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Vitamins and Health Foods the Great American Hustle
Book by Herbert, Victor, Barrett, Stephen
Paperback
Published January 1, 1985
1 person want to read
About the author
Victor Herbert
6 booksLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Victor Herbert MD, JD, MACP (1927– 2002) was an American hematologist who did ground-breaking work on folate and how its deficiency led to megaloblastic anemia and was a proponent of accurate and responsible nutrition information. He was Professor of Medicine and Chair, Committee to Strengthen Nutrition, Mount Sinai-New York University Health System, NYC.
A native of New York, Dr. Herbert received his B.S. in chemistry (1948), M.D.(1952) and J.D.(1974) all at Columbia Univ. On the full-time medical school faculties of Einstein, Mount Sinai, Harvard, Columbia, SUNY-Brooklyn (formerly SUNY-Downstate), and Hahnemann, before returning in 1985 to Mount Sinai.
See also:
Victor Herbert, composer and cellist
Victor Herbert MD, JD, MACP (1927– 2002) was an American hematologist who did ground-breaking work on folate and how its deficiency led to megaloblastic anemia and was a proponent of accurate and responsible nutrition information. He was Professor of Medicine and Chair, Committee to Strengthen Nutrition, Mount Sinai-New York University Health System, NYC.
A native of New York, Dr. Herbert received his B.S. in chemistry (1948), M.D.(1952) and J.D.(1974) all at Columbia Univ. On the full-time medical school faculties of Einstein, Mount Sinai, Harvard, Columbia, SUNY-Brooklyn (formerly SUNY-Downstate), and Hahnemann, before returning in 1985 to Mount Sinai.
See also:
Victor Herbert, composer and cellist
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August 24, 2023
Herbert and Barrett were two pretty bizarre guys...
mere fanatics that over the decades, turned into shrill non-entities
Where their 'opinions' are the only facts that matter....
which is pretty scientology-like
The funny thing about these modern skeptics is that pseudoskeptical behavior that they engage in, is the same cherry picking of evidence that conforms to a pre-existing belief, which is what the holocaust deniers and climate change denialists do.
.......
quote
He wasn't a man who wanted to change and irrespective of clear and compelling facts, his opinions rarely did. I likened him to a member of the flat earth society."
Sportelli continued: "Thank God (Barrett) was the anti-chiropractic person. His demeanor and personality never lent itself to achieving much credibility, particularly when there was an opportunity for full debate." Then Sportelli laughs: "When I heard he was moving to North Carolina near the Research Triangle, I thought, too bad. It would have made more sense had it been the Bermuda Triangle. In all honesty, I really feel sorry for Stephen Barrett. I reflect on what it would feel like to be opposed to nutrition, organic foods, chiropractic and other forms of alternative medicine and have every one of your belief systems evaporate before your very eyes in the enlightenment of the 21st century and compelling research to document the value and benefits of these approaches."
He adds: "Here is a man who spent his whole life climbing the anti-chiropractic and anti-whatever ladder only to find it against the wrong wall. The world has simply passed him by and he is locked into a time warp that will not permit the light of information and the evidence of efficacy to enter into his world. To me that is a sad moment for anyone to have wasted so much time and effort on a cause that was not in the public's best interest.
.......
January 3, 1969
Dear Dr. Herbert:
I apologize for the delay in answering your letter of 11 November.
I have been overwhelmed with work. On receipt of your letter I decided to check the many references in the literature to the ineffectiveness of ascorbic acid in treating the common cold, referred to in your letter, and also to check other references in the literature. This literature search is going on slowly. I shall write to you about the results, as soon as the work is completed.
I am fully aware of the tremendous problem of malnutrition, even in our rich country. I do not think that this means that we should ignore the question that I have been emphasizing, as to what the optimum intake of vitamins for human beings is.
Also, I do not think that the way to handle the vitamin quacks is to suppress information about the value of vitamins, or to make it harder to get vitamins, as the Food and Drug Administration is now trying to do. Instead, I think that we need more knowledge about vitamins, more publicity about the proper price to be paid for vitamins, more information generally.
I was asked by the drug manufacturers association to testify in the current FDA hearings. I do not think that I shall do so. I wish that the Government attorneys would ask me to testify.
Sincerely,
Linus Pauling
...........
