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Betaine for Optimal Health

by: Team Vpx Sports

Betaine is a naturally occuring nutrient found in a variety of foods including shellfish, spinach, and of course beets - where it gets its name. Humans probably get about 1 gram per day from a standard diet, or as much as double that amount from a diet rich in these types of foods. It is readily absorbed from foods or as a dietary supplement, and has a host of health benefits.

At this point it's important to distinguish between Betaine anhydrous, which is a popular ingredient in many nutritional supplements, and Betaine hydrochloride (HCL) which is far more uncommon, used in far lower doses, and is typically sold as a digestive aid. Because it's fairly harsh (due to the hydrocholoric acid), the practical amount of Betaine hcl that can be ingested is fairly low, bordering on non-theraputic doses.

Non-catabolized Betaine is put to work as an osmolyte, a compound that helps  the body's internal regulation of cellular hydration, a crucial regulatory factor in both cell function and volume. Lack of proper hydration, externally influenced dehydration, or a host of other variables can exert osmotic stress on the body and effect metabolic pathways including protein, fat, and carbohydrate utilization, PH level, and nitrogen retention. Each of these areas has a profound effect on the results one can expect from physical training (especially nitrogen retention and substrate metabolism), but also on general health. Betaine, as an osmolyte, will aid cells in adapting to osmotic stressors and therefore maintain the integrity of the cell.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has actually approved Betaine as a treatment for the overproduction and buildup of a non-protein amino acid known as homocysteine. High levels of homocysteine are correlated with heart disease, although an exact mechanism (or potential causative effect) is not fully understood. Research has, however, indicated that higher homocysteine levels may encourage the arteries to harden.

In vivo studies (primarily in rodents) also suggest that betaine can protect from fatty deposits in the liver. Typically these are ethanol-induced (alcohol abuse), or resulting from a variety of metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity (and the interrelation between the two) and other causes.

There also seems to be some indication that Betaine can aid or even (in some cases) replace (and/or act as a synergist with) nutrients typically found in the B-vitamin family, such as B-12, B-6, and choline. Research shows that in certain pathologies that are commonly cured with b-vitamins, Betaine (alone or possibly in conjunction with traditional therapy), can eliminate or improve symptoms above and beyond the use of vitamins alone.

Finally, Betaine has been shown to lower markers of inflammation. This would be especially interesting to those eating a restricted diet or possibly those following a "paleo-type" diet, where lowering inflammation caused by processed foods is one of the primary endpoints.






CATEGORY: Supplements