Realfoodology - The MTHFR Gene, Fertility + Supplementation | Ben Lynch

Episode Date: July 23, 2024

EP. 205: In today’s episode, I sit down with Dr. Ben Lynch to explore the fascinating world of the MTHFR gene mutation and its impact on fertility. Dr. Lynch, a true pioneer in this field, sheds light on what having the MTHFR gene means, how it affects health, and importantly, what it means for those planning to start a family. We cover everything from understanding genetic testing to practical advice on supplements and lifestyle adjustments. Join us as we uncover the science behind methylfolate, detoxifying your household, and why you should be wary of synthetic vitamins in your diet. Whether you're just curious or facing these challenges firsthand, this episode is packed with insights to empower you in managing your genetic health. Topics Discussed 07:37 - Courtney’s gene testing  08:32 - Explaining the MTHFR gene  14:12 - Percentage of women with the MTHFR gene  16:20 - Numbers and genetic variation  21:20 - Health impacts of MTHFR genetic variation  29:44 - Supplements and treatment  33:01 - Supporting your MTHFR Enzyme  37:25 - Stomach Acid and stress 38:46 - Folic acid in our food 42:50 - Synthetic vitamins in our food system  48:50 - When to take methylfolate  54:38 - Inheriting MTHFR 59:19 - Fertility and MTHFR  01:03:45 - Prenatals for men  01:05:48 - Detoxifying your household  01:08:41 - Microplastics study  01:09:54 - Water filtration 01:13:51 - You are in charge of your genes  01:22:01 - Benefits of Methyl-B12 and Folate Check Out Dr. Ben Lynch  Instagram Website Dirty Genes Book  Show Links: 183: How To Be Healthy Before, During, & After Pregnancy | Lily Nichols What Are Dirty Genes | Ben Lynch Plastic Junk? Researchers Find Tiny Particles In Men's Testicles Sponsored By: Organifi Go to www.organifi.com/realfoodology and use code REALFOODOLOGY for 20% Off  Cured Nutrition Go to www.curednutrition.com/realfoodology and use code REALFOODOLOGY gets you 20% off Beekeeper's Naturals Go to beekeepersnaturals.com/REALFOODOLOGY or enter code REALFOODOLOGY to get 20% off your order.  Needed Use code REALFOODOLOGY at thisisneeded.com for 20% off Our Place Use code REALFOODOLOGY for 10% off at fromourplace.com Check Out Courtney:  LEAVE US A VOICE MESSAGE Check Out My new FREE Grocery Guide! @realfoodology www.realfoodology.com My Immune Supplement by 2x4 Air Dr Air Purifier AquaTru Water Filter EWG Tap Water Database  Produced By: Drake Peterson Edited By: Mike Frey

on today's episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. So MTHFR is a particular gene in your human body, and we have about 18,000 different genes in our body. Mother Nature does not make folic acid. Mother Nature makes folate and different types of folate, and one is called methylfolate. And the job of the MTHFR gene is to produce the MTHFR enzyme to make methylfolate. And so when people say,

I have the MTHFR genetic variation, I should not take folic acid. The statement should be, I am a human. I should not take folic acid. Hello, friends. Welcome back to another episode of The Real Foodology Podcast. I'm your host, Courtney Swan. Today's episode is with Dr. Ben Lynch. He was on the podcast a couple years ago, and I'm so happy to have him back on specifically to talk about the MTHFR gene mutation and what that looks like if you have it and fertility. As you guys know, I am hoping to be pregnant within the next couple of years. And so I am really focusing on getting all my ducks in a row and making sure that my health is in order so that when the time is here, when the time comes, my body will be ready and I will be in great health to get pregnant. So if you guys do not know what MTHFR is, this is something that

Dr. Ben Lynch has been talking about since 2011. He talks about that on the podcast. It is a genetic mutation that actually I myself have, and so does he. So we dive more into it in the podcast. If you don't know what it is, don't worry. By the end of this episode, you will know. And the reason I reached out to Dr. Ben Lynch is he is the OG, I guess you could say, who's really been putting this on the map and talking about it for a long time. He is very well educated in the subject. And I had a bunch of questions for him regarding fertility because I have this genetic mutation. And we also talk about this on the podcast, but if you have this mutation, don't worry, it's not a big deal. There's just certain things that you have to do,

and you have to be a little bit more careful if you know that you have this mutation, don't worry. It's not a big deal. There's just certain things that you have to do and you have to be a little bit more careful if you know that you have this mutation. So I just want to get into the episode because I find this absolutely fascinating. There was so much that I didn't know and I was learning alongside you guys. So I hope you enjoy the episode. And as always, if you could take a moment to rate and review the podcast, it would mean so much to me. It not only helps the show, it also helps us grow. So thank you guys so much and tag me on Instagram if you want at real foodology. Thanks so much for listening. Love you guys. This is really exciting. Organifi now has kids stuff. They just released two kid products. One is called easy greens and it's a refreshing green apple juice where kids will never know that it's packed with veggies. And the other one is called Protect. It's a delicious wild berry punch

like the Kool-Aid that we used to have as a kid, but without any sugar. This is really exciting. And if you've listened to the podcast for a while, you know that I'm a huge fan of Organifi and most specifically because every single product that they make is glyphosate residue free. So you know that you're going to be able to give these powders to your kids and know that they will be able to consume them safely without any glyphosate in it. So let's break down each one. The Easy Greens is a nourishing and delicious blend of superfoods and veggies that provides essential nutrients, probiotics, and digestive enzymes to bring balance to kids' growing bodies without fillers, additives, or junk. It helps to fill in nutritional gaps, aids in growth and development, supports supports digestive health has a rich micronutrient profile and includes digestive enzymes this would be a

great way to sneak in greens for your little one without them actually knowing that it's healthy for them and the second one which is the wild berry punch similar to kool-aid is called protect and it is to support your child's daily immune health with food derived nutrients that work that work to strengthen their body's first line of defense. I know just through girlfriends of mine that have children that when your kids are going to school, going to daycare, they're coming home sick a lot more often just because they're getting exposed to different kids and different viruses when they're out in the world playing with kids. So this would be a great way to help to support your little one's immune health. It's's organic and it's also made with real whole food ingredients it has a delicious berry taste and it's low sugar and it's gentle enough for kids to take every single day and I really love the

ingredients in this one it's orange and acerol cherry which is a powerful source of vitamin C and antioxidants astragalus elderberry and propolis these are all really great for overall immune health if you want to try the products that I talked about today or any of the Organifi products, go to Organifi.com slash RealFoodology and use code RealFoodology for 20% off. Again, that's Organifi. It's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I dot com slash RealFoodology. I am very excited to announce that Cured Nutrition just came out with a new product. It's actually a reformulation. It is something called Aura, and they originally formulated Aura with CBD, but they decided that they wanted to reformulate it because they were listening to their mushroom-loving

customer base and hearing the request for a cannabinoid-free product. So they decided to reformulate it to benefit an even wider audience. So now this balance-boosting herbal supplement no longer contains CBD, and instead they have increased the beta-glucan content in order to provide unparalleled immune and anti-inflammatory-like support. It has key ingredients like turkey tail chaga, zinc, vitamin D3, turmeric, ginger root, Oregon grape root, and DGL licorice root. And the key benefits are it boosts immune function and optimizes digestion and nutrient absorption, also reduces bloating and fortifies the gut lining. Let me tell you guys,

I am a big, big fan of mushrooms, specifically turkey tail and chaga. There's a lot of studies showing that turkey tail has a protective property for breast cancer. Chaga is also another really great mushroom just for overall health. And I mentioned that this is reformulated with more beta-glucans. What are beta-glucans? They are the natural polysaccharides found abundantly in the cell walls of mushrooms. They act as the bioregulators and powerhouses in the engine of natural healing, driving essential functions for immune strength and overall wellbeing. Beta-glucans are known for their anti-inflammatory like properties and aid in performance recovery and vitality. Turkey tail works as an exceptional immunomodulator, fine tuning our body's immune

response to be more effective and balanced, making it an ally and maintaining robust health. And chaga is rich in beta-glucans and potent antioxidants, giving it remarkable immune and anti-inflammatory-like properties to support overall wellness. One more thing to note too, Cured Nutrition is actually phasing out all of their oils except for night oil. So if you want to stock up on the calm oil, the pure oil, and the calm paw for dogs, I would do that now because supplies are not going to be lasting for very much longer. If you would like to save some money on cured nutrition, go to curednutrition.com and use code realfoodology. That's C-U-R-E-D nutrition.com and use code realfoodology.

