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Trimethylglycine or Dimethylglycine

Specific Recommendations:

• Trimethylglycine at Amazon.com
• Betaine anhydrous (TMG) at Amazon.com

News & Research:

• Supplement treats schizophrenia in mice, restores healthy 'dance' and structure of neurons - Science Daily, 4/20/21 - "The supplement betaine was first isolated from sugar beets and is often associated with sweetness or umami flavor. Healthy levels of betaine come from both external food sources and internal synthesis in the body. Betaine supplements are already used clinically to treat the metabolic disease homocystinuria ... By protecting CRMP2 from damage, betaine treatment allows kif3b mutant neurons to build proper structures. With a structurally sound skeleton to navigate, the remaining functional KIF3B protein can shuttle cargo around the cell. Other test tube experiments revealed that KIF3B and CRMP2 can bind together, but their exact relationship remains unclear ... We know that the amount of betaine decreases in schizophrenia patients' brains, so this study strongly suggests betaine could be therapeutic for at least some kinds of schizophrenia" - See betaine anhydrous (TMG) at Amazon.com.
• Boosting amino acid derivative may be a treatment for schizophrenia - Science Daily, 6/26/19 - "Betaine comes from a normal diet but is also synthesized in the body where it contributes to metabolism in various ways, including as an anti-inflammatory agent. Levels of betaine (glycine betaine or trimethylglycine) in the blood plasma of patients with schizophrenia has previously been found to be low, which suggested it is a possible therapeutic target ... In the new study, mice missing the Chdh gene, which is involved in making betaine, showed depressive behaviors and greatly reduced betaine levels in both the brain and blood. Betaine levels in the brain recovered when the it was given to the mice as a supplement in drinking water, demonstrating that betaine can pass through the blood-brain barrier" - See trimethylglycine at Amazon.com.
• Legal Performance Enhancer Discovered in the Nutrient Betaine - Science Daily, 7/5/13 - "betaine -- a nutrient found in shellfish and beets -- boosts athletic performance by nearly six percent when added to a sports drink ... Betaine may contribute to creatine synthesis, which improves, strength, power and short-term performance ... researchers suggest: Dissolve 2.5 grams of betaine (either powder or tablet form) in a 20-ounce sports drink, and drink half in the morning and half in the afternoon"
• Danisco extends betaine’s sport science - Nutra USA, 8/13/09 - "During various power, muscle endurance and anaerobic power exercise tests over a two week period, subjects given BetaPower showed a significant improvement in lower body muscle endurance and quality of the workout compared to those participants that were not given supplementation" - [Abstract]
• Startling New Findings About Homocysteine - Life Extension Magazine, 11/03 - "a startling 100% of French elderly hospitalized patients showed higher than desired homocysteine levels, with 45% suffering from severe hyperhomocysteinemia ... Administration of vitamins B6 and B12, and folate, causes a significant decrease of elevated serum homocysteine concentrations in older persons ... More recent studies not only confirm the cardiovascular dangers of homocysteine, but also its toxic effect on the brain. It turns out that high blood levels of homocysteine increase the incidence of depression, memory impairment, and even Alzheimer’s disease"
• The Benefits of CLA Too Good To Be True? - Life Extension Magazine, 6/99 - "TMG may be one of the most important nutrients to prevent heart disease, stroke, liver disease, slow aging and treat depression. TMG is also called glycine betaine, but the name "trimethylglycine" signifies that it has three methyl groups attached to each molecule of glycine. In the body, TMG donates one of its methyl groups to cellular DNA, which may help protect DNA against damage and its consequences, cancer and premature aging. When a TMG methyl group is donated to a molecule of homocysteine, it is converted first to methionine then to s-adenosyl-methionine (SAM). No "safe" level of homocysteine has been established, suggesting that taking nutrients like TMG could lower everyone's risk of heart attack and stroke, in addition to protecting DNA."
• SAMe Needs The B's - Nutrition Science News, 7/00 - "users of this wonder pill should be aware that through the natural metabolism of SAMe, the amino acid homocysteine is created--a situation that can lead to artery damage and even heart disease. . . . .others have demonstrated that by simply upping one's intake of the vitamins B6, B12 and folic acid, this potential hazard can be avoided." (Note:  TMG is a precursor to SAM-e and lowers homocysteine instead of raising it.)
