Wonderfully Made

Homocysteine

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: George Guthrie, Tim Arnott

Home

Series Code: WM

Program Code: WM000335


00:37 Welcome to Wonderfully Made.
00:39 My name is Dr. George Guthrie.
00:42 I'm the medical director of Lifestyle Center of America,
00:44 in Southern Oklahoma. I'd like to talk to you today
00:49 about something you may not have heard of before.
00:54 Homocysteine, kind of an interesting topic with me
00:58 to discuss this is Dr. Tim Arnott.
01:02 Hi George. Thanks for having me on the program.
01:07 It's good to be here. Atherosclerosis,
01:12 heart attack, cholesterol, are words that are,
01:18 we hear commonly in our medical world today.
01:23 We are concerned about them.
01:25 For years we've understood that cholesterol,
01:29 raising the cholesterol increases our risk of
01:31 heart attack. That oxidized cholesterol,
01:35 or oxidized little devil LDL particles can actually
01:41 cause damage to our arteries and maybe
01:44 lead to a heart attack. But, there is something
01:47 new coming to our understanding
01:50 with whole realm of heart attack and atherosclerosis,
01:55 tell us about it. Well, that new something
01:58 that is coming to our awareness is that
02:01 it's not just the high cholesterol levels
02:04 that can lead to the formation of plaques,
02:07 cholesterol collections if you will, in the wall of
02:11 the artery, but it's also the immune system
02:14 that's involved. The white blood cells are
02:17 actually involved. In fact, there, the cells
02:20 that take up that cholesterol after
02:22 it's been chemically damaged in the blood,
02:24 they are carrying it into the wall of the
02:27 artery and leaving it there. In fact, some
02:30 of those white blood cells stay right there
02:32 in the cholesterol collection in your
02:34 artery wall and this is what can happen.
02:38 If you have an infection for example,
02:41 or simply if you have a lot of the cholesterol
02:44 in the artery wall, or other factors that
02:47 we may not know about, you can have increased
02:50 amounts of inflammation in the blood stream
02:54 and in the tissue and for example
02:57 if you get an infection and a signal goes out
03:00 to the white blood cells of your body
03:03 that there is a problem, those white blood cells
03:06 become activated, including the white blood cells
03:09 that are found in that cholesterol deposit
03:13 in your artery. And when that happens,
03:15 they start to move around and that cholesterol can
03:18 become more unstable and it can rupture
03:21 and break out into the blood flow space
03:24 and that can lead to the formation of a blood clot,
03:27 and nearly every heart attack is a blood clot
03:30 that totally obstructs the artery.
03:33 There is no down stream blood flow
03:35 then you have an infarction or death in
03:37 the heart muscle and many strokes are also
03:40 the result of a blood clot. So, inflammation is an
03:44 important cause of a heart attack and of a stroke.
03:48 Well, in the past we have always focused on
03:51 this cholesterol. We thought just
03:53 because there is a little bit of a blockage,
03:55 that blockage which we thought an angiogram
03:58 would actually lead to a heart attack.
04:01 When we began to watch things,
04:03 we discovered that less than half of the time
04:06 where the heart attacks actually at the blockage,
04:09 it was often down stream. This word, inflammation,
04:13 we understand now to be very important
04:15 because anywhere along the whole blood vessel,
04:18 even the parts that are not narrow,
04:20 that there is inflammation, it's more likely to crack
04:23 and break open; of course, leading to the heart attack.
04:26 Now, as we talk about this, this leads us to this
04:30 word Homocysteine. So, how does Homocysteine
04:34 affect inflammation? Well, Homocysteine is an
04:38 amino acid. A protein building block, if you will.
04:42 We all have Homocysteine. Homocysteine is part of a
04:46 biochemistry cycle that deals with amino acids
04:51 in the body cells. The problem is that
04:54 if you get too much Homocysteine in your
04:57 blood stream, it's like cholesterol.
04:59 It can actually lead to damage to the arteries
05:03 it can lead to increase of inflammation,
05:05 it may increase the risk of a blood clot forming.