Dr. Lynch, I'm so excited to have you back on the podcast. I was telling you a little bit about this before we started recording, but I reached out to you because I have more recently been learning a lot about the MTHFR gene and how it relates to fertility and pregnancy. Because as my listeners know, I am hoping to be pregnant within the next year or two. And I have, I'm going to look this up right now because I can't remember. My doctor just emailed me this last night. I have the MTHFR. I'm heterozygous for both 677 and 1298. All right. You and me both. So really? Okay. We're matching. So for the listeners, I am more recently diving more into this. So I actually don't know a ton. So I'm excited to learn alongside my listeners today

about this. I originally got tested maybe like five years ago and I found out about it, but then I just kind of went about my life. I was like, okay, now I've taken methylated B and didn't really think anything of it past that. And then I recently was on a trip with a girlfriend who was telling me this horrible story of how she had had two miscarriages, I believe. One was a stillbirth because the placenta was not getting enough nutrients, and it was all linked to her MTHFR gene that nobody had tested for. And is that not true? Or there was some role.

Maybe I'm getting it wrong. It's a role. We'll say that. It's not all MTHFR. We'll say it's a player. Okay, so that really struck me and I had never thought about the role that it might be playing in fertility. So I just wanted to dive into all that today. So first of all, what I said about the mutation and the MTHFR gene, can we explain to listeners what that means? What is an MTHFR gene? gene. Yeah. Yeah. So MTFR is one gene out of 18,000. And I'm smiling because I've been talking

about this since 2011. People overcomplicate it. It's actually not complicated. And when people overcomplicate things, it becomes harder to understand and there's more fear around it. And then when you have more fear around it, you take actions that are not very well thought out and then problems happen. So problems meaning side effects. So let's back up a little bit though. So MTHFR is a particular gene in your human body and we have about 18,000 different genes in our body. So it's one out of 18,000. Now, it's a very, very important gene because it plays a role in how our body makes its primary form of folate. We all know folic acid. Folic acid does not exist naturally on this planet. Plants do not make folic acid. Animals do not make folic acid. Mother Nature does not make folic acid. Mother Nature makes folate and primary form of folate that is found in our blood. And you should have about 80% of your blood should be consisting of methylfolate. And it should be 0% of folic acid.

And that is an absolute fact. And so all these people running out and CDC and WHO and American College of Medical Geneticists and all these groups despise me because I am anti-folic acid. But what they're not hearing is I'm pro-folate. And so that's important. So the MTHFR is jobs. So genes have jobs to do. And the job of the MTHFR gene is to produce the MTHFR's job, so genes have jobs to do, and the job of the MTHFR gene is to produce

the MTHFR enzyme, which actually performs the work to make methylfolate from another type of folate that is not quite methylfolate. And so when people say, I have the MTHFR genetic variation, I should not take folic acid, the statement should be, I am a human, I should not take folic acid, because all the research was done on rats. And the rats have this incredible ability, for some reason, to process folic acid 700 times faster than our human genes. But that's dihydrofolate reductase. That's a different gene. That's not MTHFR. And dihydrofolate reductase is way up here.

MTHFR is at the bottom. And so folic acid has to go through dihydrofolate reductase to become dihydrofolate. Then it goes to another gene called MTHFD1, which becomes another type of folate. And then MTHFR finally processes the last bit of folate into methylfolate, which then your body uses actively along with methylcobalamin to support a process called methylation. And so you heard a lot of methyl

groups or methyl words in that. So methylfolate, primary form of folate. Methylcobalamin, primary form of B12, supports this major pathway in our human body called methylation. And methylation supports brain health, cardiovascular health, pregnancy health, growth, energy. It's massively important. That is why MCGFR is so, so important and why it is so talked about. Another reason why the American College, ACMG, they're called in CDC and what have you, they don't like me,

is because they're also not hearing me. When they talk about genetics, they are looking for genes that cause disease. There are genes that contribute to specific conditions that are genetic. You've got blood clotting disorders. Factor V-laden. Factor V-laden, that's a genetic condition

for Factor V deficiencies or what have you. Then you have celiac disease, genetic. You have cystic fibrosis, genetic. MTHFR, there's no disease associated with it. So they're like, ah, everybody has it. It's not a big deal. Well, hold on. If you're driving your car and the air pressure of your tires should be 35 PSI in every single tire, and one of your tires is sitting at 20, yeah, you can still drive, but you probably want to pump it up to 35, like the other ones.

So with MTHFR, you can still live, and you're still fine, and you're not going to really get any specific disease because you have the MTHFR genetic variation, but you are vulnerable to a plethora of different complications, including miscarriage, infertility, pregnancy issues, and so on. So yes, it is important to talk about.

Yeah, and I think there's so many people that have never even heard of this gene flat out. I mean, I had not heard about it until maybe five years ago, and my doctor was like, let's test you to see if you have it. And what is the percentage? I think I read it was something, what, like 60% of women have this gene mutation. Yeah, it depends on your ethnicity. And are you of Chinese ancestry?

Are you of Italian ancestry, Mexican ancestry. So the Italians, Hispanics, and the Chinese have a high, high prevalence of MgGFR genetic variations. And there are different types of MgGFR genetic variations. So when you say that there's higher percentages, well, which one? Is it a more significant one like you and I both have? Or is it just, I don't mean to oversimplify it or dismiss it, but MTHFR single variations of 677 or a single variation of 1298, it does, maybe your tire pressure is at 30, not 35, right? Now, you and I, our air pressure is probably sitting at 15, you know. So it's important to monitor that tire and take actions.

And you don't take actions by just taking a bunch of methylfolate. We can do things. But yes, it's not really, depending upon a woman. It's not gender specific. It's ancestral specific. So what's your ancestry? Are you Italian? What are you? I'm not. I'm mostly German, French, English. And then I have a little bit of Scandinavian, like Swedish and Norwegian. Yeah, so you're a mutt. A lot of us are mutts. I'm English and some Scottish and some Bavarian,

wherever the hell that came from. So we got lucky and we got an M2FR 1298 and we got an MTCFR 677. And when people are asking, well, what do these numbers mean? Well, MTCFR, remember, is a gene. And genes consist of a lot of DNA bases. And when a DNA base changes, it changes its shape. Possibly. Not always, but possibly. And if a gene

has code to have a base change, then the enzyme it produces alters in function because shape defines function. So if I'm trying to catch a baseball with an open hand, my odds of catching a baseball with an open hand are pretty high. Now, if I lose two fingers or both of my opposing fingers are gone, then my ability to catch a baseball is still there, but it's reduced. So the numbers denote if there is a base change and where is it. So at position 677, there is a base change from cytosine to thymine.

And that cytosine to thymine causes a shape change in the image of our enzyme, so it doesn't perform as well. And then at position 1298, there's a base change of adenosine to cytosine. That's where the A1298C come from. And then you can see the nomenclature of it can get all crazy. But I just say that for clarification purposes because people get confused. Heterozygous means one copy. Homozygous means two copies. And so you and I are compound heterozygous, meaning that we have a compound, a mix, a blend of a single heterozygous variation of the position 677 and position 1298, which then alters the shape of the MCGFR enzyme to the point where it's reduced in its ability

to perform by about 60, 70 percent, depending on whatever research paper you're talking about. So that means, and here's the positive side, the negative side is it's reduced in its ability to perform by 60-70%. But what's the positive side of that? I'm not sure, actually. Yeah, so we focus on the negative. The positive is that we have a 30-40% ability for it to perform.

So there's still air in the tire. So as long as you do not overwork your kind of lazy MTHFR enzyme, then you're okay. If you drink alcohol, if you stay up late, you travel hard, maybe you're a flight attendant and you're just traveling all the time and your time zone changes are happening all the time and you're exposed to chemicals, your high-stress environment, your boss sucks,

your partner sucks, you're eating processed food, you're eating only folic acid, you don't eat meat because meat is bad these days. And so, yeah, you're going to be in trouble. But if you live a life, you have a healthy partner, that it's a healthy relationship, you eat real food, you don't eat processed foods, you don't drink alcohol very much at all, then your MCHFAR enzyme is performing just fine at 30 to 40 percent. Now, when you get pregnant, the M2V enzyme has to work even harder because it has to make all this methylfolate in order to support methylation because it's not just you anymore. Now you're developing an entirely new organ called

the placenta and you're also developing an entire new human, which is beautiful, but it's not just you. And what people also don't talk about is you're supporting the evolution of your next generation as well as the grandkids. So it's pretty important. So you're supporting four different things here. So, because women are born with all their eggs intact. And so you want to make sure that your DNA is dialed in and the development of your child is dialed in because women are born with all their eggs, albeit they can change the health of their eggs, it just takes longer.

