S-Adenosyl-L-methionine: its role in the treatment of liver disorders
When a nutrient seems to affect multiple conditions, we can assume two case scenarios. A. The nutrient is offered by a multi level marketing company and is reported to fix everything from diabetes to cancer to my bald spot. B. The nutrient affects a basic metabolic defect/deficiency that leads to many downstream conditions. SAM-e falls into the second category. SAM-e is a strong methyl donor, and methylation is an incredibly important process that is essential for many biological processes such as homocysteine conversion, protecting DNA from damage and, in this study, protecting the liver by assisting in the production of glutathione (the liver’s heavy hitter when it comes to detoxification). This would put SAM-e on the list along with milk thistle for any patients with liver problems.
AJCN — Abstracts: Lieber 76 (5): 1183S –