Studies recommend Betaine for Parkinsons. Trimethylglycine (TMG) is also called glycine betaine. The name trimethylglycine signifies that it has three methyl groups attached to each molecule of glycine.
Wheat bran and beets are a good dietary source of TMG, with smaller amounts available in other cereal grains. TMG can also be made in the body from choline, an essential nutrient found in eggs, soybeans and other foods.
Why Studies Recommend Betaine for Parkinsons
Trimethylglycine or TMG is a recent and potential addition to a Parkinson’s treatment program. It helps as an anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, detoxification and energy enhancement.
TMG is also called betaine because it was first isolated from sugar beets. It is not the same however as betaine hydrochloride.
It is now part of all development programs. A dosage to consider is 1000 mg daily for women and 3000 mg daily for men. Children need less, depending on their size. Always consult with your doctor about dosages.
SOURCES OF TMG
Dietary sources of TMG. The main foods high in TMG are broccoli, beets and many other vegetables. Cooking does not destroy the TMG in vegetables.
The problem is that most people do not eat nearly enough of these foods to get a sufficient amount of TMG from their diet. Even if you eat plenty of these vegetables, it is usually not enough.
WHY SUPPLEMENT WITH TMG?
TMG is excellent for the liver and for detoxification. Stress, infections, inflammation and other disease conditions may use up the TMG the body makes, so more is needed. Toxic metals and toxic chemicals require more TMG in our bodies for their detoxification and removal.
Toxic Metals Delete Availability of TMG
Mercury interferes with the natural TMG production in the body and thus increases the body’s requirement for TMG. If you have silver/mercury dental amalgams, you also likely need more of it. Mercury can contribute to hundreds of health conditions.
Copper toxicity interferes with the production of TMG in the body and increases the need to supplement it. One cause of the copper toxicity is widespread zinc deficiencies in the soil and in food. This tends to cause more accumulation of copper in the body. Women tend to be more copper toxic than men, although it affects both men and women.
Cadmium also increases the need for TMG, either by interfering with its production or enhancing the demand for it in order to detoxify and remove cadmium from the body through the liver. Cadmium toxicity is very common. In part, this is due to widespread zinc deficiency in the soil, the food and in refined food diets. The body takes up cadmium if there is insufficient zinc available in the diet.
Below find two studies that recommend Betaine (TMG) as a treatment for Parkinsons and other conditions as well.
******
Abstract
Neurological and psychiatric diseases pose a considerable global burden. Exploring additional potential prevention strategies and therapies is ongoing. As a prevalent natural product and nutraceutical from food, betaine’s pharmaceutical applications suggest benefits for both health and disease in multiple organs.
Recently, its efficacy on neurological and psychiatric health has been proposed and has drawn considerable attention. In addition to its well-known osmotic protection, due to methyl donation, it regulates metabolism, alleviates oxidative stress, and reduces inflammation. To manifest neurological and psychiatric health benefits, betaine acts by affecting gamma-aminobutyric acid associated with its transporters, related neurotransmitters, downstream and neurological pathways, and other specific mechanisms in the nervous system.
Betaine demonstrates therapeutic potential against various neurological and psychiatric diseases, such as epilepsy, neurocognitive disorders (including Alzheimer’s disease), Parkinson’s disease, stroke, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, sleep disorders, fetal alcohol syndrome, syringomyelia, neonatal brain injury, neuropathic pain, and motor dysfunction.
Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2023 Nov;133(5):485-495. Betaine-The dark knight of the brain
Abstract
The role of betaine in the liver and kidney has been well documented, even from the cellular and molecular point of view. Despite literature reporting positive effects of betaine supplementation in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and schizophrenia, the role and function of betaine in the brain are little studied and reviewed. Beneficial effects of betaine in neurodegeneration, excitatory and inhibitory imbalance and against oxidative stress in the central nervous system (CNS) have been collected and analyzed to understand the main role of betaine in the brain.




Leave a Reply