CHEM 181 Chapter : woc 5- spinach and the b vitamins.docx

• School: McGill University
• Department: Chemistry
• Course: CHEM 181
• Professor: David Harpp

Document Summary

Spinach is an outstanding source of folic acid, a b vitamin which is increasingly being linked with a plethora of health benefits. In 1969, dr. kilmer mccully was investigating the case of an 8 year old boy who died from a stroke, because he was suffering from homocystinuria; a condition where homocysteine builds up in the blood. Homocysteine is a metabolite of methionine, and usually homocysteine is rapidly metabolized. Looking at the child"s arteries, they were as clogged as an old man"s! Mccully wondered if his death was really due to homocysteine : dr. mccully"s conclusion (from studying more children with this condition) was that children with high homocysteine showed artery damage typical of that seen in older men. He injected homocysteine into rabbits and showed artery damage. However knowing a risk factor is only good if you can then do something about it. It turns out that you can: homocysteine forms through the action of certain enzymes on methionine.