Dimethylglycine (DMG) // Trimethylglycine (TMG/Betaine)

DMG essentially provides methyl groups for a bodily process called ‘methylation.’

Some indispensable methylation products include: adrenaline, creatine, carnitine, melatonin, certain neurotransmitters, blood lipids, growth factors, anabolic hormones and the nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), from which all components of life are created. Many of these methylation products are intimately involved in muscle growth and development!

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Feel Young Again, Age Gracefully

Dimethylglycine is known as one of the most effective anti-aging nutrient in the world. DMG helps you to feel young, vital, healthy and strong well into old age. It boosts strength, endurance and stamina by dramatically improving the nutritional environment of the cells. This in turn causes the tissues and organs of the body to function more efficiently and with more youthful vitality, no matter how old you are.

Aging decreases immunity, but dimethylglycine helps enhance immunity to slow the aging process. DMG helps us to age more gracefully. As we get older, free radicals and stress damage one’s ability to maintain immune system function, memory and physical ability. DMG helps us cope with stress, increases tolerance to physical activity and helps us fight fatigue as well as improving stamina, sexual function, athletic ability and mental acuity.

In her best selling book, Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness, actress and best-selling author Suzanne Somers calls DMG a critical nutritional supplement. She is well into her 60s and is still radiant and stunningly beautiful. Dr. Ray Sahelian, M.D., bestselling author of Mind Boosters: Improve Your Mind, Memory, and Mood wrote, “If you find the field of mind-boosting pills, sex nutrients, and anti-aging interesting, you will certainly want to learn more about DMG (dimethylglycine).” He’s among many medical professionals that acknowledge the very pronounced benefits of dimethylglycine, such as increased energy, an overall feeling of well-being, faster thinking, enhanced memory and particularly greater stamina throughout the day. In other words, you don’t burn out as easily in the course of a normal day.

Numerous Health Benefits from Taking DMG

The health benefits from supplementing with DMG are significant. Dimethylglycine greatly improves the nutritional environment of the cell, increases immune system function (between up to 300% and 1000%) and improves oxygen utilization which enhances energy levels in the body. It helps to optimize mental activity and brain function and supports the body in counteracting the negative effects of mental and physical stress. DMG is one of the best anti-aging nutrients on the market.

Dimethylglycine is a major anti-stress nutrient, energy builder and adaptogen that benefits your metabolism, health and well-being. The average person has fatigue issues, injuries, gets sick and is generally stressed out. When the body is under conditions of stress, DMG improves oxygen utilization in the body and enhances cellular metabolism. Studies show that DMG supplementation helps both humans and animals adapt to increased physical activity by reducing blood lactic acid levels, increasing oxygen uptake by tissues, enhancing ATP production, normalizing glucose metabolism and decreasing fatigue. DMG reduces lactic acid build up in the muscle thereby shortening recovery time after strenuous exercise and improving endurance. Dimethylglycine:

• Helps stimulate and maintain a strong immune system
• Improves metabolism
• Optimizes energy levels 
• Makes energy production more efficient
• Reduces lactic acid formation
• Minimizes cravings for alcohol and drugs
• Enhances detoxification of the blood and the liver
• Increases oxygen utilization
• Enhances methyl donation
• Acts as an adaptogen
• Enhances neurotransmitter production
• Improves circulation
• Helps the body adapt to stress
• Decreases homocysteine levels
• Increases glutathione and SAMe levels
• Decreases elevated blood pressure, triglyceride and cholesterol levels
• Acts as an antioxidant
• Promotes the neutralization of free radicals
• Has anti-inflammatory properties
• Provides building blocks needed for synthesis of important body constituents
• Supports lymphocyte production

In the nation’s #1 bestselling guide to natural remedies, Prescription for Nutritional Healing, authors James Balch, M.D., and Phyllis Balch, C.N.C. recommend using DMG for 48 condition-specific uses. DMG is useful in so many conditions in part because it is a metabolic enhancer. As Dr. Balch writes, “Taking supplemental DMG can have a wide range of beneficial effects, including helping the body maintain high energy levels and boosting mental acuity. DMG has been found to enhance the immune system, and to reduce elevated blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels. It improves oxygen utilization by the body, helps to normalize blood pressure and blood glucose levels, and improves the functioning of many important organs.”

How Does Dimethylglycine Work in the Body?

Dimethylglycine is an important methyl donor that participates in numerous biochemical pathways and is important for glutathione synthesis. It’s able to donate a methyl towards necessary enzymatic reactions. This ability to donate one of its methyls is very crucial in the synthesis and production of important brain chemicals. Sufficient levels of glycine in the body are responsible for a general overall feeling of health or well being.

A methyl donor is simply any substance that can transfer a methyl group [a carbon atom attached to three hydrogen atoms (CH3)] to another substance. Methylation is a biochemical process that is essential to life, health and regeneration of body cells. Vitamins, hormones, neurotransmitters, enzymes, nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), and antibodies depend on the transfer of methyl groups to complete their synthesis. Scientists suspect that proper methylation of DNA may prevent the expression of harmful genes, such as cancer genes. Our body’s ability to methylate declines with age, contributing to the aging process, and therefore supplementation can be beneficial.