05:09 And so, Homocysteine is fine,
05:11 but if you have too much, then it can become
05:14 an enemy to the artery and actually increase
05:17 the risk of a heart attack and of a stroke.
05:20 So, Homocysteine is something
05:23 we want to pay attention to, and you may actually
05:27 want to have your physician check your
05:29 Homocysteine level, especially if you are in a
05:32 high risk group and we'll be talking more about
05:34 who those people who are a little bit
05:36 later in the program. Homocysteine actually
05:39 comes from something called Methionine.
05:42 We generally don't get much Homocysteine
05:44 in our diet, but we do eat quite a bit of Methionine.
05:48 Methionine is much higher in animal products than
05:52 it is in plant products as we eat them.
05:54 The Methionine is changed and,
05:57 is part of our metabolism and then it turns out into
06:02 Homocysteine. Now, normally our body
06:06 doesn't like to keep the Homocysteine around.
06:08 It likes to change it in one way or the other.
06:10 How does it change it? Well, actually George,
06:14 it uses some very important vitamins to convert
06:18 Homocysteine into back, frankly back into
06:23 Methionine and to continue that biochemical cycle.
06:26 Those important B vitamins, co-factors if you will,
06:30 in the chain of chemistry, that changes Homocysteine
06:34 into other products, are vitamin B12, or folic acid,
06:38 or folate, and pyridoxine or vitamin B6 and also
06:43 betaine and these important subunits
06:47 of chemistry are very important if you want
06:49 to keep a nice low Homocysteine level
06:52 and protect your arteries from the damages of
06:56 inflammation, and lower your risk of a blood clot
07:00 forming. Vitamin B12 is important for the recycling.
07:04 It will turn Homocysteine back into Methionine,
07:07 and the others are very important for throwing
07:10 Homocysteine away. So, B vitamins,
07:13 simple B vitamins are very important.
07:16 For many years Americans were not getting enough
07:19 folic acid, because they were eating refined
07:22 and processed grains. When you look at the package
07:27 and you see enriched wheat flour that,
07:30 one of the things that they were not putting
07:32 in for many years, was folic acid.
07:35 Now the government says, actually mandated
07:37 that companies put folic acid in and so our
07:40 folic acid intake is a little bit better,
07:42 but the best way to get folic acid is to eat
07:45 plant food as it comes from nature:
07:48 whole grains, whole wheat, a 100% whole wheat bread
07:52 and all the other whole grains.
07:55 Beans are reach in folate. In fact the black eyed
07:59 cowpea is probably one of the number one folate
08:02 sources, and also the green leafy vegetables
08:05 are very rich sources of folic acid.
08:09 As a matter of fact folate almost sounds like foliage,
08:12 and I think that's probably where the name came from?
08:15 Very possible, so remember those above the ground
08:19 vegetables are not only gonna help your weight
08:22 to come down, they're not only gonna help keep
08:24 your insulin level low, as we've talked about in
08:26 other programs, but they will give you folic acid
08:29 which will help keep your Homocysteine level low,
08:31 and in frankly, those individuals with the
08:34 highest folic acid levels, actually one study had
08:39 half the risk of a heart attack or heart disease.
08:43 And so, folic acid, very important;
08:45 vitamin B6 also an important nutrient, vegetables,
08:50 bananas, some of the nuts are also seeds are
08:54 very good sources of pyridoxine or B6.
08:57 Well, Tim, let's focus over to B12.
09:01 That seems to be a real important one.
09:04 Yes, George, actually there are a number
09:07 of individuals who are low in B12.
09:09 In fact, an article named The American Journal
09:12 of Clinical Nutrition a few years ago,
09:14 stated that about 39% of Americans,
09:18 healthy Americans, were low or low normal
09:21 with their vitamin B12 levels. So, it's not just,
09:26 as you may have heard, an issue for those who
09:29 are vegetarians. However Dr. Herman,
09:32 in an article, last year in The American
09:35 Journal of Clinical Nutrition, did report
09:37 that vegetarians do have an increased risk
09:41 of being low in vitamin B12, and that can
09:45 translate into elevated levels of Homocysteine.
