grimmsapothecary
patreon
Methylation (MTHFR) Protocol
🕑 Added 2021-07-28 04:18:39 +0000 UTCThroughout my life, I had always experienced severe symptoms that were never quite explained by any of my doctors, such as allergies, getting sick often, poor healing capacity, mood and behavior disorders, suicidality, rumination/intrusive thoughts, mania and fatigue, etc. etc. When I met my mentor, he showed me the work of Dr. Walsh and Nutrient Power in which it explained the common issue of MTHFR and related genetic SNPs, but what he doesn't mention is that it is a genetic adaptation to malnutrition, poor light environment, and environmental toxicity, and can be resolved entirely by resolving these issues. In this book, he implies you must be dependent on these related nutrient supplements for the rest of your life and I certainly believed it until I began repleting the necessary nutrient cofactors in surplus while maintaining dietary intake, spending more time in the sun, and less time under artificial blue light, and supporting endogenous detox processes while eliminating environmental toxicity to the best of my ability. I will share how I accomplished this here in this article.
Before proceeding, you must implement the Sun Protocols and full nutritional repletion with diet for ATP/redox status and work on your glutathione/detox capacity function with nutritional repletion, targeted supplementation, and herbal medicines like the black seed oil otherwise the wastes created from methylation can drive your symptoms even harder. It is not comfortable, especially if you have a diagnosis like autism, in which methylation is a very common issue.
If you are not aware of your biochemistry and biology, having your homocysteine and SAM/SAH ratio levels tested in addition to gene analysis can be used to determine where you should begin.
You will want to focus your diet on these related nutrients to slightly above the recommended RDA before supplementing to see if you require supplements whatsoever. It may be able to be managed without them, but like I often say, I was EXTREMELY malnourished and cerebral deficiencies are often only resolved with high dose supplementation or injections (latter in regards to B12).
Before experimenting, you will want to get a genetic analysis done. I personally used 23and Me, downloaded the raw data available, and uploaded it to MTHFRSupport, which is an excellent comprehensive third-party service that I STILL look back on to this day. The investment has been invaluable in resolving many of my health issues in addition to understanding many issues that "run in my family". Everything suddenly made sense when I deciphered the gene analysis. Aside from MTHFR, which means an increased need for folate depending on the specific SNP version (specifically methyl folate), the following genetic SNPs are also important to note...
Common genetic anomalies in relation to B12 absorption and utilization (other than MTHFR)...
FUT2 - poor B12 absorption and stomach issues.
TCNs - poor B12 transport.
MTHFD1 - the need for choline and folate.
AHCY - SAMe/SAH ratios need to be monitored.
BHMT - betaine/trimethylglycine.
CBS - molybdenum and B6 levels should be monitored.
DHFR - poor converters of folic acid into folate.
FOLR - folic acid can burn out folate receptors and you are already compromised. Also, type A1 casein from cow dairy can affect this.
GAD - Everyone has GAD and we are all genetically predispositioned to having trouble converting glutamate into GABA when expressing. So why consume MSG in any degree?
MAOA - serotonin.
MTR - methionine.
MTRR - trouble recycling B12.
ACE and ADD1 - can mess with potassium/sodium/magnesium.
COMT - can cause trouble breaking down dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. But since VDR (vitamin D receptor) is there, it may not be an issue.
DAO - histamine sensitivity, some people take DAO enzyme or eat kidneys.
The attached image is the most comprehensive chart for the methylation cycle that I've ever come across and it even mentions the nutrient cofactors necessary for it to function properly. These consist of folate (methyl folate and folinic acid, folic acid in supplement form and fortified foods MUST be avoided due to the methyl trap it creates), cobalamin/B12 (methylcobalamin AND adenosylcobalamin, hydroxocobalamin converts into both forms and cyanocobalamin MUST be avoided for the same reason as folic acid in addition to being cyanide-bound cobalamin), pyroxidine/P5P (vitamin B6), riboflavin/R5P (vitamin B2), choline, trimethylglycine, glycine, niacin (vitamin B3), and carnitine (carnitine fumarate/tartrate/acetl-l-carnitine). Side note: lithium (meats, dairy, vegetables, fruits, lithium orotate/chloride supplement) is also important for the recycling and proper utilization of cobalamin (vitamin B12), which is also commonly deficient in people with these genetic adaptations.
Methylcobalamin, Adenosylcobalamin, Trimethylglycine/Betaine, Choline, Inositol, and Carnitine all function as ways to increase methyl groups or methylation in general. Folate, Glycine, and Niacin reduce/modulate methyl groups/methylation. However, Methylfolate must be paired with these or one can run into folate insufficiency or paradoxical deficiency as it’s also necessary in the methylation cycle. When methylation is increased, neurotransmitter and methyl wastes are created which can be cleared with Haritaki and Triphala. High waste production symptoms consists of irritability, mania, paranoid, delusion, and related hyped up symptoms or even depression and fatigue.
