Where is betaine found

This suggestion is provided while acknowledging that there is no official recommendation at present. Please note: It is not recommended that women who are pregnant or breastfeeding supplement with betaine.

More testing needs to be completed in this area to ensure safety. Unless specifically prescribed by a physician to treat certain conditions, such as genetic diseases related to liver malfunction, children and infants should not be given betaine supplementation.

Skip to content. Best seller. Your cart is currently empty. Taxes: - -. Shipping: Free. What is Betaine? Health Benefits The health benefits of betaine are numerous.

Digestive Aid In order to digest food, your stomach must have adequate acid levels. Heart Health The most extensively researched health benefit of betaine is its cardiovascular affect. Liver Function Support and Detoxification Betaine may also support healthy liver function and liver detoxification. Muscle Mass Improvement and Fat Loss Betaine is also a popular newcomer to the physical fitness and exercise supplements category, because it plays a critical role in fat reduction and the metabolizing of protein.

Effective Doses A recommended daily intake amount of betaine for adults is yet to officially be established. Conditions Requiring Caution Please note: It is not recommended that women who are pregnant or breastfeeding supplement with betaine. Be sure to like us on Facebook for additional wellness blogs, product giveaways, and a digestive community of people just like you!

Did you know? What's your name? What's your age? Back Continue. Are you:. Now let's find you a solution. What digestive issue challenges you the most? You can always retake the quiz for another issue. When does it occur? Less than 30 minutes after eating. Between 30 mins - 2 hours after eating.

Only after eating specific foods. Between 30 minutes - 2 hours after eating. All the time. Which most directly applies to you? J Inherit Metab Dis. Homocyst e ine, diet, and cardiovascular disease. A statement for healthcare professionals from the nutrition committee, American Heart Association. Efficacy and safety of oral betaine glucuronate in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. A double-blind, randomized, parallel group, placebo-controlled prospective clinical study.

Effect of folic acid and betaine supplementation on flow-mediated dilation: a randomized, controlled study in healthy volunteers. PLoS Clin Trials. Low dose betaine supplementation leads to immediate and long term lowering of plasma homocysteine in healthy men and women.

J Nutr. Effect of homocysteine-lowering nutrients on blood lipids: results from four randomised, placebo-controlled studies in healthy humans.

PLoS Med. Low circulating folate and vitamin B6 concentrations. Risk factors for stroke, peripheral vascular disease, and coronary artery disease.

Aetiology and treatment of hyperhomocysteinaemia causing ischaemic stroke. Int J Clin Pract. Betaine supplementation decreases plasma homocysteine concentrations but does not affect body weight, body composition, or resting energy expenditure in human subjects.

Betaine supplementation improves the atherogenic risk factor profile in a transgenic mouse model of hyperhomocysteinemia. Betaine-containing toothpaste relieves subjective symptoms of dry mouth. Acta Odontol Scand. Involvement of AMP-activated protein kinase in beneficial effects of betaine on high-sucrose diet-induced hepatic stenosis. Inhibition of adiponectin production by homocysteine: a potential mechanism for alcoholic liver disease.

Can lowering homocysteine levels reduce cardiovascular disease? N Engl J Med. Homocysteine-lowering treatment: an overview. Expert Opin Pharmacother. Glycine betaine excretion is not directly linked to plasma glucose concentrations in hyperglycaemia. Diabetes Res Clin Pract ; 52 : — 9. Elevated glycine betaine excretion in diabetes mellitus patients is associated with proximal tubular dysfunction and hyperglycemia. Diabetes Res Clin Pract ; 43 : 91 — 9.

Dellow WJ. Betaine metabolism in health and disease. Biochem Soc Trans ; 28 : A abstr. Betaine in sub-acute and sub-chronic rat studies. Food Chem Toxicol ; 41 : — The effect of choline on the ability of homocysteine to replace methionine in the diet.

J Biol Chem ; : 57 — A relationship between the nature of the vitamin B complex supplement and the ability of homocysteine to replace methionine in the diet. Transmethylation and methionine biosynthesis. Chicago : University of Chicago Press , A further investigation of the role of betaine in transmethylation reactions in vivo.

