N,N-Dimethylglycine (DMG) has been marketed as a nutritional supplement since 1974 and has seen wide use in both human and animal health fields. Research beginning in late 1978 found that DMG could positively influence the immune response in laboratory animals and humans, 1 boost physical and mental performance in athletes 2. Dimethylglycine (DMG) is a supplement that is often used as a performance enhancer in racing animals such as dogs and horses for its alleged ability to reduce lactic acid buildup and therefore its ability to reduce muscle fatigue. It is a derivative of the amino acid glycine and is a natural product of choline metabolism in the body. DMG is often sold commercially as hydrochloride salt (dimethylglycine HCL). Dimethylglycine’s Effects on Athletic Performance and Bodybuilding: Dimethylglycine has been claimed to be an athletic performance enhancer (for bodybuilding) and can be found in various sports supplements. DMG HCL Background and Benefits DMG is an abbreviation for dimethylglycine, an amino acid with the chemical formula (CH3)2NCH2COOH. It is derived from glycine, which is one of the 20 amino acids commonly used to synthesize proteins in humans.

Dimethyglycine, sometimes abbreviated DMG, is a chemical produced in the process of using the B-vitamin choline. Choline becomes betaine, and betaine can convert the inflammatory chemical homocysteine into the amino acid methionine. This process also creates dimethylglycine, which becomes the amino acid glycine. In turn, glycine is used to make the antioxidant glutathione, also known as GSH.

Dimethylglycine for Women in Pregnancy

In the bloodstream of pregnant women, choline tends to build up. In the bloodstream of unborn babies, betaine and dimethylglycine tend to build up. Researchers this may be because the unborn baby needs more dimethylglycine to make the glycine to make the GSH to protect its rapidly growing tissues from free radicals. But would it make sense for pregnant mothers to take dimethylglycine for the unborn baby's health?

The answer is, probably not. The placenta sends choline to the fetus, not dimethylglycine. If a pregnant woman takes a dimethylglycine supplement, the dimethylglycine will build up in the mother's bloodstream, not the unborn child's. Making sure to get enough choline in the mother's diet, however, benefits brain development in the unborn child. Researchers even believe that it may reduce the damage caused by the mother's drinking during pregnancy and Down syndrome.

The needed supplement may be choline. It's not dimethylglycine. Pregnant women may benefit from choline supplements because it is difficult to get all the choline they need from food. An adequate intake of choline during pregnancy is about 600 mg a day. That's hard to get from food alone.

A 3-1/2 oz (100 g) serving of beef liver provides about 310 mg of choline.
A hard-boiled egg provides about 120 mg of choline
A 3-1/2 oz (100 g) serving of chicken provides about 80 mg of choline.
A 3-1/2 oz (100 g) serving of soft tofu provides about 70 mg of choline.
A cup (240 ml) of milk provides about about 40 mg of choline.
A cup (40 grams) of cooked brown rice provides about 20 mg of choline.

Many pregnant women may want to stay on the safe side by taking supplemental CDP-choline-especially if alcohol use and age at conception are concerns.

Dimethylglycine for Autism

If dimethylglycine isn't the supplement needed to protect brain health in the unborn, could it be the supplement needed to protect brain health in the autistic?

Twenty-eight studies have investigating the potential of supplementing with a combination of vitamin B6 and magnesium can help children and adults with autism. Many parents and givers offer dimethyglycine with B6 and magnesium.

The rationale for adding dimethylglycine to B6 and magnesium supplementation is that the body needs B6 and magnesium for brain health. Vitamin B6 is a cofactor for the enzymes the brain needs to regulate dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA). Magnesium is needed for enzymes that convert essential amino acids to non-essential amino acids in the brain and elsewhere in the body.

Since magnesium and B6 are needed for the brain to make enzymes that use trimethylglycine to remove an inflammatory substance called homocysteine, these supplements have been given to autistic persons. Sometimes there is considerable improvement in symptoms, and sometimes there is not. Lowering levels of homocysteine in the brain seems to be helpful only when the brain is using tryptophan properly, which in turn has to do with blood sugar levels and other dietary issues. Nonetheless, sometimes parents and caregivers report tremendous improvement after giving these two substances.

Dmg Hcl Benefits

Some parents have experimented with giving low doses of dimethylglycine. Three clinical research trials have looked at the potential of using dimethylglycine as a treatment for autism.

The brain converts homocysteine into dimethylglycine and methionine, so it was theorized that building up levels of dimethylglycine, rather than lowering levels of homocysteine, was responsible for improvements in autism. None of the three trials of dimethyglycine showed that it helped.

The benefits of magnesium and vitamin B6 for treating autism don't have to do with increasing dimethylglycine levels. They have to do with decreasing homocysteine levels. However, giving trimethlyglycine, which is also known as betaine, may increase results from magnesium and vitamin B6. Typical doses are:

30 mg of B6 for every kilo of body weight, or 15 mg of B6 for every pound. (The dosages have been rounded off for easier computation.) A child who weighs 30 kilos would receive 900 mg of B6 a day.
Up to 50 mg folic acid every day. This is a precaution; sometimes B6 without folic acid seems to be associated with hyperactivity.
Up to 200 mg of magnesium every day. Start with the smallest possible dosage and slowly build up to 200 mg a day when you are sure it does not cause diarrhea. Typically one would start with 50 mg a day for a week, then 100 mg a day for a week, and finally 200 mg a day.
Up to 500 mg of betaine a day, starting with 100 mg and increasing the dosage by 100 mg a day once a week.

Anecdotally, about 90% of parents of autistic children who give both magnesium and B6 report positive changes. About 50% of parents report results from adding betaine to the supplement program. There are parents who find that dimethylglycine helps, but it is not as important as these three supplements.

Dimethylglycine for Seizure Disorders

The advice to give dimethylglycine for epilepsy derives from the experience of a single person. A case study reported the progress of a 22-year-old man with profound developmental issues who had 16 to 18 seizures a week despite heavy medication. When his mother began giving him 90 mg of dimethylglyine twice a day after it was suggested it might give him more stamina, his seizures dropped to just three a week. Stopping dimethylglycine caused the seizures to resume.

A follow-up study, however, did not find any benefit of giving 300 to 600 mg dimethyglycine a day in treating seizures. The study was discontinued after just 28 days of treatment, which might not have been long enough, and it is possible that the benefits of dimethylglycine are limited to lower doses. Other studies have found that dimethylglycine limits brain damage caused by seizures after severe allergies to penicillin, so it is possible that it may be helpful in some cases.

Start with a dosage of 50 to no more than 100 mg twice a day for a month, and then increase for another month to see if it helps. Do not discontinue any prescribed medications, and let your doctor know you are using supplemental dimethylglycine. Your experience may help many other people.

And what else is likely to help?

Vitamin B6 is used by the brain to make the enzymes involved with the use of the amino acid tryptophan. When seizures first occur during infancy, congenital B6 deficiency is often the cause. You should go to a doctor for diagnosis, but treatment with B6 sometimes prevents permanent brain damage. In toddlers, older children, and teens, supplementing with 50 to 200 mg of B6 every day may reduce the frequency and severity of seizures. When vitamin B6 as pyridoxine is not helpful, vitamin B6 as pyridoxal phosphate sometimes works.
Severe magnesium deficiency can cause seizures. It is not necessary or advisable to take large doses of magnesium to prevent or correct magnesium deficiency. Children taking more th