Methionine Depletion

haidut

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Hi all,

As you may know from Ray's writings and general research, feeding animals diets with artificially restricted levels of tryptophan, methionine, cysteine, or histidine generally results in increased maximal and average lifespan. Of those amino acids, methionine is particularly hard to avoid as it is present in virtually all foods we consume on a daily basis, even if we follow a Peat-style diet. However, it looks like there is a way to achieve the same effect without actually cutting methionine intake. Our old friend niacinamide seems to be able to deplete methionine stores due to its capacity of drawing methyl groups from methionine. It also looks like increased protein intake has same/similar effect. The reference I have does not mention dosages for niacinamide, but I remember reading a study years ago stating that when people took 1.5g niacinamide a day their plasma methionine levels dropped by over 40%. Here is the link for those interested:
http://books.google.com/books?id=h6-yzg ... an&f=false

Finally, in one of my older posts on the forum I talked about how higher intake of BCAA lowered absorption of methionine by 35%.
I am still looking for a reliable method of blocking tryptophan absorption or depleting it like methionine. When I find something I will post it in the forum.
 

freal

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haidut said:
However, it looks like there is a way to achieve the same effect without actually cutting methionine intake. Our old friend niacinamide seems to be able to deplete methionine stores due to its capacity of drawing methyl groups from methionine. It also looks like increased protein intake has same/similar effect. The reference I have does not mention dosages for niacinamide, but I remember reading a study years ago stating that when people took 1.5g niacinamide a day their plasma methionine levels dropped by over 40%. Here is the link for those interested:
http://books.google.com/books?id=h6-yzg ... an&f=false

You seem to have answered a question that was bothering me why niacinamide causes fatty liver.If methionine stores are depleted that means that the body will have a problem making phopshatidylcholine, since it makes from methionine. Phosphatidylcholine is crucial for transporting lipids from the liver. That means niacinamide will up the choline requirements in diet.


Also I think Ray Peat also wrote somnewhere in his articles that heavy metal restriction will have the same life extension effect as methionine restriction. I think this approach is definetly worth the effort, not just higher lifespan.
 
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haidut

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kiran said:
I believe BCAAs also lower serum tryptophan.
http://nutrition.highwire.org/content/136/2/544S.full
The downside is that BCAAs also reduce serum tyrosine/phenylalanine which will reduce dopamine.

Thanks kiran. Yes, BCAA is one of the methods of inhibiting tryptophan absorption. I posted some studies on that as well. Search the forum for "serotonin depletion". If you add 30mg-40mg / kg of phenylalanine (human dosage) to the BCAA you are taking that will prevent depletion of dopamine. Or you can just take some extra BCAA with your regular protein intake that already contains phenylalanine and tyrosine, and in that case the extra BCAA should lower tryptophan mostly.
This post was just to point out an additional benefit of niacinamide that many people take on a daily basis.
 

jyb

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freal said:
haidut said:
However, it looks like there is a way to achieve the same effect without actually cutting methionine intake. Our old friend niacinamide seems to be able to deplete methionine stores due to its capacity of drawing methyl groups from methionine. It also looks like increased protein intake has same/similar effect. The reference I have does not mention dosages for niacinamide, but I remember reading a study years ago stating that when people took 1.5g niacinamide a day their plasma methionine levels dropped by over 40%. Here is the link for those interested:
http://books.google.com/books?id=h6-yzg ... an&f=false

You seem to have answered a question that was bothering me why niacinamide causes fatty liver.If methionine stores are depleted that means that the body will have a problem making phopshatidylcholine, since it makes from methionine. Phosphatidylcholine is crucial for transporting lipids from the liver. That means niacinamide will up the choline requirements in diet.


Also I think Ray Peat also wrote somnewhere in his articles that heavy metal restriction will have the same life extension effect as methionine restriction. I think this approach is definetly worth the effort, not just higher lifespan.

Missed that post...
 

Luann

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That heavy metals = methionine (er, as far as restricting and benefits of), just doesn't sound right. One is an amino acid. One is a whole different kind of stressor. Metals would cause oxidizing, methionine has a role with the desaturase pathway, which means it gives more substrates for oxidation and is probably worse in general.
 

