Homocysteine levels: getting to the crux of heart health
You wouldn't buy a house after looking at it just from the outside. The exterior is important, but you'd want to look around inside of course, check the foundation, the plumbing, the roof, the garden and the neighbourhood. Along the same lines, it's hard to understand why anyone would assess
cardiovascular health by looking just at
cholesterol levels when there are other factors to consider that are far more important. And yet all too often, when
LDL levels are high, doctors write the scrip for a
statin drug and feel that this alone is an adequate therapy for addressing
arteriosclerosis and heart disease. But this narrow protocol can leave high levels of homocysteine, triglycerides and C-reactive protein unchecked and untreated.
First, the folate factor
Homocysteine is an amino acid that promotes the build up of plaque on blood vessel walls, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. In fact US HSI Panellist Dr Allan Spreen, believes that homocysteine is a far more important indicator of
arteriosclerosis risk than cholesterol. Homocysteine metabolism depends on nutrients such as folate,
vitamin B6 and
B12. That's why homocysteine levels drop when folate intake is increased. However, it doesn't always happen quite that easily. Most people who raise their dietary folate intake - by eating asparagus, lentils, chickpeas, most varieties of beans, and especially spinach and other leafy green vegetables - respond with a lower homocysteine reading. But if the diet doesn't do the trick, then vitamin supplements often will. Low doses of
folate may work in many individuals, but for some people with high homocysteine the requirements may be higher - in which case you might want consider 5 milligrams of folic acid, 100 milligrams of B-6, and 1 milligram of B-12 (the last taken under the tongue, not orally). In a great many cases 0.8
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