Homocysteine
Here’s the science bit in a nutshell. Homocysteine is made from the amino acid motioning, which you find in dietary protein. HMST in itself is not a problem, as the body converts it into one of two substances, which are both beneficial to the body. These two substances are called glutathione and SAMe (s-adenosyl methionine).
Glutathione
Glutathione is a tripeptide amino acid derivative that protects red blood cells from oxidative damage and, in the from of the enzyme glutathione peroxide, plays an important role in detoxifying hydrogen peroxide and organ peroxides produced in the body. A deficiency of glutathione speeds up ageing and onset of Alzheimer’s and damages the liver. Glutathione is the bodies most potent anti ageing antioxidant and detoxifier.
SAMe
SAMe is a natural anti depressant, anti arthritic, liver protecting agent in your body.
Cholesterol, blood pressure: these are just some of the things that we are always being told are the important conditions we need to keep tabs on.
But in all honesty the level of these things are not as important as you may have been led to believe, your HMST level however is a very different story. This is the thing that you need to keep an eye on, because it is the main indicator of if you are going to live a long healthy life or if you are going to die at a young age.
Your homocysteine level is 40% more accurate at predicting heart attacks than your cholesterol levels. There have been people who have had heart attacks and had low cholesterol, but the ones that have been tested have all had high HMST levels. It is also the main indicator for up to 100 different diseases and conditions, including the big 5 killers (heart attacks, strokes, cancers, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.
One in two people have high levels, and it makes no difference if you are fat, thin, big, small, male or female, although the over weight have a higher chance, you may think you are super fit and can easily run a marathon, but trust me it makes no difference, you could have just as much chance of high levels as someone who is obese!
I am not trying to scare people, but you must realise how important this is.
The good news however is, although having high levels almost guarantees to knock years off of your life expectancy, it can be reduced to safe healthy levels within a matter of months by following a homocysteine lowering and supplement diet.
There are over 100 diseases and conditions related to high homocysteine, here are just some of them:
- abortion
- accelerated aging
- alzheimers disease
- anemia’s
- angina pectoris
- ankylosing spondylitis (inflamation of the synovial joint)
- apoptosis of brain cells (cell death due to a lack of dna repair)
- arteriosclerosis
- arthritis
- atherosclerosis
- atrial fibrillation (chaotic electrical activity in the heart chamber)
- atrophic gastritis (atrophy of the stomach lining)
- auto immune diseases (spondylitis, hypothyroidism/hashimoto’s thyroiditis)
- behcet’s disease (ulcers in the mouth and genitalia)
- birth defects
- bonemarrow myelody splasia (myelodysplastic syndromes)
- brain atrophy
- breast cancer
- cancers
- cervical dysplasia
- elevated cholesterol
- cirrosis
- cleft palate
- cobalt deficiency
- coeliac disease
- colon cancer
- copper deficiency
- coronary artery atherosclerosis
- coronary vasospasm
- crohn’s disease
- deep vein thrombosis
- dementia
- depression (especially women)
- diabetes
- down’s syndrome (high homocysteine levels are found in mothers of down’s syndrome children, although down’s children themselves have low levels)
- epilepsy
- fibromalagia
- folate deficiency (which can lead to spina bifida and other pregnancy problems, anaemia, cervical dysplasia and poor memory)
- glutathione deficiency (in the liver and brain, speeds up ageing and the onset of alzheimers and damages the liver onlong with many other problems)
- heart abnormalities
- heart attacks
- hiv/aids (speeds up the rate at which the virus developes)
- hypothyroidism (especially hashimoto’s thyroiditis)
- leukemias
- memory decline
- mental retardation
- miscarriage
- oestrogen deficiency and post menopausal symptoms
- osteoporosis
- parkinson’s
- penile dysfunction
- polycystic ovary disease
- premature death
- psoriasis
- pulmonary embolism
- rheumatoid arthritis
- schizophrenia
- strokes
- throid cancer
- ulcerative colitis
- vasospasm (cerebral arteries, causing strokes, associated with magnesium deficiency)
- plus many more
Homocysteine has been studied now for a few years now by a handful of people, but has been widely disregarded by the medical and scientific community. In fact one of the main pioneers in the discovery of this life threatening component in the body was shunned by the scientific community for decades and only recently have they begun to come round and accept his research. It is only a mater of time before this will be regarded as the major factor in health.
Basically how it works is HMST is measured in units and falls into various categories:
- Very healthy Below 6 units
- Low risk 6 – 9 units
- Medium risk 9 – 12 units
- High risk 12 – 15 units
- Very high risk 15 – 20 units
- Dangerously high above 20 units
- In simple terms, the higher the score, the higher the risk
Lowering homocysteine levels should become top priority in peoples lives, as once it is significantly lower your chances of living much longer and much healthier are dramatically increased, for example:
Lowering your score sufficiently can:
- half your risk of heart disease.
- a high level increases your risk of strokes by 80%.
- cuts the risk of cancers by a third.
Recent Comments