Dietary Sulfur

[Guest guest]

I would like to start a discussion about dietary sulfur.

As far as I know, there are no established daily requirements for

sulfur, and no multivitamin pills provide dietary sulfur.

In the human body, sulfur is present in hormones, e.g. insulin, as

the aminoacids cysteine and/or methionine. Glycosaminoglycans are

sulfur-containing mucopolysaccharides found in the lubricating fluid

of the joints and as components of cartilage, synovial fluid, and

vitreous humor. Hair and nails are made of keratins which are long

protein chains containing a high percentage of the sulfur-containing

amino acid cysteine.

For optimal nutrition, it seems logical that nutrients containing

sulfur should be included in the diet. Many people in the CR group

are vegetarians or vegans, and although soy protein is one of the

best plant proteins, egg protein has approximately twice as much

cysteine and three times as much methionine than is found in soy

protein.

Cysteine - egg: 2.5%, soy: 1.3% ;

Methionine - egg: 3.6%, soy: 1.3%

There are two generally used supplements that contain sulfur:

methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) and alpha-lipoic acid. Several years

ago, I started taking daily 1000mg of MSM for arthritis pain. Within

a month I noticed that my hair was growing better. I now also take

100mg of alpha-lipoic acid daily.

1) Are vegetarians and vegans getting enough sulfur in their diet?

2) If you take sulfur supplements, what is your experience with them?

[Guest guest]

I am just shooting from the hip, but aren't many common vegetables (onions,

garlic, broccoli, etc) loaded with sulfur based compounds?

JR

-----Original Message-----

From: citpeks [mailto:citpeks@...]

Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2004 11:33 PM

Subject: [ ] Dietary Sulfur

I would like to start a discussion about dietary sulfur.

As far as I know, there are no established daily requirements for

sulfur, and no multivitamin pills provide dietary sulfur.

In the human body, sulfur is present in hormones, e.g. insulin, as

the aminoacids cysteine and/or methionine. Glycosaminoglycans are

sulfur-containing mucopolysaccharides found in the lubricating fluid

of the joints and as components of cartilage, synovial fluid, and

vitreous humor. Hair and nails are made of keratins which are long

protein chains containing a high percentage of the sulfur-containing

amino acid cysteine.

For optimal nutrition, it seems logical that nutrients containing

sulfur should be included in the diet. Many people in the CR group

are vegetarians or vegans, and although soy protein is one of the

best plant proteins, egg protein has approximately twice as much

cysteine and three times as much methionine than is found in soy

protein.

Cysteine - egg: 2.5%, soy: 1.3% ;

Methionine - egg: 3.6%, soy: 1.3%

There are two generally used supplements that contain sulfur:

methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) and alpha-lipoic acid. Several years

ago, I started taking daily 1000mg of MSM for arthritis pain. Within

a month I noticed that my hair was growing better. I now also take

100mg of alpha-lipoic acid daily.

1) Are vegetarians and vegans getting enough sulfur in their diet?

2) If you take sulfur supplements, what is your experience with them?

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