The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka - 22. MTHFR Gene Mutation Explained: How to Know If You Have It and What To Do About It with Gary Brecka

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey guys, welcome back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. This is the Colorado edition. It's absolutely stunning out here. So today's short is going to be about the gene mutation MTHFR. And if it's up on the screen right now, you might be guessing what the nickname is for that gene mutation, but it stands for methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase. It is a fancy way of saying that this gene impairs the ability for the human body to convert folic acid and some of its derivatives into the usable form called methylfolate. Now, why is that a big deal? Why should you be concerned about it? And what is all the rage about this gene mutation right now? Well, it's one of the most common gene mutations in the world. I mean, some estimates are as high as 44% of the population has the MTHFR gene mutation. So first of all, how would you know that you had MTHFR? What might be some of the signs that you

Starting point is 00:00:57 have this gene mutation? How serious is it? And how can we treat it? Because remember, these podcast shorts are designed to give you actionable steps that you can put to work in your life as soon as we get off this podcast so that you can actually change the trajectory, the outcome of your life. And so this gene mutation, MTHFR, and its ability to impair folate metabolism may not sound like a big deal until you realize that folic acid is actually the most prevalent nutrient in the human diet. If you're listening to this and you live in the United States, remember in the U.S., our entire grain supply, all white flour, all white rice, all white bread, all white pasta, grains and cereals of any kind are sprayed with the chemical folic acid.

Starting point is 00:01:44 And I say chemical because folic acid, contrary to popular belief, is not a natural vitamin. It does not occur anywhere naturally in nature. You cannot find folic acid anywhere on the surface of the earth. We make it in a laboratory. But folic acid is sprayed on these foods, flour, white rice, white bread, white pasta, most cereals, and all grains, but we don't call it sprayed with folic acid. We call it fortified or enriched. So if foods are fortified or enriched, they have been sprayed with the chemical folic acid. Now for 60 plus percent of the population, this is not a big deal, but for people with this gene mutation, which estimates are as high as 44% of

Starting point is 00:02:26 the population, they take in normal or high amounts of folic acid because of the standard American diet. And now all of a sudden they have an overabundance of a nutrient that their body cannot metabolize effectively. And they have a deficiency in what their body needs, which is called methylfolate or 5-methylene tetrahydrofolate, 5-MTHF. And so if you have a deficiency in one nutrient and an excess in another nutrient, how does this create or how does this exhibit symptoms in the human body so that you might want to get tested for MTHFR? Well, one of the most common is anxiety. It is a type of anxiety that has three characteristics. Number one, you've had it on and off throughout your entire lifetime, your very first indication that it's coming from

Starting point is 00:03:18 a gene mutation. Number two, you find it very hard to point to the specific trigger that causes it, meaning you don't have to be claustrophobic and step on a crowded elevator. You don't have to be afraid of heights and walk to the edge of a 30th floor balcony. You can actually just be driving home from work on an otherwise innocuous day and be overwhelmed by anxiety. So it's very hard to point to the specific trigger that causes it. And the last thing is if you've tried anti-anxiety medications, usually they do not work. They just make you feel like a zombie. If that sounds like you, you might have MTHFR. It's not 100%, but you may have the MTHFR gene mutation and it is absolutely worth getting tested. It could be as simple as supplementing with a complex of B vitamins and methylfolate to spell the end of your anxiety. Another very, very common characteristic of MTHFR patients is that this gene mutation

Starting point is 00:04:16 leads to impaired intestinal motility. Remember that very often the speed of the gut is more important than its contents. So if you've suffered from what you think are food allergies or food sensitivities on and off throughout your entire lifetime, and yet it doesn't seem to matter what kind of food elimination diet you go on, or whether you're a carnivore or keto or whole food or raw food or vegan or vegetarian, then you may have the MTHFR gene mutation and you may have impaired gut motility because of a deficiency in methylfolate. Very, very simple for you to supplement with methylfolate. Definitely don't have to do it through me. There are lots of great

Starting point is 00:04:57 brands and manufacturers out there and supplementing with this nutrient very often can restore the motility of the gut to normal. Remember, if we think about the human intestinal tract as a 30-foot long conveyor belt that we put contents on at one end as they exit the stomach in a very acidic environment, and as these contents traverse the next 30 feet and end in a quasi-basic environment before exiting the rectum, the speed at which this intestine moves is very important because the sequence of events in the intestine is very important. So if you have the gene mutation MTHFR, you may have impaired gut motility. And if your gut motility is impaired, meaning the pace of the

Starting point is 00:05:38 gut is impaired, you eat, you blow up like a tick, but you can't correlate it to the last food item you ate because you think to yourself, well, I ate that on Monday and I was fine. And then two days later, I ate the exact same thing and I blew up like a tick. So if you had an allergy, it would be consistent. Remember, allergies are not transient. They are consistent. People are not allergic to milk on Monday morning, unallergic on Wednesday afternoon, and re-allergic on Friday morning. That's not how allergies work. Allergies are consistent. When you seem to have inconsistent symptoms in your gut, please pay attention. You could have the MTHFR gene mutation, and you could be two or three minor supplements with B-complex, a B12 multivitamin, a B12 vitamin, and methylfolate,