Linus Pauling on Victor Herbert
In an interview with Linus Pauling, PhD at his home in Big Sur, California on February 18, 1989, five and a half years before his death, I recorded the following comments by the two-time Nobel Prize winner and proponent of vitamin C about his longtime critic.
"I perhaps owe something in a sense to Victor Herbert. I probably never would have written the several books that I've written about nutrition and health and disease if it had not been for Victor Herbert. I was asked in 1969 - perhaps it was a little earlier even than that - 1969, I think, to come to New York City to give a speech at the opening ceremonies of a new medical school, Mount Sinai Medical School. And I thought I ought to say something medical. I had only ten minutes to speak. So I thought I'll talk about vitamin C and the common cold. And I said, for three years now my wife and I have been taking large doses of vitamin C. Dr. Irwin Stone was the biochemist who suggested that we do it. And there's no doubt in my mind - I've been looking at the literature, too - no doubt that vitamin C can provide a lot of protection against the common cold.
"Victor Herbert wrote to me a scathing letter attacking me, and said, 'Can you show me a single prospective, controlled, double-blind trial where vitamin C is shown to have more value than a placebo?' So I wrote to him and said, 'Well, I've found four trials now and all of them show that it has more value than a placebo.' I said, 'A good one is by Dr. [G.] Ritzel in Switzerland - Basle.' He said, 'I'm too busy to check up on these reports.' So I sent him a copy of Dr. Ritzel's paper. He said, 'I don't believe it. He doesn't say what the sex distribution is or the age.' I said, 'Well, I think he does. He says they were schoolboys - they must be male. But I've written to Dr. Ritzel. He said of course they were all boys, it says so in the paper. And they were 15 to 17 years old.'
............
How peculiar was Victor Herbert?
1980: A memorable encounter
To say that Herbert was an unstinting and harsh critic of alt med is an understatement. He may have been the original "quackbuster" and he remained active in quackbusting activities right up until his death.
With his legal training and take-no-prisoners attitude, he was a particularly combative adversary.
Stories about his encounters with and criticisms of alt med proponents are legion.
On one memorable occasion, April 24, 1980, Herbert appeared at a midtown New York City press conference with Fred Stare, MD of Harvard's School of Public Health, Richard S. Rivlin, MD of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Elizabeth Whelan, DSc, executive director of the American Council of Science and Health (ACSH).
The ACSH had called the press conference to criticize vitamin B-15 (pangamic acid) as a hoax.
Herbert said, "Believing is seeing - that's what we have with B-15. It doesn't exist. There's no such substance. It is purely imaginary."
When the floor was opened to questions from the 40 or so journalists in attendance, a kind of barely controlled mayhem ensued. Fran Lee, the consumer reporter for WABC-TV in New York who was sitting in the front row, asked the panel, "Why did you choose B-15 to take on? Could you not have done saccharin or sugar or all of the other things Dr. Stare has defended all these years?" Herbert replied, "I find your question quite strange."
Rising to her feet and pointing at Herbert, Lee said: "I'm a watchdog for the public." ='
Herbert: "No you're not. I'm a watchdog for the public. You make a good living at your job."
Lee: "Not half as much as Dr. Stare makes."
Herbert: "That's neither fair nor honest."
Lee: "I've just caught you with your pants down, that's all."
Rivlin added a moment of levity to the proceedings when he interjected, "This is an instance of watchdog eating watchdog."
Ernst Krebs, Sr., MD and Ernst Krebs, Jr., who developed both vitamin B-15 and Laetrile (which the father and son team called vitamin B-17), were referred to during the press conference as "snake oil salesmen" by Herbert. He offered during the conference to show journalists a copy of Krebs, Jr.'s "criminal record."
When science writer Robert Houston attempted to question Herbert about Russian studies of B-15 that reportedly showed that it had value, Herbert attacked the translation of the studies, which were published by the McNaughton Foundation.
"McNaughton is a twice-convicted criminal," Herbert charged. Houston, however, insisted that the McNaughton Foundation translation "compared favorably" with the original Russian reports, at which point Herbert repeatedly shouted, "You're lying, sir; there's no such translation.
"Who are you, sir, and who are you fronting for?," Herbert kept demanding of Houston, in what appeared to be an attempt to shift the focus from the question to the questioner.
The press conference finally ended with Herbert exchanging shouts with several other questioners. It was a strange, almost surreal, event.