InChristAlone

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So why do people get benefits from methyl vitamins and someone who had histamine intolerance got better by taking methionine. What does Peat say about under methylating?
 
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haidut

haidut

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That heavy metals = methionine (er, as far as restricting and benefits of), just doesn't sound right. One is an amino acid. One is a whole different kind of stressor. Metals would cause oxidizing, methionine has a role with the desaturase pathway, which means it gives more substrates for oxidation and is probably worse in general.

Methionine depletion has more to do with removing stress from the thyroid gland. High methionine intake suppresses T4 release and also suppresses T4 into T3 conversion in the liver. There is a human study that showed weight loss and other benefits from dropping methionine intake from the regular one found in Western diet to no more than 0.2mg/kg daily. So, keeping methionine intake under 200mg daily seems to reverse insulin resistance and lead to weight loss in humans, concomitant with increase in metabolism. Many of the heavy metals are estrogenic and promote NO synthesis, which ultimately blocks activity of cytochrome C oxidase. So, both metals and methionine suppress metabolism but through a different pathway.
 

Luann

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That's interesting Haudut, and thanks.

Again the difference seems that one makes for a more unstable lipid content? (Which is Only one aspect of health, of course.)
 
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haidut

haidut

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That's interesting Haudut, and thanks.

Again the difference seems that one makes for a more unstable lipid content? (Which is Only one aspect of health, of course.)

Which metals do you think make for a more stable lipid content?
 

Luann

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Hi Haidut. Obviously both are bad. Methionine makes further UFA through the activity of SCD1, so it's not just oxidising fat, it creates more unstable fats that will break down in the future.
 

Xisca

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I was Reading a lot about methylation, and under- may be more often happening than we think! Correct methylation will deplete enough methionine?
I have had tremendous result last week from the 1st day I have been taking METILcobalamine!

My friend with chemical and electtric sensibility also takes methyl and glutathione suppl, and b12

and so far I have read that this happens much the same in autism...
 

Hanzo

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how are you going to deplete methione taking a gallon of milk a day lol
 

ddjd

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You seem to have answered a question that was bothering me why niacinamide causes fatty liver.If methionine stores are depleted that means that the body will have a problem making phopshatidylcholine, since it makes from methionine. Phosphatidylcholine is crucial for transporting lipids from the liver. That means niacinamide will up the choline requirements in diet.


Also I think Ray Peat also wrote somnewhere in his articles that heavy metal restriction will have the same life extension effect as methionine restriction. I think this approach is definetly worth the effort, not just higher lifespan.
the thing is regular niacin, the flushing kind, reduces fatty liver, but still depletes methyl groups in the same way as niacinamide. I'm still trying to get my head around it
 
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Methionine depletion has more to do with removing stress from the thyroid gland. High methionine intake suppresses T4 release and also suppresses T4 into T3 conversion in the liver. There is a human study that showed weight loss and other benefits from dropping methionine intake from the regular one found in Western diet to no more than 0.2mg/kg daily. So, keeping methionine intake under 200mg daily seems to reverse insulin resistance and lead to weight loss in humans, concomitant with increase in metabolism. Many of the heavy metals are estrogenic and promote NO synthesis, which ultimately blocks activity of cytochrome C oxidase. So, both metals and methionine suppress metabolism but through a different pathway.


Could we still build muscle with "little" methionine?
 

AinmAnseo

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Methionine depletion has more to do with removing stress from the thyroid gland. High methionine intake suppresses T4 release and also suppresses T4 into T3 conversion in the liver. There is a human study that showed weight loss and other benefits from dropping methionine intake from the regular one found in Western diet to no more than 0.2mg/kg daily. So, keeping methionine intake under 200mg daily seems to reverse insulin resistance and lead to weight loss in humans, concomitant with increase in metabolism. Many of the heavy metals are estrogenic and promote NO synthesis, which ultimately blocks activity of cytochrome C oxidase. So, both metals and methionine suppress metabolism but through a different pathway.
To anyone:
How is it possible to keep methionine intake under 200 mg daily?
There are 200 mg of methionine in just - 2 oz - of ground beef.
 

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