By Todd Lee M.D.

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L-Cystine

L-Cystine is an amino acid which is very important. It is one of 2 amino acids with a sulfur atom and this makes it special. It can bind things differently than other amino acids. Many biochemical reactions require a metal atom as a cofactor, such as Iron, Magnesium, Calcium, and others. This type of metal binding allows Methionine and its metabolite Cystine to aid in DNA replication and other muscle building events within the cells.

For instance curly hair is due to more disulfide bonds than straight hair. Hair straighteners use chemicals to break these sulfur-sulfur bonds from cystine amino acids in the hair’s amino acid sequence. Now these bonds can be reset to generate larger or smaller curls or one could leave the bonds broken and the hair is straight. For this reason It is believed increasing your L-Cystine consumption may slow the loss of hair from a DHT heavy cycle. For more on hair regrowth click here!

L-Cystine in Fat Loss

Research has been done on the effects of L-Cystine in fat loss. It was investigated because L-Cystine is the most anorexigenic of all the amino acids. This means it generates (-genic) fat loss (anorexi-). Those clever greeks! They have the coolest words.

In a rodent study, it was determined that L-Cystine has a dose dependent effect of decreased food intake after oral administration or abdominal injection of L-Cystine. It was determined to function by decreasing gastric emptying, and decreasing plasma ghrelin levels. It had no effect in mice genetically engineered to over secrete ghrelin, unless much more L-Cystine was administered. .

L-Cystine had the same effect in humans: decreased acyl ghrelin levels and decreased appetite.  This means that if someone wanted to decrease food cravings and appetite, and slow their digestion down so they get more nourishment out of less food, they should supplement with L-Cystine.

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How Much?

The recommended daily amount is 1.4 g per day (1,400 mg). When has the recommended amount ever been right? It is suggested that Americans should supplement L-Cystine because there isn't enough in our diets. 4 oz of chicken has over 250 mg. That means 24 oz has 1,500 mg, and thus is enough. Although any bodybuilder knows that’s not much chicken, most fitness people and people who think they “eat a lot” would puke if they tried to eat that much chicken every single day with just as much beef, and eggs, and pounds of rice and potatoes, and shakes. So 1.5 lbs of chicken is the “recommended” amount, and the government under represents how much protein you need to grow. So why not lie about how much Cystine?

3 lbs of meat would be 2 times the recommended amount, a much safer bet. So you could eat 3 lbs of chicken (300 g of protein 12-48 g fat) to get 3 g of L-Cystine or just take 3 g of L-Cystine. Since I need that much protein a day I will probably choke the chicken down. But for those of you whose paycheck isn't dependant on how you place in competitions it’s cheaper, easier, and less fattening to use the supplement or half and half, such as 1.5 lbs of chicken with 1.5 g L-Cystine and the remainder of your protein from Whey. Remember all meat and eggs and dairy are acidic in the body, the only alkaline protein source is Whey protein. So it’s better for your overall health to get about half your protein from animal meat and the other half from egg whites, whole eggs and Whey protein. Or skip the eggs and go half whey and half meat.

Disclaimer

Nothing in this article or on this site should be considered medical advice or as an endorsement to violate any law of the country in which you reside.  The information given is for fun and entertainment purposes only.  All statements are 100% dependent upon proper diet and exercise.  Please consult a medical practitioner prior to any diet and exercise program.

Reference

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25219528