Methylation Part One: Why Is It So Important?

by Kirsten Chesney | Jul 27, 2021 | Nutrition, Reducing Toxins

Methylation is a cycle in our body that is critically important for healthy functioning. It also has the power to protect us from various diseases that are “described” in our genes. Methylation may perhaps be best known for its role in detoxification, although there are hundreds of additional body processes that rely on methylation and the compounds it produces. The methylation process can be easily disrupted by a poor diet and unhealthy lifestyle. Furthermore, many people have a genetic mutation that affects their ability to methylate properly. Part One reviews how genes are affected by methylation, the various processes that methylation is used for, and the MTHFR mutation. See Part Two for ways to support methylation through specific changes in diet and lifestyle.  

Genes Can Be Turned On or Off

As you may have heard before, our genes are not our destiny. There are several health conditions that have a genetic component and thereby tend to run in families. These include depression, anxiety, heart disease, dementia, autoimmune diseases, and even cancer. But we all know of people who never seem to get the disease that all their family members are struggling with. This sort of thing actually happens all the time, on both large and small levels, usually without us ever knowing that we dodged a bullet (or took a bullet). 

So what happened? Well, our environment counteracted our genetic “destiny.” In other words, a disease-causing gene was turned off and rendered inactive. Our genes don’t only predispose us to disease however. They also offer protection against disease. In this case, we’d want this gene to be turned on so it can protect us. Our environment has the power to do this. It can cause genes to turn off or on depending on our lifestyle choices. Many elements constitute our environment such as diet, exercise, sleep, stress, and amount of toxin exposure. How we choose to live each of these out defines, collectively, how healthy our environment is.

The concept that our environment can change the way our genes operate is called epigenetics. Of course, our actual genetic material does not change, but rather the way our body reads those genes changes. 

What Methylation Does For Our Genes

Methylation is a process that happens in our bodies that is critically important for the healthy functioning of our genes. Methylation controls whether or not a gene is expressed (turned on or off). It is a biochemical process that, when working properly, acts in our best interest. It will turn “bad” genes off and “good” genes on. In order to do this, methylation relies on our environment to work properly. When we surround ourselves in an unhealthy environment, the methylation process fails and we get the opposite effect on our genes (“bad” genes are turned on and “good” genes are turned off). This is the starting point for disease and dysfunction; when we first start noticing that something isn’t right with our health. 

Methylation And Detoxification

We are constantly exposed to various toxins and chemicals, whether through breathing them, eating them, or touching them. Small, repeated exposures to chemicals accumulate in our body and overburden our detoxification system over time. 

Common toxins include:

• Pesticides on our food
• Exhaust fumes from our cars
• Arsenic, lead, and pharmaceuticals in our drinking water
• Mercury in fish and dental fillings
• BPA in our plastic
• Phthalates and parabens in our personal care products
• Ammonia, solvents, and bleach in our cleaning products
• Formaldehyde, benzene, PFOA’s, and flame retardants in our household furniture and mattresses

Other than the toxins we’re exposed to in our environment, there are compounds produced by our body that can build up and become toxic if they aren’t lowered to safer levels. Estrogen, histamine, dopamine, and homocysteine are such compounds; they are also reduced through methylation. 

Methylation is one of the six main pathways of detoxification that our liver goes through. The methylation process specifically detoxifies BPA, aspirin, cannabinoids, estrogens, mercury, lead, and arsenic. Furthermore, methylation produces two compounds (sulfate and glutathione) that are relied on in two other detox pathways, thus helping to detoxify an even longer list of chemicals. 

People who do not methylate properly can experience a host of toxicity symptoms. These include migraines, allergies, chronic fatigue, arthritis, sinus issues, respiratory disorders, digestive problems, poor circulation, and insomnia. Those who experience these symptoms would be helped by strengthening their methylation process.

