[Read time: about 2 minutes]
A man dies in his 50s from lung cancer after years of abusing and neglecting his body, drinking, smoking, and certainly not exercising.
Another man has the exact same poor habits but is still rolling on the floor with his grandkids for 30 years beyond that.
What happened here?
The answer lies in their genetics.
This was a real situation experienced by Dr. Dunn, the creator of https://myhappygenes.com and our podcast guest last week and this week... with her biological father dying in his 50s and her stepdad in his 80s.
As baffling as this is, this kind of situation is not as crazy as it sounds.
Genetic variation enters the scene
Based on the number of genes and chromosomes in our cells, there’s a whopping 70,368,744,177,664 (that’s over 70 trillion!) different combinations that can exist genetically.
That probability surpasses the total number of people who have ever lived! No wonder two different people can respond so differently to the exact same situation, like Dr. Dunn’s father and stepfather.
Last week we talked about your DNA Methylation and how the body can silence specific genes through methylation. Do you know what else requires methylation?
Requirements for certain vitamins
Specifically methylated B12 and B9, known as Methylcobalamin and L-5-Methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) respectively.
These two molecules are usually found in nature as cobalamin or folate, but the active forms of the vitamins are what the body needs to assimilate them for their special purposes.
Think of it this way...
Your body has a 5-star chef that converts raw materials to delicious delicacies called Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. That’s a mouthful so we’ll call it MTHFR for short.
This enzyme plays a significant role along with Methylcobalamin in folate and homocysteine metabolism.
Homocys-say what? Why does this matter?
Folate is known for its importance during pregnancy. But, once converted to 5-MTHF, it acts as an important methyl donor to other molecules, including DNA... as discussed last week.
Homocysteine, produced from other pathways, is converted into methionine, cysteine, and taurine which are needed for neurotransmitter and protein synthesis and antioxidant activity.
Big day, every day for MTHFR.
Back to our chef example... If our cook uses incomplete or nasty recipes, he’ll not be whipping up delicious delicacies for his customers, making them hungry and weak.
The same is true for incomplete MTHFR genes (or recipes) that can’t make optimal MTHFR enzymes for the body to use. This creates negative symptoms Homocysteine is inflammatory and is a marker for heart disease.
We all have a “pair of genes”? That means that each person has two different variations for the MTHFR gene, one from mom and one from dad.
Simultaneously, this means that we have two chances to get a healthy 5-star chef gene..
Problems lead to deficiencies
As mentioned above, 70+ trillion different combinations can exist genetically. You can have many different variations of the MTHFR gene.
Most of these variations are harmless, but some can cause a MTHFR deficiency.
MTHFR deficiencies can include problems such as buildup of homocysteine, linked to symptoms like fatigue, malaise, and heart disease.
Severe symptoms like motor and gait abnormalities, seizures, and psychiatric symptoms can also occur but are not common.
Find your defective genes so you can fix them
So how do you know if you have defective genes? There are so many different B Vitamin supplements in the marketplace, how do you know if you need the methylated forms?
Having your DNA sequenced might be your first step in determining what type of nutrients you should be getting.
Dr. Dunn’s myhappygenes.com genetic test could help reveal some of the deeper mysteries about your genetic makeup and methylation capabilities.
She has graciously offered our readers and listeners a special promo code to get $50 off her PRIVATE testing services. <-- Click on this link and the $50 discount will be automatically applied to your final checkout page.
Do not miss this podcast on bio-hacking your biology!
This week, we continue our DNA hacking interview with the creator of MyHappyGenes.com, Dr. J Dunn.
This week she shares more about her journey from depression and low energy to happiness and health. Find out how you can bio-hack your biology through private DNA testing.
Listen to the full podcast with Dr. Dunn here. It could be absolutely life changing.
Resources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK6561/
https://ommbid.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?bookid=2709§ionid=225548307