Heard about the MTHFR gene or know that you have it? With all the info out there, it’s really confusing to know what you should do if you have it. And the truth is, it could be a reason why you’re having a hard time getting good sleep, even if you’re taking methylated B vitamins like you’ve heard about. 


In today’s episode, I’m going to briefly explain:

  • the MTHFR gene and methylation
  • how the mutation could be affecting your sleep, mood and health
  • what to do if you have it so you don’t waste money on supplements you don’t need


Knowing this will eliminate a lot of confusion you have about the gene and also help you understand why you have sleep and other health issues. 


If you're ready to understand how methylation and the MTHFR gene are causing your sleep issues and how to fix them, this episode is for you. 


In the Complete Sleep Solution program, I screen for the MTHFR gene in the intake questionnaire as soon as you sign up. If the gene is acting up, I’ll recommend a plan to address it right away so we don’t have to wait for your test results to come back.


Book a consultation to get started with the Complete Sleep Solution program so you can consistently sleep 7-9 hours uninterrupted without drugs!


Resources



Episode Transcript


Hello. Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of the podcast. So if you've heard about the M-T-H-F-R gene or know that you have it with all the info out there, it's really confusing to know what you should do if you have it. And the truth is, it could be a reason why you're having a hard time getting good sleep, even if you do know you have this gene and are taking methylated B vitamins like you've heard about. So in today's episode, I'm going to briefly explain the M-T-H-F-R gene and methylation, how the mutation could be affecting your sleep, mood, and health, and what to do if you have it so you don't waste money on supplements you don't need. And knowing this will eliminate a lot of confusion you have about the gene and also help you understand why you have sleep and other health issues.


You're listening to the Sleep Detective Podcast helping you finally understand why you don't sleep well and how to fix it so you can consistently sleep seven or more hours uninterrupted naturally without drugs if you want to find the root cause of your sleep issues so you can live a long and healthy life. This podcast is for you. If we haven't met before, my name is Martha Lewis. I've been a functional health and sleep coach since 2019 and I've helped over 200 clients fix their sleep problems and restore their health so they can wake up rested with energy for their day and achieve their goals and dreams. If you're ready to understand in particular how methylation and the M-T-H-F-R gene is causing your sleep issues and how to fix them, then this episode is for you. Alright, I'm not going to get too sciencey here, but I just do want to explain a little bit what is M-T-H-F-R?


So it is a gene whose role is to produce the MT HFR enzyme and that enzyme converts folate or vitamin B nine into its active form. Now because M-T-H-F-R is has such an important position in the methylation cycle, which methylation is a part of phase two liver detox, as well as other things, if it's not working properly, it affects the entire pathway, which can create lots of different symptoms and diseases. So what does it mean if you have an M-T-H-F-R mutation? So how it works is there are two copies of every gene that we have. So we receive one copy from our mother and one from our father. And in some cases, one or both of those copies may contain an error in the DNA sequence called a snip or SNP. So if this mutation occurs in just one copy of the gene, then you're considered heterozygous.


If both copies of a gene are mutated, then you're homozygous and genetic testing can tell you if you have a mutation in this gene and whether it's heterozygous or homozygous. Now it is important to note that just because a mutation is present does not mean that it is currently being expressed. So our genes are not our destiny. So our genes are affected by outside what are called epigenetic factors, our diet, our lifestyle, our environment. And these factors greatly influence whether less desirable genes are turned on or off. So although you can't change if you have an effective gene or a mutation, it may predispose you to a higher risk of certain diseases and disorders. The good news is that your lifestyle, your nutrition and diet and even supplementing with nutrients to bypass the mutation can help the gene do its job better and minimize or prevent problems from developing.


And I also want to point out that even if you don't have the M-T-H-F-R mutation, it could still be acting what we call dirty. So when your body is completely out of balance and toxic and there's a lot of inflammation, then your genes can start acting up even if you aren't predisposed to that mutation. So again, it's so much involves outside influence and not just what genes and genetic mutations we have. So what happens though when there is an M-T-H-F-R defect is that the shape of that enzyme becomes distorted and doesn't work properly. So it might be performing at only 25 to 80% of its capacity. It's like a key whose grooves have been altered just enough that it still fits in the lock, but it can't actually unlock the door. So what can happen when this isn't working properly? I mean, first of all, you need that enzyme to convert homocysteine to methionine.


And so if there's a defect, then homocysteine can build up to a normally high levels in the blood, which then leads to a higher risk of a number of diseases, especially heart disease and stroke. So homocysteine is probably something you're getting tested with by blood work. So if this is something that is building up, it could be because you have this M-T-H-F-R mutation or it's acting dirty, and so that's causing homocysteine to rise. Now other symptoms can be infertility and miscarriage, birth defects, mood disorders, so especially depression and anxiety and addictive behaviors. And I'll tell you, I found out years ago when I was working as a nutritionist for a doctor of osteopathy, I was helping his clients implement the nutrition recommendations that he recommended. So I got to do this test and I found out that I do have the M-T-H-F-R mutation. I don't remember if I was heterozygous or homozygous or what it was, but this made so much sense to me because on my mother's side, mental illness is rampant.


