Methylation polymorphisms (also called defects or mutations or SNPs) can impact mood. I’d like to share a few studies on some of the mood issues, other health conditions where we may see impacts and some resources for you to learn more.
If you have one of the MTHFR polymorphisms, the BH4 cycle may be affected and may impact how we make serotonin and dopamine. Here is some of the research:
There is much evidence on the methylation polymorphisms and these health conditions:
Resources for further learning
The two practitioners who I have learned the most from are Dr. Ben Lynch ND and Coleen Walsh, a nutritionist who has been dubbed the “methyl queen”.
- Ben Lynch ND: his website http://mthfr.net/ and blog articles provide a wealth of information and he is very active on his Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/drbenjaminlynch). I did his excellent 2 day professional training which he has available on this site. I also interviewed him on The Anxiety Summit and we talked about GAD, MOAO and COMT polymorphisms
- Coleen Walsh, nutritionist, “methyl queen” offers a professional MTHFR and Methylation training for practitioners and a MTHFR workshop for the layperson and every day mutant. I highly recommend both of these.
Just remember this great quote from Coleen Walsh during our interview on the Anxiety Summit:
Our DNA is not set in stone! Diet and lifestyle can go a long way to change our health destiny
The good news is that we can change our health, our disease outcomes and how we feel by eating real whole good quality organic food, getting chemicals and toxins out of our diets and environment, reducing stress, supporting the liver and our natural detox processes.
Certain key nutrients can also be very help for many people with polymorphisms. I’ll share more on folate and other nutrients and other SNPs in a later blog post. I’ll also share more on genetic testing.
I’d love to hear if you’ve done genetic testing and how making changes (supplement, diet, lifestyle) have helped. Be sure to post questions too.