Influence of dietary methionine level on the liver metallothionein mRNA level in rats. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem ; 66 : — Dubnoff JW. Utilization of choline and betaine methyl in the Guinea Pig. Arch Biochem ; 22 : — 5. The role of choline oxidase in labilizing choline methyl. Arch Biochem ; 24 : — Muntz JA. The inability of choline to transfer a methyl group directly to homocysteine for methionine formation.

Cantoni GL. The nature of the active methyl donor formed enzymatically from l -methionine and adenosinetriphosphate. J Am Chem Soc ; 74 : — 3. S -Adenosylmethionine; a new intermediate formed enzymatically from l -methionine and adenosinetriphosphate.

Labile methyl balances for normal humans on various dietary regimens. Metabolism ; 24 : — Betaine, ethanol, and the liver: a review. Alcohol ; 13 : — 8. Methionine metabolism in mammals. Distribution of homocysteine between competing pathways. Adaptation to methionine excess.

Use of S -adenosylmethionine as an index of methionine recycling in rat liver slices. Anal Biochem ; : — 5. Betaine, metabolic by-product or vital methylating agent? Life Sci ; 32 : — 4. Human betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase is a zinc metalloenzyme. Arch Biochem Biophys ; : 93 — 8. Random mutagenesis of the zinc-binding motif of betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase reveals that Gly is essential.

Arch Biochem Biophys ; : 73 — Betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase: zinc in a distorted barrel. Structure Camb ; 10 : — Studies on partially purified betaine-homocysteine transmethylase of liver. Finkelstein JD. Methionine metabolism. J Nutr Biochem ; 1 : — Methionine metabolism in liver diseases. Am J Clin Nutr ; 77 : — 5.

Betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase expression in porcine and human tissues and chromosomal localization of the human gene. Arch Biochem Biophys ; : — 4. Betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase is a developmentally regulated enzyme crystallin in rhesus monkey lens.

Regulation of hepatic betaine-homocysteine methyltransferase by dietary betaine. J Nutr ; : — Immunohistochemical detection of betaine-homocysteine S -methyltransferase in human, pig, and rat liver and kidney.

Arch Biochem Biophys ; : — 6. Methionine kinetics in adult men: effects of dietary betaine on L-[ 2 H 3 -methyl 13 C]methionine. Am J Clin Nutr ; 54 : — Measuring S -adenosylmethionine in whole blood, red blood cells and cultured cells using a fast preparation method and high-performance liquid chromatography.

Diet, methyl donors and DNA methylation: interactions between dietary folate, methionine and choline. J Nutr ; : S — 5S. The metabolism of homocysteine: pathways and regulation.

Eur J Pediatr ; suppl : S40 — 4. Haussinger D. The role of cellular hydration in the regulation of cell function. Biochem J ; : — Burg MB. Molecular basis for osmoregulation of organic osmolytes in renal medullary cells. J Exp Zool ; : — 5. Modulation by betaine of cellular responses to osmotic stress. Biochem J ; : 69 — Effect of betaine on HSP70 expression and cell survival during adaptation to osmotic stress.

Biochem J ; : — 8. Induction of betaine-gamma-aminobutyric acid transport activity in porcine chondrocytes exposed to hypertonicity. J Physiol ; : — Chambers ST. Betaines: their significance for bacteria and the renal tract. Clin Sci Lond ; 88 : 25 — 7.

Osmoprotective compounds in the Plumbaginaceae: a natural experiment in metabolic engineering of stress tolerance. Molecular cloning of a plant betaine-aldehyde dehydrogenase, an enzyme implicated in adaptation to salinity and drought. Effects of betaine on the structural dymanics of Thermomyces Humicola lanuginosa lipase. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces ; 26 : 75 — Allosteric effect of water in fish and human hemoglobins.

