Younger You by Kara N. Fitzgerald

Author:Kara N. Fitzgerald [Dr. Kara Fitzgerald with Kate Hanley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hachette Books
Published: 2022-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

SUPPLEMENTS TO PRESERVE THE METHYL DONORS YOU ALREADY HAVE: AKA BACKDOOR METHYLATION

What happens if you are like my patients Paul or Sharon and you absolutely cannot tolerate or take B12 and folate? If you’re doing the full Intensive program, you may still need extra methyl donors. A somewhat sneaky approach (hence the “backdoor” name) to supporting DNA methylation is to take supplements of nutrients that require a lot of methyl donors to make. (Think of it like buying a premade cauliflower pizza crust versus making your own—it gets a lot more efficient to get dinner on the table.) Two supplements that help you do this:

• Creatine: Creatine phosphate is a molecule used in the body to rapidly recycle ATP, the body’s main source of energy, in high-energy tissue, including skeletal muscles, heart muscle, and the brain. You synthesize and recycle creatine in the kidneys via a process that requires a lot of methyl donors (just think about all of the skeletal muscle you have—even if you’re not a bodybuilder, added up together, skeletal muscles make up the largest organ in your body). For this reason, I sometimes prescribe creatine to spare those many methyl donors for use in other pathways, such as DNA methylation.

Folks who might benefit from creatine are those who don’t tolerate B vitamins but need them, those with cognitive decline, muscle loss (sarcopenia), fatigue, or individuals who require extra energy support. Athletes can also benefit from extra creatine.

Dosage: I generally start dosing at 3 grams and may increase up to 6 grams. (And see the Nutrient Reference here for food sources.)11

• Choline and Betaine: If you’re not consuming enough eggs, you might need extra choline. Choline is a conditionally essential nutrient and key methylation player involved in a variety of important processes throughout the body, including in the muscle, brain, and liver; cell membranes; and neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine. While we can synthesize some choline, we do so very inefficiently: it requires three methyl donor–dependent steps, making it a very methyl donor–demanding process. We also need extra choline when we get older for cognitive function and during pregnancy, as it’s essential for a baby’s cognitive development. Choline is eventually metabolized to betaine, another important methyl donor that can make SAMe in the methylation cycle without the need of B12 and folate.

Dosage: 450–550 mg of choline bitartrate daily (on the higher end if you are pregnant or nursing). Consider beet supplements for a source of betaine, see here, or you can take three to six grams of betaine itself.

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