What is methylation and why are doctors ignoring it?

Methylation is the body’s most vital chemical process, yet it’s ignored by the medical profession. The body’s most life-supporting functions are manufacturing healthy new cells programmed by pristinely preserved DNA and providing us with sustainable energy. Both are facilitated and governed by methylation, an exquisitely simple yet highly intricate chemical orchestration that involves the transfer of what are known as methyl groups (made up of one carbon and three hydrogen atoms) in order to make the revitalised bits of us that charge our daily existence. To continue to live a healthy life, we need to be constantly giving birth to undamaged DNA that seeds robust and vital cells propelled by ongoing salvos of energy.

Whatever you put in your mouth and breathe into your lungs feeds into the methylation process. The relocation of methyl groups provides the backbone for not only the manufacture of DNA and the repair of any ravaged by a daily barrage of chemical insults, but also the generation of the brain chemicals that determine how you think and feel. Depression, anxiety, a diminishing memory and a confused mind result from defective methylation; in addition, cancer-protective genes and those that increase the risk of developing cancer are turned on and off as a result of methylation.

Methylation helps you grow myelin, the protective covering that insulates your nervous system, fashions osteoblasts (bone-preserving cells) and generates creatine, carnitine and coenzyme Q10, nutrients that engineer energy production. The risk of developing Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and a host of cancers is connected with dysfunctional methylation. Without effective methylation you’d be moribund and unrecyclable.

To uncover how methylation gets derailed, we need to shine the spotlight on the two central protagonists that drive this process: folic acid and vitamin B₁₂.

Folic acid

Folic acid is found in leafy green vegetables and it’s this form of the nutrient, called folate, that has easy access to the methylation process. Since folate is so critical for effective methylation, which leads to healthy DNA and cells that are defect free, health authorities in a number of countries, eager to circumvent any possible deficiencies of this nutrient, mandated food fortification with extra folic acid to ensure pregnant mothers gave birth to healthy offspring. Cereals and breads were laced with added folic acid specifically to prevent the development of diseases of the spinal cord known as neural tube defects. While this initiative significantly reduced the number of babies born with such conditions, there is a downside.

The major problem with folic acid inserted into the food chain is it doesn’t have the same chemical structure as natural folate found in leafy green vegetables. Unlike natural folate, which is primed and pumped for methylation, folic acid, to become activated and ready for use in the methylation pathway, must go through a sequence of chemical transformations that demand significant amounts of energy, requiring the presence of a number of enzymes to make this happen. When the body is overwhelmed by huge amounts of additional folic acid (that found in vitamin supplements resembles the food-fortified variety), it’s not always possible to activate and use it all. Unmetabolised or unused folic acid then accumulates in the bloodstream and has the capacity to interfere with the utilisation of natural folate found in food.

For folate to move into the brain, where its presence is absolutely critical for the production of nerve cells and brain chemicals, it has to attach to a receptor. For some reason, this receptor has a higher affinity for the fortified form of folic acid than it does for folate. This could set up the possibility of depriving our brains of a vital nutrient. Research also demonstrates that unmetabolised folic acid can significantly weaken the immune system by reducing natural killer cells, our first-line defence against unwanted germs and cancer cells.

In the post-fortification period, almost one-quarter of the American population was found to have supraphysiological concentrations of folic acid, and similar levels are to be expected in Australia.

Vitamin B₁₂

The other dominant player in this saga is vitamin B₁₂, as it partners with activated or methylated folate to power methylation. For this process to proceed smoothly, adequate amounts of vitamin B₁₂ are necessary, which often is not the case. When folate is high and vitamin B₁₂ low, a not uncommon phenomenon, methylation can unravel. Evidence shows that excess folate and diminished B₁₂ can result in impaired mental function. Even worse, an overabundance of folate might stimulate cancer growth, meaning many of us might be unwittingly exposed to a potentially lethal substance.

Methylation check

How do you know if you’re not methylating effectively? If your memory is deteriorating, your mental function is compromised and you lack energy, flawed methylation might be the principal cause. However, there may be methylation defects long before your mind or your body start to malfunction. Having your methylation status assessed should be a priority, but it has yet to receive any prominence or even recognition by the medical establishment.

Ideally, wise health policy would mandate the proactive assessment of methylation in all of us, including the quantification of folate and unmetabolised folic acid, vitamin B₁₂, genes that impact on methylation and the measurement of substances such as homocysteine, histamine, S-Adenosyl-L-homocysteine and S-Adenosyl Methionine, which reflect the efficacy of this process.

Try telling that to doctors.

Dr Michael Elstein is an anti-ageing physician and writer based in Sydney, Australia. He is the author of two books: Eternal Health: The Comprehensive Guide to Anti-Ageing for the New Millennium and You Have the Power: Why Didn’t my Doctor Tell me About This?