by Elizabeth Claire

Created on: March 27, 2009

According to Patrick Holford, author of The New Optimum Nutrition Bible, one of the best ways to extending a healthy lifespan is by reducing overall homocysteine levels.

Homocysteine is a type of protein found in the blood which should, ideally, be present in very low quantities. First investigated by Dr. Kilmer McCully in the late 1960s, homocysteine plays a role in many normal body processes such as cell and tissue growth, bone growth, and insulin formation. The proper metabolization of homocysteine relies on the adequate supply of vitamin B6, vitamin B12, and folate. When these vitamins become deficient in the body, homocysteine cannot be converted into substances such as glutathione, the body's most important antioxidant, and a methyl donor called S-adenosylmethionine (or SAMe).

Important for understanding why this conversion from homocysteine to other beneficial substances in the body is the process of methylation. Methylation is how the body maintains its chemical balance through the addition or subtraction of molecules called methyl groups from one substance in order to turn it into another. For example, when stressed, the body responds by adding a methyl group to noradrenaline to produce adrenalin. In reverse, when stress is reduced, the body automatically removes a methyl group from adrenaline, converting it into noradrenaline. This type of chemical reaction occurs billions of times per second and is crucial for the proper functioning of the human body.

With this knowledge, when the body cannot convert homocysteine into these two important substances, it builds up in the blood, and these elevated homocysteine levels have now been linked with over fifty diseases including atherosclerosis, certain cancers, diabetes, depression, and Alzheimer's disease. While most Americans have homocysteine levels above 10 units, experts generally believe that a level of 6 units or below is optimal for avoiding the increased risk of diseases associated with high levels.

An article written by Dr. Siamak T. Nabili and posted on MedicineNet.com, recommends that healthy adults eat more fresh fruits and vegetable, eat less saturated fat and cholesterol, and take one multivitamin daily.

Daily supplementation for the standard' homocysteine level of 10 is as follows: Folic acid (1,200 mcg) / Vitamin B12 (1,000 mcg) / Vitamin B6 (75 mg) / Vitamin B2 (20 mg).

Additional supplementation with zinc (15 mg) and trimethyl glycine, or TMG (1.5-3g), has produced even greater reductions in

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