That same evening, however, it was sobering to hear the accusations about B-15 duly reported by the national news media (including the wire services and at least one TV network) without either another point of view or the chaotic nature of the press conference being mentioned.
.......
interestingly all the goofy hype about Laetrile and B15 led to seeing what the Russians did and let to DMG getting popular for the last 35 years
.......
quote
Much of this work was done in Russia and two volumes of research reports resulting from symposia on this substance have been published, available in English translation (Anismov, 1965).
It should be noted that it is not always clear as to the exact composition of the B15 substance referred to in those papers, although it probably contained DMG mixed with calcium gluconate or gluconic acid for the most part.
B15 seems to be a safe substance despite the lack of published long-term toxicity studies; no untoward effects have been reported to date. Doses as high as 200 mg/kg given s.c. to rats caused no toxic effects (Alpatov et al., 1965).
The lack of toxicity is not surprising since DMG is a natural metabolite, a simple glycine derivative.
The Russians feel that pangamic acid is a valuable therapeutic agent, and they have studied it clinically in many disease states.
The conclusions of efficacy as a result of this research should be tempered by the fact that most of these studies were not controlled, often lacking adequate comparable control groups, or including other drugs with the B15 therapy.
DMG, a component of the Russian B15, is purported to contribute methyl groups in the transmethylating process which results in improved energy utilization.
Methionine, choline and betaine are some other common substances capable of donating methyl groups in certain metabolic synthetic processes occurring in the body.
The action of B15 which has received the most attention is that of its effect in stress and on athletic and physical effort. B15 has been purported to increase the magnitude and endurance of physical activity. Rats, when stressed, showed higher glycogen, lipid, phospholipid and creatine phosphate levels in skeletal and heart muscle following administration of B15 (Leshkevich and Kolomeitseva, 1967; Samodanova and Yakovlev, 1967; Krasnova, 1968).
.......
Today?
Dimethylglycine (DMG) is an amino acid with quite an exciting history. Its use in health and maintenance goes back to 1960s, where the Soviet Union came up with the idea that there was a vitamin B15 and called it calcium pangamate.
This particular substance was found to be very beneficial to human health, but time and research led us to understand that the active substance behind the supposed vitamin B15 was, in fact, dimethylglycine.
It turned out that this was the nutrient that proved incredibly valuable to energy, healthy neurological function, athletic performance, liver health, and more.
DMG is a derivative of the amino acid glycine, with two extra methyl groups attached to it. These methyl groups are metabolized and given over to what’s known as the one-carbon pathway.
DMG becomes effective because it falls apart and produces building blocks for a wide range of fundamental biological molecules in the body, including neurotransmitters, hormones, antibodies, and various structures that help in the energy cycle.
In a broader sense, DMG is a potent metabolic enhancer that boosts a myriad of vital bodily functions.
.........
Common Uses of DMG
Immune Modulation
An immune modulator is any nutrient or substance that enhances the immune system’s response to a challenge. DMG enhances immune function, particularly in the face of adversity.
It works by enhancing the production of T cells, B cells, and macrophages, therefore supporting the body in overcoming and preventing the onset of various conditions.
Many people who adopt a dimethylglycine-rich program including supplementation find that they better overall immunity. One study looking at DMG’s immune-boosting properties found that a group given DMG had a 400% increase in antibody production.
Athletic Performance
One of the earlier discoveries was that DMG could be highly useful for athletes by increasing performance and endurance. Use on thoroughbreds showed that DMG allows the body to function longer without significant fatigue, without muscle degeneration, and with better oxygen utilization. Research has also found that DMG may limit lactic acid build-up under aerobic metabolism.
Not only is this important for endurance athletes, but also for anyone who could benefit from less fatigue and more endurance. Truck drivers, students, shift workers, and people working long hours often are required to maintain higher levels of physical and mental alertness.
One study found that DMG taken at higher levels can reduce what marathon runners call the “18-mile hitting-the-wall factor,” supporting runners in both their time and recovery.
Many athletes are also using DMG for general immune support, as intense exercise leaves the body’s immune system depleted.
Cardiovascular Health
Dimethylglycine works to enhance the function of the heart and the circulatory system, so the body has fewer issues with degeneration.
Studies have found that DMG improved cardiovascular function, improved oxygen utilization, helped moderate cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and homocysteine, a marker for cardiovascular health.
