Posted on 10/12/2025 9:24:42 PM PDT by ConservativeMind
A diet rich in the amino acid cysteine may have rejuvenating effects in the small intestine, according to a study. This amino acid, the researchers discovered, can turn on an immune signaling pathway that helps stem cells to regrow new intestinal tissue.
This enhanced regeneration may help to heal injuries from radiation, which often occur in patients undergoing radiation therapy for cancer.
In their new study, the researchers began by feeding mice a diet high in one of 20 different amino acids. Among these amino acids, cysteine had the most dramatic effects on stem cells and progenitor cells (immature cells that differentiate into adult intestinal cells).
The researchers found that the stimulation of CD8 T cells occurred primarily in the small intestine, not in any other part of the digestive tract, which they believe is because most of the protein that we consume is absorbed by the small intestine.
The researchers showed that regeneration stimulated by a cysteine-rich diet could help to repair radiation damage to the intestinal lining. Also, in work that has not been published yet, they showed that a high-cysteine diet had a regenerative effect following treatment with a chemotherapy drug called 5-fluorouracil. This drug, which is used to treat colon and pancreatic cancers, can also damage the intestinal lining.
Cysteine is found in many high-protein foods, including meat, dairy products, legumes, and nuts. The body can also synthesize its own cysteine, by converting the amino acid methionine to cysteine—a process that takes place in the liver. However, cysteine produced in the liver is distributed throughout the entire body and doesn't lead to a buildup in the small intestine the way that consuming cysteine in the diet does.
"With our high-cysteine diet, the gut is the first place that sees a high amount of cysteine," Chi says.
(Excerpt) Read more at medicalxpress.com ...
You can get cysteine from foods, but to concentrate it, most people take N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC).
I take NAC each day with glycine (together, called “GlyNAC”), to help my body produce glutathione within the cells, where they already expect to make it. The body starts to break down and either not produce enough cysteine or not get it to the cells where it once went.
The amount of glycine is 600 mg and NAC is 600 mg, each time.
I’ve posted on this, in the past.
I hoping that the Nori brand of dried seaweed snacks was going to help me maintain gut health.
Once I got used to the ugly appearance and wrinkly texture, dried seaweed has become one of my favorite snacks.
I just started the glycine supplement. Especially before bedtime. It’s amazing how quickly it works. Why singing and creatine at higher volumes really works, and it works almost immediately.
The spelling isn't the same, so I expect communion wafers from the Sistine Chapel won't be a source.
thank you!
Ping to you.
OK, egg whites and oat bran work. And haddock is good.
The rest???????
Yeah.....no.......
I love beef liver and seaweed wrapped sushi!..............
Bkmk
Birds, pigs, eggs, and cheese ... with a side of beans.
Looks good to me.
I don’t like beef liver but like the nutrition in it so I have it mixed in with my ground beef. It helps disguise the taste to a large extend.
Often I will have that with fried eggs and/or cheese.
BFLR
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