Other Processes That Depend On Methylation

Clearly, methylation is what makes the difference in determining how healthy we will be throughout life. It supports our protective, health-promoting genes while suppressing our harmful, disease-promoting genes. Methylation also targets various toxins and harmful compounds making them less toxic and able to be eliminated from the body. In addition to altering gene expression and enhancing detoxification, methylation is critically important in hundreds of other body processes. Below are a few examples:

Bile Production

Methylation is necessary in the production of phosphatidylcholine, a chain of fatty acids, phosphorus, and choline. This compound makes up our bile and helps emulsify fat from our diet. We need healthy bile production, not only to break down fats but also to control bacterial overgrowth in our gut. Bile is produced in our liver and then flows into our gallbladder, so people with poor methylation often have gallbladder problems.

Brain and Muscle Health

Methylation produces an amino acid called creatine, which is needed by our muscles and our brain. Our muscles use creatine to increase lean muscle mass and reduce muscle soreness after exercise. Proper creatine levels in our brain lead to improved brain function, recognition, and memory, while reducing mental fatigue. 

Neurotransmitter Production

Neurotransmitters are the chemical messengers that send signals to and from our brain. No doubt you’ve heard of several types of neurotransmitters, including dopamine, serotonin, melatonin, epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine. Collectively, these neurotransmitters help us feel clear-headed, focused, calm, and upbeat. Methylation kickstarts the process of producing these neurotransmitters using folate, one of the B vitamins (B9 to be exact). A person who struggles with depression, anxiety, brain fog, mental confusion, or attention difficulties (like ADHD) would be helped by supporting their methylation process to increase neurotransmitter production.

Healthy Stress Response

You may have heard of the two parts of a healthy stress response. When our brain perceives stress, whether it’s psychological, emotional, or physical, it activates our “fight or flight” response. This response allows us to rise to the occasion so we can tackle the stress. We can focus longer, work harder, and move faster to help us through the immediate situation. This is made possible by various stress hormones including cortisol and epinephrine (adrenaline). 

The other end of the stress response is “rest and digest.” It isn’t healthy to remain in a constant state of alertness and stress. For every stress event there needs to follow a relaxation event. This is when you calm down, mentally and physically relax, and begin feeling rested and peaceful. 

Methylation allows both of these steps to occur, preparing you to tackle a hard work day before relaxing in the evening and enjoying a sound sleep. Poor methylation means we aren’t responding well to stress. We might have a quick temper, poor sleep, feel “wired” all the time, or perhaps get burned out. 

MTHFR Mutation

This gene mutation has become very well known and is one of the most highly sought-after genetic lab tests ordered across the nation. And for good reason: the MTHFR mutation is the most common of all genetic mutations, with 30%-40% of Americans carrying at least one version of it. 

MTHFR is an enzyme that has a very long name (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase if you’re interested). Thank goodness for acronyms though, right?! This mighty enzyme’s job is to methylate the vitamin folate (vitamin B9). This means it attaches a methyl group onto folate, which converts folate into its active form. The active form of folate is called 5-MTHF, or methylfolate. If you’re wondering what a methyl group is, it’s one carbon atom and three hydrogen atoms. In chemistry shorthand, a methyl group is written as “CH3.”  

Why is any of this important? Well, methylfolate (the active form of folate) is the compound that starts the entire methylation cycle! So if our MTHFR enzyme is not working well, then we aren’t converting enough folate into methylfolate, thus impairing our entire methylation process! But this is exactly what happens for those 30%-40% of Americans with the MTHFR mutation. 

However, as we covered in the beginning, our genes are not our destiny. This means having a MTHFR mutation does not necessarily mean that your methylation process is not (or cannot) function normally. As with all of our genes, genetic mutations do not doom us to a lifetime of disease. Our environment and lifestyle choices can overcome the hindrance of genetic mutations and give us lasting health. If you have the MTHFR mutation then you’re simply in the pool with everyone else who needs to strengthen their methylation cycle. Welcome to the club! 

