This Is Why MTHFR Is Important
Did you find you have an MTHFR alteration and you are wondering why is MTHFR important to begin? In this article, we go into detail on why this enzyme is important and what it does for your health.
If you want to understand why MTHFR is important, keep reading.
MTHFR is an enzyme that's important for making something known as SAMe and also helping support the production of DNA based pairs. So when we say, why is the MTHFR enzyme important? Really, we are asking why are these things important? What do they do? How do they help our bodies? So first, let's look at why MTHFR is important with regard to SAMe production.
Why MTHFR Is Important
SAMe is basically methylated methionine (an amino acid found in food). MTHFR is important because it helps bodies make that SAMe. Without SAMe you can't make things like creatine, phospholipids and you can't repair your DNA properly. You can't detoxify neurotransmitters and do many other things through the methylation process. You also can't make neurotransmitters and you can't make nitric oxide. All of these different processes are supported with this product known as SAMe. Sounds like no big deal, right (sarcasm)?
Actually it is very important because it s connected to so many different things. This is one of the reasons why MTHFR is so important. It is an enzyme that has a very broad reach in different areas of our bodies. We mentioned creatine and creatine is needed in large amounts in our bodies. It is critical for energy production and as a backup when we need quick energy in an instant.
Phospholipids are basically the building blocks of all of our cellular structure. You can think of a cell like a balloon. The outside part of that balloon is made up up a bunch of smaller balloons closely linked together through a membrane matrix. The cell membrane like this and the close linked balloons are the phospholipids. Without SAMe and MTHFR you can't make your cellular membranes.
Of course, when you have MTHFR enzyme alteration, it's not that the enzyme is completely gone and not working at all. It still works but has a relative slow down. How much reduction you have depends on the type of alteration? We mentioned in a previous video that there are other ways that your body can make this SAMe even without MTHFR and methylfolate.
SAMe is also important for the breakdown of different neurotransmitters and hormones. So it's needed for detoxification. If you're not able to break those down, it can sometimes cause anxiety and unstable mood. On the other side, you also need SAMe for production of neurotransmitters. That's obviously important for mood related issues as well. Nitric oxide is important because it dilates the arteries when the body is needing more blood in specific area. These are some of the reasons, but not all the reasons why MTHFR is important. It reaches many different nooks and crannies of the body.
The reason MTHFR is important is because without enough of it, you can't deliver these products to the body in a quick efficient manner. This is why when there is a deficiency in this enzyme activity, it can lead to a lot of decreased overall health. Even as important as MTHFR is, not all alterations in the MTHFR enzyme lead to critical health problems.
In helping a lot of people with this genetic alteration, a lot of confusions arises from this point. So I just want to emphasize that there is a lot of redundancy in nature. Specifically in the biochemistry of how our bodies work. We don't all need to take the same things based on specific alterations in your MTHFR enzyme. There's a lot of variation from one person to the next in how all the puzzle pieces fit together. We may take two people with the same genetic alteration in their MTHFR enzyme, and they have two totally different optimization strategies. The question to ask if you are looking at MTHFR alterations as a potential health solution is, what health issue are you trying to solve for?
That means what symptom or diagnosis, do you think you need help with the most? Or are you simply, taking a preventative approach by looking at nutrigenomics (optimize your nutrition based on your genetics). Those are two important questions you should ask and look at. They won't necessarily give two divergent answers. They may actually be the same, but the health problems you actually have is a common way to dictate the plan.
So in summary, why is MTHFR important? It's important because it has broad reaching effects on our health. A reduced activity in your MTHFR enzyme, may mean your body needs more support.
That should give you a better understanding of why MTHFR is important. If you have questions about the content in this article, please ask it in the comment section below.
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