So, it is in this book that I learnt about homocysteine for the first time. I was shocked that something so important has never been mentioned by any doctor that I went to see to do my routine health check. I had various blood tests done as recently as January and February of this year, which is all very good. But not homocysteine.
WHAT IS HOMOCYSTEINE?
Homocysteine is your most important health statistics. It determines better than any other factor whether you will live long and healthy or die young. Shocking, isn’t it? Can you really imagine something so important that they never test, they don’t even speak about it, but we’ll come to that.
It’s a type of protein, produced from the amino acid methionine. So, our bodies make this compound and it’s normally found in the blood. But it should be present in very small quantities.
Elevated homocysteine increases the risk for over fifty diseases such as heart attacks, strokes, some type of cancers, diabetes, depression, Alzheimer’s disease and so on…
MY HOMOCYSTEINE TEST
I was in Belgrade in April of this year, so I used the opportunity to check my homocysteine level. Asking a GP in England to do this test would be most likely pointless, although I will ask next time when I have the opportunity. I went to the same laboratory in Belgrade where I did several coronavirus antibody tests back in 2020.
As you can see below, my homocysteine is 7.92. For people of my age, any result below 12 is considered good. However, the objective is for the result to be as low as possible, preferably below 6. So, it means that I need to reduce it, preferably to be around 4.
HOW DO YOU LOWER YOUR HOMOCYSTEINE?
Homocysteine in itself is not entirely bad news. Our bodies naturally turn it into one of two beneficial substances: glutathione and SAMe (s-adenosyl methionine). But if you don’t have optimal amounts of B vitamins in your diet, the enzymes that turn homocysteine into these two beneficial substances don’t work well. Basically, it means that homocysteine can’t be converted and its level rises dangerously.
With the right combination of nutrients, also dietary and life style changes, you can reduce your risk. Additionally, you can take specific homocysteine-lowering supplements: vitamins B2, B6, B12, folic acid, trimethyl glycine (TMG) and zinc.
Basically, it is almost unbelievable that something so dangerous for your health and life can be reduced by something as simple as B vitamins.
IS THIS WHY HOMOCYSTINE IS NOT TESTED?
Could it be that the medical industry doesn’t consider homocysteine because they can’t prescribe an expensive and patented pharmaceutical product? They can’t patent cheap and naturally occurring B vitamins. On the other hand statins, for example, are pushed relentlessly even in cases when your cholesterol level is only very slightly elevated. But statins are a cash cow for the pharma industry.
Now that I know about this important health factor, I will check it every time when I go to Belgrade. The test was 2100 Serbian dinars, which is approximately 15 pounds. The same test in the UK costs at least £ 80. I would have to be crazy to pay that price in the UK.
The most important is to be on top of your health and, as homocysteine is probably the most important health factor, you should also start checking it on a regular basis if you haven’t done that already.
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