Signs You May Have An MTHFR Mutation:

Here’s some signs that may indicate an MTHFR mutation:

• Hypothyroidism
• Chronic fatigue syndrome
• Migraines
• High blood pressure
• Low white blood count (WBC) for most of your life
• Low tolerance for medications such as methotrexate, 5-fluorouracil, or phenytoin
• High homocysteine (above 12 micromoles per liter)
• High folate or high vitamin B12 levels
• Low alcohol tolerance
• Sensitivity to chemicals
• Anxiety, depression, or irritability 

Stay Tuned

We’ve covered how methylation is a necessary process to maintain good health. It acts to turn “bad” genes off and “good” genes on, so that we’re protected from genetically predisposed health conditions. Furthermore, methylation is involved in hundreds of other processes to ensure things are running smoothly. This includes brain health, healthy stress responses, neurotransmitter production, detox from chemicals, and more. It is our lifestyle habits that allow methylation to perform optimally, making it far too easy to disrupt this process if we aren’t paying attention to our daily choices. Lastly, we learned that methylation depends on the MTHFR enzyme to convert the vitamin folate into its active form (methylfolate). Those with a genetic mutation of their MTHFR enzyme have a compromised methylation cycle and will need to take steps to strengthen it. 

Now that we’ve got a solid background on what methylation is and why it’s so important to our health, we need to know what to do to keep it running smoothly. Check out Part Two of this discussion! We talk about how to support our methylation cycle and the key nutrients we need each day. 

Methylation Part Two: When It Goes Wrong And How To Fix It

by Kirsten Chesney | Jul 27, 2021 | Nutrition, Reducing Toxins

Last week we talked about what the methylation cycle was and why it is critical for healthy functioning. Methylation maximizes a number of body processes. It has the power to activate your protective genes as well as deactivate your harmful genes. It is also one of the six detoxification pathways that our liver goes through to neutralize and eliminate everyday toxin exposure. Methylation is involved in hundreds of other processes including bile production, cognitive and mental health, stress regulation, and more. Unfortunately, our ability to methylate is easily suppressed and rendered ineffective when we don’t supply our bodies with the right nutrients and healthy habits. On top of that, roughly one third of Americans have a mutation in a particular enzyme (called MTHFR). This mutation prevents their methylation cycle from working properly. 

To learn more about the methylation cycle, read our Part One blog, found here.

For part two of our discussion, we’ll launch into the reasons behind a poorly working methylation cycle, as well as the action steps that we can take to improve our methylation.

Our Bodies Need Our Help

Too often, we take our health for granted. We mistakenly believe that the internal workings of our body is a perfect system, designed to hum along without a glitch until we hit old age and things start falling apart. This couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Our bodies want to be a perfect system but they can only behave as well as our ability to care for them. Treat them badly and feed them the wrong food and you’ll get a body that starts misbehaving. When it comes to our health, we are our own worst enemy. And the old age thing is also incorrect. Older people aren’t supposed to struggle with crippling diseases or cancer. Their body has worked hard for several decades to counteract the insults we have given it over the years. But there comes a point when it simply can’t keep up with the onslaught of insults. At this point, the best it can do is slow down and become inefficient. And the worst it can do is give in to the harmful stuff, thus developing disease. The point that our body becomes inefficient or gives in can vary from person to person. Oftentimes it happens in our old age, but other times it happens much earlier, even as early as our 20’s! 

How To Harm Our Methylation Cycle

One of the ways that our bodies can be inefficient is through a broken methylation cycle. As with every cycle in our body, our methylation cycle doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s influence is far-reaching and impacts other processes down the line. An inefficient methylation cycle directly correlates to an inefficient detox process, the activation of disease-causing genes, and the improper functioning of hundreds of other processes that depend upon methylation.

Unfortunately, many people are well-trained in harming their methylation cycle. In fact, it really takes no effort at all, which is why it’s so easy to do. Here’s some of the main ways we block our ability to methylate:

• Consuming folic acid
• Lack of necessary nutrients
• Pro-inflammatory diet
• Oxidative stress
• Ongoing mental stress
• Ongoing exposure to heavy metals and other chemicals 

If we’re not paying attention to the way we live our lives, all (or most) of the above list will occur without us even trying. If we keep this up, our bodies (and our health) will slow down. 