So many of my grandmother, my mom, my uncles totally experienced depression, alcoholism, things like that. So it totally made sense to me that this was a genetic thing and this could be one of the reasons why my family had all of these issues. And for me, I luckily haven't experienced mental health disorders like depression and anxiety. And the doctor I was working for at the time told me that's because I had a really good diet. I exercised like I've cared about my health for a long time. And so he said, it's because you have this healthy lifestyle that you don't have these symptoms, but if you ever do try taking some methylated B vitamins and before you ever get any kind of prescription drug. So I've just always known that and kept that in the back of my head. So it's definitely related to mood disorder.


So if this is something that's running in your family, this could be because you and your family have this genetic mutation. Now it can also lead to Alzheimer's and dementia. So we are at higher risk if we have this mutation. It can lead to more serious mental disorders like bipolar and schizophrenia, also Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke. I'm going to explain how it can lead to heavy metal toxicity, also migraines, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, and insomnia. So let's talk about how this causes all these issues, especially sleep issues. So the M-T-H-F-R gene helps make methyl folate and methyl folate is a main driver of the methylation cycle, which as I mentioned is part of phase two liver detox. It helps break down chemicals. So having this defective M-T-H-F-R gene or if it's acting dirty, then that's going to impair detoxification through the methylation pathway. So then you can't break down environmental toxins as well as you should be able to.


So since heavy metals are one of the main toxins that gets to toxified through this pathway, individuals with a mutation have a difficult time. Excreting heavy metals and heavy metals are one the things I test for with the hair tissue mineral analysis that I do. And so I know if someone has a lot of heavy metals, I mean we definitely want to make sure that they aren't being exposed to them, but also that they're probably having issues with methylation because of the M-T-H-F-R gene as well. Now hormones are also detoxified through this pathway. So individuals with this mutation may have issues with hormone metabolism, so you might produce more toxic estrogen metabolites and that builds up instead of the protective ones. And it could lead to something called estrogen dominance where estrogen is higher than progesterone in women and higher than testosterone in men. And that is usually because of liver detox issues, especially methylation where your body can't get rid of the estrogen.


So it builds up instead of it leaving the body, it builds up and recirculates and increases estrogen levels and then that can lead to different hormone imbalances that can directly lead to sleep issues. I mean estrogen dominance can directly lead to insomnia. Heavy metals are also going to directly lead to sleep issues as well because they're toxic. And when your body isn't able to get rid of them, they build up, they accumulate in the brain and the liver and other organs and they can cause a lot of issues. And then another way this affects sleep is when you aren't methylating properly, when you aren't detoxing properly and your liver has more toxins than it can handle, it's actually the middle of the night when it's doing most of its work of detoxification. And so when there are more toxins than it can handle, those toxins are circulating around, they cause a lot of inflammation.


And then your body releases cortisol to deal with that inflammation because cortisol is an anti-inflammatory hormone. But cortisol also wakes us up and gives us energy and makes our mind race. And so we don't want to be releasing any cortisol at night. We only want to be releasing it during the day at the right times of day. So this is how this M-T-H-F-R gene affects methylation and can lead to sleep issues because of this buildup of toxins, because of hormone imbalance that it can cause. Now methylation is also necessary for neurotransmitter production. So neurotransmitters are another thing I look at and test for because if you don't have enough serotonin or GABA or melatonin, you're not going to feel calm and relaxed and able to sleep. This lack of neurotransmitters, which I see in almost all of our clients, that can be from lack of methylation or this M-T-H-F-R mutation.


So this is another way it's affecting sleep. Now, it also affects glutathione production, which is necessary. That's like the master liver nutrient. It affects thyroid health, it can affect pregnancy and methylation is also supposed to clear excess histamine from the bloodstream. So under methylators may be more sensitive to histamine, and histamine is an excitatory neurotransmitter that can build up and affect sleep as well. So there all these different ways that this mutation or if this gene is acting dirty, can affect sleep. But this doesn't mean again, that you're destined just because you have the M-T-H-F-R gene that you're destined to sleep issues and all of these other symptoms that I mentioned, again with a healthy diet lifestyle and other things which I'll get into now, this is what you can do to not turn this gene on. So it's really important to eat nutrient dense whole foods.


So processed foods are often fortified with synthetic folic acid. So folic acid is definitely something you want to avoid no matter what, but especially if you have this mutation. So folic acid is a cheap synthetic version of folate and it's ineffective and actually really detrimental for people with the M-T-H-F-R snp. So it's found in fortified foods like especially you'll see it in bread where there's enriched wheat flour. And so they've added B vitamins to that, but they're adding folic acid, not folate. Many supplements, especially lesser quality supplements are also going to have folic acid. So you only want to be getting supplements with folate and probably even methyl folate if you don't know if you have this mutation. It's estimated about 50% of the population does, but it can't hurt to go ahead and get the methylated form so that your body can actually use it.


