John A. Mann, author of Secrets of Life Extension, the book that spearheaded the current life-extension movement in 1980, and founder of the life-extension research organization Forefront Health Investigations hails the importance of the new life-extension substance (TMG) TRIMETHYLGLYCINE.

TMG detoxifies the powerful pro-oxidant and free-radical generator homocysteine, which is now known to be a leading cause of heart and artery disease. But that's not all. TMG is almost the same substance as DMG (dimethylglycine), also known as vitamin B-15, except that DMG contains two methyl groups and TMG contains three. Homocysteine is the same structure as the essential amino acid methionine, except that it lacks a methyl group. In the liver, TMG transfers one of its three methyls to homocysteine, converting that dangerous substance to useful methionine. At the same time, by losing that methyl group, TMG becomes DMG, a substance that millions of people now pay a very high price for as a supplement. TMG is much less costly than the equivalent amount of DMG that it provides and performs antioxidant functions against homocysteine that DMG does not. So why spend more money for something that gives you less?

LifeLink has now reintroduced the health-products industry's first trimethylglycine formula - TMG 15 Complex - which combines 150 mg of TMG with very precise amounts of the essential metabolic cofactors required to assist the transfer of methyls that give TMG its many health-promoting and life-protecting benefits.

For many years, millions of people including many top athletes and members of the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys, have been taking DMG for its stamina-increasing effects. Mann, who tends to state exciting news more conservatively than other health and nutrition writers, says: "Athletes, triathlon competitors are reporting even better results from TMG 15 Complex than from DMG. This is not surprising, since TMG 15 Complex converts to DMG in the body which reduces lactic acid in the muscles and detoxifies homocysteine at the same time."

TMG is not a drug. It is a natural amino acid that occurs in food and is produced in the body during the metabolism of choline. A substantial amount of the choline in our bodies, though, is channeled through other important metabolic pathways. Major among these is its conversion to biological lecithin (phosphatidyl choline) and the nerve-impulse-transmitting substance acetylcholine. Experiments in which large doses of lecithin or other choline precursors that can deliver acetylcholine to the brain and nervous system were given to human and animal subjects have resulted in greatly increased brain and nerve functions, including improved memory, reflex and coordination. By taking supplemental TMG we can spare much of the body's choline reserves for conversion to acetylcholine. This could also explain the improved muscle response that athletes experienced after taking TMG 15 Complex.

There is an important footnote to this wonderful news about TMG. Many life extension practitioners have been taking massive doses of vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine) because it also neutralizes the pro-oxidant homocysteine, converting it to the important antioxidant cystathione. The August 25,1983 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine documented cases in which severe sensory nerve damage occurred in humans as a result of using very large daily dosages of B-6 for periods of 4-40 months. If one is trying to keep homocysteine levels down, it is better to take lower doses of B-6 supplements and use the TMG 15 Complex to assist in neutralizing homocysteine. LifeLink's TMG 15 Complex includes, safe but more than adequate amounts of the vitamin B-6 precursor factor required for maximum neutralization of homocysteine and the production of antioxidant cystathione.