The versatility of Dimethylglycine to donate methyl groups and generate molecules like glycine, serine, sarcosine, ethanolamines, methionine and cysteine, as well as contributing to the formation of SAMe, may explain why DMG has such broad and wide-reaching therapeutic effects on the body. Some of those therapeutic effects include enhancing energy production, increasing circulation, decreasing seizure activity, reducing lactic acid levels, promoting better oxygen utilization, lowering homocysteine and many other beneficial effects.

Is DMG New?

Dimethylglycine in supplement form has been around for over 40 years with numerous clinical studies to prove its benefits and safety. DMG was first discovered by Russian scientists who were looking for a solution to the problem of accelerated aging in cosmonauts in space. Through performing hundreds of research studies, they found that returning cosmonauts who used DMG showed no symptoms of cellular damage or premature aging that the other cosmonauts all displayed.

Originally called “vitamin B-15” or “calcium pangamate” in the 1960’s and 1970’s, dimethylglycine has been cherished by top athletes and sports professionals for its ability to enhance performance and increase endurance. Olympic greats, world-champion body-builders, Super Bowl champions and the heavyweight champion of the world have all attributed their success in part to supplementing with DMG.

Aging and over-the-hill athletes notice especially good results from taking DMG. During an internationally televised interview with Muhammad Ali in 1976, the boxing champ held up a bottle of “B-15” (DMG) to show the world his “secret weapon.” As reported in the National Medical Bulletin in 1978, Ali took DMG during his many consecutive victories, and then when he stopped taking it, he was defeated by a newcomer. Once he began taking DMG again, he beat that same newcomer in a rematch in 1978.

Is DMG Safe?

Dimethylglycine has a long history of safe use by humans and is an intricate part of human metabolism. DMG is absolutely required by the human body to function optimally. DMG is hypoallergenic and is an extremely safe food substance that can enhance normal metabolic pathways in the body. It is safe for use in children of all ages. Doctors have been recommending DMG for autistic children since 1980.

Extensive animal studies on the safety of dimethylglycine showed that it is actually as safe as vitamin C. It is literally impossible to overdose. DMG actually has protective abilities against mutagens and carcinogens that may be in our food, water and the air we breathe. 

Paul Buck, Ph. D., nutritional biochemist at an FDA approved laboratory in Waverly, NY, is quoted to have said that “the average person would have to ingest 21 pounds or more of DMG in a short amount of time for it to be toxic, and at that point it would be a problem more with the volume than with the actual toxicity of the DMG.”

Dr. Gary Todd, M.D., describes DMG safety in his book entitled Nutrition, Health and Disease on page 206. Dr. Todd summarizes the extreme safety of DMG with this illustration: “the average DMG tablet is 125 mg, so you would have to take 4,144 tablets in a single dose to achieve the LD₅₀ for the average 70 kg (154 lb.) male, which would cost you $1,167.23. The intake of this much DMG would take an impossibly long time to swallow all the tablets, so a toxic dose would be impossible in humans, considering it would take almost 50 liters of water to swallow the pills, which in itself is a lethal dose.”

Why Take DMG?

Dimethylglycine is absolutely essential to virtually all human biological functions. DMG plays a key role in at least 41 different biochemical processes that are directly linked to how the body ages. DMG is required by all 70 trillion cells of the body for everything from proper nutrient absorption to cellular metabolism and energy production to oxygenation of the bloodstream. Dimethylglycine increases neuron activity and brain function, promotes healthy heart function, supports proper liver function and detoxification, enhances immune system function, and is generally essential to virtually all human biological function, including the production of DNA.

The body makes DMG, but not in sufficient levels to counter the many stress factors that assault the body today. Unfortunately, the body makes less and less dimethylglycine as we age. DMG is an anti-stress nutrient and metabolic enhancer, which provides a wide spectrum of benefits to health, vitality and wellness. It also has many healing and therapeutic benefits. Therefore, for optimal health, most people will notice significant improvement when taking DMG. The specific benefits that a person will receive from taking DMG are very unique to that person’s overall health, lifestyle, age and stress level.

How to Take DMG

Dimethylglycine is quickly broken down in the body, so smaller doses multiple times a day is best rather than taking it all at once. It is best to take DMG several times throughout the day in order to maintain consistent availability to the body. May be taken with out without food.

Dimethylglycine is best taken between meals to avoid competitive uptake from other amino acids although it can be taken with food as well. Individuals with heavy work schedules, high stress, athletes or people dealing with a major health problem can benefit from higher intakes of DMG. Depending on the specific area of use, the recommended dosage of DMG can range anywhere from 125mg to over 1000mg a day. An additional 125mg to 250mg can be taken for every 2 to 4 hours of exercise or heavy stress. Due to biochemical individuality, results can show up anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.

In Conclusion

DMG can help you live a longer, better and healthier life. It can add years to your life and life to your years. Dimethylglycine is a safe, effective and natural way to build wellness and optimize health. Taking DMG is a practical way to support well-being, cope with stress, slow the aging process and allow us to stay healthier by fortifying our body against dis-ease.

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The Health Benefits of Dimethylglycine (DMG)

An interview with Dr. Roger Kendall

By Richard A. Passwater, Ph.D.

Dimethylglycine (DMG), has been available for many years to the health consumer. Although DMG is an effective energy booster, stamina-enhancing and cardiovascular-building nutrient, many people looking for better health and wellness today either have never heard of it or are not aware of the many incredible benefits and healing potential of DMG. In the recent past, there has been little publicity or public knowledge available for the health-conscious consumer to read about DMG.

But that has now changed. A new and well-documented book on DMG has now been written, which for the first time will tell the complete and accurate story of the research, history and extensive use of DMG by physicians, athletes, nutritionists, and everyday people who have discovered the wide-spectrum healing properties of DMG.

Although I lectured and wrote extensively about DMG in the 1970s, I have never written an article entirely devoted to DMG in this column which I have been writing since September 1984. So you know that I am pleased to finally have the opportunity to talk with an expert about the latest research on this powerful substance. You can see that I have a lot of catching up to do, so please allow me to weave together three stories—the health benefits of DMG, the athletic benefits of DMG and how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) attempted to ban DMG as the start of their campaign to ban all non-essential nutrients by erroneously calling them “unapproved food additives.” I will try to intertwine these three stories by beginning with my experience using DMG with athletes, then moving to the FDA ban and finally showing that the science behind DMG has triumphed and this nutrient is available today to help many people. If you aren’t interested in the background, then please just skip ahead to the interview with Dr. Kendall to learn about the new research on the health benefits of DMG.

In the early 1970s, sports reporters used to write articles about my success with athletes with what was called “vitamin B-15” or “calcium pangamate.” I had especially good results with “aging” or “over-the-hill” athletes such as George Allen’s Washington Redskins and Muhammad Ali.

No one has been more surprised than me that a simple laboratory researcher became an adviser to Olympic greats, world-champion body-builders, Super Bowl champions and the heavyweight champion of the world. It certainly was weird to see my photo with sports greats such as Ali in national magazines and newspapers. I guess it evolved from the athletes or their trainers reading about my anti-aging research; this had often been described in magazines ranging from Prevention to Ladies’ Home Journal to Chemical & Engineering News beginning in 1970. TheWashington Post and other major newspaper carried stories about my results with both the Redskins and Ali, and national newspapers carried several of these stories involving athletes and “vitamin B-15.”

At age 34, Ali was having trouble training for his April 30, 1976 bout with Jimmy Young in Landover, MD. He was sluggish, unmotivated and getting a little flabby. I was contacted by one of his associates, Gene Kilroy. A blood test revealed that he was low in iron, but not yet anemic. Chelated iron, multivitamins rich in the B-vitamins and extra antioxidant vitamins quickly normalized his blood chemistry, but it wasn’t until I put him on “vitamin B-15” that he fully regained his stamina and drive.

During an internationally televised interview in Ali’s dressing room just before his May 24, 1976 bout with Richard Dunn from London, the champ held up a bottle of “B-15” to show the world his “secret weapon.” As reported in National Medical Bulletin in 1978, “Muhammad Ali took pangamate during his five consecutive victories over Young, Dunn, Norton; Evangelista and Shavers, he stopped taking it before his recent defeat by newcomer Leon Spinks. Ali’s trainer was on the phone to the doctor shortly after the Spinks fight.” Well, Ali did beat Spinks in the rematch on August 15, 1978 and then fought only exhibition matches until announcing his retirement on June 27, 1979. About this time, the FDA banned “vitamin B-15,” claiming it was an unapproved food additive. Ali returned from retirement to fight Larry Holmes on October 2, 1980 to lose by a TKO in the 11th round. He attempted another comeback on December 11, 1981 against Trevor Berbick and took another beating.

I had learned about B-15 during trips to the USSR’s leading heart institute in Moscow in the 1970s. They were researching the “oxygenating” actions of B-15 in treating angina and other heart diseases. I learned that Soviet Olympic athletes were also using B-15 to improve their endurance. My Soviet hosts saw my interest in B-15 and since I was their invited guest of the heart institute, they were pleased to present me with books and articles on the subject, along with translations. This became the basis for many lectures and articles on B-15 during the 1970s.

Since that time, a lot has happened, but not much has been publicized recently. The nutrient formerly known as “vitamin B-15” is now more accurately known as DMG. There was a precedent-setting action in which the FDA tried to enforce its desire to have all non-vitamin nutrients classified as unapproved food additives and not be allowed to be made available to the public. If the agency had been successful, many of our most important supplements would not be available today—coenzyme Q-10, SAMe, NAC, or anything else that was not an essential vitamin, mineral or fatty acid. In the meantime, researchers at U.S. universities were attacked by a zealous anti-supplement personality who wrote behind-the-scenes letters to the researchers’ colleagues, trying to defame and demean these nutrient researchers.

Nevertheless, truth and science prevailed, and important articles were indeed published in the scientific literature about the health benefits of DMG.

Now, we have a new book, Building Wellness with DMG, authored by Dr. Roger Kendall, who is considered the most authoritative researcher on the nutrient. Dr. Kendall, who holds a Ph. D. in organic biochemistry from Penn State University and has held teaching positions at the University of Bridgeport and Ambassador University, and his co-author Adena Therrien, have written a comprehensive but very readable monograph that covers in 15 chapters dozens of therapeutic and health-building applications, many of which have never been released before. This is the first authoritative text on DMG and is a must-read for all those who want to remain on the cutting edge of preventative and therapeutic nutrition. It is the type of book that will definitely bring new understanding of how to protect and heal the body from the modern upsurge of degenerative and infectious diseases that are assaulting our health. The book provides real answers and definitive support and help to the many who are searching for solutions to their health problems.

