Homocysteine lies quietly within your body. It is dangerous and can be a killer. Find out about it and what you can do to reduce its levels, and its potential to damage.

Never heard of it? Most people haven’t. High levels have no outward symptoms, and it’s unlikely you will get tested for it. Still, you must know about it and the risks of high homocysteine levels.

Quoted from Google Bard:

“Homocysteine is an amino acid produced when the body breaks down proteins. It is normally present in the blood at low levels, but high homocysteine levels can increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, and other health problems.”

Let’s dig deeper into Homocysteine:

Homocysteine (Hcy) is an amino acid formed during the metabolism of methionine to cysteine. Hyperhomocysteinemia, or high levels of Hcy, is an independent risk factor for coronary, cerebral, and peripheral atherosclerosis. 

Methionine is an essential amino acid in meat, fish, and dairy products. Simply put, homocysteine is an intermediary of the breakdown of Methionine, an essential amino acid.

On its own, and especially at higher levels, homocysteine is a toxic amino acid that can wreak havoc in your body, especially your circulatory system.

Homocysteine’s legacy:

Without treatment, high homocysteine levels lead to severe health complications. Too much homocysteine mainly affects your circulatory system, and increases your risk for:

Not a pretty picture.

Is this nasty amino acid building up inside of you?

It might be, especially if you eat a lot of meat, and are low in B vitamins. This describes many people, maybe you.

A blood test is the only way to know your levels since high homocysteine levels don’t present clear and identifiable symptoms. On a routine basis, your PHP is unlikely to run this test.

So your first step to managing your homocysteine levels is to get a blood test. Here is where I get mine. The lab report will show you normal ranges, and you want to be in the low-normal range. This is a blood test like fasting insulin; the lower, the better.

So if your homocysteine level is above low-normal, what can you do to bring it down?

Dietary changes:

The precursor to homocysteine is methionine, so eating fewer foods high in methionine seems logical. This would be mainly meat, milk, and eggs. There are, however, other significant sources of methionine. Here’s a top ten list.

As always, a balanced diet is best. I suggest using Chronometer as a diet designing tool. It will help you see the vitamins and minerals in your meal and protein, fat, and carbohydrate levels. It is free, and for those who want to go deeper, there is a paid version that is reasonably priced. (I use this one myself.)

Supplements:

When homocysteine reacts to B vitamins, especially B6 and B12, it converts into two substances:

  • Methionine is an essential amino acid and antioxidant, a building block that helps create proteins.
  • Cysteine, a nonessential amino acid synthesized from methionine, reduces inflammation, increases communication between immune cells, and increases liver health. It and the amino acid glycine produce glutathione – our body’s main antioxidant.

Now all this might seem like a circular firing squad, and in a sense, it is. The key here is the B vitamins which come from foods and supplements. They help the transition process along. Without them, homocysteine will build up.

Folate as L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate.

Folate is effective at converting homocysteine back to methionine, as are the B vitamins. It is sometimes called a B vitamin but is usually not included in a B vitamin supplement.

Here’s a list of foods rich in folate.

So here’s the bottom line:

Unless you are predisposed to high levels of homocysteine (rare), you can lower your levels with diet and supplements. In my opinion, supplements alone will not overcome the methionine loads of heavy meat consumption and a generally poor and unbalanced diet.

To get homocysteine levels down will take both a managed diet and a supplement. I already recommended Chronometer as a diet management tool, and here is a supplement that includes key B vitamins and folate, and is designed to reduce homocysteine.

Summary:

Please check your homocysteine levels, and take action if they’re high. High homocysteine levels can eat you from the inside out by ruining your circulatory system. High homocysteine leads to all sorts of problems.

If you read nothing else, please read this: High Homocysteine. This is easy reading and is scary. Please get on this now. We are talking about a ticking time bomb.

OMY1

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