Homocysteine requires a methyl group to convert it to methionine , and DMG produces methyl groups for the transmethylation and methylation processes. Its methylation properties make DMG ideal for supporting better cardiovascular function.
Some practitioners report promising results using a combination of CoQ10, omega 3 fatty acids, and DMG for improved heart health and function.
Liver Detoxification Support
There are various pathways in which the body can eliminate toxic substances. DMG is excellent for detoxifying and aiding in the liver’s processes of cleaning out these substances, and studies have shown that the methylation pathway is critical in eliminating toxins.
DMG enhances glutathione production, which is often thought of as the “master detoxifier” and free-radical fighter in the liver.
DMG also works as a lipotropic agent, which can help to support liver health.
Improved Cognition
Perhaps DMG’s most promising and exciting uses are related to cognition. Along with improving circulation and oxygen utilization, DMG has been found to enhance the production of neurotransmitters in the brain and the production of an important energy molecule called phosphocreatine.
Phosphocreatine is a precursor that helps boost ATP production, and DMG produces both the glycine and the methyl groups needed to produce the creatine that goes into phosphocreatine.
This combination can dramatically enhance brain function.
Inflammation, Oxidation, and Aging
DMG also supports a healthy inflammatory response and is a potent free-radical fighter, helping to sequester and eliminate free radicals, which can cause harm to organ systems and cell function.
Considering DMG’s helpful mechanisms, as well as being an effective detoxifier, it makes sense that it’s also thought to be a tremendous substance for supporting healthy aging.
Stress Support
Many benefits of DMG are linked to the fact that it’s an adaptogen, which helps combat the effects of physical and mental stress on the body.
This includes boosting the immune system, cardiovascular system, and more in times of heightened stress.
Many of the uses and benefits discussed above result from DMG working as an adaptogen, as it helps the body adapt to physically and mentally stressful experiences.
Foods Versus Supplementation
DMG exists in certain foods such as seeds, grains, organic liver, and beets but at extremely low levels. However, it’s challenging—if not impossible—to derive increases in DMG from foods alone because it’s an intermediate.
Foods rich in choline and trimethylglycine or Betaine support the metabolism producing DMG, meaning the foods themselves contain precursors to DMG, not the substance itself.
A program rich in both precursor foods and appropriate DMG supplementation is the best approach for most people.
DMG is essential in supporting methylation pathways, its role as an adaptogen, and its role in providing building blocks for neurotransmitters.
Hopefully, more specific chemical research in the future will allow us to utilize DMG to combat several aging conditions and improve wellbeing, vitality, and overall health of aging individuals.
---
So yeah, Barrett and Herbert are pretty much fanatical dinosaurs, that pretty much reflect the worst fringe of the medical establishment or the skeptic movement.
Which is pretty much someone who thinks their opinions are actually facts, and only their opinion matters.
The funny thing about these modern skeptics is that pseudoskeptical behavior that they engage in, is the same cherry picking of evidence that conforms to a pre-existing belief, which is what the holocaust deniers and climate change denialists do.
mere fanatics that over the decades, turned into shrill non-entities
Where their 'opinions' are the only facts that matter....
which is pretty scientology-like
The funny thing about these modern skeptics is that pseudoskeptical behavior that they engage in, is the same cherry picking of evidence that conforms to a pre-existing belief, which is what the holocaust deniers and climate change denialists do.
.......
quote
He wasn't a man who wanted to change and irrespective of clear and compelling facts, his opinions rarely did. I likened him to a member of the flat earth society."
Sportelli continued: "Thank God (Barrett) was the anti-chiropractic person. His demeanor and personality never lent itself to achieving much credibility, particularly when there was an opportunity for full debate." Then Sportelli laughs: "When I heard he was moving to North Carolina near the Research Triangle, I thought, too bad. It would have made more sense had it been the Bermuda Triangle. In all honesty, I really feel sorry for Stephen Barrett. I reflect on what it would feel like to be opposed to nutrition, organic foods, chiropractic and other forms of alternative medicine and have every one of your belief systems evaporate before your very eyes in the enlightenment of the 21st century and compelling research to document the value and benefits of these approaches."
He adds: "Here is a man who spent his whole life climbing the anti-chiropractic and anti-whatever ladder only to find it against the wrong wall. The world has simply passed him by and he is locked into a time warp that will not permit the light of information and the evidence of efficacy to enter into his world. To me that is a sad moment for anyone to have wasted so much time and effort on a cause that was not in the public's best interest.
