Quick Facts
- Methionine is an essential amino acid mainly found in the highest quantities in beef, brazil nuts, cereal, dairy, egg whites, lamb, pork, and poultry.
- Methionine supplies sulfur and other compounds required by your body for optimum metabolism and growth.
- Daily use: 19 mg/kg, so for me 19 x 68 kg ~ 1,3g
Functions Of Methionine
- It fights arthritis.
- It helps to have healthy hair.
- And a lot more functions you can find in this very detailed article: Do Methionine Supplementation & Restriction Have Benefits?
bright And Dark Sides Of Methionine
Methionine promotes the production of glutathione, known as the body’s master antioxidant.
But methionine also has a dark side. Dozens of studies in rodents have shown that by decreasing methionine in their diets they consistently live 10 to 20% longer. In other words, getting too much methionine can shorten your life.1
Although long-term studies are impossible in humans for ethical and logical reasons, laboratory research on human cells shows a similar effect on life span: low methionine equals longer life. 1
There are other dangers of methionine. A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that when obese people restricted methionine, they increased their ability to burn stubborn body fat.2
Even as the mice, called “couch potatoes” continued to eat as much as they wanted and shun exercise, they still lost about 70% of their fat in a month, while also lowering their blood glucose levels.4
And a study in Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases found that high dietary methionine intake increased the risk of acute cardiovascular events like heart attacks in middle-aged men.3
One reason methionine can adversely affect your health is that it raises blood levels of another amino acid, homocysteine, which increases the risk of diabetes, and heart disease and may accelerate aging.1
But here’s why adding collagen to your diet and creating a healthier balance of amino acids is so important.
Consuming collagen Helps The Liver Metabolize Excess Methionine
When you consume collagen, the body breaks it down into its constituent amino acids – and glycine. Glycine is one of the main amino acids in all types of collagen; it not only reduces homocysteine levels in the blood after a high-protein meal but also helps the liver metabolize excess methionine, reducing its negative effects on health and life span. In other words, consuming a little collagen daily reduces the damage caused by a muscle-meat-heavy diet. Eating collagen provides amino acid balance.1
Conclusion
You don’t want to eliminate methionine entirely, as methionine is a methyl donor for one of the most important antioxidants you have, glutathione. You just need to lower it.
References
1 Book “The Collagen Diet: A 28-Day Plan for Sustained Weight Loss, Glowing Skin, Great Gut Health, and a Younger You“
2 Eric P. Plaisance, Frank L. Greenway, Anik Boudreau, et al., “Dietary Methionine Restriction Increases Fat Oxidation in Obese Adults with Metabolic Syndrome,” Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 96 (2011): E836-E840
3 J.K. Virtanen, S. Voutilainen, T.H. Rissanen, et al., “High Methionine Intake Increases the Risk of Acute Coronary Events in Middle-Aged Men”, Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Diseases 16 (2006): 113-120.