SIBO, Genes, and Gut Health

From gut health to pregnancy, methylation is essential, but this doesn’t mean you should reach for folic acid.

Genetic testing can be helpful in identifying methylation support needs, but it should not be solely relied upon to determine supplementation (nor should you supplement with folic acid). Get a fresh perspective on how your liver, gallbladder, and genes function and what you can do to optimize your health including pregnancy.

Have #SIBO or want a healthy pregnancy? Watch this interview! #guthealth #methylation @drbenlynch @mikemutzel

03:52 Harms of Folic Acid: Folic acid blocks folate receptors. These receptors are designed to bind to methylfolate, but folic acid will bind preferentially over methylfolate. Folic acid will bind to transport proteins, again blocking the binding of methylfolate.

05:49 Folic Acid Link to ADD/ADHD: Folate makes neurotransmitters that help with focus and attention. Consuming processed food is linked with ADD/ADHD and blood sugar crashes. There may be a link to the synthetic folate in the food, causing aberrations in methylation.

11:45 Dirty Genes: Dr. Lynch has written a book about genes that are perceived to be bad. MTHFR is seen as negative, but it may help with DNA synthesis and possibly repair.

13:44 Folinic Acid and MTHFR: Take folinic acid for hair growth. Methylfolate is for methylation. Folinic acid does DNA-based repair or DNA-based production and works with adenosine, which is used in ATP, energy.

17:05 Genetic Polymorphisms: We all have genetic polymorphisms, about 1 ½ million of them. They are not bad. They are just different.

17:45 Folate Needs during Pregnancy: Pregnant women need a combination of folinic acid and 5-MTHF.

18:31 Choline in Pregnancy: Choline is needed for transmethylation pathway. Gallbladder issues during pregnancy also associated with choline deficiency. Choline can be found in egg yolks and meat products.

21:51 COMT Polymorphism: Estrogen, dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine go through the COMT enzyme. SAMe is the cofactor for the COMT enzyme which also requires folate, B12, and choline.

23:15 Liver Dysfunction: Excess carbohydrates and even vegetarianism can contribute to liver dysfunction.

25:50 Fatty Liver: Non-alcoholic fatty liver deposits affect methylation, that’s why the ketogenic diet can be beneficial.

26:32 SIBO: A sluggish gallbladder contributes to SIBO. Research is also showing that SIBO is likely triggered by a metabolic disorder not dysbiosis.

29:07 Supporting the Bile: Bile is 70% phosphatidylcholine, which uses about 70% of methylation. Ox bile can be useful for supporting the bile process.

30:47 Gene Testing: There’s at least 1.2 million SNP’s with most SNP’s having little or no impact on gene function. Important to test for clinically relevant SNP’s through 23andMe and interpret through StrateGene.

32:26 Addressing SNPs/Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms: The majority of SNPs are in regions of the gene that have no effect on your body or genetic function.

42:56 StrataGene Tool: StrateGene reports 50 clinically relevant SNPs. SNPs cannot be viewed in isolation. StrateGene does not make supplement recommendations.