Methylation Cycle Mastery consists of the following...
- how to know when Methylation has crashed and how to fix it
- when to increase Methyl donors
- when to decrease Methyl donors
- how this relates to Acetylation
- how that relates to MTHFR
- what testing is available
Now two EXTREMELY important notes that Walsh never mentioned was the importance of Riboflavin or vitamin B2 in the conversion of tryptophan to niacin (vitamin B3), pyroxidine to P5P (vitamin B6), folinic acid (present in plant foods, animal and fermented foods contain methyl folate) to methyl folate, and cobalamin to methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin. You require sufficient daily intake of iodine (seafood, dairy, iodized salt, supplement), selenium (meats, eggs, dairy, some vegetables, seafood, supplement), and molybdenum (beans, supplement) for the activation and function of riboflavin (vitamin B2). The second note that I learned from Dr. Jack Kruse was the light cycle in relation to folate and cobalamin (vitamin B12), in which folate is produced at night without artificial blue light exposure after sunset, and cobalamin is produced during the day under direct sunlight exposure, which is also important in the function of the gut microbiome, in which all of these B vitamins are also created. This is why sunlight exposure is SO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT. There is NO replacement for SUNLIGHT EXPOSURE.
Iodine RDA: 150-300 ug/day (AVOID: Goitrogens: Soy, cassava, cabbage, Chard, broccoli, cauliflower, cruciferous veggies and Deficiency of iron or vitamin A)
Selenium RDA: 55 -200 ug/day
Molybdenum RDA: 100 -300 ug/day
By resolving the iodine, selenium, molybdenum, and riboflavin deficiencies after repleting the related nutrients that go into methylation with diet and supplementation, I can now rely on diet and sunlight alone with occasional methy/adenosylcobalamin topical application and low dose methylfolate supplementation. While I was resolving these deficiencies, I had to take up to 5-10mg of Methyl and Adenosylcobalamin and 40-60mg of Methylfolate, though I highly suggest starting LOW and SLOW if you are introducing ANY of these supplements after establishing a proper diet, sunlight exposure, and redox/detox status as mentioned in the beginning of this article. 100mcg-1mg of Adenosylcobalamin, 100mcg-1mg Methylcobalamin, and 100mcg-800mcg Methylfolate would be a good start, depending on your genetic SNPs and sensitivity to these supplements. I was severely deficient in EVERYTHING.
This is the absolute best and most effective sublingual methylcobalamin supplement I came across: https://www.amazon.com/Enzymatic-Therapy-Infusion-Chewable-Delicious/dp/B001F0R6EC (can be split up with X-acto knife or any sharp knife)
Methylcobalamin absorption when consumed orally is less than 10%, sublingual or buccal (between the gums) is around 20-40%, topical is 70-80%, and injection of course is 99-100% bioavailability.
This is the best and most effective sublingual adenosylcobalamin supplement I came across: https://anabolnaturals.com/index.php?seo_path=formula-supplements%2Fdibencoplex-10-000%2Fdibencoplex-10-000-120-caps (can be split up with X-acto knife or any sharp knife)
This is the liquid topical Methyl/Adenosylcobalamin solution I use now: https://www.amazon.com/VeganSafe-B-12-Methylcobalamin-Adenosylcobalamin-Supplement/dp/B00RXEW7R0 (topical absorption is around 70-80%)
I use about 3 drops on my left wrist, then I rub it between both wrists until dry. With my specific SNPs, I need most B12 support, and thus the goat kefir is also crucial to my health, considering it contains the bacteria and enzymes to absorb B12 properly.
Any Solgar methylfolate was effective, buy whatever dosage you require depending on deficiency status and SNPs. I keep the 800mcg Solgar tablets on hand.
More on symptoms related to specific deficiencies and how to resolve them:https://www.quora.com/Has-someone-used-a-MeCbl-treatment-for-patients-or-has-been-treated-with-MeCbl-What-for-and-what-were-the-outcomes/answer/Fred-Davis-7?__filter__=all&__nsrc__=1&__snid3__=1808215186
Common symptoms of undermethylation:http://www.mensahmedical.com/common-symptoms-of-undermethylation/
Common symptoms of overmethylation:http://www.mensahmedical.com/common-symptoms-of-overmethylation/
More on the methyl trap: The methyl folate trap. A physiological response in man to prevent methyl group deficiency in kwashiorkor (methionine deficiency) and an explanation for folic-acid induced exacerbation of subacute combined degeneration in pernicious anaemia https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6115113/ (full link to study: https://sci-hub.se/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6115113/)
Like always, if you have any questions whatsoever, please let me know and I will do my best to answer them! I do analyze entire gene sequences in my coaching sessions if you require direct one-on-one help.