It starts with the egg, it's a great book, by the way, which you should read. And Real Food for Pregnancy is another great book. I had her on the podcast. She's amazing. Lily? Yeah, yeah, Lily's amazing. She's fantastic. She's great.

Yeah. And she has another one for Real Food for Fertility. So snag that book. So yeah, so that's when, and most recommendations are what? Take folic acid. If you have a miscarriage, what do you do? You're supposed are what? Take folic acid. If you have a miscarriage, what do you do? You're supposed to take even more folic acid.

That's not good. And so I'm going to have you ask any questions that I've done and I want to make sure I get a point across two points before I forget them. But go ahead with your questions. So, well, first I was going to ask you, so what does that mean with the genetic mutations that you and I have? You touched on a little bit, but I want to know how it really affects our health, having

that genetic mutation. And then also, from my understanding, the only thing that I've ever learned that we could do in order to support that genetic mutation is by taking a methylated B. So what are other things that we could do having that mutation to support our bodies in order to have optimal health with that mutation? Yeah, okay. So the conditions and health situations around the MTHFR genetic variation are many. And they're many because methylation is a very, very important process.

You need methylation in order to, my God, recycle a compound called homocysteine. And homocysteine isn't bad. It's just a waste product of the methylation cycle. So to put it in perspective, 80% of your body's methylation system is to do two different things only. And those two things, 80% of it is to make cell membranes through the production of phosphatidylcholine. And it also is used for your gallbladder and your bile production,

or your bile production and some other things, and your brain health and your brain development and spinal cord development and so on. And then the other part of that 80% is to make creatine. So you've probably gone to the doctor at some point and they measured your creatinine. That's not the same as creatine, but it is in the same family. And so we basically pee out creatine every single day and we need to get it back into us.

And creatine is very, very important for brain development, which nobody talks about. It's actually a creatine deficiency. There's a genetic variation in the GAMT enzyme, guanidoacetate methyl transferase. So you hear that methyl group in there. So that makes creatine. And kids who have the GAMT genetic variation, albeit rare,

have a delayed onset of speaking. And so if you have a child who has delayed speaking, giving them creatine is very helpful because it supports their brain development. And so creatine for baby development, huge. And phosphorylcholine for baby's brain development, huge. And placenta development, huge. So when you told me your friend or someone you know lost a

baby because their placenta was not healthy, and you said it was because of the MTFR enzyme, and it's a role, yes. Because if they lacked sufficient phospho-alkaline, they lacked creatine, then that placenta is a mess. But they could also have other issues. They could have had factor V-laden, factor V-FFVL, and that's a significant genetic variation. It's also fairly common. They could have had PAI-1. It's another genetic variation. It's a clotting disorder.

So there's a lot of focus on MTHFR, which there should be, but you can't have blinders to it because there's other genes in the human body. And I also struggled with that. So we just can't forget that. Is it just me or is everyone dealing with crazy allergies this year I know I personally have been dealing with more allergy symptoms than normal and I feel like everybody I know has so one way that you can combat this a little bit is to work on strengthening your immune system my favorite products to use for strengthening my immune system are from Beekeepers Naturals. I will not leave the house, meaning like anytime I travel,

without their Propolis immune throat spray. It's the perfect travel size for your backpack, purse, or carry-on. It's also TSA approved. So every time I travel, I take it with me. I have it in all my purses, all my travel bags. Propolis is known for its antimicrobial and antifungal properties. So it makes it perfect for supporting your immune system and soothing your throat daily. Plus it tastes really good. I really trust Beekeeper's Naturals and all of their products and the cleanliness of them. I actually know the founder personally. I've also had her on the podcast. If you guys want to go back and listen to that episode, it was so insightful and it was so interesting to hear all about their products and also the sourcing of it and how incredibly

amazing Propolis is for our overall health and for our immune system. All of their products, including the Propolis spray that I was talking about, are made with clean ingredients. They're also third-party tested to ensure that they're pesticide-free, which is better for us and also better for the bees. Also certified keto, certified paleo and gluten free. I also really love their travel vitamin C liposomal packets. So I bring those everywhere with me as well because when you're traveling, you're exposed to a lot of germs and I tend to get a little bit more sick when I'm traveling or run down. But I've found that when I bring the propolis spray and I take the vitamin C every day that I don't know the last time that I got sick, honestly. So I like to bring them

so that I can take them preventatively. The high dose vitamin C is supercharged for immune support and rapid delivery. It delivers antioxidants like flavonoids, polyphenols that fight free radicals and combat oxidative stress while vitamin C, zinc, iron, and B vitamins also support the immune system. Also, it has 1000 milligrams of bioavailable vitamin C, which is iron, and B vitamins also support the immune system. Also, it has 1000 milligrams of bioavailable vitamin C, which is also known to support glowing skin and muscle recovery. I love all of the products that Beekeepers Naturals make truly. I have every single product in my medicine cabinet right now. And that's what I love so much about them is that they're a health and wellness company that's reinventing the medicine cabinet and making them healthier

for us. So make sure you go to beekeepersnaturals.com slash realfoodology or enter code realfoodology at beekeepersnaturals.com to get 20% off your order. 2024 is the year of fertility for me. I'm just naming that right now. While I am not actively trying to get pregnant, this is not an announcement for that. I do know that it can take a couple years to get your body ready and fertile for pregnancy. And I do know that I very much desire to have kids. And I also know that pregnancy and postpartum are some of the most nutritionally demanding times in a woman's life. And a mom and her baby's health now and for years to come is influenced by her nutrient status. Also, a woman's fertility is also

influenced by her nutrient status. So I am really taking this year to focus on all the things that I can do in order to set up my fertility for hopefully the best outcome that I can have. Most prenatal vitamins include bare minimum nutrition based on outdated guidance and stale research. And we deserve to thrive, not just survive. This is why I really love this company, Needed. They offer radically better nutrition products, education and advocacy rooted in clinical research and practitioner validation.

I know that there's so many women's health and prenatal supplements out there, and it can be really hard to know what's truly the best option. And I get asked often what prenatal I recommend. I really like the brand Needed. It's recommended and used by more than 4,000 women's health experts from nutritionists to midwives, functional medicine doctors, and OBGYNs. I even have girlfriends in my own life that have used it pre and during pregnancy as well. And this is because Needed offers products that are formulated by experts in women's health and are backed by clinical insights from their collective of over

4,000 practitioners. Their products offer the forms of nutrients your body can actually use dosed at optimal versus bare minimum levels. They also go above and beyond with third-party tests, testing every batch to ensure the safest product. Needed offers radically better nutrition for women from conception to pregnancy to new motherhood and beyond. If you would like to try any of their products today, head over to thisisneeded.com and use code realfoodology for 20% off your first month of Needed products. Again, that is thisisneeded.com and use code realfoodology for 20% off. So I'm curious, actually my doctor put me on phosphodylcholine,

is that what it is? PC, this last year because of my mutation. And then I'm also curious, should we be supplementing creatine? Do you think that's a good supplement to take? Or is that overkill? I do. And it's, but when you, supplement is defined as to add to or enhance. I do. Supplement is defined as to add to or enhance.

And there's a lot, I think all the drug ads on TV make us think that we can magically solve our problems and fly like with the butterflies if we take this drug every single day. And it's like, well, a lot of us don't like drugs. We like supplements. Well, we think the same thing with our supplements. Supplement is defined as to add to or enhance. It's not defined as I can eat like crap my entire life and take supplements to offset that.

No. I mean, it'll help, but it's not going to fix it. You need to do all the fundamentals. You need to do everything that your grandma told you. You need to do all the fundamentals. You need to do everything that your grandma told you. You need to do all the things that you know that are boring, along with supporting with supplementation. Now, your doctor putting you on phosphatidylcholine, great recommendation.

Now, there's going to be all this confusion because Cleveland Clinic came out with this test that checks TMAO. And TMAO is this compound that increases cardiovascular risk and choline increases the production of TMAO. And so does carnitine. And so everybody's thinking, well, I can't eat eggs. I can't have anything carnitine-based. I can't have anything with phosphatidylcholine in it because of my production of T-MAL. Hold on.

