Lyle Macdonald writes about increased blood to fat cells helping in fat loss.



This guy here http://www.sns-web.org/pages/advances/01/article.asp is doing work investigating the idea that rather than being just a symptom of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome in general, high blood pressure might also be a cause of insulin resistance, making it harder to get nutrients and insulin to muscle and other cells.



Dr William Davis writes about wheat belly, suggesting that cutting wheat out of the diet will help to reduce central obesity--or visceral fat.



Removing visceral fat from rats and then feeding them a diet that would normally induce type 2 diabetes fails to do so. They've done the same to a lesser degree with humans. I don't think they can remove the whole organ from a human being; it probably has legitimate functions in the body.



This study http://hyper.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/27/1/125 looks at a possible connection between loss of visceral fat and lowered blood pressure. If you read a lot of low carb books and spend some time on some blogs and forums, you'll see that a decreased waist circumference is claimed very often, as well as decreased blood pressure.



My sister sent me an article at work today. Hydrogen Sulfide, a chemical produced by some gut bacteria and present in farts, lowers blood pressure. An enzyme the article called "CSE" was needed for production of the hydrogen sulfide.



Devil of a time finding out what the heck CSE was. Seems like every researcher has their own name for it. I'm pretty sure Cystathionine gamma-lyase is our baby though. (mostly because I found an article clearly stating that this is so.)



Homocysteine is associated with heart disease. Various b vitamins, b12, folic acid, b6, choline, tend to normalize homocysteine levels. Most of the b vitamins are used by the body in various cycles to transform homocysteine into methionine. B6 is instrumental in a pathway that produces cysteine instead of methionine. It seems Cystathionine gamma-lyase is one of the enzymes necessary for the production of cysteine in this manner.



CSE can also be used in a reverse process that takes cysteine apart.



Check this out; http://www.ionchannels.org/showabstract.php?pmid=15497768&redirect=yes&terms=cystathionine+gamma+lyase+cysteine+hydrogen+sulfide





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" The H2S produced from cysteine functions as a neuromodulator and smooth muscle relaxant. In glutamatergic neurons, the production of H2S by cystathionine beta-synthase enhances N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated currents. In smooth muscle cells, H2S produced by cystathionine gamma-lyase enhances the outward flux of potassium by opening potassium channels, leading to hyperpolarization of membrane potential and smooth muscle relaxation"

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So a lack of an enzyme that helps produce cysteine from homocysteine, can also cleave cysteine and produce hydrogen sulfide, which could
dilate blood vessels, relieving high blood pressure and maybe improving insulin sensitivity,
relax other smooth muscle cells, like the ones in your lungs for instance. I read a study a while back where researchers were surprised at the high cysteine levels they found in asthma sufferers. They thought they'd be lower. Glycine levels were found to be lowest in the worst cases of asthma in that study. Dimethylglycine and Trimethylglycine (that second one's betaine) both lower homocysteine. Giving rats too much methionine raises homocysteine levels. Glycine reverses this affect of methionine.