.......
January 3, 1969
Dear Dr. Herbert:
I apologize for the delay in answering your letter of 11 November.
I have been overwhelmed with work. On receipt of your letter I decided to check the many references in the literature to the ineffectiveness of ascorbic acid in treating the common cold, referred to in your letter, and also to check other references in the literature. This literature search is going on slowly. I shall write to you about the results, as soon as the work is completed.
I am fully aware of the tremendous problem of malnutrition, even in our rich country. I do not think that this means that we should ignore the question that I have been emphasizing, as to what the optimum intake of vitamins for human beings is.
Also, I do not think that the way to handle the vitamin quacks is to suppress information about the value of vitamins, or to make it harder to get vitamins, as the Food and Drug Administration is now trying to do. Instead, I think that we need more knowledge about vitamins, more publicity about the proper price to be paid for vitamins, more information generally.
I was asked by the drug manufacturers association to testify in the current FDA hearings. I do not think that I shall do so. I wish that the Government attorneys would ask me to testify.
Sincerely,
Linus Pauling
...........
Linus Pauling on Victor Herbert
In an interview with Linus Pauling, PhD at his home in Big Sur, California on February 18, 1989, five and a half years before his death, I recorded the following comments by the two-time Nobel Prize winner and proponent of vitamin C about his longtime critic.
"I perhaps owe something in a sense to Victor Herbert. I probably never would have written the several books that I've written about nutrition and health and disease if it had not been for Victor Herbert. I was asked in 1969 - perhaps it was a little earlier even than that - 1969, I think, to come to New York City to give a speech at the opening ceremonies of a new medical school, Mount Sinai Medical School. And I thought I ought to say something medical. I had only ten minutes to speak. So I thought I'll talk about vitamin C and the common cold. And I said, for three years now my wife and I have been taking large doses of vitamin C. Dr. Irwin Stone was the biochemist who suggested that we do it. And there's no doubt in my mind - I've been looking at the literature, too - no doubt that vitamin C can provide a lot of protection against the common cold.
"Victor Herbert wrote to me a scathing letter attacking me, and said, 'Can you show me a single prospective, controlled, double-blind trial where vitamin C is shown to have more value than a placebo?' So I wrote to him and said, 'Well, I've found four trials now and all of them show that it has more value than a placebo.' I said, 'A good one is by Dr. [G.] Ritzel in Switzerland - Basle.' He said, 'I'm too busy to check up on these reports.' So I sent him a copy of Dr. Ritzel's paper. He said, 'I don't believe it. He doesn't say what the sex distribution is or the age.' I said, 'Well, I think he does. He says they were schoolboys - they must be male. But I've written to Dr. Ritzel. He said of course they were all boys, it says so in the paper. And they were 15 to 17 years old.'
............
How peculiar was Victor Herbert?
1980: A memorable encounter
To say that Herbert was an unstinting and harsh critic of alt med is an understatement. He may have been the original "quackbuster" and he remained active in quackbusting activities right up until his death.
With his legal training and take-no-prisoners attitude, he was a particularly combative adversary.
Stories about his encounters with and criticisms of alt med proponents are legion.
On one memorable occasion, April 24, 1980, Herbert appeared at a midtown New York City press conference with Fred Stare, MD of Harvard's School of Public Health, Richard S. Rivlin, MD of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and Elizabeth Whelan, DSc, executive director of the American Council of Science and Health (ACSH).
The ACSH had called the press conference to criticize vitamin B-15 (pangamic acid) as a hoax.
Herbert said, "Believing is seeing - that's what we have with B-15. It doesn't exist. There's no such substance. It is purely imaginary."
When the floor was opened to questions from the 40 or so journalists in attendance, a kind of barely controlled mayhem ensued. Fran Lee, the consumer reporter for WABC-TV in New York who was sitting in the front row, asked the panel, "Why did you choose B-15 to take on? Could you not have done saccharin or sugar or all of the other things Dr. Stare has defended all these years?" Herbert replied, "I find your question quite strange."
Rising to her feet and pointing at Herbert, Lee said: "I'm a watchdog for the public." ='
Herbert: "No you're not. I'm a watchdog for the public. You make a good living at your job."
