MTHFR.com The Ultimate Source for Optimal Health MTHFR TOP TEN LIST OF WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE A MUTATION

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1 MTHFR TOP TEN LIST OF WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE A MUTATION

2 01 WHO SHOULD GET TESTED Everyone should know if they have an MTHFR mutation. You only need to get tested once in your life because your DNA will never change. Encourage your entire family to get tested. The most convenient way is a simple saliva test through a buccal swab. Even babies can be tested without pain or discomfort. The most important alleles of MTHFR are: C677T and A1298C. If you have a mutation you still need to determine the right dosage. Based on what type of SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) you have, a different dosage of methylfolate (short for 5-L-methyltetrahydrofolate) is needed. The best types of methylafolate recommended are 5L or 6S. Consult your doctor to find out how much you should be taking. A homozygous mutation will require higher dosage than a heterozygous. Regardless of the mutation you should refrain from mega dosages for long periods of time. As always, consult your doctor. To get tested for MTHFR and COMT request a home test kit from com. Dozens of conditions have been associated with MTHFR mutations. To find out if a specific condition has been linked to MTHFR just type the name of the condition in our search box under our research section. We have listed over 12,000 research studies.

3 02 DON T TRY TO TREAT YOURSELF It sounds tempting. Sometimes your doctor doesn t quite understand and may even dismiss your concern as unimportant. But you know MTHFR is an important factor on your health. You may be tempted to consult Dr. Google. Resist the urge. MTHFR is very complex for even the most trained physician. For a lay person it is almost impossible to formulate a correct prescription. You may feel momentarily better, but almost certainly you will feel your body breaking down again in a short period of time. Consult a health care practitioner that specializes in MTHFR and you feel a connection with. Listen to your gut feeling and form a partnership with the practitioner. Follow one person at a time, unless they are working together as a team. Many MTHFR practitioners have different approaches to health. There is more than one pathway to achieve results. By switching from one method to another and back again will disrupt the healing process. Stick with one person for a period of time. If you don t get any results in a couple of months, than you may consider switching. If you do switch, stick with the next person for at least a couple of months. Following one method at a time will give you the best chances of success. To find a qualified MTHFR practitioner go to our Directory, we have a comprehensive list to help you.

4 03 HEALTHY GUT IS THE KEY 80% of your immune system is in your gut. Over 90% of serotonin is located in the gut. Because your gut is unable to produce certain nutrients on its own, you need to supplement. One of the best ways to make sure your gut is healthy is by eating fermented food and homemade broth. Do not use Canola or corn oils as they are likely genetic modified. In order to absorb the foods that are rich in folate your digestion needs to be working properly. You are not what you eat, you are what you are able to absorb. That is also true when taking supplements. If your digestive system is not functioning well you will not fully absorb the supplements you are taking. Supplements differ from food because unlike foods what you are not able to metabolize may become endogenous toxins and your body will need to expel and detoxify. If you are already having problems with methylation and methylation governs intracellular detoxification, before considering adding supplements make sure your gut is healthy and your digestive system is up to the task of metabolizing what you are taking. Otherwise it may overwhelm your methylation even more. Try acupuncture. One of the most powerful tools to fix your gut is Chinese medicine (acupuncture and Chinese herbs). In most cases the first step in correcting methylation is to start by healing the Gut. Without a properly functioning gut it will be hard to achieve long term results.

5 04 AVOID FOLIC ACID MTHFR is responsible for the metabolization of all types of folate including Folic Acid. If you have a mutation it means that your function in metabolization of Folic Acid may be diminished. Any un-metabolized nutrient will become endogenous toxic material for your body to detoxify including un-metabolized Folic Acid. It is imperative that you replace Folic Acid for Methyl folate to bypass your MTHFR mutation. If your doctor prescribed your Folic Acid you must discuss this with your doctor. Make sure your doctor is well versed in MTHFR and methylation. Avoid processed foods as they may contain Folic Acid.

6 05 Increase the amount of leafy greens you eat. Make sure everything you purchase is organic. One of the major functions of methylation is detoxification and a mutation on MTHFR will likely affect your methylation. By consuming only organic products you will reduce the amount of toxins going inside your body. The foods where people get most of their toxins from are vegetables. If it is not labeled organic chances are the product has been sprayed with pesticides and your body will absorb the toxins. Leafy greens contain large amounts of folate, which is very beneficial for MTHFR patients. Anyone with a MTHFR mutation should include green leafy vegetables in all meals. Make sure to have the following foods in your diet: Beef liver Beans of any type Lentils Spinach Asparagus OPTIMIZE YOUR DIET Lettuce, especially Romaine Avocado Broccoli Tropical fruits especially mango Oranges