If you know someone with cancer, heart disease, diabetes, AIDS, respiratory disease, autism or immune dysfunction, do him or her a favor and recommend this book.

Passwater: Dr. Kendall, I am so pleased that you wrote Building Wellness with DMG. Perhaps I should scold you for not writing it earlier. Why didn’t you write it sooner, and is there a special reason for writing it now?

Kendall: Writing a comprehensive book on the health benefits and therapeutic uses of DMG has been a personal goal of mine for many years, and since no book had ever been written on the subject, I felt the time was right to set down a record of my experiences and the experiences of many others who have worked with this valuable nutrient. I have been involved in doing research on DMG for nearly 25 years now, and I wanted the opportunity to record in one place a complete summary of the DMG story that would cover the many individuals and related discoveries surrounding DMG. I especially wanted the current generation to understand the truth behind this marvelous nutrient, which many people in the late 1970s and 1980s had experienced. For the most part, such knowledge has been lost over the past 15 years or so. Some recent discoveries about DMG’s mode of action and health benefits also has added to our knowledge of why this nutrient can be such a valuable component of a person’s nutritional program.

The book brings to life, for the professional health provider as well as for the lay person, the many potential benefits of DMG. I myself over the years have been simply amazed at the wide scope of nutritional applications that apply to DMG, and I wanted to share this valuable information in an easy-to-understand style for those who are seeking a higher level of health. The book is not overly technical, but each chapter is fully referenced and presents enough science and biochemistry to explain what DMG is, how it works in the body and what health benefits it provides. My co-writer Adena Therrien and I wanted to produce a book that could be used as a hands-on reference manual on how an individual can use DMG to build greater wellness, improve physical and mental performance, and overcome many degenerative conditions facing people today. I truly believe that most people can benefit from reading this book simply because they will find DMG-related solutions to many of their health problems.

 

Passwater: We’ve known each other for a long time, but I never asked you this before: Why did you choose to become a nutritional biochemist?

Kendall: That is a very good question. I knew since I was a junior in high school that I waned to be a chemist because of my fascination with and desire to know how and why things worked in the physical world. When I first got out of graduate school, I worked for several years as a synthetic organic chemist in the agricultural division of American Cyanamid Company. Over a period of four years, I produced over 300 new compounds for their drug testing programs. I enjoyed the challenge of trying to discover a new successful pesticide product that would boost food production or find some new animal drug. But an event occurred in 1974 that would lead to a change in my career aspirations. I had a very close friend who within a few months after being diagnosed with leukemia died from the disease. I then began a serious study of the causes of cancer and what one could do to protect oneself from getting cancer.

My wife was the one in the family who had been reading on health issues for years and she provided me the link between poor diets, toxic chemicals in the environment, stress and cancer. My friend had worked in the chemical industry and I realized that producing pesticides in the lab was not the best environment to be in. In 1974 I joined the faculty of Ambassador College in Pasadena, CA, and began to teach chemistry. I spent my research time evaluating the role of diet, environmental pollution, stress, free radicals and a weakened immune defense on cancer and other degenerative diseases. I began to find that certain nutrients like vitamins C and E, selenium, and zinc and the eating of certain diets could reduce the threat of free radicals, improve immunity and reduce the risk of degenerative diseases like cancer. You could say that this personal study over several years and after reading of the classical works of Weston Price, Linus Pauling, Abram Hoffer, Hans Selye and Roger Williams, I then started my pursuit as a nutritional biochemist. The work of these pioneers in orthomolecular medicine and nutritional research proved to me that not only could a person reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, and aging through right nutrition, diet, and consuming appropriate levels of antioxidants, immune enhancers, and detoxifying nutritional supplements but could also use nutrition to heal the body of disease as well.

 

Passwater: How did you first become interested in DMG?

Kendall: My first contact with DMG was really quite by accident. It resulted from two key events that happened in 1977. In the DMG book, I report that in the spring of ’77, after deciding to return to my home state of Vermont, I attended a nutritional convention in Pasadena with the intent of making contact with nutritional companies who might be looking for biochemists to head up their research and product development department. By chance I happened to attend your lecture on the wonderful health-building properties of what was known then as vitamin B-15.

I was fascinated by your lecture and wanted to know more about this nutrient. I came across an article on a company in Vermont, FoodScience Laboratories, that was marketing a product which they called Anngamik 15, which contained the building blocks of Calcium Pangamate or the so-called vitamin B-15. DMG just happened to be one of those building blocks. I decided I would seek employment with FoodScience on my arrival in Vermont. It was the following April, in 1978, that I joined the company as its director of research and development; this was just as the company was beginning a battle with the FDA over Anngamik 15.

FDA had seized the product, claiming that it contained a new vitamin and that the product contained an unapproved food additive, which was illegal. I went into an in-depth study and research program on Calcium Pangamate and DMG in preparation for the FDA trial that was to take place in December of 1979. What my research proved was that DMG was not just a component of the so-called vitamin B-15 but was in fact the active known metabolite and real nutrient behind what was called vitamin B-15.

 

Passwater: Would you please review for our readers the reasons that DMG was thought to be a vitamin? Also, what is the connection between DMG and what the Russians called Calcium Pangamate or B-15?

