If you have a specific gene variant that makes it hard for your body to process folic acid and your homocysteine levels are high, adding betaine (a natural compound) might help lower those levels better than folic acid alone.

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Pro

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Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

65

Community contributions welcome

65

Betaine supplementation decreases plasma homocysteine in healthy adult participants: a meta-analysis.

Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis

Human

2013 Mar

This study shows that taking betaine lowers a harmful substance called homocysteine in the blood. The claim says betaine might help people with a specific gene problem who don’t respond well to folic acid — and since betaine works to lower homocysteine in general, it likely helps those people too.

Contradicting (0)

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Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Betaine supplementation decreases plasma homocysteine in healthy adult participants: a meta-analysis.

Score: 65

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcm.2012.11.001

Similar Assertions

If your body doesn’t have enough folate or has a common gene variation that makes it hard to process folate, taking betaine (a natural compound found in beets and spinach) can help lower a harmful blood chemical called homocysteine by giving your body another way to clean it up.

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89%

People with a certain gene variant (MTHFR C677T T-allele) see a bigger boost in a substance called betaine in their blood when they take betaine supplements, compared to people without that gene variant.

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0

74%

When your body doesn’t have enough folate (a B vitamin), betaine can step in to help lower a harmful substance called homocysteine—kind of like a backup helper when your main one is running low.

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65

74%