Methylation
DNA methylation, homocysteine clearance, methyl-donor supply
Methylation is the body's most prolific chemical reaction — adding a single carbon (a methyl group) to DNA, proteins, neurotransmitters, and toxins billions of times a second. It switches genes on and off (epigenetics), builds creatine and phosphatidylcholine, and recycles the amino acid homocysteine back into methionine. The cycle runs on folate (B9), B12, B6, and choline as methyl donors, with B2 and magnesium as cofactors; when they run short, homocysteine climbs — a marker tied to cardiovascular and cognitive risk. MTHFR gene variants slow the folate-activation step, which is why methylfolate is often preferred over plain folic acid.
How your supplements + diet feed this pathway right now — the cofactors driving it, where the gaps are, and your own lab readouts.
The load-bearing nutrients — if these are deficient, this pathway slows down. Click any to see daily targets, food sources, and supplements that supply it.
Nutrients that contribute to this pathway but aren’t the single load-bearing inputs.
Lab markers that report on how well this pathway is running. When one of these is out of range, this pathway is often where the upstream issue lives.
Save a lab session under My Journey → Biomarkers to see your own values for these.
Pathways that share a load-bearing cofactor with this one.