Bicarbonate-dependent betaine synthesis in rat kidney. Contrib Nephrol ; : 46 — Am J Physiol ; : F — 6. Distribution of de novo synthesized betaine in rat kidney: role of renal synthesis on medullary betaine accumulation.

Am J Physiol ; : F94 — 9. Am J Physiol ; : F — 5. COX2 activity promotes organic osmolyte accumulation and adaptation of renal medullary interstitial cells to hypertonic stress. Reabsorption of betaine in Henle's loops of rat kidney in vivo.

Am J Physiol ; : F — 9. Evidence for the existence of separate transport mechanisms for choline and betaine in rat kidney. Burg M. Molecular basis for accumulation of compatible osmolytes in mammalian cells. Water and life. Berlin : Springer , : 33 — Apoptosis induced by hypertonicity in Madin Darley canine kidney cells: protective effect of betaine.

Nephrol Dial Transplant ; 16 : — Counteracting effects of urea and betaine in mammalian cells in culture. Modulation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha release by anisoosmolarity and betaine in rat liver macrophages Kupffer cells. FEBS Lett ; : — 6. Modulation of phagocytosis by anisoosmolarity and betaine in rat liver macrophages Kupffer cells and RAW FEBS Lett ; : — Identification of betaine as an osmolyte in rat liver macrophages Kupffer cells. Gastroenterology ; : — Betaine aids in the osmoregulation of duodenal epithelium of broiler chicks, and affects the movement of water across the small intestinal epithelium in vitro.

Organic osmolytes betaine, sorbitol and inositol are potent inhibitors of erythrocyte membrane ATPases. Life Sci ; 71 : — Counteracting effects of urea and methylamines in function and structure of skeletal muscle myosin. Arch Biochem Biophys ; : — 8. Betaine is a highly effective organic osmolyte but does not appear to be transported by established organic osmolyte transporters in mouse embryos. Mol Reprod Dev ; 62 : — Compatible osmolytes modulate the response of porcine endothelial cells to hypertonicity and protect them from apoptosis.

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: a spectrum of clinical and pathological severity. Gastroenterology ; : — 9. Patrick L. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: relationshop to insulin sensitivity and oxidative stress. Treatment approaches using vitamin E, magnesium, and betaine. Altern Med Rev ; 7 : — Clinical and histologic spectrum of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease associated with normal ALT values. Hepatology ; 37 : — Hyperhomocysteinemia in chronic alcoholism: relations to folic acid and vitamins B 6 and B 12 status.

Nutrition ; 16 : — Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: pathogenesis and the role of antioxidants. Nutr Rev ; 60 : — The effects of the components of lecithine upon digestion of fat in the liver. J Physiol ; 75 : — Best CH. The role of the liver in the metabolism of carbohydrate and fat. Lancet ; : — 7. Choline and liver fat in diabetic dogs. J Physiol ; 79 : 94 — The action of choline and other substances in the prevention and cure of fatty livers.

Biochem J ; 29 : — 8. Webster GT. Cirrhosis of the liver among rats receiving diets poor in protein and rich in fat. J Clin Invest ; 21 : — Alleviation of dietary cirrhosis with betaine and other lipotropic agents. Can J Physiol Pharmacol ; 47 : 73 — 9.

Effects of methionine and related compounds on plasma cholesterol level in rats fed a high cholesterol diet. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol Tokyo ; 32 : — Turpin P. A double blind study of the effectiveness of Beaufor betaine citrate ampules in the treatment of type IV hyperlipidemias.

Sem Hop ; 61 : — Odle J. Betaine and carnitine. Feed Manage ; 47 : 25 — 7. Head group specificity in the requirement of phosphatidylcholine biosynthesis for very low density lipoprotein secretion from cultured hepatocytes. Phosphatidylethanolamine N —methyltransferase PEMT knockout mice have hepatic steatosis and abnormal hepatic choline metabolite concentrations despite ingesting a recommended dietary intake of choline.

