DNA Methylation: The Hidden Switch That Shapes Your Health

DNA Methylation

WHEN most people think about health, they focus on what genes they’ve inherited, and assume their fated health outcomes are sealed in stone.  But that is an outdated way of thinking - genes alone don’t determine your future.  How your genes are read and expressed is often even more important.   This concept of epigenetics - meaning the environment that your genes exist in - allows for a more self-empowered, and hopeful way to understand and influence one’s health.  

AS we age, there is a natural decline that occurs in our bodies that makes us more vulnerable to developing chronic diseases.  The current statistics suggest that around 80% of adults live with one chronic disease, and nearly the same number - around 77% suffer from two.  While the reasonable response to this has been to study and treat each individual disease, the scientific and medical communities have inadvertently created a silo effect where each disease is being monitored by one specialist, who effectively ignores the other concomitant ongoings within the patient’s body.  

THIS myopic view has contributed to higher costs for patients (a sixfold increase in the past 50 years) and a booming health-care industry as the direct benefactor.  Currently, nearly 1 in every 5 dollars in the U.S. economy is spent on healthcare, and with hospital systems merging into conglomerates, the health-sector is the largest employment sector in the country providing roughly 1 in 6 jobs nationally.  

Yet, as our growing understanding of epigenetics develops, so too, is the understanding that we can reduce the impact of many chronic diseases motivated by age, by simply maintaining a healthier environment for the body to exist in.  One of the many contributing ways this can be accomplished is through optimizing DNA methylation. 

DNA Methylation

DNA methylation is a powerful biological process that acts like a “dimmer switch” for your genes.   It influences how your body ages, how your immune system functions, and how resilient you are against chronic disease.   How effectively you methylate your DNA can actually change your biological environment, and positively (or negatively) influence your health and lifespan.  And the good news? Lifestyle and nutrition have a major impact on how well this process works.

Methylation is an enzyme dependent process that takes place within every cell of the body, to orchestrate various different chemical reactions.  IT can be thought of as a tiny tag or cap, containing one methyl group containing one carbon and three hydrogen atoms which attaches itself to other molecules.  It is a biochemical activity that occurs during all times of the day and night, the functioning of which, to name a few things, allows us to detoxify exogenous materials that we ingest (ever wonder where the “red” in the Swedish fish goes?), activate neurotransmitters, digest hormones, metabolize byproducts, and help make energy.  Methylation also helps to produce, and repair DNA, ultimately controlling DNA expression through the process of DNA methylation.  

DNA methylation is a specific form of methylation that is an epigenetic mechanism, meaning it modifies gene expression without changing your genetic code based on environmental factors.  Methyl groups or “tags” are added or removed from DNA strands.  Think of it as your body’s way of deciding which “chapters” of your genetic book get read—and which stay silent.  In her book Younger You, Dr. Kara Fitzgerald wrote of her interview with geneticist and professor of pharmacology and therapeutics Dr. Moshe Szyf, who spoke of DNA methylation as the punctuation in our language.  “It makes sense out of the letters, it breaks up the words and sentences, overrides and under rides, and puts exclamation marks and question marks so that the letters [of DNA] become a language.”  (Fitzgerald, 2023 p.9).  

Healthy Hiker

WHEN put in these terms, one really grasps the vital importance of this process, as it allows our bodies to truly and effectively communicate with its various organs and systems.  Methylation ensures healthy development and cellular function.  It keeps your cells specialized—ensuring your liver cells act like liver cells and your brain cells like brain cells.  It modulates aging and longevity as specific methylation patterns form the basis of “epigenetic clocks,” which predict biological age better than the number of candles on your birthday cake.  When your body is methylating smoothly,  your good genes are being turned on, and your bad genes are being turned off, allowing your body to operate optimally.  Alternatively, disordered methylation allows our bad genes (think of genes that promote inflammation) to be left turned on, which can drive chronic disease by way of immune aging, leaving us more vulnerable to infections and chronic inflammation.