Lee: "Not half as much as Dr. Stare makes."
Herbert: "That's neither fair nor honest."
Lee: "I've just caught you with your pants down, that's all."
Rivlin added a moment of levity to the proceedings when he interjected, "This is an instance of watchdog eating watchdog."
Ernst Krebs, Sr., MD and Ernst Krebs, Jr., who developed both vitamin B-15 and Laetrile (which the father and son team called vitamin B-17), were referred to during the press conference as "snake oil salesmen" by Herbert. He offered during the conference to show journalists a copy of Krebs, Jr.'s "criminal record."
When science writer Robert Houston attempted to question Herbert about Russian studies of B-15 that reportedly showed that it had value, Herbert attacked the translation of the studies, which were published by the McNaughton Foundation.
"McNaughton is a twice-convicted criminal," Herbert charged. Houston, however, insisted that the McNaughton Foundation translation "compared favorably" with the original Russian reports, at which point Herbert repeatedly shouted, "You're lying, sir; there's no such translation.
"Who are you, sir, and who are you fronting for?," Herbert kept demanding of Houston, in what appeared to be an attempt to shift the focus from the question to the questioner.
The press conference finally ended with Herbert exchanging shouts with several other questioners. It was a strange, almost surreal, event.
That same evening, however, it was sobering to hear the accusations about B-15 duly reported by the national news media (including the wire services and at least one TV network) without either another point of view or the chaotic nature of the press conference being mentioned.
.......
interestingly all the goofy hype about Laetrile and B15 led to seeing what the Russians did and let to DMG getting popular for the last 35 years
.......
quote
Much of this work was done in Russia and two volumes of research reports resulting from symposia on this substance have been published, available in English translation (Anismov, 1965).
It should be noted that it is not always clear as to the exact composition of the B15 substance referred to in those papers, although it probably contained DMG mixed with calcium gluconate or gluconic acid for the most part.
B15 seems to be a safe substance despite the lack of published long-term toxicity studies; no untoward effects have been reported to date. Doses as high as 200 mg/kg given s.c. to rats caused no toxic effects (Alpatov et al., 1965).
The lack of toxicity is not surprising since DMG is a natural metabolite, a simple glycine derivative.
The Russians feel that pangamic acid is a valuable therapeutic agent, and they have studied it clinically in many disease states.
The conclusions of efficacy as a result of this research should be tempered by the fact that most of these studies were not controlled, often lacking adequate comparable control groups, or including other drugs with the B15 therapy.
DMG, a component of the Russian B15, is purported to contribute methyl groups in the transmethylating process which results in improved energy utilization.
Methionine, choline and betaine are some other common substances capable of donating methyl groups in certain metabolic synthetic processes occurring in the body.
The action of B15 which has received the most attention is that of its effect in stress and on athletic and physical effort. B15 has been purported to increase the magnitude and endurance of physical activity. Rats, when stressed, showed higher glycogen, lipid, phospholipid and creatine phosphate levels in skeletal and heart muscle following administration of B15 (Leshkevich and Kolomeitseva, 1967; Samodanova and Yakovlev, 1967; Krasnova, 1968).
.......
Today?
Dimethylglycine (DMG) is an amino acid with quite an exciting history. Its use in health and maintenance goes back to 1960s, where the Soviet Union came up with the idea that there was a vitamin B15 and called it calcium pangamate.
This particular substance was found to be very beneficial to human health, but time and research led us to understand that the active substance behind the supposed vitamin B15 was, in fact, dimethylglycine.
It turned out that this was the nutrient that proved incredibly valuable to energy, healthy neurological function, athletic performance, liver health, and more.
DMG is a derivative of the amino acid glycine, with two extra methyl groups attached to it. These methyl groups are metabolized and given over to what’s known as the one-carbon pathway.
DMG becomes effective because it falls apart and produces building blocks for a wide range of fundamental biological molecules in the body, including neurotransmitters, hormones, antibodies, and various structures that help in the energy cycle.
In a broader sense, DMG is a potent metabolic enhancer that boosts a myriad of vital bodily functions.
.........
Common Uses of DMG
Immune Modulation
An immune modulator is any nutrient or substance that enhances the immune system’s response to a challenge. DMG enhances immune function, particularly in the face of adversity.
It works by enhancing the production of T cells, B cells, and macrophages, therefore supporting the body in overcoming and preventing the onset of various conditions.