Starting point is 00:06:28 you could be that far away from fixing those gut issues. Hey guys, if you've been watching the Ultimate Human Podcast for any length of time, you know that one thing I do not do is push products. I do not just let any advertiser into this space because I believe that the products that appear on the Ultimate Human Podcast should be things that I use every day in my life to improve my own physiology. One of them is something called the Echo Go Plus. The Echo Go Plus is a hydrogen water generator that you can take on the go. You essentially take the top off of this bottle, you pour bottled water in this, and repeatedly it will make high part per million hydrogen water you press this little button you'll see these bubbles going up in the

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Starting point is 00:09:33 products you can actually see the absorption rate for all of their products they've got great electrolyte protein combinations my favorite is the perfect aminos. Bodyhealth.com forward slash ultimate. And now back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. Another very common symptom of MTHFR is intermittent gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, irritability, or cramping, whether or not you have recently eaten. Some of you go to bed at night, you sleep all night,

Starting point is 00:10:02 and then you wake up bloated in the morning. And you go, why am I bloated in the morning and you go why am i bloated in the morning if i haven't eaten for seven eight or nine hours because when you impair gut motility contents putrefy and the bacteria's function um perverts this causes abnormal gas bloating diarrhea constipation irrit, and cramping without a correlation to what you just ate. So if you have those types of symptoms, or you find that you're very anxious, or sometimes you get irritable, or you find that you're mood numb, meaning the peaks and valleys of mood for some reason just seem to come and go without any outside correlation, then you may want to get tested

Starting point is 00:10:46 for the MTHFR gene mutation. I've personally seen thousands and thousands of patients' lives changed just from simple supplementation after getting an MTHFR genetic mutation test. The last thing I will say is that MTHFR is fairly early. It's very early in the methylation cycle. So when you have this gene mutation, it can cause other symptoms down the line that don't necessarily come from this gene, but they come from the inability of this gene to supply the raw material to other genes further down the methylation cycle. So very often the final way that MTHFR manifests itself is in people that have poor sleep patterns, but they have a very specific type of sleep pattern. They lay down exhausted. They're tired, their body tired,

Starting point is 00:11:39 but their mind is awake. And when I say their environment quiets and their mind wakes up what I mean is they go to bed body tired and their mind wakes up they start thinking through all of these innocuous thoughts as they lay there in bed when they should be falling off to sleep if that sounds like you you might want to get an MTHFR gene test let's talk about children and MTHFR for a minute parents please listen up because this may be the most helpful piece of information that you receive as a parent in a long time. You know, very often we wonder why it's a full contact sport to get our kids in the car to go to school in the morning or why after they get to school, you know, the phone call comes home from school saying, hey, little Johnny or little Susie can't pay attention. They're disruptive. They don't follow directions. They're disruptive. They don't

Starting point is 00:12:25 follow directions. They're not completing their assignments. We really need to do a behavioral evaluation here or bring in the riddle in to solve, you know, this behavioral issue. Well, remember that 44% of the population estimated has this MTHFR gene mutation. It is very prevalent in children, right? Because they make up for a percentage of the population. If you think about the standard American diet and what we feed children before they head off to school, and by the way, there are hordes of clinical studies in human beings on dietary control of behavioral disorders, which is directly linked to the MTHFR gene mutation. So if your child potentially has this gene mutation and you feed them a standard American breakfast, think about what kinds of foods have folic acid, right? Pop

Starting point is 00:13:11 tarts, white bagels, cereals, breads of all kinds, pasta. Most of the time they're not eating pasta in the morning, but they might be eating breads, bagels, cereals, toast, pop tarts, those kinds of white flours, white rice, white pasta, cereals, and grains. So we feed these kids that have a genetic mutation that doesn't allow them to process the folic acid in those foods. And all of a sudden, their behavior shifts. And all of a sudden, a normal child goes to a highly irritable DEFCON 9 full contact sport just to get them in the car to go to school in the morning. And again, that's when the calls start coming home from school that the child is disruptive or not paying attention or has some kind of impulse control disorder or what have you. Do yourself a favor and just experiment with getting the folic acid out of

Starting point is 00:14:06 their diet for three days. If you want to see a demonstrative behavioral change with no risk to your child, just get folic acid laden foods, any food that is fortified or enriched out of their diet for 36 hours, you can thank me later, and see if their behavior changes. If they have a homozygous, meaning both parents contributed to the gene break, if they have a homozygous MTHFR gene, you will see in that short period of time a demonstrative change in the child's behavior. If not, you can go back to feeding them whatever you want. But in the morning, try whole fat Greek yogurts, non-fortified and non-enriched foods like eggs, avocados. Try organic cereals that are not fortified or enriched and watch what happens to the child's behavior. Now, remember, you got to get it out of their lunch foods too. They can't go off to school and be eating breads

Starting point is 00:15:08 and pastas and cereals and cookies and crackers and things at school that are going to be fortified or enriched, but you may see a dramatic change in their behavior. If you suspect that they might have the MTHFR gene mutation, there are thousands of ways to get that gene tested. Again, you do not have to do it through me. You can do it through all kinds of services online. If you find that they have it, you can give them a simple methylated vitamin supplement, and this could be the behavioral difference that you're looking for to calm things down around your household. So I hope you really found this podcast helpful. As always, if you like the information, please like and subscribe. It allows me to spend more time doing research and bringing this information right to your

Starting point is 00:15:47 living rooms. And as always, that's just science. If you haven't had a chance to connect with me on theultimatehuman.com, head over there now and sign up for my free newsletter and all of the exclusive content.

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The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka - 22. MTHFR Gene Mutation Explained: How to Know If You Have It and What To Do About It with Gary Brecka

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