THE biochemical process that drives methylation is a nutrient rich affair.  It requires nutrients such as folate, vitamin B12, and betaine, as well as methionine, choline, riboflavin(B2), niacin (B3), magnesium, potassium, zinc, and pyridoxine (B6).  In addition to these, the process also requires sulfur, cysteine, biotin (B7), DHA, and taurine.  This list of ingredients help to convert methionine into S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) which is the universal methyl donor.  Once SAMe donates the completed methyl group to whatever enzymatic reaction is requiring it, it then is converted into S-adenosyl homocysteine (SAH), which is ultimately converted into homocysteine.  The homocysteine molecule is converted back into SAMe when B12, folate, or betaine interact with it and the cycle whirls through again and again, all throughout our lifetime. 

EVEN without fully understanding the biochemical process, one can appreciate that the abundance of these nutrients are tremendously important to this cycle, and during times of stress, there is an increased

demand to replete these nutrients, as methylation would be taking place more frequently.  What you eat, and how you eat it, provides the building blocks your body needs to maintain healthy methylation patterns.  

Colorful Snack

OPTIMIZING your body’s ability to methylate DNA begins with the simplest equation:  supply the vehicle with its necessary fuel.  Prioritize sleep, exercise, and stress modulation, and consume a nutrient-rich diet.  Leafy greens and legumes are rich in natural folate.  Eggs and liver are an excellent source of choline.  Fatty fish, dairy, and meats provide vitamin B12.  Beets and spinach are loaded with betaine, and berries, green tea, turmeric, and cruciferous vegetables supply polyphenols that help regulate methylation enzymes.  Together, these foods supply both the methyl donors and epigenetic modulators your body needs to keep your gene expression in balance.

Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat

ONE exciting area of research comes from Dr. Jeffrey Bland’s company Big Bold Health, which has studied Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat (HTB).   This unique plant is packed with immune-supporting polyphenols.  In early clinical trials, HTB was shown to shift biological pathways linked to immunity and even reduce measures of “biological age.” While these results are promising, it’s important to remember they are still preliminary.   More large-scale research is underway to confirm long-term benefits.  Yet, despite that, choosing to supplement your diet with this special form of buckwheat does not have any negative consequence.  It serves as one of the many ways you can take control of your epigenetic and immune health.    

IF you are curious about how your body is currently methylating, consider advanced biological testing to measure your biological age - that is - the pace at which your body is currently aging.  DNA methylation testing is a great way to compare your chronological age to your biological age.  It allows you to develop a path with your functional medicine practitioner and see how lifestyle changes, supplements, or exercise programs can affect your epigenetic health.  In her book Younger You, Dr. Kara Fitzgerald describes her recently published pilot clinical research suggesting how diet and lifestyle programs can slow—and possibly reverse—epigenetic aging.

DNA methylation isn’t just science—it’s a direct link between your daily choices and long-term health.   Supporting this process through nutrition, lifestyle, and possibly targeted interventions like Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat gives you a way to take control of your biological age.  Your genes may load the gun, but your epigenome pulls the trigger.   With the right tools and habits, you can make sure it’s pointing toward a healthier, longer life.  For more information, schedule a FREE Discovery Call, or visit www.soulmindedhealth.com.

REFERENCES:

1. Fitzgerald, Kara Dr., Younger You: Reduce your Bioage, and live longer, better. Hachette Books, 2023. 

2. Luthar Z, Golob A, Germ M, Vombergar B, Kreft I. Tartary Buckwheat in Human Nutrition. Plants (Basel). 2021 Apr 5;10(4):700. doi: 10.3390/plants10040700. PMID: 33916396; PMCID: PMC8066602.

3. Perlmutter A, Bland JS, Chandra A, Malani SS, Smith R, Mendez TL, Dwaraka VB. The impact of a polyphenol-rich supplement on epigenetic and cellular markers of immune age: a pilot clinical study. Front Nutr. 2024 Nov 18;11:1474597. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1474597. PMID: 39628466; PMCID: PMC11612904.

4. Yousefzadeh, M.J., Flores, R.R., Zhu, Y. et al. An aged immune system drives senescence and ageing of solid organs. Nature 594, 100–105 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-03547-7

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