The Science Behind the Sulfur Protocol
Most people need to be thinking about their sulfur metabolism. Here is a short list of problems that could be related:
obesity
diabetes
fatigue
any psychiatric or neurological problem, difficulty sleeping, muscle tension, or excessive startling
any issues with allergies or histamine
nausea and vomiting, including but not limited to pregnancy
“hangriness” that is not verifiably due to low blood sugar and resolved by stabilizing blood sugar
diarrhea, excessive gastrointestinal transit time
heart palpitations, twitches and spasms, chronic pain, tremors
high estrogen, low testosterone, any problems that appear as high estrogen or low testosterone but are not accompanied by the expected changes in those hormones
petechiae, purpura, cancer, anything resembling hypoxia such as blue hands and feet upon standing
any sulfur-related odors such as rotten eggs or matches
any form of intolerance to any dietary or supplemental component that contains sulfur anywhere in its structure, like thiamin or lipoic acid
or any intolerance to any of the following: fasting, fasting-mimicking diets, ketogenic diets, any kind of catabolic state, B6, calcium, riboflavin, or CoQ10.
This article explains the science behind the Sulfur Protocol. The Sulfur Protocol is what to use if you want practical tips to solve the problems listed above. You can get the Sulfur Protocol here:
If you want the science, keep reading.
The Three Problematic Sulfur Compounds
The three sulfur compounds we care most about are hydrogen sulfide (H2S), sulfite, and S-sulfocysteine.
H2S is an essential “gasotransmitter” that contributes to vasodilation, which can lower blood pressure and cause erections but also cause headaches. It is central to the hypoxia response, which prevents anemia and raises sex hormone production, but also drives cancer into a more aggressive phenotype and causes abnormal blood vessel growths. It promotes fat storage, which for a given caloric balance prevents diabetes but can make it hard to lose weight. At high concentrations, H2S becomes unambiguously harmful: it displaces oxygen on hemoglobin, and it displaces oxygen in complex IV of the respiratory chain. This constitutes poisoning, and, at its extreme, it can be lethal.
Sulfite is formed from H2S on the way to producing either sulfate or S-sulfocysteine. Sulfite appears to have no necessary role except by way of being an intermediate. It depletes B vitamins. It acts as a triple mitochondrial toxin by inhibiting two enzymes in mitochondrial energy metabolism and making mitochondria lose control over what substances take in. It depletes NADPH, which causes oxidative stress, messes with neurotransmitters, destroys sex hormone synthesis and is generally catabolic.
S-sulfocysteine is likely a normal excitatory neurotransmitter, acting as a sidekick to glutamate the way glycine and another sulfur compound, taurine, act as a sidekick to the main inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. However, this also means it can contribute to anxiety, chronic pain, sensory overstimulation, muscle tension, sleep disruption, heart palpitations, and neurodegeneration.
Exploring the evidence for the different effects of these compounds requires an understanding of the different enzymes involved in their metabolism. We therefore consider the biochemical pathways first, and address the effects of dysregulation in “Exploring the Effects of Sulfur Metabolism Dysregulation” toward the end.
In This Article
How These Sulfur Compounds Are Produced