Betaine's chief purpose in the body is the lowering of homocysteine levels. Homocysteine is a potentially toxic substance that results from meat digestion. By lowering or controlling homocystine levels, betaine reduces ones risk of this.
In humans, betaine is essential to the maintenance of intestinal function and cell production, and it serves to protect DNA and DNA formation. Betaine has also been shown to increase low plasma methionine and S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) levels under certain conditions
