Methionine is one of 9 essential amino acids. Essential meaning humans must obtain them through their food. Of course, all 9 amino acids are important to your health and I am not trying to encourage anyone to supplement just methionine, but I want to focus on this protein because of the widespread effect a deficiency in it can cause. This is more so to show that eating enough protein isn’t just for the bodybuilders but is ESSENTIAL for anyone that wants optimal health.
Methionine is the main precursor protein for methylation. This is the process the body uses to make sure the right genes are on or off at the right time. Methylation is also involved in DNA health, neurotransmitter production, heart health, hormone balance, neurologic health, and a major detoxification pathway in the liver. This means if you don’t have methionine you can take all the B6, B9, B12, choline, and any other supplement aimed at improving methylation that you want and may not see any difference in our symptoms.
To show how much of your health is impacted without listing every condition that may be caused by low methionine here is a list of what is impacted by methionine:
- Immune function
- Antioxidant production
- Neurotransmitter production
- Cellular health
- DNA health and production
- Heart health
- Liver Health
- Kidney health
- Cholesterol metabolism
- Methylation
- Nerve Health
- Mitochondrial health
- Energy Metabolism
- Gallbladder and bile acid synthesis
You can get enough methionine just by eating enough protein (from animal sources). I recommend a minimum of 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. This can go up to 2 g/kg if you are highly active. For example, a 130 lb. person should aim for ~90 grams of protein per day (30g per meal), and a 200 lb. person should aim for ~137 grams (46g per meal).
I hope this helps motivate you to eat more protein, if not, get more information on protein here!
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