Inexpensive ways to treat methylation and other issues? (Such as foods, diets, etc)?

[rydra_wong]

A lot of people here would like to follow one of the methylation protocols but just can't afford it. And those of us who can afford it now, may not be able to afford it later. It might be useful to pool our knowledge to come up with food, dietary, and other means to lessen these difficulties for those who can't afford vitamins. That is, if anyone knows anything to share?

Also I would like to open it up for cheap remedies for health problems of other kinds because if you can - say - lower your blood pressure w/o meds maybe that will free up some money for vitamins.

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I am not advocating going w/o vitamins at all (the whole idea frankly scares me stiff!) so hopefully people continue to try to obtain as many of the needed vitamins as they can.

 

[rydra_wong]

I'll start with Brewer's Yeast (the brand I like is Lewis Labs - tastes great)

http://www.vitamins-nutrition.org/vitamins-guide/brewers-yeast.html

Brewer's yeast is an excellent source of B vitamins, protein and minerals and is an excellent, low-cost food supplement for aging adults and growing developing children. B vitamins, DNA and RNA, and chromium are found in Brewer's Yeast.

How This Supplement Works in Your Body:
Supplies B vitamins, protein and minerals
Offers bulk to prevent constipation
Good source of enzyme-producing vitamins
Chromium in brewer's yeast helps regulate sugar metabolism
May reduce risk of high cholesterol in blood
Possible treatment for contact dermatitis
May boost energy level
May reduce risk of prostate cancer

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I had a dog with severe arthritis (not only having trouble with stairs, but his neck would lock sideways and he coukd only walk in circles) and lifelong anxiety problems. I asked if anyone could suggest a remedy and a nutritionist who worked for a psychiatric hospital in California advised me to give him Brewer's Yeast. She said they fed it twice a day to the psychiatric patients on an empty stomach. She told me it has a high amount of glutamine/glutamic acid and if you can get that into the brain it lifts the mood. She said that other amino acids would crowd it out so it only works if taken w/o other aminos. (Tastes great rolled on a banana by the way). I tried it myself and it did lift my mood (I had forgotton about that!). So I gave it to my dog and almost at once he was not only climbing stairs with ease, but he would run across fields happily like a normal dog rather than stick to me like glue and look back every 10 seconds to make sure I did not leave him.

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The form of folate in Brewer's Yeast is NOT folic acid: https://sites.google.com/site/superdownsyndrome/supplements/folinic-acid
Folic acid is the fully oxidized form of naturally occurring folates, which are found in leafy and green vegetables such as spinach, asparagus, turnip greens, romaine, lettuce, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and bok choy. Other sources include corn, beets, tomatoes, dried or fresh beans and peas, fortified sunflower seeds and some fruits, including oranges, grapefruit, pineapple, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, banana, raspberries, and strawberries. Liver (only organic, of course) and brewers and bakers yeasts are good sources of folate, too.Butand this is important to understanding the difference between folic acid and the various naturally occuring folatesnone of these vegetables, fruits, liver or yeast naturally contain even one molecule of folic acid.

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Disclaimers
Some websites claim that the high level of B6 in Brewer's Yeast causes neuropathy over time.
Wiki says: Brewer's yeast is a good source of B-complex vitamins but, contrary to some claims, it contains little or no vitamin B12.[37]
(Surprise substances that inhibit folate absorption: ant-acids, pancreatin (taken as a supplement), possibly other NSAIDS. (In addition to many drugs).

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[rydra_wong]

I found this in looking up Brewer's Yeast and it is very interesting, so I am appending it here even though I am hijacking my own topic:

Overlooked blood test could be the key to your good health https://sites.google.com/site/superdownsyndrome/supplements/folinic-acid

A test called the neutrophilic hypersegmentation index is the best test of your personal folate status. Not how your folate level compares with other peoples, but how optimal your own level is.

To do that, the neutrophilic hypersegmentation index (NHI) determines what percentage of your neutrophils were supplied with an optimal amount of folate while they were growing and maturing.

When neutrophils are born and incubate in bone marrow, their chromosomesDNAarrange themselves into five segments. With the help of folate, these five segments are re-arranged into three. Normal folate metabolism is a key to , and the neutrophil goes out to defend our bodies against germs.

But if there isnt enough folate, the neutrophils DNA stays in five (instead of three) segments. Fortunately, it can still fight germs.

Planning a family? Why you MUST have this test

After a blood sample is drawn, a technician with a microscope can easily see and count the number of DNA segments in each neutrophil. The hypersegmentation index is the percentage of five-segment neutrophils counted in a total of one hundred neutrophils.

Neutrophils, other circulating blood cells, and the cells that line our gastrointestinal tracts are the most rapidly dividing cells in our bodies. So if theres a shortage of any of the three key nutrients for keeping cell division normalfolate, vitamin B12, and/or zincthese rapidly dividing cells are likely to show the effects first. So the neutrophilic segmentation index actually tells us whether the most rapidly dividing cells in our bodies have enough folate. If these cells do, then its very likely that every cell in our bodies has enough folate.
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He says Meridian Valley Labs offers this test.

 

[rydra_wong]

Here's a new one that sounds interesting:

Black Rice Is Cheap Way to Get Antioxidants
By Bill Hendrick

Inexpensive black rice contains health-promoting anthocyanin antioxidants, similar to those found in blackberries and blueberries, new research from Louisiana State University indicates.

"Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, but with less sugar and more fiber and vitamin E antioxidants," Zhimin Xu, PhD, of Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, says in a news release. "If berries are used to boost health, why not black rice and black rice bran?"
...
Black rice is rich in anthocyanin antioxidants, substances that show promise for fighting cancer, heart disease, and other health problems, Xu says.
...
Black Rice vs. Brown Rice
The most widely produced rice worldwide is brown. Millers of rice remove the chaff, or outer husks, from each grain to make it brown.
White rice is made when rice is milled more than is done for brown rice; the bran is also removed, Xu says.

The bran of brown rice contains high levels of one of the vitamin E compounds known as "gamma-tocotrienol" as well as "gamma-oryzanol" antioxidants.

Many studies have shown that these antioxidants can reduce blood levels of LDL "bad" cholesterol and may fight heart disease. So black rice bran may be even healthier than brown rice, Xu says.

 

[rydra_wong]

Last for the day I will post several poor-man's treatments for hypertension. These come from the Afro American community in Detroit. I have found supporting studies.

(1) Apple Cider Vinegar in Water. This remedy is high in acetic acid. I find this study:

Antihypertensive Effects of Acetic Acid and Vinegar on Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats
Shino KONDO1), Kenji TAYAMA1), Yoshinori TSUKAMOTO1), Katsumi IKEDA2) and Yukio YAMORI2)

To clarify the possibility of a preventive effect of dietary vinegar on blood pressure, long-term administration of vinegar or the acetic acid to SHR was examined. As a result, it was observed that acetic acid itself, the main component of vinegar, significantly reduced both blood pressure (p<0.05) and renin activity (p<0.01) compared to controls given no acetic acid or vinegar, as well as vinegar. There were no significant differences in angiotensin I-converting enzyme activity in various organs. As for the mechanism of this function, it was suggested that this reduction in blood pressure may be caused by the significant reduction in renin activity and the subsequent decrease in angiotensin II. From this study, it was also suggested that the antihypertensive effect of vinegar is mainly due to the acetic acid in it.

(2) Garlic water. I find this: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7172754
Garlic as a natural agent for the treatment of hypertension: a preliminary report.
Foushee DB, Ruffin J, Banerjee U.

The major objective of this study was to re-evaluate the effects of garlic on blood pressure with respect to its ability to provoke a decrease in blood pressure and to determine the length of time that this decrease would require. Spontaneously hypertensive rats were given three doses of garlic extract (0.1 ml/kg, 0.25 ml/kg, and 0.5 ml/kg) by oral injection. The blood pressures of these ether-anaesthetized rats were measured immediately before the extract was given, and then 0.5, 2, 4, 6, and 24 h after the extract was given. A blood pressure measurement was also taken at 48 h after extract administration for the 0.5 ml/kg dose. The Gilson Duograph System was used to measure blood pressure by the tail-cuff method. There was a marked decrease in the systolic blood pressure of all of the rats after three doses and the decrease occurred within 30 min in each case. Even though the average decreases for the 0.1 ml/kg and the 0.25 ml/kg doses were calculated as 51,25 mm Hg and 56.25 mm Hg, respectively, these doses were not sufficient to sustain the blood pressure in a normal range for more than 1 or 2 h. The 0.5 ml/kg dose, showing an average decrease of 65.7 mm Hg, was sufficient to provoke a decrease to a normal level and to sustain this decrease for up to 24 h. The results indicate that garlic is effective as a natural agent for the treatment of hypertension.

(3) Avoidance of Sweets. A rise in Blood Sugar causes a rise in blood pressure, perhaps due to dehydration.

The above may have value if your blood pressure is not too high. Mine was way too high for these to have a significant effect.
(Although eating sweets would DEFINTELY make my problem worse).

The main thing that really helps if you are not able to afford supplements is following the DASH diet.
It REALLY WORKS but it requires you to be RUTHLESS about salt (which is hard, but you gotta do what you gotta do).

DASH DIET: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/new_dash.pdf

(I would have never learned it from the official site. If you use these checklists, you are doing DASH:
http://dashdiet.org/forms.asp)

 

[rydra_wong]

I thought of another useful thing to mention

If you have to stay up and miss sleep, coffee will make you feel like crap.
But if you drink apple cider vinegar in water (to taste - sligtly sour) and drink it slowly but steadily all night, you may find that it makes you feel like a million bucks the next day despite the missed sleep. It works for me.

Now this is a pill, but while on the topic, I thought I'd mention that I noticed milk thistle also clears up some inflammatory cytokines that irritate joints due to lack of sleep.

Cheerz

 

[rydra_wong]

This seems like a reasonable place to put this. If DHEA is not easily obtainable for you, you might look into the following (I know nothing about it myself):

Tribulus terrestris and DHEA. An increase in bioavailable DHEA may underlie the efficacy of another herbal remedy for impotence, Tribulus terrestris. Also known as puncture vine, Tribulus contains the active ingredient protodioscin, which is reportedly converted to DHEA in the body (Adimoelja A 2000). This DHEA-boosting activity may account for puncture vines reputation as an aphrodisiac in its native Europe and Asia. While some animal studies appear to confirm the ability of Tribulus to improve sexual functioning, no reliable human trials have taken place (Gauthaman K et al 2002, 2003; Adaikan PG et al 2000).

(I did try maca and it disrupted my methyl cycle. I do not know why --).