When your digestive system is running happily and healthily, we can handle a great variety of foods and can process toxins as well. Food toxins, I mean. Unless, of course, your body sucks at detoxing. (Like mine is.) If you are shabby at detoxing, it might be that the detoxing pathways for eliminating these toxins has been shut down. This can be due to something as simple as not eating properly, thus not getting the proper vitamins, minerals, amino acids and a bunch of other stuff which is essentially vital to making everything WORK. (Or, you could be malnourished, by not absorbing what you are eating, or not eating enough.)
Basically, a lot of things in our body and our body’s complex processes are dependent upon certain things. One missing component can create a domino effect which breaks other cycles and can ultimate result in poor health. Maybe you will just feel tired, or maybe your sleep will be all screwed up. Maybe you will feel like your health is rapidly falling into the crapper and that you are on deaths door. The severity depends on the individual and the particular issue they are having.
TOXINS in your system can affect many things in your body. One of which is the absorption of vitamins, minerals, nutrients and all that jazz. Sooooo, what do we have when there are missing components to our body’s secret recipes………… you guessed it. PROBLEMS.
(*ETA* Not gonna lie, this is a loooong post. But I think it is full of a lot of really helpful information. At the least, try and skim through it all. The biggest section is the one just below. But, then there is a return to the subject title of this post right below the pic of the guy with the nice pecs and a stomachache.)
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Now, in my case, I found that there are several things going on.
1. Genetics. You can have mutations on different genes that affect how you process certain things or how you manufacture new forms. For instance – a little quirk to MTHFR and you may be unable to methylate B12 from food form to the usable form, making it pretty useless and making YOU pretty damn tired. MTHFR mutations can also prevent our ability to convert B vitamins (such as folate) into usable forms. Problems? Yes.
As such, supplements may be needed. B12 would need to be in the form Methylcobalamin, which is the fully processed form which your body can readily use. Often, B12 needs to be taken sublingually (under the tongue) for the best absorption. Many nutrients have these ‘final forms’ and it is sometimes best to take them in that form in your supplements. MethylProtect is a product that has a good mix of stuff for those of us that are poor methylators, be it from genetics or whether it is symptomatic of something else. It has the awesome form of folate, which is a biggie.
Now. Lets say you are anemic.
Let’s also say you have some of the MTHFR mutations. Weeeee-he-hell. Here we go: In order to not be anemic, you need to be absorbing your iron and creating new red blood cells. In order to make those new cells, you need B12. In order to be able to absorb B12, you need B9 (folate or folic acid). But if you are a poor methylator, you aren’t able to convert B6 from food into the proper form, so it’s like you aren’t getting it at all. Therefore, your active B12 levels are going to suck and you are going to be tired and anemic. (Here is a link to a good overview article. ) And, as B12 & B9 work together to create SAMe (S-adenosylmethionine), you are going to be low in that and will likely have bad moods, depression, and even joint issues. Bollocks!! Right? You can take a supplement for SAM-e, over the counter.
(Keep in mind, I am not a doctor and I don’t know your personal situation. I’m just giving you stuff to think about. I do recommend that you see a doctor who is In The Know about nutrition and food allergies/intolerances and the like.)
But you can see what I am saying about how everything is connected. I’ve known for years now that I tend to be anemic but I had noooo idea about all the other stuff like the genetics. See? You could actually be chronically depressed as a part of some crazy gene and instead of taking crazy-pills that affect your brain chemistry and are only marginally effective, you could be taking a vitamin or supplement.
2. Toxins. High levels of toxins in your system, as I said above, can screw everything up. They can interfere with your body’s natural processes and it can affect what nutrients you are able to take in and/or use.
In my case, I tested high in mercury. So, the fillings have to come out and be replaced with the white kind. Which is either porcelain or a composite or something. To be honest, I haven’t researched that yet. (I’ve heard first hand as well as read that if your fillings are leaching toxins into your system, making you feel awful, once they are removed, you should feel right again in a few months.)
Other ways to get rid of toxins include blood filtering on the extreme (and expensive) end, and supplements such as Chelex on the less aggressive end. I’m also supposed to avoid large fish such as tuna (ugh), mahi mahi (uuuugh), and swordfish, and go with smaller fish like…… oh this one is new to me. I have to look up the name. Ok. POMPANO. I haven’t tried it… yet. It’s in the freezer. But the doc said it was good, so I’ll take her word for it. This time.
3. Vitamin and Mineral deficiencies. Let me also say that this can include insufficient levels of certain amino acids, plant-based antioxidants, hormones, etc. Our bodies are like master chefs. They can create wondrous things, but they need the raw ingredients and the tools. When one or more things is missing, it can bring the whole house down. (This kind of goes along with number 1, and the circle of chaos with iron and the B group)
This website (http://www.health-truth.com/196.php) has a good listing of what the different vitamins and minerals do, what deficiency manifests as, what foods contain them as well as what things deplete them. I included the listing for folate so you could see what I mean. It is interesting how alcohol can really deplete a lot of things in your body. Just a trend I noticed.
