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hello and welcome
i'm dr raj shreen abboudrapod and
today's video is all about
mthfr how many of you have heard of
mthfr before
well it stands for
methyltetrahydrofolate reductase
it's an enzyme that plays a key role in
methylation in detoxification
in every cell of your body
mthfr is front and center in so many key
metabolic pathways in your body
for example it can affect how your liver
detoxifies
how you clear out neurotransmitters in
your brain how you clear hormones
and also how you remove inflammatory
molecules from accumulating in the body
before we delve into all the fun and
exciting biochemistry
let me introduce you to some of my
patients
here we have stacy who is a 43 year old
woman suffering from chronic migraines
next we have henry who is a 55 year old
man with high blood pressure
is a 15 year old girl with anxiety and
depression
george is a 67 year old man struggling
with his weight and diabetes
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finally we have jennifer a 28 year old
woman struggling with fibromyalgia and
chronic fatigue
so what do these patients have in common
well
they all suffer from a mutation in their
mthfr
gene and this affects the efficiency of
the mthfr
enzyme in every cell of their body
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having a mutation in the mthfr gene is
associated with numerous health
conditions
such as chronic fatigue fibromyalgia
heart disease stroke high blood pressure
cancers dementia headaches
mood disorders like anxiety and
depression
adhd addiction autism
infertility weight issues and diabetes
autoimmune disease and chemical
sensitivities
so what does mthfr do in your body
well i told you the biochemistry was
coming
so here we have the mthfr enzyme
i included this diagram just to show how
interconnected
all the biochemical pathways are in your
body
so a defect in your mthfr gene can
affect your production of brain
neurotransmitters
like dopamine and serotonin
it definitely affects your
detoxification pathways
so big picture is that mthfr is crucial
it's front and center and influences so
many metabolic pathways in every cell of
your body
so what exactly is methylation
this takes us back to organic chemistry
but a methyl group is actually a carbon
molecule
attached to three hydrogen molecules
so methylation is the biochemical
pathway where a methyl group gets added
to another substance
it may sound simple but it's actually a
big deal
let me give you some examples
this is one of the most important
pathways controlled by the mthfr
enzyme it converts
folate which is vitamin b9 that's found
in
food like broccoli and spinach to the
active form of folate known as
methylfolate
and this is the form that your body can
utilize
are you familiar with homocysteine
as many of my patients know this is one
of the tests i love to order on your
blood work
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homocysteine is methylated by mthfr
to the essential amino acid methionine
it's really important this process
happened because if homocysteine
accumulates in your body
it creates inflammation and can put you
at a higher risk of heart attack
stroke as well as dementia
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your homocysteine level on your blood
work tells me a lot about how you're
methylating
and my goal is to help you get the
homocysteine as low as possible
with an ideal level being around six
here's a diagram showing how all of
these pathways are interconnected
so if something is off with your mthfr
it creates a domino effect
affecting all the other pathways
so let's put it all together as you can
see homocysteine
is methylated to methionine folate is
methylated to methylfolate
as you can see these pathways also tie
in with your production of brain
neurotransmitters
such as serotonin and dopamine that's
why a mutation in the mthfr gene
is associated with mood disorders like
anxiety
depression as well as addiction
finally the methylation cycle is also
tied in with the production of
glutathione
which is the master antioxidant and
detoxifier in your body
so what's your mthfr genotype
there are several genes which control
the mthfr enzyme
and for each gene you have two alleles
or copies
you get one copy from your mother and
the other copy from your father
the two main variants of the mthfr gene
are c677t and a1298c
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between the two of these the c677t
variant
is the more clinically significant one
meaning it can cause more problems
like higher homocysteine and more
symptoms
did you know that 50 of the population
has one or more abnormal copies
of one of the mthfr genes
now let me show you the different
genotype possibilities
let's look at the c677 variant which is
the more clinically significant one
if you have two normal copies of this
gene we call this homozygous normal
this is the ideal scenario meaning your
mthfr enzyme has no mutation
if you have one normal and one abnormal
copy of this gene
we call this heterozygous this reduces
the efficiency of your mthfr enzyme by
about 30 percent
finally if you have two abnormal copies
of this gene
this is called homozygous abnormal
unfortunately this reduces the
efficiency of your mthfr enzyme
by about 70 percent
the mthfr genes are passed on generation
to generation
here we have a mother and father who are
both heterozygous for the mthfr gene
meaning they have one normal copy and
one abnormal copy
both of their sons are also heterozygous
but unfortunately their daughter got two
abnormal copies of the gene
here's the good news your genes are not
your destiny
epigenetics means we can change the
