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Dr. Kate Klemer, Cranial Conference Presenter 2016, Ghost Ranch, New Mexico Did you know that your brain influences your gut, and your gut talks to your brain? Your gut is also called “the second brain. ”The enteric nervous system is said to contain about 100 million neurons, which is more than in either the spinal cord or the peripheral nervous system.” Why are we designed that way? Well let's read on… A big part of our emotions are influenced by the nerves in our gut. The Vagus nerve innervates the gut. To clarify, the gut includes the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine The Vagus Nerve Reads The Gut Microbiome! ● By reading the gut microbiome the vagus nerve initiates a response to modulate inflammation based on whether or not it detects pathogenic versus non-pathogenic organisms. In this way, the gut microbiome can have an affect on your mood, stress levels and overall inflammation. Your Flora Is Also Known As Your Gut Biome Your microbiome is your friend. There is a co-regulation, and co-dependence that occurs between this community of microorganisms and our health in many ways. Our microbiome supports food digestion, protects against pathogens, provides essential nutrients, and trains our immune system. A disturbance of flora is linked to disease. Facts about our microbiome... ○ Is inhabited by 100 trillion microorganisms ○ This is 10x the number of cells in the human body ○ Has 150x as many genes than we have ○ Co-exists with gut pathogens ○ Regulates the immune system ○ Regulates the endocrine system ○ Modulates digestion (Vitamin K2, single chain fatty acids, and fructose) ○ Weighs 2-6 pounds These Are Ways the Gut and Brain Connect: 1. Immune system= via endocrine/cytokines chemicals produced by the body 2. Neural Sensory (primarily Vagus Nerve picking up info from the gut, going to the brain) 3. Neurotransmitters made by microbiome =endocrine system to the brain 4. Solitary Nucleus brainstem + amygdala, Insular Cortex, Hypothalamus connect to Vagus 5. Corticosteroids via HPA axis affect Microbiome 6.The cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. Efferent/motor activity= from the brain/ vagus nerve causes acetylcholine release in organs which lowers inflammation. Communication of the gut-brain axis is bidirectional: The brain and gut are also connected by the endocrine system. In a study a baby mouse was taken away from its Mother. What they found is that the gut flora is altered in the baby mouse after that stressful experience. They also learned that stress and sleep deprivation are known to increase cortisol ,which causes overgrowth of bad bacteria. An overgrowth of gut pathogens triggers the immune system to release more cortisol making prostaglandins which cause swelling in the body. Gut pathology is linked to brain pathology: ● Anxiety and depressive disorders are linked with autoimmune disease ○ Irritable bowel syndrome is linked with anxiety/depression ○ Schizophrenia is linked with celiac disease ○ Autism spectrum is linked with gut pathology (clostridium, and abnormal level of gut bacteria *Leaky gut is related to depression which is related to an inflamed brain. Probiotics stop this! Lacking of the microbiome creates brain changes A study showed that germ free mice have too much myelin in their prefrontal cortex. This connects lacking microbiome with disease. Myelin irregularities are associated with schizophrenia. This was reversed in mice when probiotics were given to the mice. What causes leaky gut (AKA dysbiosis)?
Leaky Gut causes gastrointestinal inflammation, which creates food intolerances, and immune system issues: Here are the full body effects of leaky gut:
There is a lot of confusion around wheat/gliadin. The bottom line is that all gliadin/wheat causes gut injury. The mechanism for this is that a substance called zonulin is excreted by the gut when exposed to lipopolysaccharides, (these come from the death of bacteria), wheat, and glyphosate/roundup. Zonulin then goes systemic and injures the gut wall, the blood brain barrier, the vascular system, and kidney tubules. This sets people up for lots of health issues if it is a chronic exposure. Zonuling Breaches Barriers In The Body That Protect Us, Top causes of increased zonulin and development of leaky gut: ● Overgrowth of harmful organisms, like bacteria or yeast in the intestine A. SIBO = small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (caused by low HCL, Ileocecal valve issues, low enz) B. Fungal dysbiosis or candida overgrowth C. Parasite infections ● Gliadin in the diet (gluten containing foods)
Elevated zonulin levels and leaky gut are associated with the following: 1. Crohn's disease 2. Type 1 Diabetes 3. Multiple Sclerosis 4. Asthma 5. Glioma 6. Inflammatory Bowel Disease It is a good idea to not eat wheat very often. What is going on nowadays that is creating so many chronic diseases??? ● More environmental Toxins ● Too much sugar in mainstream diet ● Too many antibiotics, and given too young= leaky gut ● C-Sections, no breast feeding, no skin to skin with parents (this builds baby’s microbiome) ● Too many medications= leaky gut ● Low fat diets ● Amalgam/mercury fillings in the teeth ● Genetically Modified Foods= leaky gut ● Poor methylation= epigenetics Facts about baby's microbiome:
Low fat diets and drugs: Statistics show that the increase of low fat diets and use of statin drugs to lower cholesterol have created an increase of dementia/Alzheimer’s disease. Glyphosate/Roundup: This pesticide destroys the Shikimate pathway in plants. This pathway makes a substance called Chorismate, and this in turn makes amino acids that we use: tryptophan, phenylalanine, and tyrosine. These amino acids make neurotransmitters. Our microbiome is basically microscopic plants. The bottom line is that roundup destroys our microbiome. Stephanie Seneff, Phd is a MIT researcher. She says: “ at today’s rate, by 2025, one in two children will be autistic. The side effects of autism closely mimic those of glyphosate toxicity including zinc and iron deficiency, low serum sulfate, seizures, and mitochondrial disorder.” Rats fed a lifelong diet of one of the best selling strains of genetically modified corn suffered tumors and multiple organ damage. More Facts ● Gut bacteria given to a germ free mouse, from a heavy mouse, made the germ free mouse heavy. When a thin mouse gave a germ free mouse their microbiome it caused them to be thin. ● Mice raised in a germ free environment where given specific bacteria, and it was found to change their behavior ● Low Serotonin and High Dopamine is a recipe for violence and aggression ● 50% of all norepinephrine/noradrenaline is synthesized and used in the Gut ● Stress hormones cause rapid growth (4X) of pathogen e. Coli ● Bacteria steal Iron to grow rapidly, and can cause Iron deficient anemia ● Adrenalin Increases biofilm formation, Biofilm is what 90% of bacteria live in ● Bad bugs eat sugar and refined carbs ● Antibiotics kill good bacteria as well as bad bacteria and upset the gut balance ● 25% women from 40-60 years old are on antidepressants, their gut biome is off! Brain health depends on a healthy gut environment. Many symptoms we experience daily in our heads , are due to problems that are based in our guts. Modern lifestyle and medical practices have greatly harmed our microbiome. GMO foods interfere with our gut bacteria’s ability to produce neurotransmitters. Inflammation from leaky gut destroys serotonin, leading to insomnia, pain, anxiety, and excess stress. Overuse of antibiotics, poor stomach function, and lack of gut motility creates small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Here is a list of what the good guy microbiome do: ● Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species produce GABA ● Lactobacillus produces Acetylcholine ● Escherichia, Bacillus, and Saccharomyces produce norepinephrine ● Candida, Streptococcus, Escherichia, and Enterococcus produce serotonin ● Bacillus and Serratia produce dopamine What we can do to support our gut brain axis...
One last little tidbit of science. People with bacterial overgrowth in their small intestine/SIBO were studied in conjunction with concussions. Those with SIBO and concussion had the lowest score of neurological function, those with SIBO and no concussion had the next lowest score of neurological function, and those with a concussion without SIBO had the best neurological score. What this is saying is that gut imbalances strongly affect neurological function, more so than a concussion! Yours in Health, Dr. Kate 
 GENETIC NUTRITION TESTING: You Must read this, as you can start preventing disease now before it is too late!
Methylation is a big word. Take a breath and put that aside for now because it is essential for the optimal function of almost all your body systems. It occurs billions of times every second. In doing so, it helps repair your DNA on a daily basis, it helps keep inflammation in check, it replenishes the compounds needed for detoxification, and it helps maintain a stable mood. Genes load the gun, but environment pulls the trigger: Genes give us information in terms of helping us know where to look for potential problems in the methylation cycle and maybe helping us to tailor treatment, but really it’s our lifestyle, diet, and disease states that are probably more important. So we need to consider a patient’s internal and external environment in addition to the genetic predisposition to really understand their functional health. What is functional health? It is using a method to test how your body is functioning rather than if you have a disease or not. Most diseases start way before any disease based tests show abnormal findings. Functional health attempts to prevent disease over the long haul and cannot be compared to disease states as it is like comparing apples and oranges. For example you may have an irritated gallbladder, without any gallbladder disease. Functional health practitioners like myself would find that dysfunction often after you have undergone all the testing one could possible imagine. Just because tests don’t show any abnormalities does not mean you are healthy. You may be heading for a disease if you do not address the early dysfunction. My family has a medical history of alzheimer’s, diabetes, heart disease, and strokes. All of these diseases begin with a functional imbalance that does not show up on lab work many, many years before the diagnosis and medical tests are positive. Why are you waiting for the diagnosis when you can take action now? READ ON PLEASE. Nervous system and stress handling with methylation: Let’s start with our mood. If we look at how methylation supports the brain and nervous system, there are two different functions where this works. One is in neurotransmitter synthesis and degradation; this is really important in stabilizing mood and improving stress resilience. One of the genetic predispositions to mood stability as it relates to methylation, is a COMT mutation. Patients who have this mutation may have a more difficult time recovering from a stressful event. We know that if someone with the COMT mutation experiences something stressful it takes them longer to return to baseline. This is because they don’t metabolize stress neurotransmitters, like epinephrine and norepinephrine, as rapidly as someone might without this mutation or without impaired methylation. The good news is that there are supplements you can take that are enzymes that support this genetic mutation to work better. Brain Health: Methylation is also really important in supporting myelin. Myelin can be thought of as the sort of protective coating or