So T-MAL is a compound that is produced from those things that you consume, like eggs and carnitine and phosphatidylcholine. However, is that the problem? No, the problem is the microbiome. The microbiome will take those foods or those supplements and it will convert it into T-mal. So you need to support a healthy microbiome and then your production of T-mal goes down.

And then what if you say, okay, well, my TMAO levels are still on this test. Well, I kind of call a conflict of interest because Cleveland Clinic designed the test. And if you don't have any other cardiovascular risk factors, your blood pressure is fine, your homocysteine levels are fine. I've not read any single paper talking about T-MAL being associated with all-cause mortality like homocysteine is. When I say all-cause mortality, meaning that homocysteine single-handedly, if that is the

only lab marker that you have elevated in your blood, If that is elevated, say at 15, 16, or so on or more, that is associated with basically everything associated with dying. Cancer, cardiovascular disease, blood clots, what have you. So it's significant, and MTHFR is associated with that. So back to your other question is, how do I support my MTHFR enzyme? I just heard that you just take methylfolate. Well, your doctor wisely put you on phospholcholine. Let's back up a second. So genes have jobs to do. The MTHFR enzyme's job is to make methylfolate.

It does that through an enzymatic process. In order for enzymes to perform, enzymes usually need cofactors, they need buddies in order for the enzyme to work. You can have your car sitting in a driveway with all sorts of gas in it, but it's not going to go anywhere until you put the key in and turn it. So MTHVAR enzyme can be sitting there

without any genetic variations at all, ready to work, 100% capacity to work, but it's not going to do any work unless two things happen. I'm over-summarizing here, over-simplifying. You need to have a need for melanomythofolate, otherwise the enzyme is not going to work because it doesn't need to work because why would you work if you don't need to?

So unless you're passionate about your job, like I love what we do, so we keep going. But a lot of people say, oh, if I have a million dollars in the bank, I'm going to stop. Well, you can do that. If the NGFR enzyme senses that there's a need for more methylfolate, then it will produce more methylfolate if it can. Now, if it doesn't have sufficient riboflavin,

vitamin B2, it cannot do its job because riboflavin is the cofactor. So there's all this talk of, you have MCHFR, therefore take methylfolate. Hold on. You might be eating plenty of foods with methylfolate in it. Leafy green vegetables, liver, gag me, but I do eat it at times.

But meat does contain folate, but especially red meat, especially liver. Leafy green vegetables are a great source as well. Beans do have it, but not very good. You don't absorb the folate very well from that. But as long as you're eating leafy green vegetables and some red meat, your methylfolate levels are probably okay.

And riboflavin comes from typically, I believe, grains, nuts, and seeds. And I don't really eat those much at all. And riboflavin is extremely important. And by the way, if you're taking a supplement with a lot of riboflavin, your pee will be pretty bright orange or yellow, bright yellow. Not a dehydrated kind of yellow, but you'll know. It's like highlighter.

Yeah, it's like a highlighter yellow. Yeah, exactly. So safe ways to support MGFR activity or the output of it is to supplement with riboflavin, supplement with creatine, or supplement with phospholipidol, or supplement with anything that requires methylation in order to do work.

Because remember, methylfolate and methylcobalamin, which a lot of people are sensitive to, by you taking what methylation produces for 80% of it, phosphatidylcholine and creatine, you are reducing the need for your MCGFR enzyme to do work by 80%. So if you have an MCGFR genetic variation of 6, 7, 7 and 12, 98 and your MCGFR capacity to do work is reduced by 60, 70%

and you say, okay, I'll give you the phosphoalkyline and the creatine, which is 80% of your methylation, therefore it would make sense that my MCFR enzyme doesn't have to work as hard so you really need to be supporting your fertility and your pregnancy with phosphoalkyline and with creatine and that doesn't mean you go nuts it just means that you take say 800 milligrams of phosphoalkyline

and you might take a gram or two of creatine and support that so my electrolytes we have quite a two of creatine and support that. So my electrolytes, we have quite a bit of creatine in it and then you can just get creatine as well over the counter. And some people get loose stools and diarrhea and bloating from creatine. That's just a sign that your stomach acid is pretty low. Okay, well my stomach acid is pretty low. Okay, well, my stomach acid is pretty low. I'm actually taking ACL right now to bring it up a little bit, hydrochloric acid. Yeah, that helps.

And then stress does... So, HCL production in the body requires a lot of things, but we can't be stressed out. So, the parasympathetic nervous system is huge. So 40% of our digestion comes from the anticipation of eating. So when you're cooking and you're chopping your vegetables or you're chopping your meat and you're smelling the herbs and you're seeing the food and you're hearing the sizzle and you're touching the gristles and all these things,

those are all senses that is supporting 30 to 40 percent of your digestion and if you're if you're cooking with with music that you enjoy with people that you enjoy your parasympathetic system is activated and your stomach acid is going to start being produced now if you're if you're sitting in a drive-thru yelling at some yelling at your kids in the back seat and then you order some food and you chew on that, yeah, you're not going to get much. Yeah, which sadly I think is what a lot of Americans' story is. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah, and we can go down that rabbit hole pretty fast, so I won't even touch it. Well, actually, and speaking of Americans diets, this was one question I was very excited to hear your answer to because I'm very curious about this. So I read something kind of recently that, so a lot of our food, as we know, is fortified with synthetic folic acid. Now, what does that mean for people that are consuming that and have no idea that they have this MTHFR gene?

I read that it essentially is poisoning those of us that have that gene. Is that true? Well, remember when we started, I said if a lot of people say correctly, somewhat, that if I have the MTHFR enzyme, I should not take folic acid. Yeah. But I corrected it and I said,

if I'm human, I should not take folic acid. So none of us should be consuming that. None of us should be taking folic acid. None of us. And that is because the gene associated with processing folic acid in a human is DHFR. It is not MTHFR. MTHFR does not process folic acid. So anyone who says that I have the MTHFR does not process folic acid. So anyone who says that MTHFR, I have the MTHFR enzyme and I can't process folic acid, not right. Not the same pathway. No. Well, it's the same pathway. It's,

it's a different part of the pathway. So, you know, if, if you're, if you're in a maze or, you know, say Ikea, you know, and you're, you walk in the front door and you're, you're in a maze or, you know, say Ikea, you know, and you walk in the front door and you're in Ikea, but you're in the bedding area and you want to get to somewhere else, you got to go through this whole maze, which they purposely do. And so you're in the right area, but you're just not at that point yet. So folic acid goes through DHFR, dihydrofolate reductase. And in humans, that particular gene is 700 times slower than mice.

And all the research done initially on folic acid was done on mice before it was put into human food in the 80s. So that is shocking. And so there is a research paper that talks about the extremely slow DHFR enzyme in humans as a problem. And if you try to find research that talks about the negatives of folic acid, it's a slog, but it's there. So I don't know if they censor the research. Well, they obviously do censor the research, but in terms of folic acid, how much do they censor? I don't know. I will say that I've had in the past, I found damning research papers, major meta-analyses, meaning that they've looked at,

in this particular study, I think it was 100,000 plus people or even more across maybe 10 years of research on folic acid and its ability to reduce neural tube defects. And it came out and said it didn't do much. And I was like, oh my God, this is a major meta-analysis that looked at multiple ethnic groups and multiple years and it was well done and it looked at all the different research papers and analyzed them all and the conclusion was

folic acid does not really reduce neural tube defects. And I was like, oh my God. And of course, I'm a mess and I do have some ADHD issues and I did not save the paper to my computer and now I can't find it anywhere. So I posted on my Instagram a long time ago and thinking that it was going to blow up, but I got like 150 likes.

I was like, come on, people. Well, then you could probably find it in your backlog on Instagram. Yeah, yeah. I think so many people just are confused and don't understand. And I think so many people, we have been taught to just trust

the three-letter agencies that are in charge of putting these things in our food and all of what you were just talking about with the folic acid. And we can say this about pretty much all the synthetic vitamins that are being put in our food system. Obviously, back in the day,

they were put in with good intention, but I think all of them need to be reevaluated now. And nobody's really questioning it. Absolutely, you're on point. And what I'll also add to the mix is it's not just the three-letter agencies. It's all these gurus who have possible good intentions with massive conflicts of interest

educating people on these important subjects. And it pisses me off to no end if you are a quote unquote guru providing the authority bias you and I are doing it right now with a podcast mic in front of us but you increase authority bias by standing on a stage and going on big podcasts with a podcast mic in front of you

and thinking oh my god these guys and gals are high authority I should listen to them. Hold on. You shouldn't just listen to people because they have a microphone in front of them. And we know we should be careful when we listen to the media as well. I own a supplement company. That's a conflict of interest. So you can say, well, Dr. Lynch owns a supplement company and therefore he's just trying to pitch these supplements on me. I tell people all the time, I want you to take our supplements when you need them. I don't want you to take them when you don't need them. And if you have NGFR, I have never, well, I correct myself. In the beginning, I did. And if you have the NGFR enzyme, you should take methylfolate. I did do that.