09:50 Now, probably those with the highest
09:52 Homocysteine levels are those with kidney failure.
09:56 And they can have very high Homocysteine levels.
09:59 But, as a group, probably those who are moving
10:02 to a diet exclusively of plants, need to be most
10:06 careful about this whole issue.
10:10 Yes, vitamin B deficient, but B12 deficiency while
10:15 it may be more common in vegetarians,
10:17 there are actually more meat eaters
10:21 who are B12 deficient than vegetarians,
10:24 because there are so many more meat eaters
10:27 than there are vegetarians. In my own mountain
10:31 practice, several years ago, over a six year period,
10:36 I identified 40 people who were vitamin B12 deficient,
10:43 with a number of and a variety of symptoms.
10:46 Interestingly, only one of those, claimed to be
10:51 a vegetarian, a vegan vegetarian,
10:54 taking no animal products. In fact, there was a
10:58 lawsuit a number of years ago,
11:00 and an individual actually was able to successfully
11:04 sue their doctor because their doctor missed
11:09 the diagnosis of neuropathy and apparently dementia,
11:15 and because he measured the vitamin B12 level
11:18 and the persons, the patient's level was in
11:21 the normal range. And so, you can actually have a
11:24 vitamin B12 level that's considered to be normal,
11:29 in the normal range, and still not be getting
11:32 enough vitamin B12 for your body's needs.
11:35 In fact, what I usually recommend for my
11:37 patients at the Lifestyle Center is to try to push
11:41 that vitamin B12 level toward the top of the
11:44 reference range, and you're gonna be a lot safer.
11:48 Now, George, there is a number of problems that
11:52 result if you don't get enough vitamin B12.
11:56 The Homocysteine level goes up,
11:59 and we can talk more about that.
12:01 Dr. Vollset and his colleagues in the
12:04 Hordaland Homocysteine Study in Finland,
12:07 they've done a lot of work in Homocysteine,
12:09 and what they have found is that individuals
12:12 with the highest Homocysteine levels
12:14 are at two to three fold increased risk of a
12:18 heart attack and a stroke. And so, again, vitamin B12
12:24 is needed if you want to keep your Homocysteine
12:27 level low and help yourself be at the lowest risk of
12:32 heart attack and stroke. Tim, let's mention a little
12:35 bit some of the levels from the laboratory
12:38 that since the normal on the laboratory sheet
12:41 may not be correct, maybe we should say something
12:44 about the vitamin B12 optimal level.
12:48 I know in our laboratory we focus,
12:51 in the laboratory results actually say anything
12:54 above 200 is normal. Others have discover
12:59 that problems can develop up to a level of 300
13:03 and some experts are recommending over a 450,
13:07 and I think as you pointed out,
13:09 we have Lifestyle Center of America don't mind
13:11 it up around a 1000, do we?
13:13 Well, that's exactly right and one of the ways
13:15 to determine whether you are getting enough
13:18 vitamin B12 is to measure your Homocysteine level.
13:22 And we would like to see it less than about 7.2
13:26 at the Lifestyle Center of America,
13:28 and frankly those individuals who have
13:31 Homocysteine levels of about 3 to 5,
13:34 are at the lowest risk of these killer diseases,
13:37 and I know there is a number of listeners
13:39 who are listening in parts of the world
13:42 who may not have heart disease as much
13:45 of a problem as we have it here, or stroke,
13:48 but things are changing. And more and more
13:52 third world countries, or individuals in those
13:55 countries are moving to the city,
13:56 they are starting to eat foods,
13:58 the fast foods and the refined flour
14:02 and foods that are rich in fat,
14:05 and they're starting to get the same diseases
14:08 that we are getting here in America
14:10 and that the people are getting in Europe
14:12 and other western countries. So, this issue becomes
14:15 more and more important especially as people
14:18 are finding out about the benefits of a plant based
14:22 diet. Remember you need to take vitamin B12
14:26 if you're going to the exclusively on a plant
14:30 based diet. Is there any toxicity from
14:33 taking too much vitamin B12?