So that's just something to look for, especially in multivitamins and B complex to make sure that it doesn't have folic acid. Now, it's also really important to eat organic foods. So you don't want foods where the animals are given hormones or antibiotics. You don't want to be exposed to pesticides from foods because your body's going to have a harder time breaking those down if you have this mutation. So you really want to avoid exposure to chemicals, pesticides, and other environmental toxins like heavy metals. So drinking high quality, filtered water is super important. A brita filter, a pure filter, your refrigerated filter is not enough unfortunately. So you want to look for something that is also able to filter out heavy metals because all tap water has heavy metals. I live in Wilson, Wyoming. That's supposedly one of the best water qualities in the world. It tastes great, but there are still heavy metals there.


I actually had really high uranium from drinking tap water here for years because in the mountains where I live, there's a lot of uranium in the soil, and so it's getting into our water. If you have any kind of mercury fillings and you want to get those removed by a biological dentist, you want to avoid high mercury species of fish and especially avoid farm fish. You want to avoid aluminum that's in antiperspirant and cookware, and you really want to avoid chemicals in your cleaning products and your personal care products as much as possible. So yeah, reducing your exposure to these toxins is really going to help. Now, you also want to eat folate rich foods, especially leafy greens. So leafy greens such as kale, arugula, collared greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, romaine lettuce, as well as asparagus, broccoli, and avocados naturally contain high amounts of folate.


Now, I don't recommend eating a lot of raw kale and collared greens in some of those greens because they can be high in oxalates and other things. So I do recommend cooking those, but having a lot of leafy greens in your diet is really important, and that's something I just have with breakfast every day. I tend to have some nitrate-free organic sausage. I have some other veggies, I have some leafy greens and a little bit of organic fruit, and that's usually my breakfast. Now, you could also consider supplementing with methylfolate. I actually though believe in testing instead of guessing, and you don't necessarily just because you have this mutation need to supplement with this all the time, especially if you don't have any symptoms of this mutation. And then it can really help to avoid drugs and medications which deplete folate and or vitamin B12.


So metformin, methotrexate, nitrous oxide or the lapping gas from the dentist, acid blockers and antacids and oral contraceptives can all deplete folate or vitamin B12. So you definitely want to avoid those. You want to monitor your homocysteine levels with a blood test. It can definitely help to support detoxification, which with Epsom salt bass, infrared sauna, dry brushing, liver cleanses, lymph exercise, things like that. And I have another episode specifically about how to do that and it can help to support antioxidants and glutathione especially. So in the Complete Sleep Solution program, one of the things I'm assessing for is are how your genes are acting up, including the M-T-H-F-R gene. So instead of doing a genetics test on everyone, because again, it matters how your genes are acting up, not necessarily what you're predisposed to. So if you have a lot of symptoms of the MT HR mutation, then right away that's something we look at in the intake questionnaire.


So right away we will recommend a supplement and other ways to support methylation and detox. And just doing that can help your sleep really quickly because again, it's going to help your body be able to clear the toxins, the heavy metals, the chemicals and things like that that can be affecting your sleep and the hormones that could be building up and all of that. So I do lab testing, but I also do different assessments to screen for different things so that we don't have to take 10 different tests, like there are things I can tell from symptoms as to whether you need that support or not. And then the tests a lot of times will correlate with lack of methylation, especially low neurotransmitters or different neurotransmitter imbalances. The Dutch tests that I use to look at for cortisol and hormones also shows how methylation is working.


And every time so far, the symptoms that I've seen from the beginning in the intake questionnaire totally correlate with what the test results are showing. So then we know exactly what to recommend to help you get better. So if that is something you are interested in and doing the testing, finding out for sure what is causing your sleep issues so that you can sleep well, then the first step is to schedule a consultation with me. This is free, it's about a 45 minute call on Zoom so we can meet each other. You will fill out a quick questionnaire before the call so I know what kind of sleep issues you're dealing with, what kind of health issues you're dealing with, how long you've been dealing with these things, and what you've tried so far. And I'll really be able to pinpoint, because most people who come to me, they've tried lots of different things.


They've gone to their regular doctor, they might've even gone to other more alternative practitioners. Maybe they've tried cognitive behavioral therapy, they've tried different supplements, different gadgets, different sleep trackers, like all the things. And nothing has worked. It doesn't mean that you can't get better, it just means that things have been missed, the root cause of why you weren't sleeping has been missed. So I'll be able to pinpoint on the call what has been missed and how the tests and the I use in the Complete Sleep Solution program will find everything that's causing your sleep issues. And then you can consistently sleep seven to nine hours the amount of sleep that you want and wake up feeling rested naturally without needing any kind of drugs or even a ton of supplements to sleep every night. So schedule a consultation today and either way, I will talk to you next week. Thanks so much for listening.

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