And I did a lot of online consultations in the beginning as well. And I learned a lot. When I got phone calls after I made that recommendation of Dr. Lynch, I gave my 8-year-old kid the methylfolate because he's compound heterozygous MCFR. And I just gave him half of the methyl B12, methylfolate lozenges that you recommended. And he's screaming, running around, beating up his siblings. And he actually took a baseball bat to the headlamps of my car and broke them. True story, by the way.

Wow, I was wondering. Yeah, I mean, I have story after story of excessive methylfolate. And so I quickly learned, okay, A plus B doesn't equal C at all. So I learned that just because someone has the MgFR enzyme doesn't mean that they need methylfolate. And I'm very low minority in this conversation. So in terms of all the health gurus that are out there, most of them are saying, since you have the antiviral genetic variation, you need to take methylfolate. And it pisses me off because I've worked since 2011 and I changed my stance basically six months in

after working with so many people with MCHFR that I knew that it was the wrong thing to do. Now, I could be selling a shit ton of methylfolate supplements like these gurus do, but I don't do it because it's wrong and I don't like hurting people. Did you know that most cookware and appliances are made with forever chemicals? Yes, that means your nonstick pans, your air fryers, your waffle makers, your blender could possibly have PFAS.

And yes, even our beloved crockpots and pressure cookers. I have actually been talking about this for so long. Back in 2006, my mom came to my dorm room and made me get rid of all my nonstick pans because she was concerned about me being exposed to something called Teflon. Teflon is a coating that is used on nonstick pans and a lot of these appliances that I just named. So I've avoided Teflon, nonstick, PFA coated appliances, pots and pans, you name it for a very long time. And the only option for the, for a very long time was just stainless steel pots and pans. So I was really excited when a company like our place came out because they started creating really beautiful cookware and

appliances that are like pieces of art. Every appliance that I have from our place, I legit want to store it on the counter. And I'm the type of person that does not want anything on my counter because I like it to look really just clean and minimal. But I'm so obsessed with all the Our Place products that I have so many of them displayed on my counter because they are legit pieces of art. Our Place is a mission driven and female founded brand that makes beautiful kitchen products that are healthy and sustainable. All their products are made without PFAS, which are the forever chemicals, and also made without PTFE, which is Teflon. If a company is not outwardly stating that they don't

use these chemicals, then if they are using nonstick coating on their appliances, they are absolutely using forever chemicals. And there's been increasing global scrutiny for their impact on the environment and our health. And recognizing this impact, the EU plans to prohibit PFAS by 2025. Our place has always been PFAS free and they offer durable toxin-free ceramic coatings, ensuring a healthy, safe cooking experience. And let me tell you, you guys, they are changing the game with non-toxic appliances. They have a blender. They have an air fryer. They have a crock pot. Not to mention

their amazing always pan. They have a perfect pot, which is just the perfect size for soups. And they also just came out with a cast iron that I'm loving as well. And I more recently replaced all of the bowls and plates in my kitchen because I really needed an upgrade. My other ones were so old. So I got some from our place and they are so beautiful. The ceramics are beautiful. The colors are amazing. Like I said, everything is like a piece of art. If you want to try any of the products from our place, go to fromourplace.com and enter my code realfoodology at checkout to receive 10% off sitewide. That's fromourplace.com, code realFOODOLOGY. Our place offers a 100-day trial with free shipping and returns.

Well, and I would say to your point, I would argue that even though people may say you have a conflict of interest, I would just say that you are one of the most educated people on this subject that I know. And so I trust your supplements the most because you've really researched it and you've really looked into it. And so, I mean, I trust your supplements the most because you've really researched it and you've really looked into it. And so, I mean, I buy your supplements. I actually take the one that you're talking about, the methylated B lozenge that has the,

what else does it have in there? I'm forgetting. So yeah, it's methyl B12 with methylfolate. Yes. And actually I was going to ask you, sorry to interrupt you. So what's interesting is I have been dealing, and sorry to make this about me,

but maybe this will help some people. Oh, go for it. Because I have that gene mutation, I was told to take a methylated B, and I found yours, and I bought it, and I've been using it for the last maybe six months or so. And you know what's interesting is I have been actually having this really crazy amount of fatigue

that I have never experienced before. And I'm wondering if maybe you're talking to me as if maybe I'm one that doesn't actually need to be taking it. Well, it's not that you don't need to be taking it. It's that you are taking it excessively. Interesting. Okay. Because I also eat red meat. Remember, genes make enzymes and enzymes do work. So it depends on how much work you are putting your mTGFR enzyme through. You just moved. That's pretty taxing. There's stress involved, there's airplanes involved, there's a lot of physical movement involved, a lot of thinking involved. So you're working that

mTGFR enzyme pretty hard. Now, there's going to be some days where you're relaxing and you're just chilling out and binging on Netflix. You don't need methylfolate on those days unless you're drinking alcohol. And if you're drinking alcohol on those days, then yeah, you probably need more methylfolate. But my point is you need to understand what job your genes are doing and how you need to support them.

So if you have a team of people that work with you and they need specific tools from you, your producer needs the podcast episode. He needs me having QuickTime Player open. Now, if I don't have those tools handy, then the podcast doesn't happen very well. And so now, if you're not making a podcast episode, none of that has to happen.

So you just have to think that if you are giving tools all the time incessantly to your body, it gets overwhelmed. So do you drink water all day long? No. So do you drink water all day long? No. So you can't, I mean, you'd be dead and you have other things to do. You breathe air, maybe 12 breaths a minute or so. You know, you're not, it's like air is super important.

I'm gonna breathe 30 times a minute. You know, methylfolate is super important. I'm gonna take 800 micrograms every single day. No, no, no, no, no. No, hugs are great, but you know, hug me. Okay, you're done. You know, so methylfolate is the same way. And you want to take methylfolate when you need it. And the next question is, okay, how do I know when I need it? And it's a very good question. I wish I had a very succinct answer for you. I don't know exactly the symptoms of when someone needs methylfolate

because it is so vast in what it does. And it's so vast in how you can support MGFR. So I would recommend that you stop the methyl B12 and the methylfolate for now and see how you go I will also say that phosphocholine can make you sleepy and tired and phosphocholine can also make you somewhat depressed so with supplementation you have to understand what role it's playing in your body

and what the consequences are when it's low, what the consequences are when it's high, and what the ideal situation looks like when it's ideal amount. And that's my job. That's what I do. I try to understand what is it that signifies the need of methylfolate, what does it look like when you have the perfect amounts, and then what does it look like when you have too much. And that is very difficult to do.

And a lot of it is theoretical. So a lot of my work, I don't wait for research. A lot of people will say, oh, Dr. Lynch is, you know, he quacks, he talks about all these different things, there's no double-blind placebo-controlled trials on what he's talking about. Well, I read double-blind placebo-controlled trials, and then I create hypotheses based upon multiple different types of trials and research papers, and I come up with a hypothesis, which means an

educated guess to determine a potential outcome. And then I test that outcome. And that is actually how science is supposed to evolve. Someone has to come up with a hypothesis. Otherwise, there's no proven double-blind placebo-controlled trials. So I play in that space. I'm way ahead of where research is, but I'm using research, which is, by the way, hardly read. I'll read an amazing research paper that has been downloaded maybe 10 times over five years. Wow. Great research paper.

They're not read. And so I play in the theoretical realm because not many people are and it's important that we do that someone needs to do it I was just gonna say that somebody needs to do it and I'm so grateful that we have people like you that's doing that you know that are looking into this kind of stuff yeah we kind of talked about this a little bit we didn't go into details so for let's just use me again as an example, but just to help the listener. Let's say somebody listening has this genetic mutation and they want to get pregnant.

What are specific things that we should be doing in order to make sure that our fertility is as vibrant as it can be? Great. I actually wrote down my two questions I want to ask you so I wouldn't forget. Because I seriously do have a little bit of ADHD. It's okay, I do too.