expression of your genes
through your lifestyle this is exactly
the philosophy of integrative medicine
and that's what i like to focus on with
my patients
the first step is finding out let's test
for your mthfr gene
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one way to test is to do a 23andme from
your saliva
you then have to download your raw
genetic data and then you can upload it
to a company like genetic genie
to get a report on all your genes
this can be a lot of steps for some
people so to make it easy
i now offer the mthfr gene by a quick
and easy blood draw in our office
knowing your mthfr genotype allows you
to be more proactive about your health
and it also gives you information about
what you may be passing on to your
children
so you can decide if they should be
tested as well
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regardless of your genetics what can we
do to boost your mthfr
enzyme methyl b
complex is like rocket fuel for your
mthfr enzyme
that's because the b vitamins are
cofactors in all the methylation
pathways
you want to make sure the folate in your
b complex is methylated as methylfolate
and that the b12 is methylated as
methylcobalamin
this is especially important if you have
an mthfr gene mutation
because it helps bypass the step of
methylation
methyl b complex is one of the most
important vitamins that i recommend to
my patients
it's the stress vitamin and by boosting
your methylation pathways
it also increases your brain's
production of serotonin and dopamine
which are the feel-good
neurotransmitters making you feel calmer
and also reducing your carb and sugar
cravings
be sure to check your b complex to make
sure it's methylated
so the b9 or folate should be as
methylfolate
and not as folic acid
you also want to make sure the b12 is as
methylcobalamin
and not as cyanocobalamin
the reason is if you have an mthfr gene
mutation
your body won't be able to process folic
acid
so be sure to check your multivitamin
and your prenatal vitamin as well
what's interesting is they're always
saying that pregnant women need plenty
of folic acid
to prevent neural tube birth defects but
really what would be better is
methylfolate
we'll know if your methyl b complex is
working if your homocysteine comes down
to an ideal level
of 6. for some patients i give
additional methylation support methyl
cpg
has the additional cofactor butane or
trimethylglycine
which really helps speed along
methylation and bring down homocysteine
in some patients
the b vitamins are all the cofactors in
the methylation pathways
that's why i call them rocket fuel
so first we have b9 which is
methylfolate
then we have b12 as methylcobalamin
b6 is pyridoxine and b2
is riboflavin
finally some patients need the
additional cofactor
known as betaine or trimethylglycine
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food is medicine and you can get a lot
of methylation support from your food
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the dark leafy green vegetables are rich
sources of folate
which can really help boost your
methylation pathways and bring your
homocysteine down
try to have one to two servings of leafy
green vegetables a day
this includes vegetables like spinach
kale
chard arugula and broccoli
the glutathione cycle and the
methylation cycle are interconnected
glutathione is the master antioxidant
and detoxifier in your body
it promotes all your detox pathways
especially in your liver
so everyone can benefit from glutathione
and what's interesting is i've seen a
few patients who are unable to tolerate
b vitamins
but when i gave them glutathione i saw a
significant reduction in their
homocysteine
you can choose whatever form you prefer
liposomal is a liquid form
that gets absorbed through the mucous
membranes in your mouth
and transdermal is a liquid spray that
gets absorbed through your skin
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these are the things you want to avoid
because they're going to cause your
homocysteine to go up
and put more strain on your mthfr enzyme
so they include sugar alcohol excess
animal fat
as well as smoking so let's get back to
my patients from the beginning of the
video
do you remember stacy henry sarah george
and jennifer
they all had the mthfr gene
i changed their diet to a clean whole
foods diet
with plenty of vegetables and i gave
them a methyl b
complex supplement to take every day
what's amazing is six months later stacy
was migraine free
she was thrilled that she no longer had
to take medication for her migraines
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henry was extremely happy as well
because his blood pressure normalized
and he was able to get off his blood
pressure medication
sarah's mood was now stable and she was
able to focus better on her schoolwork
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george lost 30 pounds and he also
reversed his diabetes which is amazing
jennifer finally had energy and was able
to return back to work
doing what she loved as a yoga
instructor
so here we have the key points mthfr
is an enzyme that controls methylation
and detoxification in your body
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it's helpful to know your mthfr genotype
as well as your homocysteine level
methyl b complex provides the cofactors
for the methylation pathways and helps
to bring down your homocysteine
regardless of your genetics there's a
lot we can do to prevent and reverse
disease
thanks so much for watching this video
hope you enjoyed it and please share it
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thank you again and have a wonderful day
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