Many people who adopt a dimethylglycine-rich program including supplementation find that they better overall immunity. One study looking at DMG’s immune-boosting properties found that a group given DMG had a 400% increase in antibody production.
Athletic Performance
One of the earlier discoveries was that DMG could be highly useful for athletes by increasing performance and endurance. Use on thoroughbreds showed that DMG allows the body to function longer without significant fatigue, without muscle degeneration, and with better oxygen utilization. Research has also found that DMG may limit lactic acid build-up under aerobic metabolism.
Not only is this important for endurance athletes, but also for anyone who could benefit from less fatigue and more endurance. Truck drivers, students, shift workers, and people working long hours often are required to maintain higher levels of physical and mental alertness.
One study found that DMG taken at higher levels can reduce what marathon runners call the “18-mile hitting-the-wall factor,” supporting runners in both their time and recovery.
Many athletes are also using DMG for general immune support, as intense exercise leaves the body’s immune system depleted.
Cardiovascular Health
Dimethylglycine works to enhance the function of the heart and the circulatory system, so the body has fewer issues with degeneration.
Studies have found that DMG improved cardiovascular function, improved oxygen utilization, helped moderate cholesterol and triglyceride levels, and homocysteine, a marker for cardiovascular health.
Homocysteine requires a methyl group to convert it to methionine , and DMG produces methyl groups for the transmethylation and methylation processes. Its methylation properties make DMG ideal for supporting better cardiovascular function.
Some practitioners report promising results using a combination of CoQ10, omega 3 fatty acids, and DMG for improved heart health and function.
Liver Detoxification Support
There are various pathways in which the body can eliminate toxic substances. DMG is excellent for detoxifying and aiding in the liver’s processes of cleaning out these substances, and studies have shown that the methylation pathway is critical in eliminating toxins.
DMG enhances glutathione production, which is often thought of as the “master detoxifier” and free-radical fighter in the liver.
DMG also works as a lipotropic agent, which can help to support liver health.
Improved Cognition
Perhaps DMG’s most promising and exciting uses are related to cognition. Along with improving circulation and oxygen utilization, DMG has been found to enhance the production of neurotransmitters in the brain and the production of an important energy molecule called phosphocreatine.
Phosphocreatine is a precursor that helps boost ATP production, and DMG produces both the glycine and the methyl groups needed to produce the creatine that goes into phosphocreatine.
This combination can dramatically enhance brain function.
Inflammation, Oxidation, and Aging
DMG also supports a healthy inflammatory response and is a potent free-radical fighter, helping to sequester and eliminate free radicals, which can cause harm to organ systems and cell function.
Considering DMG’s helpful mechanisms, as well as being an effective detoxifier, it makes sense that it’s also thought to be a tremendous substance for supporting healthy aging.
Stress Support
Many benefits of DMG are linked to the fact that it’s an adaptogen, which helps combat the effects of physical and mental stress on the body.
This includes boosting the immune system, cardiovascular system, and more in times of heightened stress.
Many of the uses and benefits discussed above result from DMG working as an adaptogen, as it helps the body adapt to physically and mentally stressful experiences.
Foods Versus Supplementation
DMG exists in certain foods such as seeds, grains, organic liver, and beets but at extremely low levels. However, it’s challenging—if not impossible—to derive increases in DMG from foods alone because it’s an intermediate.
Foods rich in choline and trimethylglycine or Betaine support the metabolism producing DMG, meaning the foods themselves contain precursors to DMG, not the substance itself.
A program rich in both precursor foods and appropriate DMG supplementation is the best approach for most people.
DMG is essential in supporting methylation pathways, its role as an adaptogen, and its role in providing building blocks for neurotransmitters.
Hopefully, more specific chemical research in the future will allow us to utilize DMG to combat several aging conditions and improve wellbeing, vitality, and overall health of aging individuals.
---
So yeah, Barrett and Herbert are pretty much fanatical dinosaurs, that pretty much reflect the worst fringe of the medical establishment or the skeptic movement.
Which is pretty much someone who thinks their opinions are actually facts, and only their opinion matters.
The funny thing about these modern skeptics is that pseudoskeptical behavior that they engage in, is the same cherry picking of evidence that conforms to a pre-existing belief, which is what the holocaust deniers and climate change denialists do.
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