Folic acid (folacin)
Another member of the B-complex family. Involved in the synthesis of the nucleic acids DNA and RNA, thus essential for growth and reproduction. Formation of healthy red blood cells. Stimulates production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach and stimulates the appetite. Helps liver function and important for healthy brain function and mental well being.
Conditions that may be helped: Pernicious anemia, fatigue, heart disease, prevention of birth defects, adrenal exhaustion, baldness, atherosclerosis, diverticulitis, arthritis, psoriasis.
Depleted by: Alcohol, caffeine, sugar, stress, heat, sunlight, oxygen, sulfa drugs, ERT.
Deficiency signs: Graying hair, poor growth, swollen tongue, anemia, forgetfulness, sores at mouth corners.
Toxicity signs: No known toxicity in most people.
Food sources: Green leafy vegetables, spinach, liver, meat, whole grains.
Herbal sources: Alfalfa, chickweed, sage, parsley, nettles.
Sometimes a good multivitamin is all you need. The one I am taking is by Ortho Molecular and it is called AlphaBase with Iron.
I am also taking a protein powder that has some of the other fussy stuff like amino acids and a bunch of things I forget the name of off the top of my head. It’s called i5. So far, sticking it into smoothies seems to work best.
4. Hormones & Such
Tired?
Well, you could, like I was, be max deficient in a compound called CoQ10. That in itself is bad enough. CoQ10 (Coenzyme Q10) is present in the mitochondria of our cells, little powerhouses, to create ATP, the body’s fundamental energy unit, from carbohydrate and fatty acid metabolism.
Another deficiency that is common in people who are tired or who might have CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) is Pregnenolone. Pregnenolone is sometimes referred to as the “mother hormone” because it is the precursor of a number of hormones including DHEA, testosterone and estrogen, and adrenal hormones (if your adrenals are sapped, you will be exhausted). See this article: Exciting new discovery in treating CFS It proposes a commonality in CFS sufferers with low CoQ10 and low pregnenolone. It also suggests that it could be caused by an underlying illness. Remember the Epstein Bar virus? Classic for causing CFS. So can the flu.
“The production of cholesterol, coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10, a key energy metabolite), and other key hormones relies on your body’s mevalonate pathway. The new research suggests that viral infections “hijack” this pathway to make their protective outer coats. In response, your body makes interferon, which suppresses the mevalonate pathway, which in turn suppresses the virus. “
So, pregnenolone will be depleted and production of CoQ10 will be diminished or halted. Yay for us! (*sarcasm*)
Yup, I am on both of these little cuties.
4. Food intolerances
If you eat foods you react to, this can destroy the lining of your intestines and it can damage other things as well. Perhaps you react mood-wise to a food. Brain allergies are getting a little more notice these days. If you notice an adverse reaction like feeling suicidal when you have a bunch of fresh, organic, lovely strawberries……… then DON’T eat them.
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Now, to the aim of this post.
Food intolerances, meaning you are not having an allergy type reaction, can show up as indigestion, headaches, altered mood, etc. If you start noticing a lot of these cropping up, say, reacting to foods that have high histamine content (like wine, tomatoes, strawberries) it is a sign that your body is not producing enough DHEA to take care of these reactions, or it could be a sign that your intestines have become permeable and food particles are making it into your blood stream where your body can have an entirely different reaction to them than before. These particles can be seen as invaders, your body mounts a defense, and over time your immune system suffers from being on constant alert.
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Moral of the story? Increasing number of food intolerances = you likely are or have developed Leaky Gut. Scary name for it, I know.
Just an overgrowth of Candida (Yes, it is in your body regardless. It is supposed to be) can cause Leaky Gut. So, while there are several things that can cause it, such as the yeast or food intolerances that continually damage the lining of your intestines, weakening and thinning them out, there is a more or less general cure. This includes eliminating the problem or source (stamping out the yeast or removing problem foods), supplementation (Vitamins, Minerals, Hormones, oh my!), aaaaaaaaaaaaaand Probiotics.
Probs are just natural bacteria and the like that are already in your gut, living happily. Natural probs would be Kombucha tea, sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, and basically fermented foods on the whole. But you can also take them as powders, capsules, and chewable tablets.
Your doctor can order some tests for you to scope out everything I’ve talked about. Pretty much they are all blood tests. You can ask about the ALCAT or ELISA for food intolerances (this covers gluten also), and NutrEval for the current levels of your vitamins, minerals, heavy metals in your system, amino acids, some hormones.
(I thought NutrEval was very impressive. LOTS of bang for the buck. If you do it though, read the instructions on doing the urine sample. You have to do some things ahead of time like freeze an icepack. It also tells you things like “if you wake up in the middle of the night, collect a sample then, and again when you wake up at your normal time. Combine the two and then use that to collect your sample that you will send in.” I totally flummoxed this bit. Stress. It can throw off your results a bit. So many of my things were in the red zone that I really doubt it would have made a ton of difference. The only thing I had in the good range was Manganese. Oi.)
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