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Welcome back to Chasing Eden, the show where we rediscover
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health and harmony through a mix of ancient wisdom and
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modern science. I'm your host, Carolyn Thompson. Today we're tackling
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a hidden cause of anxiety that may be affecting you
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or someone you love without you even knowing. According to
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human biologist Gary Brecca, up to forty percent of the
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world's population carries a genetic mutation that impairs how your
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body processes fulate. It's called the mthfr mutation, and it
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can lead to something called methylation deficiency. Why does that matter, Well,
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because methylation touches almost every system in your body, from
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how you make neual transmitters like serotonin and dopamine, to
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how you detoxify, to how calm or anxious you might
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feel every single day. If you've been struggling with unexplained anxiety, depression,
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brain fog, or fatigue, this episode could shine a light
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on the missing piece. We'll talk about the symptoms, how
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to test for it, and most importantly, what difference the
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right supplementation can make for you. So stay tuned because
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by the end of this episode, you'll understand how a
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tiny genetic change could have massive effects on your mood,
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your mind, and your life. So what is the methylation mutation. Well,
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here's some methylation basics that we're going to talk about.
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Methylation is a biochemical process where your body adds a
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methyl group that's one carbon and three hydrogens to a molecule.
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It sounds small, it may seem insignificant, but it's actually
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foundational for your health and mental well being. Without efficient methylation,
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your body can struggle with so many things like making
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neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and nera epinephrine, detoxifying your hormones
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and your toxins, producing energy at the cellular level, repairing
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your DNA, and the MTHFR gene. Now, the MTHFR gene
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codes for an enzyme that actually helps convert folic acid
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into methyl fol eight. This is the active form that
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your body actually uses. Mutations in this gene can slow
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down the process and leave you short in the methyl groups.
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Gary Brecca's statistic, He says this about forty percent of
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the global population carries some form of the mthfr mutation,
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and many of them don't know it. For these individuals,
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folic acid in fortified foods does more harm than good
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because they can't convert it properly. So the key point
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here is that people with this mutation don't just need
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more folate, they need the right form of folate, which
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is methyl folate. So here are some symptoms of methyl
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folate deficiency when the body can't methylate properly. The symptoms
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look like several things mental health and mood. They can
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cause chronic anxiety depression, resistant to standard treatments. It can
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give you racing thoughts and panic attacks. It can cause
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irritability and mood swings. It also can affect your cognitive
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and neurological processes. It can give you brain fog. It
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can cause poor memory and concentration. It can cause you
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to have difficulty handling the stress in your life. And
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that's just basic stuff that other people might think is
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no big deal, like maybe trying to find a parking
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space in a busy parking lot, or perhaps being just
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a few minutes late to an appointment, or maybe just
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having to deal with traffic. Other people might be able
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to just blow that off or handle it normal. But
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somebody with this particular deficiency is it's going to be
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a much bigger deal to them. There are physical symptoms
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that are very important and a lot of people suffer from.
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Now keep in mind he did say forty percent of
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the population has this mutation. That's a significant amount. It
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can cause fatigue, muscle aches, headaches and or migraines, insomnia.
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It can cause higher homocysteine levels, which are linked to
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your cardiovascular health, and as Gary Bereca says, if you
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have the mt HFR mutation, your neurotransmitters are starved. You're
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not making serotonin and dopamine efficiently, which means you wake
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up anxious, overwhelmed, and you don't know why. So here's
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an example. If you're someone who eats healthy, exercises and
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even takes multi vitamins, but you still feel chronically anxious
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and foggy, you may unknowingly be taking folic acid that
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you cannot process. It's really important that you test for
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this mutation, so there is genetic testing. Direct to consumer
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DNA tests like twenty three in meters or ancestry can
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also show the MTFR variants. Functional medicine doctors often run
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targeted panels. Functional medicine doctors are becoming more common in
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the cities now that they didn't used to We didn't
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used to have that many of them, but I'm noticing
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more and more I'm hearing about them near me. I'm
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hearing about several of them, and they're becoming a norm now.
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A lot of people are starting to go to functional
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medicine doctors. You typically pay out of pocket for them.
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As far as my experiences, they're not as expensive as
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you might expect, So don't necessarily throw out that possibility
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for yourself. Do a church and find some function medicine
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doctors nearby you, or maybe a little ways out if
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you have to drive. Make a few phone calls see
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if you can't find somebody who could run this test
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for you at a reasonable cost. Blood work is another
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way that they will test for the mutation. Homo sistine levels.