Kendall: In the classical sense, DMG is not a vitamin—although there may be individuals who require DMG in their diet in order to prevent the onset of a physiological or metabolic dysfunction. An example of this may be individuals like the person in the New England Journal of Medicine report who could control his seizures by taking DMG. As soon as he stopped taking it, his seizure activity would shoot back up again.

By definition, a vitamin is an organic substance required in the diet in order to prevent the onset of a deficiency disease from occurring. Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is absolutely required in the diet in small amounts; say around 10 to 25 mg daily, in order to prevent scurvy. Most people of course take anywhere from 10 to 50 times more than this daily because of the many other benefits vitamin C provides as an antioxidant, detoxifier, and healing agent.

Just as vitamin C can be used as a preventative or therapeutic agent against degenerative diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, liver degeneration, and against infective agents, DMG also appears to serve this same function as a nutrient that protects the body against degenerative diseases, aging, infections, and the like while at the same time optimizing physical and mental performance during times when the body is under metabolic stress or is out of balance, deviating from the normal ranges of the physiological and metabolic markers.

Dr. Jerzy Meduski was the first to call DMG a metabolic enhancer or catalyst which would aid the body in overcoming multiple stress responses caused by low oxygen availability, weakened immune system, lactic acid overload, low methyl group availability, and poor stamina. DMG is an anti-stress nutrient or an adaptogen, which, when provided in optimum levels, will enhance the ability of the body to perform at peak levels without breaking down. It also may help restore the body back to homeostasis or balance. DMG, as the dimethylated derivative of the amino acid glycine, has amazing power to change and improve the health, well-being and vitality of most people, regardless of age or physical condition.

The connection between DMG and what the Russians called Calcium Pangamate or B-15 is easily understood. DMG is part of the molecular structure of Calcium Pangamate as seen by the Russian patents.

If a person takes Calcium Pangamate, it breaks down quickly in the digestive tract to give Dimethylglycine (DMG) and Calcium Gluconate. After being broken down, the DMG is absorbed into the body and enters the metabolic pathways in the same way as if a person took DMG.

Put in another way, Calcium Pangamate acts as a carrier for the DMG. As it turned out, in the seventies there were many products on the market here in the U.S. that were called Calcium Pangamate but they were actually made from a mixture of the DMG and Calcium Gluconate. This has caused a lot of confusion about what the real structure was behind the so-called vitamin B-15.

 

Passwater: What are some of the specific health benefits of DMG?

Kendall: DMG gives a wide range of specific health benefits, provides protection against infectious agents, and can optimize performance whether you are an athlete or have an active lifestyle. DMG aids cardiovascular function by improving oxygen utilization, reduces elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels, decreases angina pain and high blood pressure. It possesses anti-cancer activity while preventing metastasis. DMG modulates the immune system including antibody production, T and B cell proliferation and cytokine regulation. Work with autistic individuals has shown it to be very helpful to improve verbal communication, social interaction and emotional control. We believe it also works well to support neurological function and mental clarity.

In addition to presenting the science behind the nutrient, the book contains many testimonials from people who have seen some pretty remarkable results and gives strong credence to the scientific studies we have been doing over the years. DMG can reduce fatigue and boost energy production; this is an area that many people report back to me on. The individual chapters give much more detail than I can possibly relate in this interview.

 

Passwater: Why is it that DMG seems to be beneficial for such a broad range of health problems?

Kendall: This is something that has impressed me over the years. It looks like DMG can cure what ails you. DMG is not a cure-all agent, but it apparently occupies a key spot in the metabolic pathway, which makes the cells of the body work more efficiently. Our immune response studies seem to indicate that DMG improves cell-to-cell communication as well. Like a catalyst, it enhances the body’s functions at the cellular level. We don’t know all of the specific metabolic interventions DMG can produce, but it may be that by providing a high level of transmethylation to the body, DMG can promote the cellular production of hormones, antibodies, neurotransmitters, nucleic acids, glutathione, creatine and SAMe. One may expect that there would be a broad impact on health.

 

Passwater: Please tell our readers a little about the biochemistry of DMG and how it functions in the body?

Kendall: From a biochemical perspective, DMG is a key intermediate in the choline/betaine one carbon cycle, whose principal function appears to provide adequate methyl group production via transmethylation reactions for modifying, rebuilding and detoxifying many components in the body. Our research has shown that DMG is especially important as a nutritional supplement for the reduction of stress, improved cardiovascular health, immune response, mental function and even overcoming auto immune diseases and cancer. DMG breaks down to produce methyl groups and other derivatives of glycine. That is why we say in the book that DMG breaks down so you don’t have to.

The question of how DMG works in the body as an intermediary metabolite was worked out a number of years ago by du Vigneaud, MacKenzie and Frissell, who published a series of papers on the subject. DMG is produced in the body from choline and betaine or can be supplied in the diet from certain foods like beans, seeds or liver. DMG is taken up by the body and transported to tissues or organs for further metabolic reactions or direct use by the cells. It can act as a mineral transporter and enhance cellular communication as we have seen in our work on the immune system. DMG activates T and B lymphocytes as well as macrophages to produce antibodies and cytokines as part of an immune response to an immune challenge.