Is it our genetic mutation? It's a lot of environmental, but yeah, I do have some acetylcholine issues. I actually did take some optimal focus prior to this, so I'm pretty on point, so I'm good. I'm trying to think of how I'm going to answer your question with a question which is annoying for some people but this is a very very important question

and common sense isn't common practice so you have been tested and found to have compound heterozygous MCHFR correct? and you have a significant other partner who you're looking to get pregnant with, correct? Yep. Have they been tested for MTHFR? You know, I actually need to see

because I just connected him with my doctor and I'm not sure if he's been tested for it yet, but it's definitely on the list of things to do. Okay. Yeah. So here's where I'm going with that. You have a compound heterozygous genetic variation. And now sometimes, I'm going to lose some folks

here, but just bear with me. You have a compound heterozygous mutation, which means that you have one copy of the 677 and one copy of the 1298. You could have inherited the 677 from either your mom or your dad. You don't know because they didn't test. Actually, my mom got tested and she also has genetic mutation, but I don't know what size she has.

I don't know. And you have the other, the 1298, and you don't know who has it. Now, you could actually have been passed both from one parent. And that's where I could be losing people, because people don't hear this. You can have a 677 and 1298 passed from one parent, because it could be on one chromosome. So I've actually worked with people

who have two 677s and one 1298 or two 1298s and one 677. It's very rare because most of them die in utero. They don't make it. They don't survive. MTFAR is actually increasing in the population. And it's increasing in the population probably quite significantly. Japan did not have MTFAR really much at all. If you look at the elderly population who are in their 80s, there's hardly any antifargenic variations in that population.

You start looking at the younger generation, significant amount. And why is that? Well, it's because we now can support pregnancies with IVF, hormones, steroids, methylfolate, folinic acid, and support the baby all the way through term. And there's nothing wrong with that. But what needs to be happening is to make sure that you keep supporting that child all throughout their life. It is a milestone to conceive a child.

It's a milestone to pass the three months. It's a milestone to deliver that baby healthfully. It's a milestone to pass the three months. It's a milestone to deliver that baby healthfully. It's a milestone to have it breastfed. But you need to keep going. You can't stop. So I think autism is partly on the rise so quickly because MCGFR is increasing in the population because of increased use of methylfolate

and high levels of folic acid and so on to force pregnancies to term. Because otherwise these kids would have died in utero. Wow, I've never heard that before. That's fascinating. Yeah. Also heartbreaking. Yeah, it's heartbreaking that the parents are holding the baby and they're celebrating success

and then they're giving their kids folic acid processed food and every single vaccine times 20, they have no shot. They have no shot. They're going to get autism. So it's like 1 in 34 now for kids. So where I was going with this is you need to make sure that your partner is also healthy. So men, it's not just the woman who gets pregnant. The sperm is heavily involved and the health of your sperm is extremely important.

And if the man has MTHFR, then they are passing that MTHFR onto the baby. You don't know the MTHFR status if you're developing baby, but you can guess it and you think of the odds. So if you have MTHFR compound or a zygus, one of each, then your partner, what does he have or what does she have? Do they have the same as you? Well, then is a baby going to inherit two 677s? That's more significant than one of 677 and one 1298. Are they going to get two 1298s. They're going to get something for sure. And so while you might have just, let's say you have just a 677, Courtney,

but your partner has a 677 and a 1298. So the doctor will look at you and say, oh, it's not a big deal. You just have one 677 or you just have one 1298. And they don't look at the guy yeah and then you have a miscarriage and the baby's homocysteine could have been elevated and yours is fine nobody's talking about this so if the baby's mth of our enzyme is not functioning very well and yours is, well, you know, you have your, you are passing all the nutrients to that developing baby.

And so the status of the partner is very, very important. And so men, you need to be taking a prenatal vitamin as well, ideally for three months, because it takes three months for sperm to basically become all new again. You know, they kind of cycle through. And some miscarriages occur, most miscarriages occur because of chromosomal abnormalities. And I say that with a pause

because I got to be careful what I'm saying because I don't have the reference in front of me. I will say many miscarriages occur because of chromosomal abnormalities. And the chromosomal abnormalities, women, it's not just your fault. In fact, it's no one's fault. Men's chromosomes are also being passed.

So if the men's sperm are unhealthy, they are passing unhealthy chromosomes and when the baby is developing and it's going through all the checks and balances if there's significant chromosomal abnormalities miscarriage naturally the baby will be miscarried because nature has determined

it's not fit for survival. And so both man and women must be supported with a prenatal. And ideally both are evaluated for MgFAR if you want. And you don't have to test for MgFAR. Just assume that you all have it and stop taking folic acid and consume healthy foods and supplement with good forms of folate. If you don't tolerate methylfolate, then consider folinic acid. And you don't have to, and when you pick up a bottle of pills, the suggested use will say, you know, like our optimal prenatal is eight capsules a day. And someone was like, oh my God. Well, some women need eight a day. I mean, we deal with women, deal.

We work with women who've had many recurrent miscarriages and they get on our optimal prenatal and they have a successful baby. And so a lot of times it's a significant nutrient deficiency, but you don't have to take all eight. It's a suggested use. So when you get so optimal man for your partner, maybe he only needs two capsules instead of the four. And many people say, well, why do you have eight capsules?

Why do you have four capsules for the guys? Well, that is because it takes a lot of nutrients to provide a healthy, viable placenta yourself and a developing baby for the ladies and for the guys. Yeah, you need four as well. It's like, why can't you just make it one capsule? Well, why can't you just fit all four of your kids in the closet? You can't.

You need space. Yeah, that's so funny. Do you make a prenatal for men? So I'm assuming there's a different one for men versus women. You do. Yeah, optimal man. Okay, cool. That's good to know. I actually didn't know that you made one.

Yeah, it's a four capsule serving. It is heavily focused on healthy testosterone levels and a multivitamin mineral for men. And the research looks at a lot of male fertility issues being low antioxidants, high oxidative stress, and lower testosterone levels. And so Optimal Man tips on all of those. That's cool. I'm going to get some for my man actually. And is this something that's okay for them to take even if we're like a year

out? Oh yeah, I take it. Okay. Yeah. Amazing. Okay. For sure. I mean, Optimal Man, that's why it's not, I thought about calling it bro-natal or something like that but uh that's really funny yeah it's it's uh i got three boys so i'm living with lots of male testosterone around this house my poor wife she does great um because we have our three boys and they're all older now and you know 16 19 21, and all their 15 friends are always here. So there are a lot of guys. So yeah, my slang knowledge is pretty high these days. But no, Optimal Man is great for ages. I'm pausing because you want to get out of the acne stage

because testosterone is associated with acne and so is estrogen. So I would say post-puberty, post-acne, go for Optimal Man. That's amazing. And then obviously I talk about this all the time on the podcast, but just since I'm trying to make this all-encompassing to help anyone that's dealing with any sort of fertility issues or even if they're not, if they're just preparing and they want to be at optimal health,

there's the necessary things like getting enough sleep, reducing your stress, working on your toxic load. So getting the cleaning supplies out of your house that are toxic chemicals, cleaning up your skincare, your makeup, and for your men too. I actually heard you talk about this recently that I hadn't even thought about. The shaving cream for men has phthalates in it. And I was like, oh my God, I need to change out Hector's shaving cream. So little tweaks like that can

make a huge difference too. And there's so much focus on the women's body, right? And there's not enough on the men. What are the men eating? How do their diets look? How are their detoxification pathways? Do they have this MTHFR gene? Look into all of that. What are the products that they're using? Because again, there's so much focus on the women, but nobody's really talking about the men's health and they play half the role. Yeah, they do. Literally half the role. So it's crazy. You're baking the baby, but to make the baby is both of you and it just blows my mind that it took me as long as it did

to make the prenatal for men and I did talk about early on on the mtgfr.net website that it's not just about the women's mtgfr.net website, that it's not just about the women's MTHFR status, because all these women are saying, I miscarried and I just have one A1298. Is that significant enough? It's like, well, it's not just about MTHFR.

Were you taking folic acid? Were you stressed out? What is the status of your partner's MTHFR and et cetera? And their sperm health. I mean, the book Countdown is pretty frightening. I had her on the podcast. Oh, great. Yeah, great book, easy read.

