The fight between methionine and glycine for our health

Read on to know about the potential health effects of the two amino acids methionine and glycine.

Methionine is an essential amino acid that is largely found in animal proteins such as seafood, meat, egg white, and certain nuts and seeds. Glycine is another amino acid that is abundantly found in animals in their collagen, tendons, connective tissue, skin, ligament, bone, and cartilage. However, most of the glycine is remove from the good quality meat cuts that we purchase from the supermarket.

Upon dietary intake, methionine is converted to another amino acid homocysteine, which is highly reactive to our body as it can lead to chronic heart problems. Hence, there are certain speculations that consuming too much muscle meat or an increased quantity of methionine and too little of glycine may result in an imbalance in our body that may promote diseases.

There are studies which support that consuming high levels of methionine from muscle meat increases the homocysteine level only for a little while and this temporary increase subsides soon afterward.

Glycine, on the other hand, is believed to help in reducing the homocysteine levels after a high protein meal. But, this notion needs to be researched with more studies. However, there are studies which support that glycine helps to decrease oxidative stress and improves sleep quality in adults.

So, one should consume both these nutrients in limited quantity, as they say, that ‘excess of anything is harmful to our wellbeing’!