14:35 Well, one of the things that may happen
14:37 if you take large, very large doses of vitamin B12,
14:41 as you actually may run the risk of depleting
14:45 the folic acid in your body. I haven't seen a lot of
14:50 evidence that you can take too much vitamin B12.
14:55 Have you seen any studies on that?
14:58 No, I don't know of any toxicity from too much B12.
15:02 You know, the body is actually very good,
15:04 if it sees a lot of B12 coming its way,
15:08 on a regular basis, it can actually reduce the
15:12 number of receptors for example,
15:15 that can take up that vitamin B12.
15:17 That makes an important point
15:19 if you are in a custom of taking a large amount of
15:22 vitamin B12, you probably want to continue that
15:25 on a regular basis. And we'll actually be sharing
15:29 later in the program what we recommend,
15:32 but I just want to highlight it, at the
15:34 moment what I typically recommend for my patients
15:36 as at least 500 micrograms that's
15:39 mcg of vitamin B12 each day.
15:43 And this is especially important for children
15:46 because children, you need that vitamin B12
15:49 in order to create new DNA, new genes,
15:54 if you will, in order to make new cells,
15:56 because children are rapidly growing,
15:59 they have a lot of cell division going on
16:01 and especially mothers who are pregnant,
16:04 who are nursing their children, their need for
16:07 vitamin B12 is even higher and it's even more important
16:12 if they're on a total plant diet, to take this tiny
16:16 little in our household, cherry-flavored,
16:19 naturally cherry-flavored, no sugar, you understand
16:23 vitamin B12 tablet. My children actually love it
16:26 and so I am sure yours will, too.
16:30 I would like to point out for listeners
16:33 that vitamin B12 is best absorbed if it can be
16:38 mixed with saliva before it actually goes into the
16:40 stomach. There is another factor in our saliva that
16:43 actually protects it from the acids of the stomach
16:45 and then hands it off to an intrinsic factor made
16:48 in the stomach. So, it's best if you don't take
16:51 it as a pill that you swallow, but as something that
16:53 dissolves in your saliva or in a small pill that
16:57 you chew. Absolutely, now there are other benefits
17:01 for making sure that your Homocysteine is nice
17:04 and low, other benefits for taking that vitamin B12,
17:08 and Dr. Clarke highlights those in the Archives
17:12 of Neurology in November of 1998.
17:14 He found that individuals with the highest
17:17 Homocysteine levels were actually over four times
17:21 at greater risk of Alzheimer's disease.
17:25 And there are some individuals who believe
17:27 that if you have very high Homocysteine levels,
17:30 it may increase the risk of something called
17:33 oxidative damage to the tissue,
17:36 including the tissues of the brain and it may
17:38 actually increase some of these brain diseases,
17:42 and in fact there are studies that show that
17:46 individuals who are plant-based in their diet
17:48 and don't pay attention to vitamin B12,
17:51 may be at higher risk of some of the brain diseases.
17:56 You don't need to have that as a problem,
17:58 but you do need to make sure that vitamin B12
18:01 is part of your program, again, even if you are
18:04 not a vegetarian, but especially if you are a
18:08 total plant based eater. Now we're going to be
18:11 talking a little bit later in the program about those
18:14 who may not have access to this little vitamin
18:17 B12 tablet. What can they do? And I think that's
18:21 an important discussion. We'll be talking about that
18:23 little bit later. I'd like to say something about
18:26 where vitamin B12 comes from.
18:28 Vitamin B12 is made by bacteria.
18:32 Animals don't make it, bacteria make it.
18:37 Animals have bacteria in them, for example the cow
18:41 has bacteria in its stomach which will make
18:43 the vitamin B12, and then the cow can absorb it.
18:46 Because of the way our bodies were made,
18:48 we do not have the ability to actually
18:51 absorb the vitamin B12 that is made in our own
18:56 colons by the bacteria that live there.
18:59 And so, an external source may be necessary for us,
19:04 especially if we live in a very clean world.