How To Fix Our Methylation Cycle

It is clear that our bodies have a breaking point. But we don’t know where that point is in time. The best way to retain (and regain) your health for as long as possible is to change the way we eat and live every day. It is the small, repeated behaviors practiced over the years that have the most negative impact on our health. These repeated behaviors put excess strain throughout our body, touching every cell and organ and biochemical process, including our methylation cycle. There’s no need for our bodies to battle uphill. Let’s equal the playing field and give ourselves the best chance at a healthy life. So what do we have to do to turn things around?

Ditch The Folic Acid

Folic acid has been added to all refined, gluten-containing grains in the United States, including cereal grains, pasta, and grain-based flours (eg wheat flour). It’s also found in enriched white rice as well as cornmeal. This was an effort by the FDA in 1998 to help prevent certain birth defects in newborns, such as neural tube defects. This wasn’t the worst move by the FDA since it has indeed lowered the prevalence of neural tube defects. However, consuming folic acid does come at a cost.

Let’s take a step back. Vitamin B9 is best known as folate. Folate is the natural form of vitamin B9 and is found in green leafy vegetables, asparagus, beets, brussel sprouts, broccoli, avocado, beans, sunflower seeds, citrus fruits, and most whole grains. Once in our bodies, folate must be converted into its active form before it can be usable by our body. The active form of folate is called methylfolate, and our methylation cycle will not work without it. In fact, the cycle requires enough methylfolate to even get started. 

Folic acid, on the other hand, is an artificial mimic of folate. It is created in a lab and closely resembles folate enough to enter our body cells. Specifically, folic acid binds to the folate receptors that are on the outside of our cells, thereby blocking those receptors from reaching the real version (folate). If folate is prevented from entering our cells, then it cannot be converted into methylfolate (the active form of folate). Without methylfolate, methylation cannot happen. 

Eating more foods that contain folic acid (including folic acid supplements and medications) and eating less whole foods that contain folate will block your methylation cycle. Turn this around by choosing foods that contain folate (listed above) and strongly limiting foods that contain folic acid. When buying supplements, make sure that “folate” is listed. Avoid all supplements that list folic acid. 

Get The Right Nutrients

Every biochemical process that our body performs requires specific nutrients to keep the process going. The methylation cycle is no different. It requires enough B vitamins, glutathione, magnesium, and protein in order to initiate and maintain its cycle. Each of these nutrients are found in a variety of foods and must be eaten regularly to replenish your ongoing methylation. 

Riboflavin (vitamin B2): liver, lamb, wild salmon, spinach, almonds, mushrooms.

Pyridoxine (vitamin B6): pork, beef, poultry, salmon, oats, chickpeas, pistachios, avocados, bananas, potatoes including sweet potatoes, acorn squash, and spinach. 

Folate (vitamin B9): Food sources of folate were discussed in the previous section but I’ll repeat it here: green leafy vegetables, asparagus, beets, brussel sprouts, broccoli, avocado, beans, sunflower seeds, citrus fruits, and most whole grains. Avoid all fortified foods that contain the synthetic form of folate, called folic acid. 

Cobalamin (vitamin B12): grass-fed beef, salmon, clams, mussels, crab, eggs, cheese, and Greek yogurt. Foods fortified with B12 contain the synthetic version of this vitamin which is inactive and less efficiently used by the body. Vegans will need to take B12 supplements. If you’re deficient in B12, then methylfolate (active folate) is trapped and cannot be used. The methylation cycle then comes to a halt. 

Magnesium: dark leafy greens, nuts, seeds, fish, beans, avocados, and whole grains. Some people may choose to take a magnesium supplement to ensure consistent intake.

