Homocysteine
Research analysis led by Kamal Patel.
All content reviewed by the Examine.com Team. Published: Jul 5, 2013
Last Updated:
All content reviewed by the Examine.com Team. Published: Jul 5, 2013
Last Updated:
Learn which supplements work (and which don’t) to achieve your health goals
Enter your email to get our free mini-course on supplements.
100% backed by science, we take an independent and unbiased approach to figure out what works (and what's a waste of time and money). Arm yourself with the knowledge needed to make the right choices to improve your health.
Human Effect Matrix
The Human Effect Matrix looks at human studies (it excludes animal and in vitro studies) to tell you what supplements affect homocysteine
| Grade | Level of Evidence [show legend] |
|---|---|
|
Robust research conducted with repeated double-blind clinical trials |
|
Multiple studies where at least two are double-blind and placebo controlled |
|
Single double-blind study or multiple cohort studies |
|
Uncontrolled or observational studies only |
|
Level of Evidence
?
The amount of high quality evidence. The more
evidence, the more we can trust the results.
|
Outcome |
Magnitude of effect
?
The direction and size of the supplement's impact on
each outcome. Some supplements can have an increasing effect, others have a decreasing effect, and others have no effect.
|
Consistency of research results
?
Scientific research does not always agree. HIGH or
VERY HIGH means that most of the scientific research agrees.
|
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Strong
|
Very High See all 9 studies |
Betaine (3g or more) appears to potently and reliable reduce homocysteine concentrations following a single dose and maintaining this reduction for as long as supplementation is continued. The magnitude is around 10% in persons with normal homocysteine levels, and greater (20-40%) in those with high homocysteine, and (unlike folate) works in instances of methionine loading tests. 500mg betaine can reduce homocysteine after a methionine load, but it too low to influence fasting homocysteine.
|
|
|
|
Notable
|
Moderate See all 5 studies |
Homocysteine appears to be reduced to a large degree at 1.6mg, but this effect is exclusive to subjects with a specific genetic mutation known as MTHFR 677TT (two copies of MTHFR 677C->T).
|
|
|
|
Minor
|
- See study |
Somewhat high acute spike of homocysteine, which is normally a negative thing. Practical significance of this unknown
|
|
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
||||