Managing Your Health with MTHFR Mutations with Dr. Amy Neuzil

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This is a gene that codes for an enzyme of the same name, but what it does actually is convert the inactive forms of folate into the active form.

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So, basically, it takes this folate that your body can't use and turns it into something that is absolutely crucial for body functioning.

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Welcome to Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrigenomics, part of the Pharmacy Podcast Network, a must-have resource for pharmacist entrepreneurs seeking to enhance patient care while enjoying career and life.

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Hello and welcome to Pivoting Pharmacy of Nutrigenomics.

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I'm Dr Tamar Lawful, a doctor of pharmacy and certified nutritional genomics specialist.

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Before you listen in, I want to thank our listener of the week JG Show, who says Tamar is a wonderful host.

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She's very sincere and genuinely has a mission to help and guide people to natural means of treatment.

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I appreciate her work and passion Exceptional.

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Thank you so much, jg, for your thoughtful words and for recognizing the mission behind our podcast.

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It's listeners like you who motivate and inspire me to keep pushing the boundaries and exploring new natural avenues for health to share with our listeners.

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So remember, when you leave a five-star review, you'll get the chance to be featured as our next listener of the week and I'll give you a shout out right here on the show.

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So today we're diving into a topic that personally transformed my understanding of health and wellness, and I just can't wait to share it with you all.

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Have you ever faced persistent health issues like fatigue, anxiety or hormone imbalances that just don't seem to improve no matter what you try?

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Or perhaps you have patients who've experienced this?

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Well, you might be missing a critical piece of the puzzle the MTHFR gene mutation.

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Joining us today is Amy Neuzil, a naturopathic doctor and an MTHFR and epigenetic expert, who discovered her path through her own journey with the MTHFR mutation.

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Amy's profound health improvements upon addressing this mutation were so transformative that she was compelled to help others achieve similar breakthroughs.

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She's here to enlighten us on how these often overlooked genetic factors can significantly impact our health.

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We'll explore the MTHFR mutations, their common effects and practical steps to optimize your health by embracing the genes you were born with.

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So if you're ready to shift the way you look at your symptoms and potentially unlock a new level of vitality, this episode is for you.

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Let's listen in.

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Well, Amy, thank you for joining us on Pivoting Pharmacy with Nutrigenomics today.

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I'm so excited to speak with you and pick your brain and learn all there is to know about the MTHFR gene.

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But could you just kick us off with telling us about you and how you got to where you are now as an expert in epigenetics?

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It's been a long journey.

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So I'm a naturopathic physician and we're trained as primary care but alternative medicine.

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So we try to use drugs and surgery as a last resort instead of as a first option.

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And so initially when I started my practice, it was very much a family practice right, people would come to me for all sorts of things, but the patient population that I really drew in was a lot of women's hormone issues and a lot of mental health issues.

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So you know the anxiety, depression, insomnia triad and that seems fitting right, those are all areas where I've also struggled.

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So, you know, it makes sense that we draw the patients that are relevant to our own experience.

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Yes, that's exactly what happens, exactly, yeah.

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So one of my patients years and years ago I mean probably 15 years now came in and she had been struggling with repeat miscarriages and fertility issues and her doctor finally did some genomic testing on the fetus and found that she had an MTHFR variant, among a number of other things.

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But this was the one that the doctor kind of skimmed over, didn't really discuss.

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And so she came into my office, really just heartbroken and struggling, and she said, look, can you look into this for me?

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Like what is this thing?

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And I was like, well, I don't know, but sure, yeah.

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And so I started diving into the research and really, as I was kind of unpacking this mutation, I was like, well, okay, hold on, everything I'm reading about here is me Like this finally explains some of the issues that I couldn't tie together and some of the reasons that I went to med school in the first place, because you know, we all go to answer our own questions, right?

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So in my history I'd always had, you know, weird hormone stuff that there was no problem, right Like.

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I didn't have a diagnosis, it wasn't endometriosis, it wasn't anything like that, but it wasn't right, you know.

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And then mental health stuff, right Like.

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I have anxiety.

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I have rumination why?

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Well, nobody really knows.

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I have ongoing soft tissue pain, structural pain.

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No diagnosis, it just exists, right.

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So, as it turns out, the thing that ties all of these things together is this one mutation, this one genetic polymorphism, is this one mutation, this one genetic polymorphism?

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And it's also linked to things like difficult conception, repeat miscarriages, infertility for both men and women, heart disease, stroke all sorts of consequences that seem like they're not connected, but they are.

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So that was basically how I really started to learn about MTHFR.

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And then from there, of course, in my patient population, I was like well, some of what I'm seeing in you is kind of red flagging me for this.

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So I started testing people and started actually diving into the research more and more and more, and I found out roughly 80% of my patient population had MTHFR issues, and when I started addressing them, then we started seeing changes in things that weren't moving before that.

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So it ended up being a game changer and really changing the direction of my practice.

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I think that is so interesting.

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First off, thank you for sharing your story with us.

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It's interesting that you came across potential issues or understanding that your MTHFR gene had a role in how you were feeling all these years because of what your patient presented with and it took you down that path.

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It always happens that way, right, I learn so much from my patients.

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Yeah, exactly, it's the way information comes in.

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So, yeah, yeah, I actually.

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I called that patient after the fact and I was like you're going to laugh.

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But thanks, yeah, yeah.

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Okay, so you've mentioned many different symptoms that someone with the MTHFR gene might have, but could we back up a little bit and can you explain to our audience what the MTHFR gene is and its actual function within the body?

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Absolutely so.

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This is a gene that codes for an enzyme of the same name, that's methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase.

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Nobody needs to know that it's just a mouthful, but what it does actually is convert the inactive forms of folate into the active form, which is also a mouthful it's L5-methyltetrahydrofolate.

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So basically it takes this folate that your body can't use and turns it into something that is absolutely crucial for body functioning, and so folate the classic thing to think about is genetics.

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Right, folate is very involved every time we're replicating our genes, which is why it's so important in fertility and childbirth and that sort of thing.

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But actually the biggest thing with MTHFR is not even the folate, so folate is just a cog in another really important cycle called the methylation cycle.

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Methylation is like this background process that we do all over the body almost everywhere, and sometimes it's basically just moving this little chemical group called a methyl group.

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That's a carbon with three hydrogens, so it looks like a mutant Mickey mouse head, mickey mouse with three ears.

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So we move this little methyl group onto things and that modifies the thing in some way.

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That's really crucial.

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So when we move a methyl group, say, onto seroton, we get melatonin.

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If you can't move that methyl group, you don't get melatonin.

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If we move a methyl group onto estrogen, it helps to allow that estrogen to be eliminated, and if you can't move that methyl group, you can't eliminate estrogen.

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These are two out of thousands of examples.

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But the most important thing we methylate is our genes.

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So methylating a gene turns it off, meaning if you have a cancer promoter gene and you want it turned off, you better be able to methylate.

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That is really where MTHFR becomes so, so pivotal, because all of these background, foundational processes that need to happen can't happen if you can't methylate.

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Methylation is so important for our bodies to function.

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Thank you for explaining the MTHFR gene, Amy, and the importance of it.

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Now you mentioned the methylation process and how the inability for it to function properly can cause different types of issues or health issues.

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So can you tell us some of the most common types of the MTHFR mutations and how they typically affect individuals' health?

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As you mentioned, it's serotonin, melatonin, estrogen.

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Is there anything else and how would someone present if they have that mutation?

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So it's a really big question because, again, methylation is such a foundational issue that it affects kind of everything globally, right.

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But there is a typical MTHFR personality and I'll get to that in a minute.

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But in terms of what people actually come to see me for, it's usually again the mental health stuff, right?

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So anxiety, insomnia again the mental health stuff, right.

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So anxiety, insomnia, depression, also fatigue Fatigue is probably the number one symptom.

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But it's so vague, right, fatigue is the number one symptom of like everything, so that doesn't help.

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But then also, like kids with behavioral issues, that's very often an MTHFR underlier.

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Any sort of focus like ADD, adhd issue very often has an MTHFR underlier.

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Also, the risk of autism is higher with MTHFR.

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So sometimes autistic kiddos can be benefited by working with that.

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But then there's this also other chunk where, because MTHFR is not working, something called homocysteine is high and so that creates conditions like heart attacks, stroke, all of the cardiovascular diseases, increased risk of Alzheimer's, dementia, so there's that whole spectrum of things.

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Also worse outcomes, even in COVID-19.

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So if somebody in the family had a really mysteriously bad, bad time with COVID could have been an MTHFR issue actually, like their homocysteine could have been high and then also linked to higher levels of inflammation, right?

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Because one of the things that we see with MTHFR I mean A homocysteine when it gets high links to inflammation, but also we just see higher levels of inflammatory proteins generally.

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So that's the like mysterious body pains, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, higher incidence of autoimmune disorders, that sort of thing.

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And then because of the DNA methylation issues, we also see higher incidences of some kinds of cancer.

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So pick your poison here.

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It links into everything.

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Everything.

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It might seem scary and overwhelming when you think about that.

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Right, if you have this mutation, how much it can really impact?

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So the next natural question is well, what can we do about it?

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So much?

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That's the best.

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Thing about MTHFR.

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It's like there's this fix for it.

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So if you have this mutation, it'suitive that a problem with folate metabolism might want to make you avoid the most common form of folate.

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But folic acid actually makes that conversion process into active folate slower and less effective.

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We don't have a ton of research around this because unfortunately these studies haven't been done yet, but in a mouse model of mthfr what they found was that the higher the folic acid exposure, the slower that gene well, the enzyme that the gene codes for actually functions.

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So more folic acid equals less active folate.

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That is not the case with natural folate from food sources.

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So things like beans, lentils, dark green leafy vegetables, avocados, asparagus, those things we metabolize that folate reasonably effectively.

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Also not the case with folinic acid which is available in supplements and prescriptions, also as a yeast byproduct, like in nutritional yeast.

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That's unfortified that sort of thing.

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But in terms of avoiding folic acid it's actually a little bit hard in the Western world because we fortify food with folic acid.

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The biggest thing is wheat products, breads, grains, all of your pastries, pasta, that sort of thing is all fortified.

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Even if you buy your own flour, it's fortified.

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It comes pre-fortified, yay, except not yay for mthfr.

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So avoiding folic acid is actually kind of a challenge because it's in all of this fortified food.

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Orange juice, for whatever reason.

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They fortify breakfast cereal oh my God, covered in fake vitamins and also like meal replacements.

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You know meal replacement shakes or bars, any sort of energy drink, a lot of protein powders, right, like they're trying to make it healthy.

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But by making it healthy they actually make it kind of unhealthy for part of the population that has MTHFR, which, by the way, is about 50% of the population in the US, so it's a big part of the population.

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So avoiding folic acid basically means taking those foods out of your diet and finding substitutes that are not fortified.

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Gluten-free foods at this point are usually not fortified.

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Organic foods are usually not fortified and if you buy whole foods like vegetables, you don't have to worry about nothing like that.

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So if you're avoiding prepared foods, they're not fortified, you're great.

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So getting the folic acid out step number one.

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Adding in a MTHFR-safe form of folate is step number two, and for some people that's taking the active form, which is L5 methyl tetrahydrofolate or L5 MTHF, and you can find that in supplements.

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But it can be hard to tolerate for some people because it gives you so much energy that it can start to feel like bad energy, right, like kind of shaky, over-caffeinated energy.

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But if you tolerate a multivitamin that has that form of folate in it, you're good, right, like we've solved this problem for the most part.

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Yay.

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Now some people if you're coming in with a serious pathology or something that you're working with, you may also need some methyl donors and some fine tuning.

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But the biggest things, right?

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If you can only do these things, you're pretty good.

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You're already ahead of 90% of the population, right?

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So avoid the folic acid and get MTHFR, safe forms of folate from natural foods.

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Yeah, thank you for explaining that, Amy, and I'm glad you brought up the addition of folic acid into our foods right, Because it's been done for a long time and last month in California it was announced that lawmakers are trying to make it a requirement that makers of corn tortillas actually start putting folic acid in that product with the goal of preventing serious birth defects.

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As we mentioned, it's very much part of the development phase for the embryo.

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What are your thoughts on that?

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Yeah, it's hard because in terms of an intervention to prevent neural tube defects, it's been hugely successful.

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The rate of neural tube defects since folic acid fortification started in the 90s has dropped significantly, but the rate of autism has skyrocketed and there's a link.

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Also, the rate of infertility has skyrocketed and there's a link.

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So I mean mixed bag here.

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Right, I feel like it would be maybe more effective to have a publicly supported program to give women multivitamins, right, like women of childbearing years.

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That would kind of solve the problem without getting into these massive doses.

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But you know the link with autism.

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So since the 90s, autism rates have not just like doubled, tripled, quadrupled, it's something like 500 times the rate of autism, which is terrifying, right, and there's a lot of really good research showing that high levels of folic acid and unmetabolized folic acid in a pregnant mother's bloodstream leads to higher incidence of autism in the fetus.

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And it's obviously not a simple problem.

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Like, I don't think that's the only cause.

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I think there's multiple, multiple causes, but it's certainly a contributing factor and that's scary.

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Likewise, infertility one of the most common infertility treatments, right, and kind of the first line therapy if you and your partner are struggling to conceive or carry a baby past your first trimester, one of the first interventions is 5,000 micrograms of folic acid.

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Well, maybe not the best, especially if you have MTHFR, and there's this really brilliant study that follows.

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I think it's like 21 couples who have had repeat fertility interventions with no success right, and so all of them have had IVF success right, and so all of them have had IVF.

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They've had multiple interventions in terms of their fertility and not carried a baby to term.

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And of these couples, they took them off all of their supplements, put them on methylfolate right so the active form of folate prenatal and an active form of folate for the male partner as well and gave them a four month warming up window, which is basically the time that it takes for spermatogenesis right, so four months is the window that it takes to build new sperm.

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For the man and for the woman.

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Three to six months is usually a good starting place for re-nourishment, and so they gave them a four month window on these new supplements and then just had them try to get pregnant with no other intervention.

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17 out of 21 of those couples actually conceived and carried a child.

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What the what Like.

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These are couples who've spent thousands of dollars and years of their life struggling with fertility Like this is the simplest possible thing.

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Right, give them the active form instead of the synthetic precursor.

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Okay.

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Or, better yet, let's do a genetic test to see if they have the mutation.

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So we know for sure whether or not they would benefit, which form they'll benefit from right.

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Right, exactly, let's streamline it.

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Let's streamline it.

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There's some precision here, Take a shortcut.

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Yes, but yeah, and it's surprising.

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You know, even within the fertility community, it's still very controversial to give anything other than folic acid even though the studies are kind of piling up showing the side effects of folic acid, because it is still the best researched option and therefore the standard of care.

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So going against standard of care for medical professionals is always really challenging.

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Right, it's difficult.

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So, yeah, insurance may not cover it.

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Oh, exactly, yeah, insurance gets involved with the whole shebang right.

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So you?

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It's a difficult situation right now for patients and practitioners because that body of research has not become large enough yet where we can say we need to reevaluate the standard of care.

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So people are kind of stuck in a bit of limbo.

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Yeah, yes indeed, but we're on the right path, we're getting there.

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The more we put that message out there, keep doing those studies they'll start seeing a different way and, honestly, it just comes down to personalized medicine, personalization and, along those lines, other than knowing what formulation of Volate 2 for people to take if they have this mutation, how does MTHFR testing contribute to any other type of personalized medicine?

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Honestly, I think it explains a lot of things because with MTHFR you know we don't do great with hormone replacement, birth control pills, that sort of thing, which I mean is a huge, huge area for women, right.

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This is a big deal.

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So it's really important to kind of know that at the outset and especially if you've got a daughter who is thinking about you know she's reaching the age where birth control might be an issue.

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This is actually a really relevant thing to know, also for things like treatment-resistant depression.

00:22:10.622 --> 00:22:37.317
We see that very, very frequently in the MTHFR community and so if you know you have MTHFR going into it, you can save yourself months and months and months of repeated drug trials and the prolonged agony of kind of getting up to a physiological dose of a new drug where it's actually having an activity and then finding out it's not having enough activity and trying to switch and doing the side effects and the side effects.

00:22:37.356 --> 00:22:43.065
Yes, Also in terms of dental medicine with MTHFR.

00:22:43.065 --> 00:22:47.559
It's not a great idea for us to have nitrous oxide as an anesthetic.

00:22:47.559 --> 00:22:58.974
So MTHFR is linked to higher homocysteine levels and nitrous oxide has a very short lived but very pronounced effect on homocysteine and so it really skyrockets that homocysteine level.

00:22:58.974 --> 00:23:08.615
And if you're not ready for it, if your homocysteine and so it really skyrockets that homocysteine level, and if you're not ready for it, if your homocysteine is a little high to begin with, it can actually be fatal, unfortunately.

00:23:08.615 --> 00:23:19.122
So that's also important, especially, you know, like parents with teens who are going into wisdom, tooth removal, that sort of thing, we want to make sure they're okay right, right.

00:23:19.342 --> 00:23:24.583
We don't want to risk that at all over something that's considered so normal.

00:23:25.044 --> 00:23:27.570
And you know even things like recreational drugs.

00:23:27.570 --> 00:23:36.272
So recently there was a huge study about pot use in youth being linked to higher incidence of schizophrenia.

00:23:36.272 --> 00:24:05.380
That is especially especially crucial in the MTHFR population, because we do have a vulnerability to drug-induced schizophrenia and also trauma-induced schizophrenia, and so you know, if you know MTHFR is in your family, you may talk differently to your teens about drug use, right, and kind of help them to understand the consequences that might be there for your family, for them instead in a different way, right?

00:24:05.380 --> 00:24:11.673
So it's not just like don't do drugs, it's like okay, wait, let's have this conversation because-.

00:24:12.296 --> 00:24:20.276
Yeah, now, something I probably skipped over, or should have asked in the beginning, was when we're talking about this mutation of the MTHFR gene.

00:24:20.276 --> 00:24:24.796
Is it just one particular mutation, or are there various ones?

00:24:25.317 --> 00:24:28.483
So there's a whole variety of MTHFR mutations.

00:24:28.483 --> 00:24:36.061
The two that are most researched, one is called A1298C and one is called C677T.

00:24:36.061 --> 00:24:42.320
They do have slightly different consequences and slightly different strengths.

00:24:42.320 --> 00:24:46.719
Remember, every genetic variance comes not only with weaknesses but with strengths.

00:24:46.719 --> 00:24:54.289
But what we're finding really is it can be boiled down pretty simply to the more severe the mutation right.

00:24:54.289 --> 00:25:03.355
So the bigger number of copies that you have that are altered, the more likely it is that you'll have problems linked to this genetic variance.

00:25:03.355 --> 00:25:13.461
But if you have two copies of A1298C, it's a little bit milder polymorphism than if you have two copies of C6717.

00:25:13.461 --> 00:25:24.240
There are also MTHFR polymorphisms that are considered sort of severe or life-threatening and if you're carrying one copy of those it doesn't much matter.

00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:33.297
But if two partners who are carrying one copy are having a baby, it may actually be a life-threatening situation for that child.

00:25:33.558 --> 00:25:38.843
Yeah, thank you for breaking those down, those two common variations or mutations down for us, Amy.

00:25:38.843 --> 00:25:52.291
So that's important to know and be able to understand and definitely, if you have your genetics testing, make sure that you're with someone that understands implications of what's being presented and shown up in your genetic makeup.

00:25:52.291 --> 00:25:53.634
Thank you for explaining that.

00:25:53.634 --> 00:26:02.369
Now we've talked about nutritional changes that can be made, supplements that can be used for those with mthfr mutation.

00:26:02.369 --> 00:26:04.453
What about lifestyle modifications?

00:26:04.453 --> 00:26:10.814
What would you recommend those with mthfr mutations do so that they can optimize their health outcomes?

00:26:11.556 --> 00:26:16.773
honestly, I feel like the biggest thing and the hardest thing for us in the west to do is like get more sleep.

00:26:16.773 --> 00:26:20.599
Who has time for that, Amy?

00:26:20.599 --> 00:26:26.134
I know it's so sad, but like sleep fixes so many things.

00:26:26.134 --> 00:26:30.342
Sleep is when we do our repair, our restore, our detox.

00:26:30.342 --> 00:26:32.913
All of these things are really important with MTHFR.

00:26:32.913 --> 00:26:36.441
So if you can only do one thing, sleep, sleep.

00:26:37.163 --> 00:26:37.624
I love it.

00:26:37.624 --> 00:26:51.348
That's actually the first thing I tell my clients to work on is sleep, and we spend two weeks creating their sleep routine and working on that routine with them and, of course, I have to continue it for forever.

00:26:51.819 --> 00:26:58.114
But, definitely just getting used to what good sleep hygiene is and finding their routine at bedtime.

00:26:58.114 --> 00:26:59.483
Sleep is so important.

00:26:59.483 --> 00:27:01.530
It's so important you can't skip it Absolutely.

00:27:01.530 --> 00:27:04.368
When you're trying to get your health together, you cannot skip that portion of it.

00:27:04.368 --> 00:27:05.884
So thank you for sharing that.

00:27:05.884 --> 00:27:08.823
Now I have an audience Q&A with you.

00:27:08.823 --> 00:27:13.868
I reached out to my little tribe out there and said hey, I'm speaking with Amy about MTHFR gene.

00:27:13.868 --> 00:27:14.730
What do you guys want to know?

00:27:14.730 --> 00:27:21.303
So the main question I got was well, actually, from what they were asking, I see that there are a lot of misconceptions.

00:27:21.303 --> 00:27:28.550
So I want to ask you what are some of the most common misconceptions about MTHFR mutations that you encounter?

00:27:29.019 --> 00:27:31.522
You know there are a lot of misconceptions of our mutations that you encounter.

00:27:31.522 --> 00:27:32.644
You know there are a lot of misconceptions.

00:27:32.644 --> 00:27:49.182
One of the ones that I see is that if I just take enough folic acid, eventually I'll get there, it'll be fine, I'll just flood my system and eventually I'll have enough active folate, and I actually think that's the opposite of the truth.

00:27:49.182 --> 00:27:51.387
Unfortunately, I think it's really really prohibitive to good functioning of this enzyme.

00:27:51.387 --> 00:27:54.074
So that's the biggest one that I'd like to dispel.

00:27:54.240 --> 00:28:04.154
But the other thing you know, I see a lot of people that get really hopeless about gene mutations and gene variants, you know, and they get really overwhelmed like this is not fixable.

00:28:04.154 --> 00:28:13.310
This is actually so incredibly fixable, it's so actionable and this one's very simple, as long as you know what to do.

00:28:13.310 --> 00:28:28.877
That doesn't mean the changes you need to make are simple, right, getting that folic acid out is actually really difficult, but if you can do it, you've done it, it's taken care of and it's something that, if this is in your family, you can help your family moving upward.

00:28:28.877 --> 00:28:31.111
Your parents, you can help your kids, you can help your siblings moving upward.

00:28:31.111 --> 00:28:35.577
Your parents, you can help your kids, you can help your siblings just by helping them to understand this one little thing.

00:28:36.019 --> 00:28:42.112
That's an excellent point, because a lot of people will say well, I can't change my genes, they are what they are.

00:28:42.112 --> 00:28:43.982
So how am I supposed to work on my genetics?

00:28:43.982 --> 00:28:48.733
How am I supposed to do this if I can't make any changes?

00:28:48.733 --> 00:28:56.433
And for those listening, exactly what we've talked about today, specifically with the MTHFR mutations no, that mutation is there.

00:28:56.433 --> 00:29:07.770
There are steps or actions that you can take so that you can function better, so that your health can be better, so that you can feel better, because now you know what's going on, you know how it's affecting you.

00:29:07.770 --> 00:29:10.825
So, no, you can't change your genes, but you can definitely work on it.

00:29:11.105 --> 00:29:12.249
Yeah, absolutely.

00:29:12.249 --> 00:29:17.602
It's so actionable, right, and you see a huge, huge shift, especially long-term.

00:29:17.602 --> 00:29:31.839
I've been working on my MTHFR now for 15 plus years but I mean it's a night and day difference right In my health before and after, and I was a pretty healthy lifestyle person before.

00:29:31.839 --> 00:29:38.320
It's not like I was out there like slamming the drinks and you know, doing the drugs and all the stuff.

00:29:38.602 --> 00:29:44.496
I was like a med student so it was a pretty healthy lifestyle.

00:29:44.516 --> 00:29:55.626
Maybe not enough sleep definitely not enough sleep, high stress sometimes, but like it makes a huge difference to get what your body actually needs rather than what you think it needs.

00:29:55.807 --> 00:29:58.559
Right, yeah, I have one last question for you, Amy.

00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:06.262
What practical advice can you offer our listeners who may be navigating this life with MTHFR mutations?

00:30:06.262 --> 00:30:10.509
Or maybe for our loved ones, what advice can you offer them today?

00:30:10.950 --> 00:30:14.375
The biggest thing is stand up for yourself.

00:30:14.375 --> 00:30:24.880
One of the biggest problems that I see in the MTHFR community that I host is that people's doctors say, well, it doesn't matter, mthfr doesn't matter, it's not consequential right.

00:30:24.920 --> 00:30:28.988
Like that is not a problem, it isn't something you need to worry about.

00:30:28.988 --> 00:30:31.125
I think you're overdoing it, whatever.

00:30:31.125 --> 00:30:32.410
It isn't something you need to worry about.

00:30:32.410 --> 00:30:34.657
I think you're overdoing it, whatever.

00:30:34.657 --> 00:30:40.301
Okay, that's their opinion.

00:30:40.301 --> 00:30:41.644
Because doctors are not at the cutting edge of research.

00:30:41.644 --> 00:31:01.130
They are actually trained to not be at the cutting edge of research, right, they are trained to stay about 15 years behind where the biggest body of research lies, and that does protect everyone, right, it helps because it gives consistency of care and they are doing the gold standard, right, the best researched thing.

00:31:01.130 --> 00:31:09.924
But the best researched thing is 15 years behind the edge of research, where we're actually making innovation and making progress.

00:31:09.924 --> 00:31:12.362
It's just the way medicine is right.

00:31:12.742 --> 00:31:17.071
And so, even if your doctor says it's not a thing, it doesn't matter.

00:31:17.071 --> 00:31:20.270
You're just listening to Instagram or the internets or whatever.

00:31:20.270 --> 00:31:21.335
That is fine.

00:31:21.335 --> 00:31:24.865
That is their opinion and legally, that has to be their stance.

00:31:24.865 --> 00:31:26.186
That's okay.

00:31:26.186 --> 00:31:29.314
You still have to advocate for yourself.

00:31:29.314 --> 00:31:31.321
It's you living in your own body.

00:31:31.321 --> 00:31:35.165
You're the one who has to actually feel the way you feel.

00:31:35.165 --> 00:31:39.450
So keep searching, keep looking for your own answers.

00:31:39.450 --> 00:31:42.133
This is not something you can hand off to somebody else.

00:31:42.673 --> 00:31:50.422
Great advice, Amy Advocate for yourself, as you mentioned in the beginning that you knew something was going on.

00:31:50.422 --> 00:31:51.222
You didn't know what.

00:31:51.222 --> 00:31:53.065
It wasn't me picked up on the test, because, guess what?

00:31:53.065 --> 00:31:55.267
Because you mentioned in the beginning that you knew something was going on, you didn't know what.

00:31:55.267 --> 00:31:56.928
It wasn't being picked up on the test, because, guess what?

00:31:56.928 --> 00:31:57.909
The tests aren't testing for MTHFR mutations.

00:31:57.909 --> 00:31:59.750
But in yourself you knew something wasn't right.

00:31:59.750 --> 00:32:03.334
You knew the answer wasn't You're okay, you're fine, Amy, it's all in your head.

00:32:03.334 --> 00:32:05.836
No, you actually knew something.

00:32:05.836 --> 00:32:06.436
You could feel it.

00:32:06.436 --> 00:32:09.304
You knew something wasn't right, so you had to advocate for yourself.

00:32:09.304 --> 00:32:14.977
You had to keep looking and searching until you found that answer, and the same for our listeners.

00:32:14.977 --> 00:32:16.380
We have to advocate for ourselves.

00:32:16.380 --> 00:32:17.563
Keep searching, don't give up.

00:32:17.563 --> 00:32:19.127
There's always an answer out there.

00:32:19.127 --> 00:32:22.044
The person you go to may not know it, but it's out there.

00:32:22.726 --> 00:32:23.807
just keep searching.

00:32:24.249 --> 00:32:28.339
That's exactly it, yeah yeah, well, it's been a pleasure.

00:32:28.339 --> 00:32:30.604
Amy, thank you so much for joining us today.

00:32:30.624 --> 00:32:37.784
Well, Well, I appreciate it so much and I'm really impressed by what you're doing here, because it makes a huge difference.

00:32:37.784 --> 00:32:39.390
Thank you, thank you very much.

00:32:40.740 --> 00:32:42.409
That's all I have for you today, friend.

00:32:42.409 --> 00:32:47.384
Thank you for tuning in and exploring the intricate world of MTHFR mutations with us.

00:32:47.384 --> 00:32:57.132
It's eye-opening to learn how much our genes can affect everyday health and, more importantly, how we can take control once we have the right knowledge.

00:32:57.132 --> 00:33:05.151
If today's discussion resonated with you and sparked a curiosity about your own health mysteries, I encourage you to reach out and dive deeper.

00:33:05.151 --> 00:33:10.362
Remember, understanding and working with your unique genetic makeup isn't just about managing symptoms.

00:33:10.362 --> 00:33:11.847
It's about thriving.

00:33:12.580 --> 00:33:15.490
I'd absolutely love to hear how this episode resonates with you.

00:33:15.490 --> 00:33:20.192
Feel free to share your thoughts, your stories or even your questions on our social media platforms.

00:33:20.192 --> 00:33:24.550
If you found value in today's episode, don't hesitate to share it with your loved ones too.

00:33:24.550 --> 00:33:26.968
And finally, take a moment to engage with us.

00:33:26.968 --> 00:33:29.949
Leave a review or rating on our podcast channel.

00:33:29.949 --> 00:33:37.121
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00:33:37.121 --> 00:33:38.405
Talk to you next Friday.

00:33:38.405 --> 00:33:45.422
Until then, always remember to raise the script on health, because together we can bring healthcare to higher levels.

00:33:45.422 --> 00:33:53.628
You.