Homocysteine Testing: The Overlooked Marker That Reveals Inflammation, Energy, and Heart Health

When patients come to Wellvita Health for treatment, we always start with a deeper look at what’s happening inside the body. One of the markers we include on every new patient blood lab panel is something most people have never heard of—homocysteine. It’s not just a number on your bloodwork; it’s a window into how well your body is functioning at a cellular level.

Homocysteine is an amino acid that forms when your body breaks down methionine, another amino acid found in protein-rich foods like meat, fish, and eggs. In a healthy system, homocysteine gets recycled and converted into other useful substances with the help of nutrients like folate, vitamin B12, and vitamin B6. But when that conversion process doesn’t run smoothly, homocysteine levels start to rise—and that can create a ripple effect throughout the body.

High homocysteine can quietly contribute to inflammation, poor circulation, and even changes in mood and energy. It can irritate the lining of blood vessels, making them more prone to damage, and it has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia, and hormonal imbalance. From a functional medicine standpoint, elevated homocysteine is a red flag that something deeper is off—usually involving nutrient deficiencies, methylation issues, or oxidative stress.

Methylation is one of your body’s most important biochemical processes. It affects detoxification, DNA repair, neurotransmitter balance, and hormone metabolism. When methylation slows down, the body struggles to keep up with daily demands, and homocysteine is one of the first markers to reflect that slowdown. It’s like an early warning system that tells us your metabolism, detox pathways, or nutrient reserves might need support.

Sometimes a persistently high homocysteine level points to a genetic variation called an MTHFR SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism). The MTHFR gene is responsible for activating folate into its usable form. When this gene doesn’t function optimally, the body can’t recycle homocysteine efficiently, even if you’re eating a healthy diet. People with certain MTHFR variants may need specific, methylated forms of B vitamins—especially folate, B12, and B6—to help bring their homocysteine back into balance. Knowing this connection helps guide more personalized nutrition and supplementation plans.

Optimal homocysteine levels are typically between 5 and 8 µmol/L. Most labs will consider anything under 15 “normal,” but we find that people feel and function best when they’re in that tighter, optimal range. If it’s higher, we usually find some combination of low B vitamins, inflammation, stress, or an MTHFR SNP affecting methylation. In those cases, we focus on replenishing nutrients, improving gut absorption, supporting detox pathways, and balancing stress—because chronic stress can also elevate homocysteine.

While we mostly talk about high homocysteine, levels that are too low can also signal a problem, often from over-supplementation or overactive methylation. The goal is balance. We want your body processing and recycling efficiently without running too hot or too cold.

At Wellvita Health, we include homocysteine on every new patient’s lab panel because it gives us so much information in one simple test. It helps us see how well you’re methylating, how your body is handling inflammation, and whether you’re at risk for nutrient deficiencies that could be affecting your energy, mood, or cardiovascular health.

If you’ve been told your labs are “normal” but you still feel tired, foggy, or just not yourself, this is one of those markers worth looking at. Sometimes the answers are hiding in the details most people overlook.

To learn more about how functional lab testing can help you get to the root cause of fatigue and inflammation, schedule a free 15-minute discovery call with Wellvita Health.

Located in Crookston, MN and serving patients throughout Minnesota and North Dakota through telehealth.