19:09 There are actually a group of Buddhists
19:12 reported on, who moved from India where they
19:15 had no vitamin B12 deficiency, to England
19:18 where they began to develop vitamin B12
19:20 deficiency. And it was discovered that
19:23 it was the dirt, if you will, on the food that
19:28 they grew themselves and prepared,
19:30 enough vitamin B12 and the bacteria of the dirt
19:34 got into their mouth, that they were able
19:36 to avoid vitamin B12 deficiency.
19:39 Well, it living in India, but when they got to England,
19:42 things were much cleaner and they developed
19:46 the B12 deficiency. Vitamin B12 is also needed
19:50 to make some of the stress hormones.
19:52 And those who are in western societies,
19:56 where we have a high levels of stress
19:58 in our adrenal glands that sit at top the kidneys,
20:01 are putting out a lot of the adrenal in the
20:03 epinephrine. We may actually be using up
20:06 more of the vitamin B12 and that may be one
20:10 of the reasons why we need more.
20:12 But, I certainly agree, George, in some of
20:15 these countries, for example a study in Siberia,
20:19 individuals who were total plant based in their
20:22 eating, they were not taking vitamin B12
20:25 and they were not vitamin B12 deficient,
20:28 because they are not so conscientious about
20:33 getting rid of all the dirt and all the bacteria like
20:36 we are in these countries with our hot water,
20:38 our bacterial, antibacterial soaps
20:42 and our detergents, you know, we might say
20:44 scrupulously clean in these countries.
20:47 When I was in Africa, and not too long ago,
20:50 I was invited to join a group of individuals
20:54 who were sitting down, having their lunch,
20:56 and they were using their fingers as the utensil
21:00 to take the food from the plate. And certainly,
21:04 those kind of habits are going to have a side
21:07 effect that's beneficial, that is more the friendly
21:11 B12 producing bacteria will enter your system.
21:15 That's a good reminder Tim. Some have jokingly said
21:20 maybe if we didn't brush our teeth,
21:22 the bacteria in our mouth would be allowed to grow
21:24 enough. I am not sure I'm ready to go there,
21:26 but I suppose that's a possibility.
21:29 So, you can always take that vitamin B12
21:31 tablets and keep brushing your teeth.
21:33 I thought you might be interested as listeners
21:36 to know, some of you may be creationists,
21:42 as I am. You know, the evolutionists have
21:45 a hard time explaining this, because vitamin B12
21:48 is a very complex substance. And the bacteria actually
21:54 have two completely separate ways of making
21:57 it, another evidence left in the record that
22:01 we have a Creator, who's in charge, I am thankful.
22:04 And you know, George, there is another lesson
22:07 here in the B12. Some people are maybe
22:10 wondering about B12 and why didn't the Creator
22:13 provide B12 in the plants, and as we point it out,
22:18 if you live closer to the earth,
22:20 if you grow your own food, if you get your
22:22 hands dirty, if you don't necessarily wash all of
22:27 the dirt off of those organically grown fruits
22:31 and vegetables and if they don't have pesticides
22:35 on the surface of them, killing bacteria,
22:37 you will get the friendly bacterial exposure
22:41 that you need and get the B12 that you need.
22:44 But in our very clean, scrupulously clean society,
22:48 B12 is important. But, this whole issue of B12,
22:51 brings up an important principle and that is that
22:54 the Creator has tied the highest organism on this
22:59 planet to one of the lowest organisms.
23:02 In fact, the only source of B12, as George has
23:06 pointed out is a bacteria. So, here we are, so a well
23:11 developed and so intelligent, and yet,
23:14 the Creator has said, don't forget the tiny bacteria,
23:18 you need them just as we need each other.
23:21 So, these are some of the lessons that
23:24 we can find in creation, if we look below the surface.
23:28 Now, George, we want to shift gears for just a
23:32 few moments, we don't have a lot of time left,
23:34 but we want to talk about another supplement,
23:37 if you will, and this time it's a little bit more about
23:41 perhaps a natural supplement,
23:42 maybe more inviting to some, and that is the
23:47 supplement of flax seed. George, tell us a little bit
23:50 about flax seed, what is it, why should we have
23:54 it on our tables on a regular basis,
23:56 and what can it do for us? We talked earlier about
24:00 Homocysteine. It increases inflammation
24:03 and increases our risk of heart attack.