Ghyczy M , Boros M. Electrophilic methyl groups present in the diet ameliorate pathological states induced by reductive and oxidative stress: a hypothesis. Br J Nutr ; 85 : — Rabinowitch IM. Effects of betaine upon the cholesterol and bilirubin contents of blood plasma in diabetes mellitus. Can Med Assoc J ; 34 : — Enlargement of the liver in diabetic children.

Arch Intern Med ; 62 : — Lowe RC. Alimentary lipemia in young diabetics with evidence of liver damage or dysfunction. Clin Med ; 24 : — Neuschwander-Tetri BA. Betaine: an old therapy for a new scourge.

Am J Gastroenterol ; 96 : — 6. Diabetes mellitus, obesity, and hepatic steatosis. Semin Gastrointest Dis ; 13 : 17 — Angulo P. Current best treatment for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Expert Opin Pharmacother ; 4 : — Angulo P , Lindor KD. Treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Treatment of nonalcoholic fatty liver: present and emerging therapies.

Semin Liver Dis ; 21 : 81 — 8. Therapeutic options in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Curr Treat Options Gastroenterol ; 5 : — Betaine, a promising new agent for patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: results of a pilot study. Am J Gastroenterol ; 96 : — 7. Efficacy and safety of oral betaine glucuronate in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. A double-blind, randomized, parallel-group, placebo-controlled prospective clinical study. Arzneimittelforschung ; 50 : — 7.

Effect of betaine administration on metabolism of hepatic glutathione in rats. Arch Pharm Res ; 21 : — 2. Effects of singly administered betaine on hepatotoxicity of chloroform in mice.

Food Chem Toxicol ; 36 : — Attenuation of bacterial lipopolysaccharide-induced hepatotoxicity by betaine or taurine in rats. Food Chem Toxicol ; 40 : — 9. Methotrexate effects on hepatic betaine levels in choline-supplemented and choline-deficient rats.

Drug Nutr Interact ; 1 : — 8. Betaine, composed of the amino acid glycine, is a choline derivative and produced in the body from choline and contributes three methyl groups for the conversion of homocysteine to methionine - hence the name trimethylglycine.

The mechanisms of betaine, regarding enhancements in training performance, are not fully understood, yet there are several theories. Betaine acts as a methyl donor. A methyl donor is any molecule, that can transfer a methyl group to another molecule. Betaine that does not participate in methylation metabolism is used as an organic osmolyte in the regulation of cell volume [ R ]. Other proposed mechanisms predict that betaine may positively affect exercise performance through favorable lactate and preferential fatty acid substrate metabolism.

Betaine participates in the methylation of homocysteine to form methionine. Methionine is critical in the synthesis of creatine. A study conducted by the Department of Health and Exercise Science at The College Of New Jersey, examined the effects and efficacy of betaine supplementation on muscle endurance, power, and the rate of fatigue in healthy males.

Twenty-four subjects were randomly assigned to either a betaine or placebo group, with a daily supplement protocol for two weeks. At two weeks, the number of reps performed and peak power was significantly greater in the betaine group as opposed to placebo. Therefore, the study concluded that betaine supplementation may improve muscular endurance and increase rep volume [ R ].

Optimal body composition is achieved through reducing body fat and building lean muscle mass. Studies have shown that betaine may improve body composition and exercise performance, by potentially increasing creatine availability [ R ].

A study published in the Journal Of The International Society Of Sports Nutrition , investigated the effects of betaine supplementation on body composition and performance in female collegiate athletes.

Each group completed 3 sets of 6—7 exercises per day performed to momentary muscular failure. Training was divided into two lower and one upper body training sessions per week performed on non-consecutive days for 8 weeks, and weekly volume load was used to analyze work capacity.

The study found statistically significant results for changes in lean mass, muscle size, and performance indicators such as vertical jump, squat, and bench. The study also found a significant reduction in body fat percentage and fat free mass.

Therefore, betaine supplementation may enhance reductions in body fat without effecting losses in strength [ R ]. Underlying mechanisms responsible for changes in body composition could involve the stimulation of lipolysis [ R ]. Power is a function of energy output over a specific distance. For bodybuilders and powerlifters that means how much energy they can put into a barbell over the course of each rep.