• Diet, Supplements, Exercise and Sauna - Life Extension Magazine, 9/99 - "TMG, on the other hand, is very effective at raising the levels of SAMe and lowering homocysteine."
• Dimethylglycine , dimethylglycine research, dimethylglycine benefits - Dr. Sahelian

Abstracts:

• Dietary Betaine Intake and Risk of Mortality in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease: The Prospective Guangdong Coronary Artery Disease Cohort - Br J Nutr 2022 Nov 9 - "Patients in the highest tertile of dietary betaine intake had a lower risk of all-cause (P=0.007) and cardiovascular death (P<0.001) than those in the lowest tertile after adjusting for age and sex, traditional cardiovascular risk factors and other potential confounders. After further adjusting for plasma methionine metabolites and vitamins, HRs across tertiles of dietary betaine intake were 1.00, 0.84 and 0.72 for all-cause mortality (P for trend=0.124), and 1.00, 0.77 and 0.55 for cardiovascular mortality (P for trend=0.021). Higher dietary betaine intake was associated with a decreased risk of cardiovascular death after fully adjustment for cardiovascular risk factors, other potential confounders and plasma methionine metabolites and vitamins. However, the association between dietary betaine intake and risk of all-cause mortality was not statistically significant after further adjusting for plasma methionine metabolites and vitamins" - See betaine anhydrous (TMG) at Amazon.com.
• One-year longitudinal association between changes in dietary choline or betaine intake association with cardiometabolic variables in the PREDIMED-Plus trial - Am J Clin Nutr 2022 Sep 16 - "The greatest one-year increase in dietary choline or betaine intake (Q4) was associated with improved serum glucose (-3.39 and -2.72 mg/dL for choline or betaine, respectively) and glycated hemoglobin levels (-0.10% for Q4 of either choline or betaine intake increase). Other significant changes associated with the greatest increase in choline or betaine intake were: reduced body weight (-2.93 and -2.78 Kg, respectively), BMI (-1.05 and -0.99 Kg/m2, respectively), waist circumference (-3.37 and -3.26 cm, respectively), total cholesterol (-4.74 and -4.52 mg/dL, respectively) and LDL cholesterol (-4.30 and -4.16 mg/dL, respectively). Urine creatinine was reduced in Q4 of one-year increase in choline or betaine intake (-5.42 and -5.74 mg/dL, respectively)" - See citicholine at Amazon.com and betaine anhydrous (TMG) at Amazon.com.
• Betaine ameliorates acute sever ulcerative colitis by inhibiting oxidative stress induced inflammatory pyroptosis - Mol Nutr Food Res 2022 Sep 7 - "Betaine rich in beet is used as an important source of human nutrition. Here we aimed to explore whether betaine supplementation can protect against acute sever ulcerative colitis (ASUC) and the underlying mechanism ... Betaine inhibits colonic oxidative stress induced inflammatory pyroptosis to alleviate ASUC, which shows therapeutic potential against colitis and other acute inflammatory disorder" - See betaine anhydrous (TMG) at Amazon.com and beet root powder at Amazon.com.
• Effects of short-term betaine supplementation on muscle endurance and indices of endocrine function following acute high-intensity resistance exercise in young athletes - J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2022 Mar 22 - "Two weeks of betaine supplementation improved upper- and lower-body muscle endurance and influenced indices of endocrine function following an acute session of high-intensity RE in adolescent handball players"
• Effects of chronic betaine supplementation on performance in professional young soccer players during a competitive season: a double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial - J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2021 Oct 18 - "14-week of betaine supplementation increased predicted 1-RM, VO2max, and repeated sprint ability performance in youth professional soccer players. Betaine supplementation seems to be a useful nutritional strategy to improve and to maintain performance during a competitive soccer season"
• Effects of Betaine Supplementation on Markers of Metabolic Flexibility, Body Composition, and Anaerobic Performance in Active College-Age Females J Diet Suppl 2021 Sep 3 - "Betaine (BET) has shown to be effective in improving body composition and performance, although research in women is lacking ... only the BET group experienced a significant increase in fat free mass (p < 0.01; ~3%). Further, only the BET group experienced improvements to performance such as a higher mean power output during the final sprint (p = 0.02; ~3%) and a lower RPE during the final stage of the graded exercise test (p = 0.02). Results from this study suggest BET supplementation may improve body composition and some markers of performance during exercise in collegiate women" - [Nutra USA] - Note: I assume RPE is "Rating of Perceived Exertion". Is the average Joe supposed to know that?