In the mitochondria of the liver, DMG is acted upon by dehydrogenase enzymes and in a step-wise process gives up its two methyl groups into the methyl pool via a process known as oxidative demethylation to yield glycine. Folic acid as tetrahydrofolate (THF) picks up the methyl groups to produce methyl-THF. This intermediate in turn reconverts homocysteine back into methionine. In this fashion you can say that DMG acts as a methionine pump and consequently aids the body in producing SAMe. SAMe is the body’s active transmethylating agent responsible for producing a wide range of important bio-molecules ranging from hormones, antibodies, neurotransmitters and nucleic acids.

DMG acts on the body to reduce the effects of hypoxia (low oxygen availability in the tissues) and reduces lactic acid buildup. This explains DMG’s ability to increase stamina, endurance and muscle recovery after heavy workouts. Our work \shows that DMG can help normalize high blood glucose and cholesterol levels, although we don’t yet understand the mechanism of these effects. DMG is an anti-stress nutrient that can help the body overcome various stress factors in a positive way. Much research still needs to be done to better understand some of the specific ways that DMG aids the body in overcoming a wide range of degenerative conditions including cancer.

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Dimethylglycine (DMG) is an effective energy-boosting, stamina-enhancing and cardiovascular-building nutrient. Unfortunately, relatively few people are aware of the many incredible benefits and healing potential of DMG. Now the leading expert on DMG, Dr. Roger Kendall, has co-authored a book, Building Wellness with DMG (Freedom Press 2003), which reports how DMG can help improve the health of many people. Last month, we chatted with Dr. Kendall about the history of DMG, his research with DMG and the biochemistry of DMG. Now we continue the discussion with the role of DMG in the immune system, cancer, heart disease, autism, athletic performance and veterinary uses.

 

Passwater: What are some of the important new discoveries that you have made about DMG over the years that were not previously discussed in the literature?

Kendall: This is the exciting part of being involved in biochemical research where you unexpectedly come across some new discovery that has not been seen before. I cannot take all the credit here, as our new findings have been a result of teamwork. Einstein once was quoted as saying that “true discovery comes to the prepared mind,” and I have worked with many highly skilled and professional scientists who with their years of experience were able to identify or discover four major areas that were not previously reported on. These include the effect of DMG on the immune system, its anti-cancer properties, and its ability to act as an anti-inflammatory agent and to reverse some negative effects of autoimmune diseases like lupus. We cover most of these new discoveries in the book and, more important, relate how these findings equate to using DMG in real life to build wellness.

I might comment that we suspected for years that DMG could act as an antioxidant because of its ability to protect the body from radiation. The U.S. Army and Clemson University completed some initial work in this area. The real clincher came in a paper published in 2000, where the authors reported that DMG, in a dose-related manner, reduced the production of lipid peroxides in a rat model.

The model was used to look at the effect of DMG on gastric ulcers, since the generation of oxygen-derived free radials and lipid peroxidation has been implicated in the development of gastric ulcers. DMG had a gastro-protective effect in stress-induced ulcers, and DMG’s free-radical scavenging activity was felt to be the principal mode of activity. As a side note to this paper, it is now well known that ulcers in humans are caused by an infection of Helicobacter pylori bacteria. One could speculate that DMG will also help to heal ulcers by means of its immune response enhancement against bacterial infections.

 

Passwater: How does DMG improve the immune system and who could benefit from this nutrient in this regard?

Kendall: Dr. Charles Graber and I made the discovery in 1978 that DMG could protect the body from an immune challenge from bacterial microorganisms in a way that involves both arms of the immune system (cellular and humeral immunity). DMG increased the antibody production (B-cell response) in individuals getting a vaccine over 400 times as compared to the control group. Other blood tests revealed the involvement of the T-cells to enhance the effect against the antigen. We can conclude that DMG enhances both humeral (antibody) and cell-mediated immune response.

Further work at Clemson University has shown that DMG enhances both B- and T-cell production as well as stimulates the production of cytokines such as interferon, tumor necrosis factor, and a number of interleukins. More details can be found in the published papers that point out that DMG could be a very valuable addition for anyone suffering from a weakened immune response, degenerative disease or having an active viral or bacterial infection. DMG can be said to be an active protector of the body and can protect against a wide variety of infective agents.

Most people could benefit from the addition of DMG to their supplement program in regard to their immune system. We are constantly coming into contact with many infective agents on a daily basis including bacteria, viruses and fungi, and DMG can help our bodies destroy these invaders and help us avoid getting sick.

Excessive stress can weaken our immune system’s response against the flu and the common cold for instance. DMG on the other hand will bolster our bodies’ natural response to these immune challenges even in the presence of emotional and physical stress.

As people get older, their immune systems weaken due to aging. DMG can be surprisingly effective, for instance, in enhancing the cellular and antibody responses in people over 60. We observed this in a human study we did at the South Carolina Medical School at Charleston. Also any person who has a degenerative condition such as heart disease, arthritis, diabetes or cancer does have a compromised immune system. These individuals can use DMG and get a much-needed boost for their weakened immune systems.

Children and teachers in school are exposed to a constant line of infective agents. DMG can make a difference in reducing the amount of time that people get sick.

In summary, in my experience most individuals including athletes, students, geriatrics, business people, those fighting degenerative conditions, etc. would benefit from taking between 250 and 500 mg of DMG daily to strengthen their immune defenses.

 

Passwater: Explain how you discovered that DMG has anticancer properties?