Glutathione: Glutathione is your master antioxidant, found in every cell in your body. It’s involved in detoxification, immune system support, preventing cell damage, reducing chronic diseases, and much more. As it relates to methylation, this antioxidant (along with protein) helps transport vitamin B12 into your cells where it can be used. If you have low glutathione, your body cannot use B12, thus inhibiting your methylation process. 

Glutathione is produced by our body, although levels are easily affected by toxins, poor nutrition, stress, age, and even a poor methylation cycle. Glutathione production can be increased by eating sulfur-based foods. These include, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cabbage, arugula, kale, mustard greens, collard greens, bok choy, garlic, and onions. Sulfur-foods are also found in meat, eggs, dairy, oats, and legumes. Taking N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) is also an effective way to increase glutathione levels. 

Protein: all meats, fish, eggs, dairy products, soy products (must be organic), beans, broccoli, spinach, brussel sprouts, collard greens, nuts and nut butter, hemp seeds, and quinoa.

Activate Your B Vitamin Supplements

The methylation cycle requires all of the above nutrients in a constant supply. With the exception of protein, none of these nutrients are stored in the body and so must be replenished each day. The best way to get any nutrient is through eating whole food sources. In many cases, a person requires higher amounts of certain nutrients in order to return them to health or jumpstart particular body processes. This is the case with our methylation cycle. If we have not been consciously caring for our health, nor been avoiding harmful foods and exposures over the years, chances are that our methylation process has slowed down. This means we are low in at least some of the nutrients listed above. Our nutrient intake must be eaten consistently and in the right amounts, which can be hard to do even when eating the right foods. This is where supplements can help. 

As discussed previously, there are active (natural) forms and inactive (synthetic) forms of B vitamins. If you are taking B vitamin supplements, it is critical to take their active forms only. Most B vitamin supplements in grocery stores will be in synthetic forms, however, if you head to a natural food store, like Natural Grocers, or order them online (our patients get discounts on Fullscript!), you’ll find higher quality supplements. 

Always look at the ingredients list when purchasing food and supplements! B Complex supplements are no different. The ingredients list (supplement facts) on the B Complex bottle will tell you whether or not they use active or inactive forms. 

Active (natural) forms of B vitamins will have the following (long) names:

• Riboflavin – 5’ – Phosphate (vitamin B2, riboflavin)
• Pyridoxal – 5’ – Phosphate (vitamin B6)
• Methylfolate, or 5-MTHF (vitamin B9, folate)
• Methylcobalamin (vitamin B12)

If you do not see these long names listed on the supplement facts then the vitamins were made synthetically and are in their inactive forms. Do not purchase the bottle! Supplement companies will not announce that their supplements are synthetic, so it’s up to you as the consumer to know what to look for and avoid sales gimmicks. 

You might be wondering, how bad can synthetic supplements be? Well, synthetic supplements aren’t only ineffective in our body, but many can be harmful! Making synthetic forms of vitamins often means using harmful ingredients. For example, the synthetic form of vitamin B6 is made from formaldehyde and petroleum ester! Furthermore, vitamin B12 is synthetically made by using fermented cyanide and cobalt. Other ingredients used to make synthetic vitamins include oil secretions from sheep, palm oil, coal tar, acetone, ammonia, and isobutyraldehyde. These ingredients are highly processed at best and downright toxic at worst! Always read the supplement facts label and only purchase supplements from reputable companies.

Eat To Lower Inflammation and Oxidative Stress

Chronic inflammation and oxidative stress go hand-in-hand. They each cause (and perpetuate) the other. Eating pro-inflammatory foods leads to chronic inflammation. Foods that cause inflammation include those high in sugar, refined carbohydrates, vegetable oils, and other processed ingredients. These harmful foods also produce high amounts of free radicals (unstable oxygen molecules) that damage our cells. The more free radicals we have, the higher our oxidative stress. Glutathione (mentioned previously), as well as other antioxidants, fight off free radicals. Antioxidants come from our diet and are mainly found in vegetables, berries, and citrus fruits. Eating inflammatory foods, therefore, causes a vicious cycle of inflammation, free radicals, oxidative stress, and low antioxidants, that all work together to compromise our methylation cycle. 

