Blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose can indicate a person’s health status, and for men these indicators may also affect sexual function and even fertility. Now there is an indicator – Homocysteine (Hcy) level can show your health status more accurately, early understanding of health conditions to avoid further impact on men’s health. What is homocysteine? Homocysteine is converted from methionine in proteins consumed by the body. It is an intermediate product in the metabolism of methionine to glutathione (the most important antioxidant enzyme in the body) and S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe), which is a good methyl donor in the body and keeps the biochemical reactions in the body flexible and adaptive, therefore, its level in the body is very important. What are the normal levels? The average level of homocysteine is 10 units, the ideal level is 6 units (although lower than 6 is better), and people with cardiovascular disease tend to have levels of 15 units or more. So what are the benefits of lowering homocysteine levels? 1, reduce the risk of stroke in hypertensive patients A large number of studies have shown that elevated plasma homocysteine (Hcy) levels are an independent risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease, and the occurrence of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease is positively correlated with the Hcy every 5 units of elevation, an increase of 59% of the strokes, and every 3 units of reduction in Hcy, can reduce the risk of stroke by about 24%. For hypertensive patients, an elevated Hcy is like “adding fuel to the fire”, which has a synergistic effect on the occurrence of stroke, and the simultaneous existence of the two can increase the risk of stroke to nearly 12 times! The importance of lowering Hcy cannot be overstated. Not only that, many of the factors that cause high blood pressure, high blood viscosity is one of them, and homocysteine level is too high itself will increase blood viscosity, more unfavorable is that it also has a close relationship with the fibrinogen, tend to make plasma fibrinogen content rises, which leads to the aggregation of platelets and erythrocytes, resulting in blood viscosity increased. No wonder some hypertensive patients, when homocysteine levels fall will make the blood pressure also fall. 2, reduce the possibility of heart disease by 75% The American Journal of Medicine published a large-scale study conducted by David Ward chaired research. The study found that homocysteine levels in the blood increased by 5 units each, the HTNFR gene variant of the likelihood of people suffering from heart disease rose by 42%, the likelihood of suffering a stroke rose by 65%, the MTHFR gene is normal, the likelihood of suffering from heart disease rose by 32%, the likelihood of suffering a stroke rose by 59%. The researchers concluded that “the highly significant results suggest a causal relationship between homocysteine levels in the body and the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease.” In other words, higher homocysteine levels are not just associated with developing heart disease, but it is also one of the causes of heart disease. It follows that if homocysteine levels are lowered in the body, the trigger for heart disease is also removed, thus reducing the risk of the disease. Another study showed that if homocysteine levels were lowered from 16 units to 6 units, the risk of disease could be reduced by 75%! This method is not only more effective than controlling cholesterol to reduce the risk of disease, but also more feasible, because there is no need to take medication to treat, only need to supplement nutrients. 3, effectively reduce the likelihood of diabetes Obesity can make the risk of diabetes increased by 77 times! People with diabetes are often at risk for high homocysteine levels because insulin is paradoxically elevated in the body of most diabetics, which makes it impossible for the body to control and maintain healthy homocysteine levels. Adopting a homocysteine-lowering diet and taking nutritional supplements can reduce the risk of developing diabetes. For diabetics, such measures can also help you manage your condition and reduce the likelihood of complications.