety, going out for meals, bonds of friendships and relationships what have now been destroyed with TMAU. This condition has taken everything away from me. It has taken my dignity, my confidence, my motivation, my happiness, my self-esteem, my football what lived for, and now it is destroying any strong bonds I had.

My mum has been diagnosed with cancer, and this hit me hard, and she is the main reason why I am writing this post. I cannot bare for her to look at me anymore wasting my life in sadness. I believe I may have been a catalyst in her cancer, diagnosis as I definitely put her under a lot of stress over the years due to this sudden onset of this condition; and she is the reason I have motivation to try and tackle this, and seek any sort of help. It is my last ditch attempt at trying to beat TMAU. I will not let her live the rest of her remaining precious years watching me in the gutter. I need her to see me back to my old self and back on my feet. I need for her to see me succeed.

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More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

Yes, I would like to support Hormones Matter. 

The Hidden Heart Disease Risk Factor: High Homocysteine

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You may unknowingly have a ticking time bomb for heart disease flowing through your body. Right now. And you haven’t been told about it. Until now. Naturally produced in your body, a chemical substance called homocysteine often becomes elevated due to age, diet, and genetic disposition. If your homocysteine is high, you are at an increased risk of developing heart disease including heart attacks, coronary artery diseases, and strokes.

Staggering Mortality Rates

Heart disease is the number one cause of death worldwide. More than 17 million people—nine million of whom are women–die annually from heart disease.

In the United States heart disease ranks as the top killer of women. More than 500 American females die daily from heart disease. Furthermore, heart disease deaths in American women under the age of 55 continue to rise, according to a study published in the June 2013 issue of the journal Global Heart.

Why are so many people dying from heart disease? We have been educated to believe high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, and smoking are the primary causal culprits in causing heart disease. Physical inactivity, obesity, and excessive alcohol use also are attributed as risk factors for heart disease. But we hear little information about homocysteine as an independent factor for heart disease.

What is Homocysteine?

Homocysteine is an amino acid (a building block of protein) naturally produced in the body from a byproduct of another amino acid called methionine. Healthy amounts of homocysteine are vital in protein metabolism. However, homocysteine levels must be carefully balanced by adequate quantities of specific B vitamins.

Ideally, about half of homocysteine is recycled back into methionine (remethylation), and the other half is converted into a beneficial amino acid called cysteine (transsulfuration). This bifurcated process is dependent on specific B vitamins. Remethylation cannot occur without folate (vitamin B9) and vitamin B12. Transsulfuration cannot happen without vitamin B6. If these B vitamins are deficient, dangerous levels of homocysteine can accumulate in the body and damage the lining of the arteries, often causing heart disease.

Homocysteine Matters

In the late 1960s, Kilmer S. McCully, M.D., a young pathologist at Harvard University School of Medicine, reviewed a number of pathological findings of cases as far back as 1933 that involved young children with a genetic disorder who perished from atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). He discovered that elevated homocysteine damages arterial lining, causing arterosclerosis. Dr. McCully concluded that elevated homocysteine from a high animal-protein diet, more so than fats and cholesterol, was the primary cause of heart disease.

McCully subsequently published his ground-breaking conclusion in a 1969 issue of the American Journal of Pathology. By purporting such an unorthodox theory, he committed medical heresy.(1) Harvard denied him tenure, effectively firing him. Undeterred, he forged ahead, conducting research on homocysteine. He still practices medicine in the United States today.

Thanks to Dr. McCully’s tenacious efforts over the past four decades, a plethora of studies supporting his theory have been published. Landmark studies from the mid-1990s contributed to mainstream medicine’s eventual, yet delicate, embrace of the fact that high homocysteine is significant risk factor for heart disease. This research includes:

As part of the acclaimed Framingham Heart Study, researchers from Tufts University examined 418 men and 623 women, ages 67 to 96 years, to study their homocysteine blood plasma levels as well as their vitamin intake including folate, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6. The Tuft research team concluded that people with homocysteine levels greater than 11.4 µmol/L have a significant risk of having a heart attack. These findings were published in the February 2, 1995 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The results of a study conducted by The European Concerted Action Project, a consortium of doctors and researchers from 19 medical centers in nine European countries, clinched the theory that Dr. McCully asserted almost two decades prior. By comparing 750 people under the age of 60 with blockages in their coronary arteries with 800 healthy persons also under 60 years old, the Project team determined that an elevated homocysteine score posed as great a risk as smoking or high cholesterol. Furthermore, people with the highest homocysteine levels had twice the risk of developing heart disease. Finally, the consortium discovered that those people who took folate, B12, and B6 supplements had a risk factor of about 66 percent less than those subjects who did not take the B vitamin supplements. The findings were published in the June 11, 1997 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

What is a Healthy Homocysteine Level?