24:05 We need vitamin B12 to keep our Homocysteines low.
24:09 There is a substance some substances in the matter
24:13 of fact in flax seed they can help protect us.
24:15 One of those is soluble fiber and the other one
24:19 is a very important fat substance called
24:22 an Omega-3 fat. And Omega-3 fat
24:26 for example this fat Alpha Linolinic Acid,
24:30 very powerful fat, to help actually lower the
24:35 inflammation in your blood stream.
24:37 And as we pointed out at the beginning of the
24:39 program, if you want to avoid a heart attack,
24:41 if you want to prevent the cholesterol in your
24:45 artery from breaking off into the blood stream,
24:48 a clot forming, then you want to make sure
24:51 the inflammation in your body is as low as possible,
24:54 and in order to do that, you want to move
24:57 away from meats, which actually have a fat that
25:01 increases the inflammation,
25:03 called arachidonic acid, and move toward plants,
25:06 green leafy vegetables, flax seed and English walnuts.
25:11 These are some of the richest sources
25:14 of this important inflammation reducing fats.
25:18 Now, it's my understanding that
25:19 we like the Omega-3, I'm sorry,
25:22 we like the flax seed because it's so high in
25:25 Omega-3 fat. But, if I just eat the flax seed,
25:29 well I be able to absorb the Omega-3 fat?
25:33 Well, that's a very good point,
25:34 the Creator has put a nice, protective shell
25:38 around those good fats, so that they don't
25:41 combine with oxygen and become damaged
25:43 and change into something that's not
25:45 helpful for your body. So, what you want to do
25:48 is take those whole flax seeds and grind them.
25:52 And what we do in this country,
25:54 is to take a coffee grinder and we put those,
25:57 a tablespoon of flax seed in the coffee grinder
26:00 and we whiz it up into a powder and
26:02 what I do is put it under my cereal in the morning.
26:05 You can put it over your salad; you can put it in
26:07 recipes. But, this flax seed is a very powerful,
26:12 powerful tool of reducing the inflammation.
26:15 But, you do wanna to grind it.
26:17 Now it seems like I remember hearing
26:19 that one could get too much flax seed,
26:22 it might cause some problems.
26:24 Tell us about that. Yes, that's actually true.
26:26 You know, actually I was taking two tablespoons
26:31 of freshly ground flax seed every morning
26:34 and I started to notice something.
26:37 I started to notice that in the morning
26:39 I was coughing, I was not coughing up
26:41 but a little bit of phlegm come up
26:43 and it had a little bit of blood in it.
26:45 And actually one of the things that the fats,
26:49 these good Omega-3 fats and flax seed can do,
26:51 is to prevent something in your body from
26:55 working as well as it should, that's the
26:56 platelets. Platelets actually help to prevent
26:59 blood from clotting and if you get too much of
27:04 this flax seed, you can actually have problems
27:06 with bleeding. And so I find that one tablespoon
27:09 a day, or perhaps three tablespoons every
27:13 fourth day, is probably the best way to go.
27:17 And so we've seen in this program,
27:19 how vitamin B12 is so important at keeping the
27:24 Homocysteine level low, so that you can have
27:27 the low, have lower risk of heart attack,
27:29 lower risk of stroke, we've seen the
27:32 importance of an important fat in flax seed,
27:36 in English walnuts, in leafy green vegetables.
27:39 In fact, we would encourage you to use
27:41 flax seed, freshly ground, on a daily basis or
27:45 frequently so you can have all of the
27:48 heart disease protection benefits that are possible.
27:53 And remember that it's small things that can
27:56 have a powerful benefit to your health.
27:59 Tiny things like something made of bacteria,
28:04 B12 and the tiny flax seed to be powerful
28:08 ways of showing how wonderfully you are made.


Home

Revised 2014-12-17