So far in our quest, we have seen how low stomach acid, high oxalates, and small intestine bacterial overgrowth can interfere with the methylation cycle and put our health in jeopardy. But we aren’t even halfway through thisjourney of connecting the dots between our gut, our genes, our brain, and our health. To understand truly how our genius body works, you have to delve even further into how the chemistry of the gut impacts the chemistry of every cell in your body. You are about to see how compounds produced by bacteria and yeast within your digestive system can slow detoxification and make a mess of your methylation cycle. You are about to learn the amazing truth of how the bugs in your gut interfere with and influence the genetic pathways inside your body.
Let’s begin this effort with a very important question: Have you ever considered that your gut microorganisms can influence your genes? Although that question might sound strange at first, it is exactly what the latest research is showing. Consider, for example, that according to Dr. Steven Gundry, there are 10 times as many foreign cells in our gut than we have cells in our body. Dr. Gundry also points out that due to the large number of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, our GI tract contains 100 times the amount of genetic material (DNA and RNA) than we carry in the rest our body—that’s two orders of magnitude! 1 What he is sharing with us is that if you want to optimize your genes, you must optimize your gut. And if you follow the advice in this book, you can do just that!
If the gut carries so much genetic material, it will have a major impact on the function of our own methylation-related pathways. It is apparent that the microorganisms in our gut determine more than just how well we digest food; the compounds released by the microorganisms in the gut are known to influence our brain chemistry, hormones, blood sugar, sleep cycle, and much more. Far from being quiet neighbors living in our intestines, gut microbes have a huge impact on the function and expression of our genes.
This chapter highlights three nasty gut toxins that can cause damage to your methylation cycle and disrupt your detoxification pathways. In the chapters to follow, I will explain how our genetic SNPs in the COMT, MAO, MTHFR, and related pathways lead to increased levels of adrenaline and dopamine, which in
turn lead to increased levels of adrenaline and dopamine, which in turn lead to increases in pain and anxiety. Anxiety is something we have all felt, but many people are trapped in a world where they cannot find peace because of constant worry, panic, and pain. I routinely work with patients from all over the world who are stuck in a stress-mess, anxiety fest state of mind. And the common denominator in all these cases is a genetic imbalance that affects how their bodies detoxify stress chemicals—dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine.
SNPs of Concern
As you learned in the SIBO chapter, many methylation genes are very sensitive to gut problems. ese genes take it on the chin when the gut has gone awry:
- COMT – Catechol-O-methyltransferase
- MAO – Monoamine oxidase
- MTR – Methionine synthase
- SULT – Phenol sulfotransferase
- ALDH – Aldehyde dehydrogenase
- ADH – Alcohol dehydrogenase
- ALR – Aldehyde reductase
Although those genetic variations we carry certainly do influence our perception of pain and our feelings of anxiety, another part of the story needs to be mentioned first: the gut origin of anxiety and methylation problems. It might not make sense at first glance that gut bacteria can influence your methylation cycle and change your mood, but that is what the research now shows. of anxiety, another part of the story needs to be mentioned first: the gut origin of anxiety and methylation problems. It might not make sense at first glance that gut bacteria can influence your methylation cycle and change your mood, but that is what the research now shows. And as you will learn in chapter 8, yeasts and gut bacteria have their own methylation cycles. In other words, those nutrients that help optimize your methylation cycle so you can grow and repair also help gut microbes grow and repair. This is a nutritional double-edged sword!