Homocysteine levels are easily evaluated by a simple test of blood plasma. Heath care practitioners can order a homocysteine test. But guess what? We are not routinely tested for homocysteine. In fact, I never had been tested for this important amino acid until I recently requested the test from my primary care physician. (Read on for my homocysteine score.)

To further exacerbate the issue of homocysteine evaluation, many clinical testing laboratories consider a healthy homocysteine value between 5 and up to 15 µmol/L. However, the upper limit of this range is highly misleading. A score of 6 µmol/L or less is optimal for homocysteine. Medical research has indicated that readings greater than 9 µmol/L indicate an increased risk for heart disease.

Reducing Homocysteine

The good news is that elevated homocysteine levels can be decreased by consuming adequate amounts of the B vitamins folate, B12, and B6. Although the daily dosage of these vitamins is dependent upon your homocysteine score, I offer general guidelines.

  • Foods rich in folate include wheat germ, lentils, sunflower seeds, spinach, broccoli, and romaine lettuce. If you are considering a supplement, note that “folate” is natural and “folic acid” is synthetic. Consider taking a daily 400-mcg folate capsule containing L-5-MTHF. (2)
  • The best food sources of vitamin B12 include sardines, oysters, cottage cheese, and tuna. When supplementing with B12, please ensure the B12 is methylcobalamin (methylB12). Many B12 supplements contain cyanocobalamin; yes, it contains a cyanide molecule. Consider taking 10,000 mcg daily of methylB12.
  • Fish and lean meats are excellent sources of vitamin B6 (pyridoxine). Consider taking a 25-mg B6 supplement.

You may recall that the amino acid methionine produces homocysteine. Too much methionine translates to excessive homocysteine. As animal protein is highly rich in methionine, it is wise to not overload animal protein consumption if the three major B vitamins are deficient.

Stunning Health Statistics

The scope of this article is limited to a brief discussion of elevated homocysteine as an independent risk factor for heart disease. However, I must tell you that homocysteine levels also affect the risk for developing a wide range of other serious medical conditions including cancer, diabetes, thyroid disorders, and Alzheimer’s disease. Let’s take a broad look at statistics.

Nestled in the spectacular western fjords of Norway, the University of Bergen houses one of the world’s leading homocysteine research centers. Since the 1990s, Bergen’s researchers have published dozens of papers reporting their homocysteine findings conducted during the University’s population-based Hordaland Homocysteine Study.

Having measured the homocysteine levels of 4,766 Norwegian men and women in their 60s a decade ago and then recorded those who lived and died, the researchers discovered that a 5-point decrease in homocysteine scores predicted, inter alia, a 50 percent reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease as well as a 104 percent decreased risk of mortality from any disease or medical condition other than heart disease or cancer!

Are You Homocysteine Healthy?

It is not too early or too late to learn your homocysteine score. At the age of 60 and with a family history of heart disease, I requested a baseline homocysteine blood plasma test from my doctor. My score was an optimal 6µmol/L, a value that is most common in preteens! I attribute my homocysteine health score to feeding my body the folate, B12, and B6 it needs to maintain a balanced level of homocysteine.

Your level will not only predict your risk for heart and other serious diseases but it will help you understand how you can add energy and vitality to your life. Based on your homocysteine score, you can supplement with the necessary foods and/or dietary supplements that are readily available in retail and online outlets. And enjoy the benefits of being homocysteine healthy! I am glad than I am.

Footnote 1: Natural vitamins cannot be patented. Therefore, manufacturing and selling vitamins is far less lucrative than, for example, statins (cholesterol-lowing drugs.)

Footnote 2: The enzyme MTHFR (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase) helps to facilitate the conversion process of remethylation.

Author’s Note: I wrote this overview to promote awareness of the potential heart disease risks associated with high homocysteine plasma levels. I briefly touched on the adverse effect of elevated homocysteine on the development of other serious medical conditions. If you are interested in learning more about homocysteine, I suggest reading: The H Factor Solution by James Braly, M.D. and Patrick Holford and/or The Homocysteine Revolution by Kilmer McCully, M.D.

Editor’s Note: Susan Rex Ryan is the author of the Mom’s Choice Award®-winning book Defend Your Life about the extensive health benefits of vitamin D. For additional information about vitamin D, check out our series of Sue’s articles, and visit her blog at smilinsuepubs.com.

This article was published previously on Hormones Matter in June 2014.

Copyright © 2014 by Susan Rex Ryan. All rights reserved.

We Need Your Help

More people than ever are reading Hormones Matter, a testament to the need for independent voices in health and medicine. We are not funded and accept limited advertising. Unlike many health sites, we don’t force you to purchase a subscription. We believe health information should be open to all. If you read Hormones Matter, like it, please help support it. Contribute now.

Yes, I would like to support Hormones Matter.