Is Undermethylation Keeping You Down? What You Can Do

If you’ve struggled most of your life with depression and nervousness, or even tend to feel a little down in the dumps, you might want to check to see if you are undermethylating. Methylation status something I regularly check patients for because it’s a process the body needs to run diverse and vital functions, but oftentimes their methylation processing isn’t quite balanced – causing them to undermethylate or overmethylate.

Last week I published an article about overmethylation because I felt like it is a topic that is not commonly addressed and yet effects many people. Of these two sister conditions, undermethylation tends to get more of the attention but still it’s important we clarify the differences, some common misconceptions, and a natural treatment options so you can do your best to reduce its impact in your life.

So let’s briefly revisit methylation. Methylation is a biochemical process used throughout your body like a little light switches for turning on repairing DNA, producing energy, regulating hormones, detoxification, synthesizing neurotransmitters, and more. Undermethylation occurs when someone doesn’t have enough methyl groups to switch on certain processes. Most people methylate properly but if you fall on either end of the spectrum, you’re going to feel it.

 

12 Symptoms of Undermethylation

Though undermethylation and overmethylation both share anxiety as a symptom, people who  are experiencing a lack of methylation are typically experiencing anxiety that’s more geared towards perfectionism tendencies. Where as people with overmethylation tend to have extreme anxiety accompanied with panic attacks in some cases.

Here are 12 symptoms of undermethylation:

1. Fatigue
2. Depression
3. Insomnia
4. Nervousness and perfectionism
5. Addictions
6. Low serotonin activity
7. Headaches
8. Obsessive compulsive behaviors
9. High libido
10. Allergies
11. Ritualistic behavior
12. Digestive issues

Undermethylation is associated with MTHFR mutations C677T, A1298C, MS, BHMT, MAT and SAHH. Please keep in mind that when you get a genetic test, you getting a list of possibilities and it is not definitive to whether or not you are undermethylating or overmethylating. That being said, it’s a good way to know which way your body might tend to behave.

 

What Causes Undermethylation?

There’s a common misconception that the genetic mutations associated are what cause under or overmethylation. However, it’s not that simple. While genetic mutations might make it more likely that you’re not methylating enough and there are also likely environmental causes. Toxin and mold exposure, high-stress environments, nutrient deficiencies, and even emotional trauma seem to potentially affect methylation in the body.

While there’s no one definitive cause of undermethylation, if you come to the conclusion that that’s what’s happening in your body and causing your symptoms, you’ll want to address the underlying causes by restoring the related factors. When it comes to naturally healing your body so it begins to methylate at a normal rate, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re getting enough precursors, co-factors, and supporting your body’s detoxification processes.

 

An Undermethylation Diet

Here are some of those precursors and cofactors you should add to your diet to help with your undermethylation:

1. Choline – An important methyl donor.
2. Glutathione – Low glutathione levels can impair methylation.
3. Copper – Many methylation enzymes require copper for reactions.
4. Magnesium – Plays an important role and gene methylation.
5. Folate – An important methyl donor.
6. Zinc – Insufficient zinc levels can reduce the body’s ability to use methyl groups.
7. Vitamin B2 – Helps recycle folate so it’s a usable methyl donor form.
8. Vitamin B3 –  Maintains proper methylation of genes, which helps resist tumor formation.
9. Vitamin B6 – A cofactor for an important enzyme that helps transfer methyl groups.
10. Vitamin B12 – A key enzyme used in the synthesis of your body’s most important methyl donor, S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe).
11. SAMe, methionine, or TMG can also be taken

Foods to avoid:

• Vegetable oils
• Processed foods
• Gluten
• Soy

Foods to enjoy:

• Organic fresh vegetables
• Grass-fed beef
• Wild caught salmon
• Full fat yogurt
• Eggs (if tolerant)

Basically, the key here is to eliminate things that often cause people problems such as common food sensitivities and inflammatory foods. It’s going to be really important for you to go on a whole food plant-based diet. Then you’ll want to focus on the nutrients listed above because they are essential for methylation.

Juicing probably won’t feel great for you because there’s high concentrations of folic acid, which can cause people who are undermethylating problems. Folic acid depletes methyl groups in the nucleus of the cell where DNA is made. Outside the nucleus, folic acid can actually contribute to the methyl groups in your body. This can be confusing because it seems to contradict itself, but the most important thing to remember is that folic acid usually inhibits detoxification processes and therefore it doesn’t feel great for somebody who’s undermethylating.

You’ll also likely benefit from reducing histamine in your diet. This is because high histamine levels and undermethylation are associated.

 

Undermethylation & Histamine

Another thing that can contribute to undermethylation besides the MTHFR gene mutations and environmental causes, are high levels of histamine in the body. Histamine is an important mediator released by your mast cells to cause acute inflammation. Histamine gets a bad name but in reality we need histamine to help get important immune system elements to injuries and to attack Invaders. That being said, it’s fairly common to experience high histamine in such a way that it becomes problematic.

What can contributes to histamine levels?

• Overactive mast cells
• Fermented foods
• Cured meats
• Smoked meats
• Canned foods
• Pickled foods
• Leftovers

Noticing a theme in the foods listed above? This is because as foods sits, it breaks down and creates histamine.

 

Undermethylation Treatment

If you suspect undermethylation is causing you problems, I encourage you to seek out the help of a functional medicine doctor with experience in this area. Through testing and careful recording of your diet and lifestyle, you and your doctor should be able to help you reduce the number of factors that are contributing to your undermethylation.

If you’re interested learning more about overmethylation, I encourage you to check out my blog: Is Overmethylation The Cause of Your Anxiety?

 

Resources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16825685

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9461031

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15627265

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19812675

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18950248

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21939673

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11916749

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16939485

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20920744