Research paper
Effect of Homocysteine-Lowering Nutrients on Blood Lipids: Results from Four Randomised, Placebo-Controlled Studies in Healthy Humans
Study answer
What this study found
Overall, high-dose betaine worsened the lipid profile, phosphatidylcholine increased triglycerides, and folic acid was lipid-neutral. Across studies 1 to 3, betaine 6 g/d increased total cholesterol by 0.42 (0.30; 0.55), LDL cholesterol by 0.36 (0.25; 0.46), and triacylglycerols by 0.14 (0.04; 0.23) relative to placebo, while HDL cholesterol did not change. Folic acid 0.8 mg/d showed no meaningful combined effect on total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triacylglycerols, or the total/HDL ratio. In study 4, phosphatidylcholine increased triacylglycerols by 0.14 mmol/l (8%) and…
- Study & population
- Four randomized, placebo-controlled human studies were conducted in healthy Dutch adults without cardiovascular disease.
- Intervention
- The active regimens were oral betaine, folic acid, and phosphatidylcholine given against placebo in four randomized studies.
- Key limitation
- The studies were short term, so they do not address long-term lipid or cardiovascular outcomes.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Background Betaine (trimethylglycine) lowers plasma homocysteine, a possible risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, studies in renal patients and in obese individuals who are on a weight-loss diet suggest that betaine supplementation raises…