And it just drives a point home. So the Countdown is basically, if you don't know, it's a book talking about the significant rapid decline of testosterone in men and the rate of infertility going way up. And babies born, we talked about the next generation, boys are being born infertile. You're like, well, yeah, boys are not going to have sperm going around at that age. I was like, no, but you can identify by the distance between their anus

and the start of their scrotum apparently. And if it's short, the likelihood of their being infertile later on in life is very, very high. And boys are being born with a short distance. And so, yeah, it's a big deal. It's a huge deal. And I highly recommend you guys checking out the book, going back and listening to that episode

because we talk all about what's causing that. And it's mainly the phthalates that are showing up in our food. Yep, exactly, in our water. It's really scary. Well, and then you look at that study that just came out recently where they tested every, so every human testicle and dog out recently where they tested every, so every human testicle and dog testicle that they tested,

they found microplastics in them. And that just came out recently. I mean, I immediately thought of Dr. Shanna Swan and her work and I was horrified by it. I was like, oh my God, what does this mean for the future of humanity? I mean, you and I were very careful and we still have plastics. I know.

So it's everywhere. And you've got to filter your water. I mean, you and I, we're very careful and we still have plastics. I know. So it's everywhere. And you've got to filter your water. I mean, you just have to. And then you say, well, what's the best water filter? Just get something. But just don't have it made out of plastic. And not a Brita. No, not a Brita and not out of plastic.

I had these, you know, you probably get approached all the time too by these sponsors and they send you all these free things and hopefully you promote them. And I got this water filter, this big old box and these big doctors were promoting the hell out of it and they sent it to me and I opened it up and the commission was fat. It was like you get $100 for every one that you sell

and I opened the box and I pick it up, it's all wrapped in plastic and I open the plastic and everything's made out of plastic. And I just put it back in the box, close it, and that was the end of it. It was like, no. What water filter do you use, by the way? Because I know people are going to want to know.

Yeah, it's custom made. It is? Yeah, it's custom made. How did you get one custom made? Yeah, it's huge. So is you get one custom made? It's huge. So is it a full house filter? Yeah, it's a full house filter.

A buddy of mine made it. He's actually a Delta Airline pilot. And God, I'm forgetting the name of his company, which is horrible. I'll text it to you. Yeah, just send it to me and we'll add it in the show notes because I'm sure people are going to want to know because I get asked this all the time because all the big water filters,

they still filter through plastic. Yeah, and then you have PEX tubing in your house. And we have that in our home as well. So we have our main house water filter and then at the main areas where we're drinking water, we have another filter that filters out the plastics, you know, at the tap. I mean, even it was like a 30 foot run of plastics

from our main filter, I still installed another filter to minimize the exposure. Reverse osmosis is great, but reverse osmosis also wastes a lot of water. I think they've come out with a better system nowadays, but I don't like wasting water. I have a hard time with that. I get really mad at myself when I leave the hose on. It's tough though, right? Because from what I understand, reverse osmosis is the best one because if you just have a carbon filter, I don't know if it does enough. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think RO is the best one. Distilled water is, I believe, quite acidic and

dead. So it's like, well, people say, well, you can add stuff back to it. But yeah, you can. But structured water is basically, I think the Japanese researcher, I forget his name, and a number of them did it, but water coming over waterfalls from the mountains is the best. It's heavily oxygenated. It's got some structure to it. And every snowflake is different. Are you serious? And if you freeze a snowflake and it melts, and then you can somehow make the snowflake again, it makes the same snowflake after it melts. And so there's like this memory associated with water. And so water to me is just like, oh my God.

And we're 70% water. And ladies, you've got to be hydrating when you're pregnant. Have to be. And there's all this talk about high sodium electrolytes and they're flying off the shelves. And some people need high sodium electrolytes. Some people need high potassium electrolytes. Some people need a mix of both. And so I've been sodium electrolytes. Some people need high potassium electrolytes. Some people need a mix of both.

And so I've been researching electrolytes for years and I decided to come out with an electrolyte that has a higher potassium, lower sodium with the ability for you to add your own salt to it if you need to, if you're sonning or sweating heavily or what have you, or you're super stressed out and your adrenals are tired and you're peeing all the time, or you're on a keto diet,

I mean, everybody's got a salt shaker in their house. So why charge 40 bucks for salt that's got flavor to it when you got a salt shaker right there and you can just put it in some juice? I don't get it. Nobody has potassium sitting around in their house. That is true. And potassium deficiency is 99% in women and it's 90% in men.

And potassium and magnesium are what's associated with muscle cramps. Low sodium electrolytes are associated with confusion and headaches. But muscle cramping itself is potassium and magnesium. Yeah. Well, and that's super helpful, I think, for people to know. Just in the essence of time,

because I don't know how much time you have left, is there anything else that I didn't ask you or that we didn't cover that you think is really important for people to know about this? By the way, too, I want you to know, I wanted to also ask you about dirty genes and that whole concept, because you wrote a whole book about this. By the way, too, I want you to know, I wanted to also ask you about dirty genes and that whole concept, because you wrote a whole book about this, but maybe I'll just bring you back on the podcast if you want to come back and do another one about that. Yeah, let's do it.

Yeah. Yeah, I'll just, I'll end with this in terms of a statement is humans been on this planet for a long, long time. MCGFR is increasing in the population, yes. However, it has been in the human genome forever. And there are benefits to having the MCGFR genetic variation, which I won't get into because it doesn't matter. But the fact is that it is not something to freak out about. having the M2GFAR genetic variation, which I won't get into because it doesn't matter. But the fact is that it is not something to freak out about. So don't freak out thinking that you have M2GFAR. Don't think you're broken. I got my M2GFAR genetic result in 2011 and it scared the

hell out of me. And I reacted and I took methylfolate. And the first time I took methylfolate, I felt great. And I kept taking it and I started getting migraines and I never getfolate. And the first time I took methylfolate, I felt great. And I kept taking it, and I started getting migraines, and I never get migraines. And so if you're taking methylfolate because you have an intrafar enzyme, you need to stop unless you're feeling amazing. If you are having headaches, joint pain, acne, irritability, difficulty falling asleep,

or other nerve pains or weird feelings, you need to stop taking the methylfolate and see if all those symptoms go away. And then you need to start learning what it feels like for you to take that methylfolate. So when you wake up in the morning, you have brain fog, you're fatigued, and you're depressed, and you take some methylfolate in the morning, and you feel great, great, take it. Then you've learned, okay, I feel tired, I'm depressed I'm going to take some methylfolate when you wake up the next day

that can carry over and you still feel great if you feel great, you don't take it you're at the top you're at the peak if you're on the top of Mount Everest you can't go any higher if you try to go higher, you're going to jump

you're going to fall all the way down the mountain so don't do it. Don't get greedy with the supplement. If you feel great the next morning, skip it. Ladies, if you're pregnant, same thing applies. You don't have to be taking all eight capsules of optimal prenatal every single day and then you feel like you're letting your baby down or yourself down because you're not taking all eight. You take the amount that you need as you need it. And if you are responding negatively to methylfolate, there's folinic acid. And so you can use that and you're still getting a high quality form of folate. But you are in control ultimately of your genes and I'll prove it right now. Lemon. Super sour lemon.

Envision it. What's happening? I can kind of feel my mouth tingle. It salivates a little bit. Yeah, that is how fast our genes respond to the environment.

So by just me saying lemon, our genes are firing to release a bunch of saliva. So you are in control of your genes. And you might not believe it because everything that you focus on is on the outside of your world. Just close your eyes, look in, and feel how you are feeling. Then take the particular supplement. They act fast. I mean, you take the methylfolate lozenge, you'll feel that in seconds. And it's either a good feeling or it's a bad feeling. And what I'll share with that tip right now, if you take the B12 methylfolate lozenge, here's what I recommend. Put the lozenge in your mouth, bite it once,

let it dissolve. See how you feel. Is your head heavy? Okay. Are you slightly depressed? Okay. You kind of out of it, your brain fog? Okay. It's dissolving. 20 seconds in, how are you feeling? Brain fog clearing? Yeah. Okay. How's your energy levels? Increasing. Okay. You're 30 seconds in. All right. Now I'm in a good mood. Take it out. Take the rest out. You're done. You're happy. Your brain is clear. You got energy. Take it out. Look how much is left. Well, I only got half of it dissolved. Well, you take half next time. That's how you feel. That's how you monitor it.

It's that quick. You swallow a pill of methylfolate, you can't do that. Okay, that is so helpful. I love that because I actually talk about this a lot on the podcast and people write me messages all the time asking me, well, what supplements do you take and how often do you take them and this and that. And I always explain to people that it's always intuitive.

