Vitamin U: What Is It, Health Benefits and Sources

Vitamin U is the chemical S-methylmethionine sulfonium chloride (MMSC). Its early use was to treat peptic ulcers, which is why it's named vitamin U. This substance is widespread in nature in flowering plants and vegetables. It has various effects when consumed.

Vitamins are organic substances that your body requires in small amounts for maintenance, growth, and its regular functions. Your body can't manufacture them (except for vitamin D), and you must get them from your food. Vitamin U is a highly active compound but may not have any essential function in the body.

Vitamin U is a name given to MMSC, a molecule with many biological activities. But it doesn't have an essential function and is not currently accepted as a true vitamin.

MMSC is derived from methionine, one of the nine essential amino acids. Methionine itself is involved in many metabolic pathways in the body.

MMSC is a methionine derivative and is present in vegetables. Important sources:

• Cabbage
• Tomatoes
• Turnips
• Celery
• Kohlrabi
• Kale
• Graviola

Several types of tea provide vitamin U. Green teas are good sources of this chemical. Oolong tea and black tea don't provide vitamin U.

Since MMSC is not accepted as a vitamin, no dosage or recommended dietary allowances are prescribed. Eating it in food in any amount is probably safe.  

Vitamin U was used as a treatment for peptic ulcer disease. It healed ulcers and reduced pain and other symptoms. These results are from the 1950s, when peptic ulcers frequently caused bleeding from the ulcer, perforation of the stomach and duodenum, and even death. At the time, the cause of peptic ulcers was not well understood, and it was believed that a heat-sensitive substance in cruciferous vegetables like cabbage protected against peptic ulcers. This unidentified substance, now known to be MMSC, was named vitamin U. 

MMSC has several actions that protect against peptic ulcers. It stimulates the formation of protective gastric mucous, serves as an antioxidant, and acts as a methyl donor in many important reactions. MMSC also supports the normal healing of the stomach.

Peptic ulcers are sores on the lining (mucosa) of the stomach or duodenum (the first part of the small intestine). Your stomach contains a strong acid that digests your food. But the stomach has a layer that protects it against this acid. If this layer breaks down, the acid damages the stomach or duodenum. Peptic ulcers cause pain, sometimes severe. Other symptoms include indigestion, heartburn, and nausea. Dangerous symptoms include vomiting blood, passing dark and sticky stools, and severe pain that doesn't get better.

Peptic ulcer disease can cause severe complications, including death. You may need surgery to treat complications. H2-receptor antagonist medicines revolutionized the treatment of these ulcers. Currently, very effective medicines called proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are available. 

MMSC is an organic compound with many functions. Although not generally accepted as a vitamin, it has valuable properties:

• Antiulcer activity
• Antidepressant
• Anti-inflammatory
• Reduces blood lipids
• Wound healing
• Cytoprotective effects
• Scavenging free radicals
• Upregulating antioxidant genes

MMSC has benefits for your skin. It helps in wound healing by promoting the growth and migration of human dermal fibroblasts. This action accelerates the repair of damaged skin.

Another important effect is protecting against ultraviolet (UV) light-induced skin damage. UV light is recognized as a carcinogen and causes skin cancer. It works through deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage, gene mutations, and damage to the skin by reactive oxygen species generation.

Skin erythema (skin reddening) is considered a marker of UV light-induced skin inflammation and damage. When exposure to such light is intense, the redness is severe and may be accompanied by swelling and pain. MMSC applied as 5% or 10% ointment reduces the degree of skin reddening. MMSC increases the viability of keratinocyte progenitor cells and fibroblasts.

Vitamin U, or MMSC, in skin products can protect the skin from sun damage. This compound has an unpleasant odor that intensifies over time, limiting its use. Variants of MMSC with reduced odors are being synthesized.

MMSC also regulates collagen type 1 and other compounds. Collagen is an essential component of connective tissue and provides resilience and strength to the skin. MMSC can protect you against aging by enhancing collagen production.

MMSC is found in several plants that people consume both as part of food and as traditional medicine. MMSC doesn't exist alone in plants. Several other biologically active compounds, like rutin and kaempferol-rutinoside, coexist with MMSC. All these molecules have potent antioxidant and cytoprotective actions. They protect your cells from damage and reduce degenerative diseases.

MMSC has shown effective activity against liver cancer in mammalian studies. Liver cancer is often resistant to chemotherapy and can't be removed by surgery. MMSC has potential as a natural molecule that could help in the treatment of such cancer. But so far, no human studies have proven its effectiveness.

Vitamin U also has beneficial effects on lipid metabolism. A daily dose of 1,500 milligrams reduces total blood cholesterol levels. There are also beneficial changes in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels.