by Lawrence Wilson, MD

SULFUR AND SULFUR-CONTAINING AMINO ACIDS

Sulfur is one of the most important minerals in the human body. It is a cleansing mineral, if one needs to sum up its activity in one word. It is also the flexibility mineral, needed for the joints, tendons, ligaments, hair and other flexible connective tissues. It is found in many foods, although the best sources are meats, eggs, onions and garlic. Some vegetables are also high in sulfur, as mentioned later in this article.

Sulfur is a fiery mineral. It is found in gunpowder, for example. It burns very fast and hot. It tends to be acid-forming, which is important. Most of the acid-forming minerals are anabolic and tend to build the tissues. The more alkaline-forming minerals such as calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, zinc and manganese are used more as regulators.

Personaltiy of sulfur. Historically, sulfury individuals are often similar to high-copper individuals. They often have a ruddy complexion and are fiery and hot-termpered. Without enough sulfur they “burn out” quickly. They usually like some red meat and love eating foods like cabbage, which is high in sulfur compounds. They are a less common personality type today.

Sulfur, copper and molybdenum form another type of trio of minerals involved in connective tissue. This is a slightly different form of sulfur, but for general purposes it is very similar.

Interestingly, sulfur is perhaps the most abundant element in the human body. It is found in most proteins in the sulfur-containing amino acids, along with phosphorus and nitrogen. These three elements form a triad of important elements needed as building blocks or structural components of all animal tissues. The sulfur gives animal tissues their strength, and their resiliency.

Sulfur and nutritional balancing. Suflur is not supplemented in pill form because it is plentiful in foods. However, nutiritonal balancing emphasizes it and we find if one wishes to be healthy then one must eat meat, eggs and cooked vegetables and then your sulfur needs will be taken care of.

Some mineral laboratories measure the sulfur level in the hair. The level is always quite high in comparison with other minerals. It is not as important for the basic interpretation of the test, however. Its importance may increase in the future as nutritional balancing becomes more refined and expanded.

Sulfur is present in many forms in the body. The most important of these is in a bound form as sulfur-containing amino acids.

SULFUR-CONTAINING AMINO ACIDS

These include the amino acids taurine, methionine, homocysteine and cysteine. They are among the most important of the amino acids, for which reason I include them here. Their main purpose is to help with the flexibility of connective tissue, and they are also absolutely essential for detoxification in the liver and elsewhere.

Sources. They are found naturally in a wide range of foods, notably garlic, onions, scallions, green onions, meats, eggs, some well-cooked beans and some seeds such as sesame. A few vegetables are rich in sulfur, such as the cabbage family (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts), and the radish family of vegetables. However, these are not quite as rich in sulfur as onions, scallions and garlic, along with the meats and eggs. The sulfur is usually more abundant and in a more usable form in animal tissues.

Isolated supplements. Sulfur-containing amino acids are also sold as isolated supplements such as L-taurine, N-acetyl-cysteine, methionine, cysteine and others. Some herbs also contain them such as bugleweed, yellow dock and some others. They tend to have a yellowish color, as this is the color of sulfur. These amino acids may also be a part of most chelation drugs (EDTA and others) and other chelating substances such as chlorella and cilantro.

All are very mild and fairly safe chelators. Sulfur-containing amino acids, specifically, are mild chelators. This means they can bind with metals in the body such as copper, lead and a few others.

I consider the pure amino acids much safer than other chelators, and they are used, at times, in nutritional balancing programs for short periods of time, usually to reduce copper.

They are not used for long periods of time because they can remove some vital minerals, as can all chelators, most of which are sulfur compounds. These include cilantro, chlorella, bugleweed, yellow dock, EDTA, DMPS, DMSA, penicllamine and all others. We never use most chelators for this reason, as they are not needed and are almost always harmful to the delicate balancing of body chemistry.

Used for a four lows pattern. L-Taurine is the only sulfur-containing amino acid used regularly in nutritional balancing programs, and this is only when a four lows pattern is present. I am not sure why, but L-taurine works excellently in this situation. To learn more, read the article entitled, Taurine on this website.

A serious problem with vegetarian and especially vegan diets. I definitely recommend meat and eggs to assist detoxification in the liver. We find that most vegetarians, while not ingesting some toxic metals found in meats and fish, also cannot remove toxic metals as well because they are low in the sulfur-containing amino acids. The sulfur also is required for other functions such as tendon and ligament health.

SULFUR AND LIVER DETOXIFICATION

Restoring and maintaining liver detoxification is one of the most important aspects of healing. Sulfur, mainly in the form of sulfur-containing amino acids - mainly taurine, methionine and cysteine - are absolutely needed for the detoxification pathways in the liver. This is one of the major roles of sulfur in the body. Many of the detoxification compounds such as glutathione require them.

Problems with liver detoxification pathways such as the P-450 and other pathways are common not only in vegetarians and especially vegans, but also other people who do not eat correctly. Eating a lot of fruit, for example, seems to interfere with sulfur metabolism for some reason. Perhaps it is simply because these foods are lower in sulfur compounds, while cooked vegetables, especially the cruciferous vegetables (cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts, mainly) and the radish family (including turnips, some greens and all types of radishes and daikon) are particularly rich in sulfur and must be eaten in quantity today to assist liver detoxification. Perhaps it is just that eating a lot of fruit usually means a person does not consume nearly enough of the high-sulfur vegetables and meats.

Other methods of therapy may interfere with sulfur metabolism as well, including perhaps some bio-identical hormone therapies and perhaps some medical drug regimens such as some of the antibiotics, which all seem to build up in the liver for some reason. For more on liver dysfunctions, detoxification and nutritional balancing, read Liver Dysfunctions and Steps To Enhance Liver Detoxification on this site.

DISULFIDE BONDS IN CONNECTIVE TISSUE

Another very important type of sulfur compounds in the body are called disulfide bonds. These are the basis for connective tissue flexibility, and are found throughout the body. When they are damaged by too much copper, not enough sulfur and zinc, too much molybdenum in a few cases, and other problems such as excessive tissue catabolism, then a person may develop connective tissue problems.

These include tendonitis, arthritis, bursitis, muscle and joint stiffness, contractures, spondylitis, adhesions, scars, fibrosis and sclerosis. These are all simply connective tissue disorders and some, though not all, are related to sulfur. For more on this general topic, read Arthritis Or Joint Pain on this site.

MSM used for joint problems. MSM or methylsulfonylmethane, is a semisynethic food supplement that many people take for their connective tissue problems such as arthritis, bursitis, joint stiffness and others. It may help, in part, because it contains a bioavailable form of sulfur.

However, please do not take MSM, and certainly do not take it for any length of time. The reason, sadly, is that it is extremely yin in Chiese medical terminology. As a result, in most cases it will eventually upset the body very severely. It also only works symptomatically as a remedy, and we don’t recommend many remedies, as we find them unnecessary in most cases. Instead of MSM, balancing the body chemistry and removing the toxic metals, toxic chemicals and irritants such as iron, manganese and aluminum among others usually takes care of all arthritic and connective tissue problems without the need for MSM and other remedies.

HAIR, SKIN AND NAILS ARE HIGH IN SULFUR

These tissues are example of special types of connective tissues that are also very rich in collagen, and keratin, both high in sulfur. If you are having trouble with these tissues in your body, consider eating more meat, eggs and cooked vegetables in the cabbage and radish family, in particular. For more on this topic, read Hair Loss and Skin Diseases on this website.

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