• Plasma choline and betaine and risks of cardiovascular events and recurrent stroke after ischemic stroke - Am J Clin Nutr 2021 Jun 22 - "Choline and betaine have been suggested to play a pivotal role in neurotransmitter synthesis, cell membrane integrity, and methyl-group metabolism, exerting neuroprotective effects in patients with various neurological disorders ... Plasma choline and betaine were inversely associated with cardiovascular events and recurrent stroke after ischemic stroke. Specifically, in fully adjusted models, each additional SD of choline and betaine was associated with 35% (95% CI: 20%-48%) and 30% (95% CI: 14%-43%) decreased risks of subsequent cardiovascular events, respectively, and 34% (95% CI: 16%-48%) and 29% (95% CI: 12%-43%) decreased risks of recurrent stroke, respectively" - See choline at Amazon.com and betaine anhydrous (TMG) at Amazon.com.
• Maternal plasma choline and betaine in late pregnancy and child growth up to age 8 years in the KOALA Birth Cohort Study - Am J Clin Nutr 2021 Jun 10 - "Sufficient choline and betaine during pregnancy are needed for fetal growth and development ... Third-trimester pregnancy plasma choline and betaine were positively associated with childhood anthropometric measures. In boys, some of the associations may have persisted up to 8 y of age" - See citicholine at Amazon.com and betaine anhydrous (TMG) at Amazon.com.
• Effects of 14-weeks betaine supplementation on pro-inflammatory cytokines and hematology status in professional youth soccer players during a competition season: a double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial - J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2021 Jun 5 - "Twenty-nine soccer players (age, 15.5 +/- 0.3 years) were randomly divided into two groups based on playing position: betaine group (BG, n = 14, 2 g/day) or placebo group (PG, n = 15) ... 14 weeks of betaine supplementation prevented an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines and WBC counts. It seems that betaine supplementation may be a useful nutritional strategy to regulate the immune response during a fatiguing soccer season"
• The effects of 14-week betaine supplementation on endocrine markers, body composition and anthropometrics in professional youth soccer players: a double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial - J Int Soc Sports Nutr 2021 Mar 4 - "Betaine supplementation may enhance body composition outcomes when supplemented chronically during an exercise program. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of betaine supplementation on development-related hormones, body composition, and anthropometrics in professional youth soccer players during a competitive season ... Twenty-nine players (age, 15.45 +/- 0.25 years) were matched based upon position and then randomly assigned to a betaine group (2 g/day; n = 14, BG) or placebo group ... testosterone to cortisol ratio (T/C) ... Betaine supplementation increased testosterone levels and T/C ratio in youth professional soccer players during a competitive season. Betaine supplementation had no negative effects on growth (height and weight) and may attenuate reductions in testosterone due to intense training during puberty" - Note:  I wish they would state whether it's betaine hydrochloride [HCl] or betaine anhydrous (trimethylglycine (TMG)).  It must be TMG because HCL is for digestion. - See betaine hydrochloride products at Amazon.com and betaine anhydrous (TMG) at Amazon.com.
