From aging to heart disease, methylation has been a health topic of heated discussion. Indeed, methylation provides activation for hundreds of processes throughout your body. Yet, without proper diet or supplementation, methylation can easily become out of balance.

1. Detoxification Methylation converts all kinds of toxins into water-soluble compounds making them easier to eliminate from your liver. Ultimately, methylation allows larger toxins to be eliminated through your bile and smaller toxins to enter your bloodstream, pass through your kidneys, and get eliminated in your urine.
2. Amino acid production Methylation assists vitamin B9, also known as folate, in converting homocysteine into methionine. Homocysteine is a toxic amino acid that in excess has been linked to cardiovascular disease and miscarriage. However, methionine is an essential amino acid for protein synthesis and a variety of other processes.
3. Gene transcription Beyond amino acid production, methylation goes a step further to aid in the synthesis of proteins and enzymes by providing a DNA blueprint for your body. This process is called gene transcription.
4. Neurotransmitter synthesis Methylation plays a role in the synthesis of dopamine and serotonin. As you may know, dopamine and serotonin control your mood and help to regulate your overall brain health. Therefore, disturbances in your methylation usually result in dramatic mood swings.
5. Slowed aging Sometime ago, scientists determined that methylation affects the way you age. It achieves this by preserving the ends of your DNA strands known as telomeres. Telomeres actually shorten as you age, so preventing them from shortening slows the aging process.
6. Hormone regulation Methylation restores balance to your hormones, which decreases your risk of developing cancer as well as other health issues caused by hormonal imbalances.
7. Inflammation reduction As one of the best possible side effects one could have, inflammation is reduced indirectly by methylation’s activities in detoxification, neurotransmitter synthesis, hormone regulation, and some other processes.

So, here are some reasons why you don’t want that to happen:So, ‘Ask a Naturopath’ here at the Mr Vitamins Clinic about a simple test you can take to find out whether your body struggles to make methyl groups for efficient methylation.