Dr. Mark Hyman explains how methylation, a key biochemical process, affects aging and health. B vitamins drive methylation, and he walks through patient cases and dietary changes that optimize it.
Hi, this is Dr. Mark Hyman. Can just a few vitamins optimize the function of most all of your body systems? The answer is yes. This week we're going to talk about one of the most important biochemical processes for your health and how you can keep it running at its very best with supplements and a few other suggestions. Now unfortunately many people are affected by one or more of the eight factors that affect this biochemical process so it's a big issue. The good news however is that there are at least 12 things you can do right now to optimize this critical biochemical process that can have an impact on your health. But first let me tell you about two of my patients who had seemingly unrelated health problems that were actually caused by this biochemical process that was broken in each one of them. And also I'll share with you a study that was done on Chinese babies who had a birth defect known as spina bifida. You'll be quite amazed at how all three, my two patients and these Chinese babies were affected by the exact same thing. First, Mr. Roberts, he was one of my patients, he was an 88 year old businessman and he didn't let his age slow him down. He still golfed three times a week, he worked two days a week, flew around the world in his private jet and was a romantic guy once a week with his wife who was 30 years his junior. He also loved six ounces of his Grey Goose vodka every night. Now of course he did have some health problems. Now Mr. Roberts had been treated quite quite well for his mild heart disease. His doctor even recommended 800 micrograms of folic acid and 250 micrograms of B12 mega doses by any standard. He also had a checkup at the Mayo Clinic and was told that he was healthy despite having anemia and large red blood cells. Yet he still complained of mild fatigue and trouble with his short-term memory. Plus, I noticed a slightly wide gait common in people with poor balance. And then there was Mr. McNally, a Boston College professor. He was only about 50 years old and he was fit and lean, but he looked worried as he walked into my office. He recounted the sad tale of his seven brothers. Four had died of a heart attack, three others had a bypass operation at a very young age. He was very concerned about his own fate. He ate a low-fat diet, he exercised regularly, he didn't smoke, he had normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and he took antioxidants and a multivitamin. Perhaps his only vice was the multiple Starbucks groundy lattes he downed each day. Now, Mr. McNally had come asking for a stress test to see how his heart was doing. He lived under a state of constant impending doom. Strange as it may seem, these two men reminded me of my time in China. See, when I lived in Beijing, a study was done on a group of women in Harbin, the most northern industrial city in the Gobi Desert, just north of Beijing where I lived. It seemed as though there was an unusually high rate of birth defects called spina bifida. You see, the Chinese had a tradition of marriage at the Chinese New Year in February, but many of the babies were born nine months later with birth defects. So what was the link? The study found that the major factor in those kids with birth defects was that there were no fresh greens or vegetables in the Gobi Desert in the middle of the winter. So what did Mr. Roberts, Mr. McNally, and those Chinese babies have in common with each other. They all had problems with inadequate levels of specific vitamins either acquired or genetic, and that meant that they had problems with something called their methylation system. I'm going to explain that more in a minute, but let's look first at Mr. Roberts. Our romantically active 88-year-old took high doses of B vitamins, but he still had very high levels of something called homocysteine and methylmalonic acid, which are indicators in the blood of folic acid and B12 deficiency, but they're not unfortunate what most doctors test for. This is what you have to test. And what about Mr. McNally? Our college professor had a genetically sluggish metabolism of something called homocysteine which caused extremely high levels of this toxic amino acid to build up in his blood. It was also the cause, the likely cause, of all the heart disease in his family. And what about those Chinese babies? Well, their mothers were conceiving in the middle of winter when the folate intake was low because they had no fruits and vegetables and that triggered a very high rate of birth defects. Now as I said before, the common link to all these three cases is a problem with methylation. So let me tell you what that means. This is a key process that's essential to proper function for almost all of your body systems and it occurs billions of times every second. Methylation helps repair your DNA on a daily basis. It controls homocysteine, an unhealthy compound that can damage blood vessels. It helps recycle molecules that are needed for detoxification and helps maintain your mood and keep your inflammation in check. You see, you need optimal levels of B vitamin family to keep this methylation system running. But what happens without it? Well, as we see with the Chinese babies, we see more birth defects like spina bifida and more Down syndrome and miscarriages. You may be at high risk for conditions like osteoporosis or diabetes or cervical cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, depression or mood problems in kids like autism and ADD or dementia or stroke. And like Mr. Roberts or Mr. McNally, you may be at high risk for heart disease. So what are the things that can affect this methylation process? First, genetics. Now an estimated 20% of us have predispositions to genetic problems with needing more folate. The next thing is our poor diet. The word folate comes from foliage and you need to eat plenty of leafy greens, beans, fruit, whole grains to get adequate levels of B6, B12, and folate. Also things like egg yolks and meat and liver and oily fish are a good source of vitamin B12, so long-term vegan diets can be a problem, but you can supplement with B12. Also other things raise homocysteine in the diet. Sugar, too much animal protein, saturated fat, coffee, alcohol. Next, smoking raises homocysteine as well as malabsorption of various vitamins like B12 from digestive issues, allergies, and other things. Also lower stomach acid which happens when you take acid blocking medications or when you get older, they block the absorption of B12. This is a very common problem. Medications like acid blockers or methotrexate or diuretics, birth control pills, Dilantin all affect the levels of these B vitamins. Also being toxic, things like pesticides and pollution, all these things can interfere with your vitamin production. So that's a lot of things to watch out for. Now the good news, how can you look at and actually fix your methylation problem? First you want to do some tests and you want to ask your doctor for these tests: a complete blood count, a homocysteine level, and a serum methymlonic acid level. And then you want to figure out if these are high, what to do to optimize this process. So here's a few things you can do. First, eat more dark leafy greens. Two, I want you to get also more B vitamins in your diet from things like sunflower seeds and wheat germ and fish and eggs and cheese and beans and so forth. Dark leafy beans, almonds, whole grains all have great levels of these vitamins. I also want you to minimize animal protein, sugar and saturated fat. And I want you to avoid processed and canned foods which are depleted in vitamins. I also want you to lower or reduce your intake of caffeine which depletes folic acid and other vitamins. Limit alcohol, which also dramatically depletes your B vitamin levels. Don't smoke. Avoid medications that interfere with methylation like the ones I mentioned above. And keep the bacteria in your gut healthy by taking probiotic supplements. You can also improve your stomach acid using various herbal formulas and you can take extra supplements to help support proper homocysteine and B12 metabolism like folate, B6, and B12. So just remember that vitamins and minerals lubricate all the biochemical wheels of life. Be sure you get enough of them through your diet and supplements.