Kendall: In research, one discovery always leads to more questions about what to do next to advance the understanding of a particular situation. Dr. John Lawson at Clemson University continued the work started by Dr. Graber and in particular wanted to learn more about how DMG would modulate or affect the immune system. We knew that DMG had a particularly strong effect on modulating or enhancing an immune response in the presence of a challenge, such as a vaccination, which causes the body to produce among other things a greater antibody response to the antigen. We also knew from work with a rabbit model that DMG causes the body to produce more T-lymphocytes and increase alpha-interferon, a cytokine produced by T-cells. This discovery got us to thinking that perhaps DMG might impact the immune system of an animal with cancer, since it was known that alpha-interferon was being studied for its anti-tumor activity.

We decided to evaluate what effect DMG would have on the immune system of mice injected with melanoma cancer cells. Melanoma was chosen because it was a very active cancer that very quickly will undergo metastasis (spread to other organs and tissues). As an added advantage, melanoma tumors were very easy to see in tissue. Graduate students conducted the experiment. After 40 days all of the control mice had died, but of the mice receiving DMG over 75% of that group was still alive and lived over twice as long as the control mice before they were sacrificed. Evaluation of the mice showed that the control mice died because the cancer spread to other organs including the lungs, heart and liver. The test mice showed no metastasis as the tumors in the DMG mice were walled off by the immune system.

So even before we knew the impact of the DMG on the immune system relative to antibodies or cytokine activity in the mice, we knew we were on to something big. We were not expecting to find a direct anticancer effect, only possible changes within the immune system that would help us understand the mechanism of action. We did find that DMG caused an increase in both antibody titers to the melanoma as well as a big increase in the level of tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a known antitumor cytokine produced from the macrophages. Later we found that DMG also has a direct toxic effect on a wide range of cancer cells including breast, prostate and ovarian cancers, which is not a direct result of DMG impact on the immune response. In conclusion, we found out about DMG’s anticancer effect as a result of looking at its immune modulation potential.

 

Passwater: You have mentioned various ways that DMG can help the heart and the vascular system. Would you please summarize the cardiovascular health benefits of DMG and tell us what is known about the modes of action?

Kendall: I have received many reports over the years from people relating how DMG improved their cardiovascular health. Specific benefits shown by DMG included reduction of elevated cholesterol, homocysteine and triglycerides levels, lowering of high blood pressure, elimination of angina pain, and increased exercise tolerance. Dr. Mitchell Pries, a cardiologist from Palm Dessert, CA, evaluated DMG in nearly 400 patients over a four-year period and was able to clinically verify these exciting findings. He found that DMG improved circulatory and heart functions, provided higher energy levels and that his patients were able to eliminate or significantly reduce their medications. Based on test results, he also reported that DMG appeared to increase the “good cholesterol” HDL while reducing the level of the “bad cholesterol” LDL. He reported that his patients simply did better on DMG.

As a metabolic enhancer, DMG reduces symptoms associated with physical, emotional, and environmental stressors that can contribute to cardiovascular dysfunction. DMG allows for better oxygen utilization at the cellular level, which reduces the effects of circulatory insufficiencies and heart pain (angina) due to low oxygen availability. Better circulation to the extremities and less pain has been seen in people suffering from poor circulation to the lower leg muscles.

DMG can also reduce the risk of atherosclerosis (arterial plaque formation) by helping to lower homocysteine levels and reducing free-radical damage caused by lipid peroxidation. Along with elevated LDL and VLDL cholesterol, these are major risk factors in stroke and myocardial infarcts (heart attacks). DMG can act as source of methyl groups, and, along with folic acid and vitamin B-12. can help convert homocysteine to methionine, an essential amino acid. In this way DMG acts as a type of methionine pump, reducing a harmful excess of homocysteine, which causes free-radical damage to the arterial walls, while at the same time increasing the level of methionine, which can act as a free-radical scavenger. For these reasons DMG is very beneficial to recovering heart patients and to those who want to reduce their risk to cardiovascular disease as they get older.

 

Passwater: Autism is a growing health problem in the country today. Why is that, and how does DMG help individuals with this condition?

Kendall: There appears to be a surge in autism in the past decade, especially among children in the ages of 1 to 4 years of age. It is a devastating syndrome that causes children to withdraw socially, discontinue talking and a whole host of health issues from poor gut health, restlessness and severe chemical and food sensitivities. The reason for this increase is not clear but many experts have linked the increase in autism to the mercury compound used as a preservative in vaccines (in some states children receive over 40 vaccinations in their first three years), environmental toxins, abnormal immune system response or irregularities of the digestive tract.

My experience with DMG and autism began in 1978 when I began to work with Dr. Bernard Rimland at the Autism Research Institute. We collaborated on a number of studies with DMG on children with autism and the results were very positive. Subsequent studies completed in Korea and Taiwan gave conclusive evidence of the potential benefit of DMG for children with autism.

Over the years Dr. Rimland has received thousands of positive reports and testimonials from parents revealing the positive responses of the nutrient in their children. DMG benefits for individuals with autism include improved verbal communication, better social interaction and warmness to others, improved eye contact, better sleep patterns, reduced seizure activity and improved immune system. It is wonderful to read the grateful letters from parents who are hearing their children speak to them after years of silence and total indifference.