insulation along the nerves. If you have injury to your myelin, you can it is like having frayed electrical cords that have vulnerable and exposed wires. Methylation is important in helping to maintain the integrity of the myelin, and maintaining a healthy nervous system. Supporting these things is one of the best things we can do to support mood and cognitive function. Injuries to the myelin underlie the changes seen in multiple sclerosis. Myelin is an incredibly important structure in the nervous system. Genetics and disease: Epigenetic differences in individuals can explain why people with the same genetics can have a different state of health and function from each other. Methylation is one of the major factors in identical twins who have an identical genetic code, but may have a slightly different appearance, and or can suffer from different diseases. Epigenetic factors include lifestyle, upbringing, and environmental exposures. These factors turn genes on and off for better or for worse. Methylation is a major factor in keeping genetic mutations quiet that hurt our functional health, and can eventually cause disease. In identical twins, there’s a 50% concordance rate, which means there is a 50% chance that if one twin has it, the other one will have it, but it’s not 100%. This is because of epigenetic factors. Methylation Explained: Methylation is a term that comes from biochemistry. Methylation is the body adding a tag, or a work order to parts of DNA. This tag/methyl group can be added to a gene, a vitamin, or an enzyme. When our system adds that tag/methyl group; it is technically called methylation. When methylation happens, it changes DNA function which turns genes on or off; which is called gene expression. The way in which methylation affects our DNA is incredibly important. Methylation helps turn gene mutations off, so they’re not expressed. Optimizing our methylation reduces our risk of developing certain diseases, and some types of cancers. Our understanding now is that genes alone account for less than 10% of disease. The environmental/epigenetic factors that an individual is exposed to from the moment of conception to when they die, accounts for 90% of the diseases that we’re dealing with. Methylation has a profound influence on the gene mutations being expressed or not. We want to do everything we can to optimize our methylation, because it increases our health and prevents disease. Symptoms of Poor Methylation: are pretty vast, but they can be broken down into a few key categories, so let’s go over those one by one. FYI your capability to methylate decreases with age. Methylation can be associated with production of important compounds needed in cellular energy production and metabolism; oftentimes patients present with:
***Almost that entire symptom list could be caused by gut issues alone. So we fix the gut and methylation together. What impairs methylation other than a gene mutation? Chronic gut issues, such as leaky gut, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, nutrient deficiencies, or chronic infection will impair nutrient absorption and methylation. Chronic infection contributes to an overburdened detoxification system, which impairs methylation. Poor methylation can be caused by environmental toxicity, heavy metals, mercury toxicity, high copper, pesticides, fungicides, volatile organic compounds, phthalates , glyphosate/roundup, and genetically modified foods. Liver exposure to toxins affect methylation as well. Detoxification of your own biochemistry, as well as environmental toxins & pesticides: Detoxification is one of the most important roles that methylation supports in our body. Methylation helps to remove toxins from the body. Impaired methylation can actually block or inhibit detoxification. As a result, you may have a higher heavy metal burden, which could lead to things like mercury toxicity. Poor/slow methylation may make it difficult to recover from SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), or chronic yeast overgrowth. It is a two way street. Gut issues strain methylation, and poor methylation from activated genetic mutations influence the gut and liver. You can also over-methylate: Our caution is to start methylation support slowly, with a practitioner who can monitor your progress. Improving methylation will actually lift the block on detoxification. This results in toxins moving into the bloodstream and activating your immune response. Detoxing too fast can make you feel as though you have the flu; causing fatigue, and malaise. Starting methylation support should be done slowly, while we monitor symptoms of increased detoxification. In the beginning it is wise to be checked in the process monthly, until things settle. Immune System and Methylation: If you find yourself catching every cold and flu that comes through town, then it may be that methylation is impaired or not functioning optimally for you. There is some new research linking poor methylation to autoimmunity. If someone’s having a lot of problems with immune function, I consider methylation as one thing that’s possibly going wrong. About MTHFR: MTHFR stands for methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. MTHFR is one gene that’s involved in the methylation cycle, and it probably is the main driver of methylation, and specifically, it makes methylfolate, However when we look at methylation, we need to consider over a dozen genes that contribute to the methylation cycle. This is where many practitioners and self treating people go wrong. SAD Diet: Poor diet is something that’s going to impair methylation. If you’re eating a Standard American Diet (SAD), or a diet that includes a lot of processed and refined foods, that will contribute to inflammation. These types of diets cause you to have insufficient B vitamins, zinc deficiency, or even magnesium