I mean, I have some days where I'll go downstairs to my supplement cabinet and I'm like, I'll take a couple of them. And I don't know how else to explain it to people other than I'm feeling into my body and how my body feels. And your body will tell you if you need it or not. That's right. You're listening. Exactly. And so I have some days where I'm just, I won't take anything. I'll take a couple things and, you know, and then sometimes I'll take all

of them. And it's really based on how my body is feeling and how I'm reacting to the supplements. That's right. And it's practice. And so a lot of us fear that we're going to buy the wrong supplement. And I get it. Supplements are expensive. And you don't want to have your partner or someone say, oh, why'd you buy that one? That's stupid. And you get buyer's remorse. Supplements are tools. And you go in your garage, you got lawnmowers and chainsaws and screwdrivers and drills and brooms and rakes. You don't use all those every single day. But you have them because you might need them someday. You have a truck and those every single day, but you have them because you might need them someday. You have a truck and you have a big car and you got a motorcycle and a bicycle.

Well, those are just different ways to get you around for different places for different jobs. Same thing with supplements. I have the same thing as you. I got a big supplement drawer and I open that thing and I stare at it and then I feel how I'm feeling. And some days I just close it again. And I've already trained my boys this. And Theo will go to school in the morning and I said, hey, Theo, what do you need today? I'll take half glutathione, lozenges, dad, and I'll just take a sip of your electrolytes.

All right, all right, what do you got in the next day? Theo, how you doing? i got a test today get me a focus please and i'll take a whole glutathione and fill up my bottle with electrolytes all right love that yeah so he's they they figure it out and it's our job as parents to create independence for our kids and it's hard as as a parent to to let your kids fly out of the nest, but you have to. And you have to teach them through failure usually what it feels like to fail. And so I want my kids learning how to supplement themselves. It's not my job to say, take this, take this. I don't know how they feel. I have no idea. But it's also my job to observe how they're doing. When I see my teenage

boy laying in bed till one o'clock in the afternoon and his room is a mess and he's eating a bunch of sugar, I'm like, oh my God, my kid's depressed. And my kid's depressed because he has bad acne. But he has bad acne because he is eating like shit. Well, he's eating like crap because he's low dopamine. So I need to get his dopamine levels up. So oftentimes I'll actually formulate supplements for my family, give them to my family, get results, and then I'll release them as a branded supplement like dopamine nutrients. That's where dopamine nutrients came from.

And Ultimal Focus came for Theo because he was struggling in school and he was beside himself now. He was like a straight C student. Now he got straight A's last quarter and he's just beside himself. Oh, that is so amazing. That's so cool. I hope everyone listening that has kids is paying attention and taking notes right now because this is really amazing. I want to ask you one more thing. And again, this is kind of personal, but again, it can probably help some people. So I'm taking the methyl B12 and the folate right now. And I'm wondering, would there be a benefit for me to just take the methyl B12?

And would there be, maybe I'm overdosing myself on the folate. So maybe one day I just do the methyl B12 and then one day I do the methyl B12 with the folate. Is that something that people do? Or that you recommend? Yeah, people do it for sure. And again, you need to first feel how you feel

when you take those ingredients. Because they do so many different things in the human body that it's not easy to say what's going to happen. So you need to learn for you what's going to happen. And what I'll also say is B12 and folate are both stored in the bile. They're both stored in the liver. So once you've restored a deficiency of B12 and folate, you can go for quite a long time if you take care of yourself without additional B12 and folate.

Okay. So have that in mind. So, and a lot of us feel pressure to take the methylfolate and the methyl B12 because we have it. We have the MTHFR genetic variation. So we have to take because so-and-so told me, and I got my genetic test back, they're full of crap. You take it if you feel like you need it, and that's it. So I would recommend actually that you stop taking it completely and go for a few days.

Go for a week. And if you wake up one morning, you stop it for a day, and you wake up the next day, and you don't feel as tired. You're like, ah, I feel good. And the next day, you still feel good. The next day, brain fog is kind of hitting, but you still feel good. Next day, brain fog is kind of hitting, but you still feel good. And next day, it's like, hmm, yeah, all right.

Yeah, I think I need some. You take a quarter, take a half, and you replenish. All right, good. And I'll give you a story. I rarely take methylfolate, okay? I take Optimal Man two capsules maybe a few times a week, and that's 200 micrograms of methylfolate. Well, actually, no, two capsules out of four is 100 micrograms of methylfolate

with 100 micrograms of folinic acid mixed with some B12s. So hardly any. But there was one time I was presenting in Dallas, Texas at a conference. And afterwards, I was invited to go out with some doctors to the Brazilian steakhouse. Well, when in Texas, what do you do? You eat a lot of meat. And I think we sat there for four hours, five hours. I kid you not. And I just chowed. I ate so much meat. I didn't drink any alcohol, drank a lot, ate a lot of meat. And I came home back to the hotel room and I had the meat sweats. Oh my God. It was so bad. I'd never had the meat. I felt like I was going into a coma.

And I know what happened is I drove my homocysteine levels through the roof because the meat sweats are high homocysteine and it's called methionine overload in fact doctors will give you a methionine loading test to see how your homocysteine levels will handle that and so I gave myself a methionine loaded test because methionine is high in meat and so I gave myself a methionine-loaded test because methionine is high in me.

And so I ended up taking that methyl B12, methyl folate lozenge. I took seven of them. And I took one because my brain fog was so bad. I felt like a tiny lift, and then it was gone almost instantly. Like that lift was, I cracked the door open, and the wind blew it shut. So I took another one, cracked cracked the door open and the wind blew it shut. So I took another one, cracked it open a little bit longer,

blew it shut, took another one. And so again, it's based upon need and how much. And after the seventh one, I got the clarity back. Wow. And I was like, oh my God,

that was a really interesting experiment. So experiment on yourself. And there's going to be some days where your experiment doesn't work out so well and you're going to be regretting it. There's going to be other days where you experiment and you learn something very, very valuable like that methyl B12 and methyl folate. And when I first, remember as I said earlier,

when I first found out I had that antichafar enzyme problem of the compound heterozygous, I took 800 micrograms of methylfolate and 1,000 micrograms of methylcobalamin every day for a week. And I felt great. And I ended up getting myself a migraine for days. And as I was walking to my office across the yard, back then my office was a Home Depot shed.

And I just stopped. And I just was tired of my headache. I said, what changed? And you have to do this too. You have to stop. You literally have to stop whatever you're doing if you're driving pull over and ask yourself what did i do differently why am i feeling this way and think about it it's like okay what have i changed uh the only thing that's really changed is i started taking that methyl folate lozenge but i have empty afar i need it yeah but that is the only thing I changed. Well, I'm going to stop it. My headache went away. So it took a few days, but it went away. And so that is a very, very important point. This is so valuable for people to hear and to learn

because ultimately at the end of the day, nobody else, no expert, no doctor, no scientist, nobody can tell you what to take and how you feel in your own body. You're the one that has to determine that ultimately. So I think that's such an amazing lesson and also I think a great place to end on. So for everybody listening, can you please let them know where they can find you, where they can find your supplements, and I hope that you'll come back

and we can talk more about dirty genes. Yeah, absolutely. So you can find me on Instagram at drbenlynch. Supplements are found at seekinghealth.com. And the book, Dirty Genes, is where I highly recommend you start. It's like 12 bucks. It's cheaper than most supplements. It gives you a lot of guidance. It empowers you. It's not fear-based and it gives you a great direction. And I really would like you to actually get the book Dirty Genes before you buy any supplement because at the end of reading the book,

my goal is to actually have you use very, very little supplements and use only as needed and that will teach you how to do that. I love that so much. Thank you so much, Dr. Lynch. This was a really amazing episode. Thank you, Courtney. Thank you. Thank you so much, Dr. Lynch. This was a really amazing episode. Thank you, Courtney. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to The Real Foodology Podcast. This is a Wellness Loud production produced by Drake Peterson and mixed by Mike Fry. Theme song is by Georgie. You can

watch the full video version of this podcast inside the Spotify app or on YouTube. As always, you can leave us a voicemail by clicking the link in our bio. And if you liked this episode, please rate and review on your podcast app. For more shows by my team, go to wellnessloud.com. See you next time. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and doesn't constitute a provider patient relationship. I am a nutritionist, but I am not your nutritionist. As always, talk to your doctor or your health team first.