7 06 ELIMINATE ALL FORMS OF TOXICITY Because MTFHR makes you susceptible to environmental toxins, it is important to keep your surroundings as clean as possible. Chemicals present in plastic or cleaning products can prove to be very harmful for people with MTFHR mutations. Reduce your use of plastics, especially in items that touch your food. Use all-natural cleaning products. Houseplants can help clean your home's air. When dealing with toxicity the solution is twofold: eliminate/reduce toxic exposure and optimize methylation. Eliminate toxins from food (Read chapter 05); Avoid regular cosmetics. There are over 200 chemicals in cosmetics. Whenever possible chose a brand of organic cosmetics. If possible install a water filter for the house. Our water system also contains over 100 chemicals including recycled medications like Prozac, estrogen etc. Our skin is the biggest organ in our body and toxins absorbed through the skin go right into the blood stream. Avoid radiation and electromagnetic exposure whenever possible. When going to sleep, turn off your cell phone (don t leave it charging next to your head), turn off your computer including the router. Wi-Fi is constantly broadcasting electromagnetic waves. Avoid stressful situations and people. Emotional toxins are also toxic material. It will break down your body and disrupt methylation. Get rid of that stressful person in your life. Do something that makes you happy at least once per week. Happiness supports methylation. A good source to help you avoid GMO when you are grocery shopping is an app called NXTRANET (for iphones). The app scans the barcode of the product and gives you the information. Very useful.

8 07 EXERCISE REGULARLY A research in Sweden in 2012 has shown that exercise can change DNA methylation. It is suggested that regular exercise may be able to change the entire genome of a person. Three to five times a week is recommended. Although the research shows short-term changes, it does indicate that if you exercise a lot and you make these epigenetic changes, you wouldn t just change your short-term expression, but in the long-term, change your genome. We all know that exercise is vital for our health but what research has shown is that is also vital for our methylation. Since epigenetic changes to our DNA has been shown to pass from one generation to the next, it is even more important to keep a regular exercise routine in order to make those long-term changes to our DNA to change our entire genome. Although no research to date has studied how much exercise is needed based on a heterozygous or homozygous mutation of the MTHFR gene we suggest that the more mutations you have the more of a need for exercise. Consult your doctor to discuss what would be the best type and intensity of exercise for your condition. An individualized approach is very important. If you want to lose weight, check your levels of cortisol as this is a fat storing hormone. You want to avoid exercising if/when your cortisol levels are above normal as it will make it harder for you to lose weight. Cortisol fluctuates during the day therefore the most accurate way to test is by checking your cortisol levels four times per day through a saliva test. Request a Cortisol Test Kit at and find out what is the best for you the exercise in order to lose weight.

9 08 START WITH SUPPLEMENTS SLOWLY When trying new supplements always start slowly and with a low dosage. If you are about to try new supplements try one at a time for a few days before adding another or increasing the dosage. Patients that start with multiple supplements often won t know which one is actually helping. It is better to isolate them so you know which one helped you the most. That is also true for different types of therapy. Chose one to start and after you reached a plateau you may add the other. With regards to the dosage when patients start at a high dosage it may actually throw them into over methylation. It is always better to increase the dosage gradually to determine the best dosage for you. A high dosage of a supplement can be called a prescription dosage. Nutrients will affect the intended biochemical cycle but it will also affect hundreds of others you are not aware of. As mentioned in section 2, don t try it yourself, let your doctor coach you on how much and what to take. It is more complex than you think. Take B12 for example. Many basic protocols for MTHFR mutation include a combination of Methylfolate and B12 (Cobalamin). However what most people don t realize is that there are four types of B12 (cyanocobalamin, methylcobalamin, hydroxocobalamin and adenosylcobalamin). You need to know which one is the most suitable for your genome. Not everyone can handle the methylcobalamin and it may make you feel worse. Let your doctor guide you. Often people with COMT homozygous mutation will not handle methylcobalamin well. Depending on the mutation your treatment or supplement intake can vary greatly. If you have done 23andme or ancestry.com you may get your MTHFR or COMT results through our Methylation Health Report.

10 09 Most medications will have a negative effect on methylation. Virtually all medications will deplete a specific nutrient that serves as a cofactor for a particular biochemical process in your body. It is inevitable that the safest medication in the lowest dosage will eventually deplete methylation. Discuss with your doctor possible alternatives to the medication. More often than you might think, it is possible to achieve results through proper nutrition and lifestyle, nutrigenomics, alternative medicine, exercise, meditation etc. A good resource to find out about what nutrients are being depleted by a medication you are taking is Just type the name of the medication and it will give you the depleted nutrients. Have you heard of Polypharmacy syndrome? Patients that take at least five medications have 100% chance of developing side effects. The more medications you take the more disrupted will be your methylation. There are so many alternatives to many common prescribed medications. Consult with your doctor to discuss your options. Knowledge is Power. AVOID UNNECESSARY MEDICATION

11 10 DON T PANIC AND START BREATHING! MTHFR is a very important gene and its mutations may affect your health in many different ways. Luckily in most cases there are many ways to help the body handle the mutations and compensate for the lack of function. Stress is a major biological stressor for the body. If you let stress take over your mind you will likely place more burden on your methylation. Take a deep breath. Breathing is one of the most important and neglected part of our health. You can survive 30 days without food, 7 days without water but no more than 4 minutes without air. Breathe in with your abdomen. As you breathe in your abdomen should become full and as you breathe out your abdomen empties. Breathe slowly to feel the air slowly nourishing your gut. There are many treatments for MTHFR mutations. Practice yoga breathing techniques.

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