deficiency. These vitamins and minerals are important cofactors in supporting the methylation cycle, among others. Medications: The following medications affect levels of B vitamins, which play a crucial role in methylation: Antacids because of their effect on stomach acid and nutrient absorption, Methotrexate, metformin, contraceptives, blood pressure meds, etc… Gliadin/ Wheat&Glyphosate/Roundup: Zonulin is a substance in our body that is released in the gut when we are exposed to wheat and glyphosate/roundup. It makes the gut wall leaky and can also have the same affect on the blood brain barrier and kidneys. It is important to avoid these two substances by eating organic and avoiding most grains other than rice. Too much methylation support from too many methylation supplements. This can cause over-methylation, where you end up with feedback inhibition and reducing the body’s internal production of methylfolate. For example if a man takes testosterone cream he can eventually reduce his body’s own ability to produce testosterone. This can happen with taking too many methylation supplements. Why kinesiology is so helpful with analyzing methylation: When I check your methylation pathways I am testing the function of what is actually happening now, rather than basing the supplements only on the genetic mutations of what could happen if a mutation is turned on epigenetically. In my view muscle testing kinesiology is the best way to test what is actually happening in your system. Blood work is not sensitive enough to pick up on a pre diseased state of health. Applied Kinesiology is the best way to check functional/non-diseased health to catch early patterns for potential disease down the road. How I treat methylation Issues: First I recommend eating a nutrient-dense, low-inflammation paleo like diet to support healthy methylation, as well as doing stress management, whether it’s daily progressive relaxation, sitting meditation, yoga, pilates, tai chi — doing something to help manage stress. This is a lifetime way of eating, and should be followed 80-90% of the time depending on other factors such as temperament, stress level, toxin exposure, and genetic mutations. Then we start testing what your body shows for activated mutations that need vitamin and mineral support. Follow up visits: I repeat functional methylation testing with wholistic kinesiology. Once someone has been on methylation support, we will tweak their supplements by rechecking the methylation pathways. Often patients will start to need different things at different times of year, and doses will change over time. Your methylation supplements are tested exactly for you as a personally designed mutivitamin/mineral! Issues you have had for years will start to drop away over time. I recommend that when you start that you write down all your symptoms so that you can look back a year or two later and see the difference. You are creating a higher baseline of good health that you often never knew you could have. Homocysteine the main culprit: Homocysteine, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Active Folate Up to half of all Americans may carry a genetic variation that prevents the body, including the brain, from optimally using folic acid. Scientists believe that this genetic polymorphism may be linked with an increased risk of dementia. Fortunately, a non-prescription form of bioactive folate, 5-MTHF, can cross the blood-brain barrier and effectively reduce homocysteine. Elevated homocysteine has been linked with cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease. Many people suffering from cardiovascular disease, stroke, migraines, and dementia could be suffering from the adverse effects of elevated levels of homocysteine in their blood. This condition has also been linked to other problems, including osteoporosis, birth defects, macular degeneration, and certain types of cancer. In most cases, doctors will not consider testing for homocysteine because they are not trained in how it affects the body. Most health-conscious people know their cholesterol level but few know their equally important homocysteine levels. Folic acid/B9 is called bioactive folate (5-methyltetrahydrofolate, or 5-MTHF) and it prevents homocysteine-related conditions that disable and kill many Americans. The reason this is not mainstream news is that it is not as profitable and able to be patented because it is a specific form of Folic Acid/B9. There is a lot more profit in dispensing medications rather than learning to take care of your system each and every day. You must remember that medical doctors are not trained in wellness, unless they have trained outside of their education in functional medicine. Ostensibly they are checking your health status from 0-30% of wellness. The standards are pretty low. Their expertise is finding and treating disease, and that occurs at 0-30% of our overall health. Most do not know about methylation. This kind of care is in the realm of wellness care, functional care, via practitioners like myself and Naturopaths. So if you ask your regular MD about this do not be surprised if they don’t know about it, or put it down because they do not want to admit that they do not know about it… Often patients get very different answers about wellness from MD’s because they are not trained in it. Yet everyone seems to assume they are wellness experts. They are not, they are disease experts. I am a wellness expert. Thank you, I needed to clarify that. Both types of doctors are super important. But as a consumer you should know the difference. Stay healthy and happy! |
AuthorDr Kate has been in practice since 1989. She utilizes Chiropractic, Nutrition, and Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy to help her patients. CategoriesArchives
May 2019
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