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High homoisting often signals poor methylation, so they will oftentimes
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will test you your homo sistine levels. Your full eight
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and B twelve levels can also indicate this. Your blood
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levels may look normal even if your cells can't use
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them properly. A functional medicine doctor is going to be
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able to spot that. Gary Bereca's approach is he's a biologist,
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is a human biologist, and he's very knowledgeable. He's done
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a lot of interviews. He's been on The Joe Rogan
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Show a few times. You might want to go look
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up the earliest show and just listen to the shows
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building up to it. You're gonna get a lot of information,
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a lot of encouragement. It's gonna make a lot more
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sense when you hear him talk about it. He emphasizes
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testing homocysteine, methyl melanic acid, and specific gene markers. He says,
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the data doesn't lie. Your biochemistry tells the story of
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your mental health. Supplementation can make a huge difference in
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your mental and physical health. You don't want to take
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that for granted. Methyl fol eight, also known as five
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mt HF, the active form of folate your body needs.
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It helps lower homocystine, boost neurotransmitter production, and stabilize your mood.
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The dosage varies. It's often four hundred mcgs to five
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hundred milligrams or five milligrams. I'm sorry, four hundred mcgs
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to five milligrams, but it's best guy testiny by getting
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tested and having a recommendation by a practitioner. Other key
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methylation nutrients methyl cobalomin, which is just B twelve it
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works with folate in neurotransmitter production. Vitamin B six it's
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a cofactor in neurotransmitter pathways, and vitamin B twelve also
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helps with the MTHFR function. Now this is a big one.
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I've done another podcast just only on magnesium. Magnesium is
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essential for methylation reactions. Gary Bereca says this, when someone
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with mt HFR deficient deficiency takes methyl folate and methyl
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B twelve, the lights turn on, anxiety lifts, sleep improves,
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and energy comes back, often within weeks. There's a lot
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of success stories out there. Gary has a video I
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believe it's on his Instagram. It is I think it's
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called The Ultimate Human. I can't remember for sure, but
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it's Gary Breca, human biologist. And there are testimonials where
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people talk about, for instance, this one gentleman's daughter who
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had chronic anxiety who went from total anxiety and introverted
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to yelling across the barn at her horse instructor, and
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many other success stories like that one. People have reported
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reduced panic attacks, improved mood, stability, and clearer thinking and energy.
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So consider the genetic testing or the functional lab panels.
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Now avoid follic acid in fortified foods are multivitamins and
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choose the methyl full eight instead. If you're just going
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to go run and grab a full AI supplement, pick
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the methyl folate one. Your lifestyle can help support your results.
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Eating leafy greens, asparagus, and liver, which is a natural
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source of folate, can be very beneficial. Keep in mind
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that alcohol use will deplete your full eate levels. Manage
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your stress. As your stress goes up, your methyl groups
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are eaten up in the body. It's really important for
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you to work with a practitioner, especially if you have
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a history of mood disorders, infertility, or cardiovascular disease. Anxiety
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doesn't always come from trauma, stress, or circumstance. Sometimes it
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comes from chemistry. If nearly forty percent of the world
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carries a genetic mutation that affect how we process folate,
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then millions of people are waking up every single day
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with the brain and body running on empty through no
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fault of their own. Oftentimes, these people will go seek
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out the help of psychiatrists and psychologists and end up
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on a medication for depression or anxiety or whatever else
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they might be feeling, and it's the wrong remedy. It
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could just be something as simple as a nutritional deficiency.
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The good news is this awareness leads to action. Testing
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can uncover the hidden mutation. The right form of supplementation
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like methyl folate, methyl BE twelve, and nutrients that support
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you can transform your anxiety into clarity and your panic
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into peace. As Gary Breca says, biology doesn't guess, it reveals.
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If this episode helped you connect the dots, please subscribe
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to the Chasing Eden podcast and share it with someone
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who struggles with unexplained anxiety, and don't forget to visit
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our website Chasing Eden dot net for more resources and
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recommendations to help you take your next steps. Until next time,
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remember your genes are not your destiny. They are simply
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the garden you're given. With the right nourishment, even anxious
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soil can grow peace.