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LE Magazine September 1999
REVIEW
Diet, Supplements, Exercise and Sauna
In Methyl Magic, Craig Cooney's
most radical suggestion is that half of our calories should
come from vegetables and fruit. "Vegetables should be your
top priority," Cooney states. He grudgingly allows some potatoes,
as long as they comprise no more than ten percent of our vegetable
intake. This very strong emphasis on vegetables, as opposed
to the fattening starches recommended by the USDA pyramid,
is also known as "the California pyramid."
 Cooney also allows some fruit juice, as long as
it is diluted with water, since fruit juice contains a lot of
sugar. Diluted grape juice and orange juice is recommended,
since they contain choline and folic acid, respectively, as
well as other phytonutrients. He is also strongly in favor of
beans-even canned beans are a good source of folate. Likewise,
he is in favor of seafood and good fats, such as those
provided by nut butters. In general terms, his diet is broadly
compatible with The Zone, and probably would also accomplish
the purpose of insulin reduction. This is an important
anti-aging bonus.
Basically, however, we can't rely on the diet to provide us
sufficient amounts of methylating agents. For anyone
middle-aged or beyond, supplements are a must. Here is a brief
summary of the methyl supplements recommended by Cooney:
choline and trimethylglycine. While
choline does contain three methyl groups, for methylation
purposes it needs to be converted to trimethylglycine (TMG ), which in turn is a very
efficient methylator. Choline has many vital functions in the
body, including serving as a precursor for the production of
the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. One animal study indicated
that coffee strongly potentiates the action of choline in
raising the levels of acetylcholine.
TMG, on the other hand, is very effective at raising the
levels of SAMe and lowering
homocysteine. Seafood, beets and spinach contain TMG, but for
the methyl-deficient older people, supplements are highly
recommended. Interestingly, moderate alcohol intake together
with TMG can result in higher levels of SAMe than TMG
alone.
Methionine is the
dietary amino acid that is the precursor of SAMe. Too much
methionine, however, can result in elevated homocysteine,
particularly if methyl nutrients are insufficient.
Unfortunately we do not know the optimal levels of methionine
in relation to the levels of methylators such as folic acid.
Cooney strongly warns against taking methionine supplements,
especially if you regularly eat meat and other animal protein.
Taking methionine in addition to eating meat could lead to
abnormally high methionine levels, with resulting higher SAMe
but also high homocysteine, with both compounds rising and
falling in spikes.
Cooney is particularly concerned about body builders who
use protein mixes, and hence are in effect supplementing
thionine. Possibly taking methyl supplements with methionine
might make methionine supplementation safe, but we simply do
not know what doses of methyl supplements it would take.
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Folic acid and vitamin B12 are vital for
remethylating homocysteine back to methionine. A coenzyme
form of vitamin B12, methylcobalamin, is necessary for the
enzyme methionine synthase, which catalyzes the methylation
of homocysteine to methionine.
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Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)
helps convert homocysteine to cysteine. Cooney warns that
too much B6 (over 200mg) may result in too much conversion
to cysteine rather than methionine, and consequently in
impaired methylation.
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Selenium participates in
methylation as selenomethionine. Animal studies have shown
that selenomethionine raises the levels of SAMe.
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Zinc is part of various
enzymes that help methylate homocysteine. The enzyme DNA
methyltransferase also contains zinc.
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Inositol facilitates the action of many methyl agents.
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SAMe??? Cooney has chosen not to discuss using SAMe, which
seems to be the hottest new supplement on the market, one
with tremendous promise. We know it can improve mood and
cognition while helping reverse arthritis, liver disorders and
many other problems. If there is a second edition of this
book, I hope it includes "SAMe magic." For now, those who
wish to try SAMe should know that it should be taken with
methyl supplements. The reason is that part of SAMe gets
converted to homocysteine as part of a continual cycle.
If you wish to keep your supplements to a minimum, Cooney
suggests folic acid, B12 and TMG. These are particularly
efficient at supplying methyl groups for the conversion of
homocysteine to methionine and SAMe.
Cooney admits that we do not have enough data to work out
either optimal doses of supplements or an optimal diet. At
this point what we have is educated guess es. One of his most
intriguing suggestions is that food could be engineered to
contain much greater amounts of beneficial nutrients.
Cooney also states that moderate exercise is important for
better methylation. He too warns against strenuous exercise
such as marathon running, which has been found to decrease the
levels of choline, among other things. Moderate exercise,
however, is vital for improving circulation. Good circulation,
in turn, insures better handling of homocysteine. Cooney
recommends exercise that is sufficiently vigorous to make a
person sweat, and one that alternately dilates and constricts
blood vessels in the extremities. Sauna followed by cooling
down has a similar effect. Cooney mentions that massage
likewise enhances circulation. Exercise also helps us stay
slender. In general, the lower the body mass index (BMI), the
lower the homocysteine.
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Begining of Article Methylation Equals Life
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