Homocysteine & Health
If you worry about heart disease, you may have heard of something called homocysteine. Homocysteine is a type of amino acid, a chemical your body uses to make proteins. Even though we all need some level of this amino acid, when homocysteine levels are high, you could be at a greater risk of autoimmune conditions, heart disease, and other chronic health issues.
What is homocysteine?
Homocysteine is a type of amino acid, a chemical your body uses to make proteins. Normally, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, and folic acid (B9) break down homocysteine and change it into other substances your body needs.
Homocysteine is regulated during a biochemical process known as methylation. Methylation acts like a big biochemical superhighway, influencing and helping to regulate your immune system, brain, hormones, and gut. The methylation process occurs about a billion times every second in your body, and if it isn’t working as well as it should, chances are, you will feel it. Methylation gene mutations, such as the MTHFR variation, are closely associated with autoimmune-inflammation spectrum issues, and keeping homocysteine at a healthy level (not too high).
If you have one or two mutations at the MTHFR C677t Gene, your body is not as efficient at managing homocysteine. Fortunately, there are some things you can do to keep your homocysteine in check, even if you are genetically predisposed to have problems in this area.
When are homocysteine too high?
In addition to the influence of genetic mutations, such as the MTHFR mutation, that can cause elevated homocysteine levels, homocysteine can also rise too high due to lifestyle. Certain medications, a poor diet, toxin exposure, hormone imbalances, and stress can all influence homocysteine. Another major contributor is a deficiency in B vitamins.
B vitamins from food and supplements act as methyl donors that help keep your body’s homocysteine at a healthy level and methylation working optimally. Homocysteine will use these methyl donors to produce the über-beneficial compounds SAMe and glutathione, which is extremely important for your health. Your body needs SAMe and glutathione to put autoimmune symptoms into remission. This happens through glutathione’s role as the body’s most powerful antioxidant and SAMe’s ability to protect nerves and support neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. When methyl donors are inadequate, homocysteine can build up and continue to increase.
The optimal range for homocysteine in functional medicine is less than 7 μmol/L. When homocysteine is higher than this, you can see it play out in a multitude of seemingly unrelated health problems, including those related to autoimmunity and chronic inflammation.
The homocysteine autoimmunity connection
One of the most important things methylation does is keep the good genes turned on, and keep the bad genes turned off. When methylation isn’t working correctly, genes that trigger autoimmune issues can get turned on, leading to serious health problems. High homocysteine levels are associated with incredibly common autoimmune diseases
like Hashimoto’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, and psoriasis. So, to avoid a higher risk of these conditions, it’s best to keep methylation working and homocysteine in normal range.
Homocysteine is most notorious for its link to an increased risk of cerebrovascular, heart, coronary, and peripheral artery diseases. Especially high homocysteine levels have been connected to coronary artery disease and higher risk of hardening of the arteries. Even moderate levels can increase risk.
Heart attack and stroke can be brought on by autoimmune conditions - lupus and autoimmune thyroid disease, in particular - which we have seen are also affected by homocysteine levels, creating a double whammy of dysfunction. In fact, research shows that not only is it more important than cholesterol, but inflammatory markers like homocysteine are actually a better indicator of heart disease than other well- known risks like smoking and high blood pressure.