Eating a whole foods diet comprised mostly of plant foods with some animal protein on the side, will provide the nutrients you need for methylation. Be sure to focus on those foods listed above that specifically support the methylation cycle. Whole foods are anti-inflammatory and do not create excess free radicals. Eating in this way will lower chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.  

Address Your Mental Stress

Stress, especially mental stress, can be the death of us. This may sound hard to believe but the effects of mental stress (also called psychological stress), wreck havoc on our body. We release stress hormones and our brain operates on high alert. High stress impacts our gut bacteria, harms our mental health, weakens our immune system, increases body weight, and damages our heart. It is a common underlying cause of chronic disease including diabetes, obesity, arthritis, cardiovascular diseases, depression, anxiety, autoimmune diseases, and even cancer. With all the mayhem that mental stress causes, it’s no surprise that our methylation cycle is also harmed by high stress. 

Next to eating whole foods, lowering your mental stress is the most impactful change you can make for your health. Stress can be lowered in many ways depending on the source of your particular triggers. Some examples of ways to lower stress include:

• Physical activity
• Getting outside
• Enjoyable hobbies
• Relaxation (stretching, yoga, meditation, gratitude journaling, etc)
• Restorative sleep
• Breaking up large tasks into small, manageable steps
• Surrounding yourself with supportive people
• Simplify and declutter your living and working space
• Be kind to yourself
• Therapy to address past trauma

Avoid Heavy Metals and Chemical Exposures

Exposure to heavy metals and other environmental toxins come at us from all angles, every day. Small, repeated exposures accumulate in our body, damage our cells, impact our cognition, alter our hormones, slow down our detoxification pathways, dampen our immune system, and give us all sorts of symptoms from fatigue, headaches, brain fog, poor skin and hair, weight gain, and much more. 

Toxins are present in our fruits and vegetables, fish, dairy products, water, car exhaust, dental fillings, plastic containers, cleaning products, personal care products, carpets, furniture, mattresses, indoor air, and more. Our body has a limit on how many toxins it can process on any given day. If our regular habits expose ourselves to high levels of toxins, our detox pathways get overwhelmed and do not eliminate toxins effectively. Recall that the methylation process is part of our detoxification pathway. If you have poor detoxification, you have poor methylation. 

In our world it is impossible to avoid all sources of toxins. They are found around every corner of life. But we can significantly reduce our exposure to toxins. Here’s how:

• Replace plastic containers with glass containers
• Avoid microwaving in plastic
• Replace plastic wrap with wax paper, silicone covers, or rubber lids
• Replace non-stick cookware with stainless steel, glass, or cast iron
• Purchase organic fruits and vegetables
• Avoid high-mercury fish (farmed salmon, tuna, swordfish, grouper, mackerel, tilefish, sea-bass, halibut, crab, lobster, mahi mahi, perch, and cod)
• Avoid all air fresheners and dryer sheets
• Replace mercury fillings with composite resin fillings
• Filter your drinking water to remove heavy metals, fluoride, nitrates, pesticides, industrial pollutants, pharmaceuticals, etc. 
• Avoid fragrances, parabens, phthalates, and SLS in your personal care products
• Purchase a HEPA air filter for your bedroom
• Switch to an organic mattress
• Avoid particle board or press board furniture. Stick with real wood
• Purchase non-toxic cleaning products (see ingredients to avoid here!)  

Our methylation cycle needs our ongoing help and support in order to function properly. Taking care of our bodies requires awareness, commitment, and self control. However difficult this may seem, our ability to methylate properly depends upon our daily healthy choices. Methylation is easily interrupted by synthetic nutrients, inflammatory foods, oxidative stress, mental stress, and daily toxin exposure. We can overcome these insults by changing the way we eat and live, not only when we feel poorly, but every day of our lives. Supporting our methylation (and our overall health) requires active participation. Let’s commit to making these positive changes!