 

Passwater: I discussed my experience with DMG and its beneficial effect on athletic performance last month. In 1964, Soviet scientists published claims for the therapeutic and nutritional properties of what is now known as DMG. It was used in the 1968 Summer Olympics by Soviet and East German athletes to boost stamina and performance, provide greater energy and reduce fatigue among athletes. Please explain how DMG affects athletic performance?

Kendall: Interestingly enough, one of the first discoveries regarding DMG was that it could improve the performance times of racing thoroughbreds by reducing lactic acid buildup. DMG will help the endurance of the horse especially in the home stretch, and the same can be found with human athletes.

I remembered that after I had reviewed research data on a controlled study in horses, the data seemed to suggest that the lactic acid reduction effect was rather rapid. I decided to test this hypothesis on myself by running several miles and causing my leg muscles to cramp up as a result of lactic acid buildup. The pain was quite severe in my calf and thigh muscles as I was not in that good shape. I then began to take five 125 mg. sublingual DMG tablets and within 10 minutes the pain and cramping were completely gone even though I continued to run for several more miles. My recovery was good and I did not experience any soreness to speak of on the next day. I then knew from personal experience that DMG really worked to help performance.

My work with athletes as described in the DMG book shows that DMG improves endurance, enhances oxygen utilization, reduces lactic acid buildup and improves muscle metabolism.

 

Passwater: What amount of DMG should people use, and are there any safety concerns over the use of DMG?

Kendall: First of all, DMG is an extremely safe nutritional supplement to use and there are no adverse conditions associated with its use. It can be recommended for children, it is highly non-allergenic, and can be used in combination with almost all drug therapies.

The level people should use is quite broad, depending on the age, health condition and the level of the physical and emotional stress the person is undergoing. Depending on the personal situation people might safely use from 125 mg to several grams daily. Again the book goes into greater detail on specific levels of use and I would ask the reader to get a copy and decide for him- or herself what dosage makes sense—after consulting a health care practitioner. I do have my personal website at http://www.dmgdoctor.com if people would like to send in particular questions, post their personal testimonials or success stories with DMG.

 

Passwater: You have a chapter in Building Wellness with DMG on the veterinary uses of DMG. Can you tell our readers about these uses and why people should consider giving DMG to their pets?

Kendall: Just as DMG has many health-building and therapeutic properties for people, likewise veterinarians and trainers have found DMG useful for the care and maintenance of dogs, cats, horses, birds, and other members of the animal kingdom as well. DMG is especially valuable to those animals that are exposed to high stress, infections, environmental toxins, and free radicals that can have a deleterious effect on the cardiovascular system, liver health, and immune system.

DMG has been used successfully in the animal field for over 30 years. One of the first areas to be evaluated was in equine and canine track performance where DMG was found to enhance endurance, reduce muscle fatigue and decrease recovery time. These benefits are primarily due to DMG’s ability to decrease lactic acid and improve oxygen utilization at the cellular level.

In the Natural Health Bible for Dogs and Cats, Shawn Messonnier, D.V.M., recommends DMG for both improved performance and recovery from a number of illnesses. Therapeutic uses for DMG include osteoarthritis, allergies, seizures, heart disease, melanoma and other cancers, feline immunodeficiency virus, feline peritonitis and diabetes. DMG has seen good success in dealing with seizures in dogs and horses. Supplementation with DMG can positively influence the health and well being of those animals whose immune and detoxification systems have been compromised. It also has seen results in decreasing allergic reactions, which has helped to improve skin health in both dogs and cats. DMG has been used on many species of birds as an anti-stress nutrient. Positive benefits have been seen on birds with chronic feather picking habits, immune related infections and liver toxicities.

Overall, DMG is a multifaceted nutrient that can contribute to the health and well being of most animal species. In the book there are a number of specific examples given by veterinarians and pet owners who have included DMG as part of their healing and wellness programs for their animals. I have also included information in the book on suggested usage ranges for the different species.

 

Passwater: What do you see as areas of future research with DMG?

Kendall: As I mentioned in the book, the DMG story is not over. There is much to be learned about this marvelous nutrient, healing agent and metabolic enhancer. We know quite a bit now about how it works in the body and have seen evidence of the many health benefits it can bring, as we have discussed in this interview. I would really like to see future research focus on specific human clinical trials on diseases such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, ocular degeneration, and on autoimmune diseases like lupus. Unfortunately, due to expense and the resistance of drug companies to pursue research with natural therapies, it will be some time before circumstances change. In the meantime, I hope to continue my work on a smaller scale. My plan is to encourage doctors in small clinical programs to evaluate DMG’s full potential in the healing of the body—either alone or in combination with other synergistic nutritional products. I am convinced that as more successful reports come to light, we will be seeing more interest by mainstream physicians in the use of DMG.

 

Passwater: Thank you, Dr. Kendall. Perhaps we can chat some more again soon. I’d like to review more about DMG and cardiovascular disease, epilepsy, the immune system and veterinary uses. But let’s save these for another day.

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Detailed presentation about DMG

Dr. Roger V. Kendall PhD on DMG

Interview with Roger V. Kendall PhD – Part 1:

Interview with Roger V. Kendall PhD – Part 2:

Interview with Roger V. Kendall PhD – Part 3:

Interview with Roger V. Kendall PhD – Part 4:

Interview with Roger V. Kendall PhD – Part 5:

Interview with Roger V. Kendall PhD – Part 6:

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