  • Betaine HCl - Remembering the Basics - edu.emersonecologics.com - "Trimethylglycine (TMG) is a popular molecule in the betaine family - consisting of the amino acid glycine with three methyl groups attached. TMGs main uses are as either a primary (reducing homocysteine into L-methionine for cardio-protection) or secondary (affecting folate and SAMEe metabolism) methyl donor. For clarity it's important to remember that the terms "TMG" and "betaine" are used interchangeably ... While still in the same molecular family, betaine hydrochloride [HCl] is a very different molecule. It is a protonated form of TMG, meaning it will give up or transfer a proton and a chloride ion in an aqueous solution (liquid). This makes betaine HCl a very good dietary source of hydrochloric or gastric acid"
• The effects of chronic betaine supplementation on body composition and performance in collegiate females: a double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled trial - J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2018 Jul 31;15(1):37 - "betaine (2.5 g/day ... Significant interactions were found for changes in body fat percentage and fat mass: body fat percentage and fat mass decreased significantly more in betaine (- 3.3 +/- 1.7%; - 2.0 +/- 1.1 kg) compared to placebo (- 1.7 +/- 1.6%; - 0.8 +/- 1.3 kg), respectively" - [Nutra USA]
• Effects of betaine on body composition, performance, and homocysteine thiolactone - J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2013 Aug 22;10(1):39 - "Twenty-three subjects were matched for training experience (4.8 +/- 2.3 years) and body fat percentage (BF%: 16.9 +/- 8.0%), randomly assigned to either a placebo (PL; n = 12) or betaine group (BET; n = 11; 2.5 g/day), and completed a 6 week periodized training program consisting of 3 two-week micro-cycles ... Six-weeks of betaine supplementation improved body composition, arm size, bench press work capacity, attenuated the rise in urinary HCTL, and tended to improve power (p = .07) but not strength"
• Betaine supplement alleviates hepatic triglyceride accumulation of apolipoprotein E deficient mice via reducing methylation of peroxisomal proliferator-activated receptor alpha promoter - Lipids Health Dis. 2013 Mar 13;12(1):34 - "Our findings indicate that betaine supplement could alleviate hepatic triglyceride accumulation and improve antioxidant capacity by decreasing PPAR alpha promoter methylation and upregulating PPAR alpha and its target genes mRNA expression"
• Effect of betaine supplementation on power performance and fatigue - J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2009 Feb 27;6:7 - "Subjects were tested prior to the onset of supplementation (T1) and 7 (T2) and 14 days (T3) following supplementation ... No differences were seen at T2 or T3 in the repetitions performed to exhaustion or in the number of repetitions performed at 90% of both peak and mean power between the groups in the bench press exercise. The number of repetitions performed in the squat exercise for BET was significantly greater (p < 0.05) than that seen for PL at T2. The number of repetitions performed at 90% or greater of peak power in the squat exercise was significantly greater for BET at both T2 and T3 than PL"
• The association between betaine and choline intakes and the plasma concentrations of homocysteine in women - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Oct;86(4):1073-1081 - "Total choline + betaine intake was inversely associated with tHcy, as was choline from 2 water-soluble choline-containing compounds. Remethylation of tHcy may be more dependent on the betaine pathway when methyl sources are low as a result of either inadequate folate intake or heavier alcohol consumption"
• The effect of low doses of betaine on plasma homocysteine in healthy volunteers - Br J Nutr. 2004 Oct;92(4):665-9 - "plasma tHcy is lowered rapidly and significantly by 3 or 6 g betaine/d in healthy men and women"
• Betaine in human nutrition - Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Sep;80(3):539-549 - "The growing body of evidence shows that betaine is an important nutrient for the prevention of chronic disease"
• Low Dose Betaine Supplementation Leads to Immediate and Long Term Lowering of Plasma Homocysteine in Healthy Men and Women - J. Nutr. 133:4135-4138, December 2003 - "doses of betaine in the range of dietary intake reduce fasting and postmethionine loading plasma homocysteine concentrations. A betaine-rich diet might therefore lower cardiovascular disease risk"
• Betaine Supplementation Lowers Plasma Homocysteine in Healthy Men and Women - J. Nutr. 133:1291-1295, May 2003 - "Groups of twelve subjects ingested 6 g betaine, 800 µg folic acid with 6 g placebo or 6 g placebo each day for 6 wk ... Fasting plasma homocysteine decreased by 1.8 µmol/L ... in the betaine group and by 2.7 µmol/L ... in the folic acid group ... betaine suppressed the total area under the plasma homocysteine-time curve after methionine loading by 221 µmol . 24 h/L ... compared with placebo, whereas folic acid had no effect"