Shaun Beswarick - Nutritionist & Naturopath

Methylation, what is it?

Well, I can tell you one thing, it is NOT a simple process! Out of respect to the reader, I will try to stay away from too many details, but to explain methylation is worth the effort because of its importance to our health. I will add, this has come from clinical experience so what I take from the “textbooks” is not intellectual gobble-d-gook but rather something that has both practical AND measurable foundations; it WILL improve your physical and mental health.
So, you come to see me, and I get your Homocysteine levels checked. Your bloods come back, and the results are between 5 and around 7.6. I give them the thumbs up, and we go on to other things.
But wait, what if the results are below 5 or above 8? How about if they are 4 or 10? Well, if they did come back at those levels, here’s two things you can be sure of:
1. Your doctor will say they are “fine”
2. I will not say they are “fine”
Homocysteine is a direct product of the methylation cycle – this means that measuring it gives me an indication of how efficient that process is going inside your cells. Furthermore, homocysteine is made into other stuff – one of these being Glutathione which is kind of like the fire brigade is to a burning building.
Cardiovascular disease, mental health, kidney function, detoxification, DNA replication: all of these are impacted by methylation. Methylation itself is directly reliant upon vitamin B12 and folate status.
Getting back to your results. The range of 5 to around 7.6 is optimal. The further from this range you are the less efficient you are methylating. This will affect your health. In addition, homocysteine can be an indicator of problems – like a biochemical red light. From a real life example of one of my patients, homocysteine levels were directly correlated with kidney function and cardiovascular risk. Yes, I checked, via pathology, indicators for both and found, as suspected, all was not ok. The patient’s levels of homocysteine were within range as far as the labs’ parameters were concerned but well outside optimal as far as I was.
So, what is Methylation?
Important.

A diagnosis is not a life sentence, it can actually communicate something to us about our bodies.

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ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴏɴᴄᴇ ꜱᴀɪᴅ ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴀᴋᴇ ᴄᴀʀᴇ ᴏꜰ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴅᴇᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴀ ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴏꜱᴇ ᴛʜᴇᴍ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴅᴀʏ. ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇʏ ɢᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪᴀɢɴᴏꜱɪꜱ, ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇʏ ɢᴏ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴅɪꜰꜰᴇʀᴇɴᴛ ꜱᴛᴀɢᴇꜱ, ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇʏ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴛʀᴇᴀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴘᴀꜱꜱ ᴀᴡᴀʏ. ᴛʜɪꜱ ɪꜱ ᴄᴀʟʟᴇᴅ "ᴀᴍʙɪɢᴜᴏᴜꜱ ʟᴏꜱꜱ".
ɪ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴡɪꜱʜ ᴅᴇᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴀ ᴏɴ ᴀɴʏᴏɴᴇ. ᴀꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ʙʀᴀɪɴ ꜱʟᴏᴡʟʏ ᴅɪᴇꜱ, ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ᴘʜʏꜱɪᴄᴀʟʟʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴜᴀʟʟʏ ꜰᴏʀɢᴇᴛ ᴡʜᴏ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ ᴏɴᴇꜱ ᴀʀᴇ. ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴇɴᴅ ᴜᴘ ʟʏɪɴɢ ɪɴ ʙᴇᴅ, ɴᴏᴛ ᴍᴏᴠɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ᴇᴀᴛɪɴɢ ᴏʀ ᴅʀɪɴᴋɪɴɢ.
ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ ʙᴇ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ᴡɪʟʟ ꜱᴄʀᴏʟʟ ᴘᴀꜱᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴘᴏꜱᴛ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ᴅᴇᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴀ ʜᴀꜱ ɴᴏᴛ ᴛᴏᴜᴄʜᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇᴍ. ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴍᴀʏ ɴᴏᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ɪᴛ'ꜱ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴀ ʟᴏᴠᴇᴅ ᴏɴᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ʜᴀꜱ ʙᴀᴛᴛʟᴇᴅ ᴏʀ ɪꜱ ꜱᴛɪʟʟ ʙᴀᴛᴛʟɪɴɢ ᴅᴇᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴀ.
ᴛᴏ ʀᴀɪꜱᴇ ᴀᴡᴀʀᴇɴᴇꜱꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴄʀᴜᴇʟ ᴅɪꜱᴇᴀꜱᴇ, ɪ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴍʏ ꜰʀɪᴇɴᴅꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴜᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴘᴀɢᴇ ᴛᴏᴅᴀʏ.
ʜᴏʟᴅ ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜰɪɴɢᴇʀ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏꜱᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏᴘʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘᴀꜱᴛᴇ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴛɪᴍᴇʟɪɴᴇ.
ᴀ ꜱᴘᴇᴄɪᴀʟ ᴛʜᴀɴᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏ ᴀɴʏᴏɴᴇ ᴡɪʟʟɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴜᴛ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇɪʀ ᴛɪᴍᴇʟɪɴᴇ ꜰᴏʀ ᴀʟᴢʜᴇɪᴍᴇʀ ᴀᴡᴀʀᴇɴᴇꜱꜱ ᴡᴇᴇᴋ! 💜💜💜

JCPP Advances | ACAMH Child Development Journal | Wiley Online Library The TRACE study examined short-term effects of an elimination diet (ED) and healthy diet (HD) in children with ADHD: fewer ED (34.5%) than HD (50.6%) participants showed improvement in ADHD and/or em...

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They do not make shows like Little House on the Prairie anymore. In an episode I recently watched (again!), Olga, a young girl who has one leg shorter than the other, sits by and watches the other kids play. Though she handles it with grace and dignity, deep down, it hurts. Of course, added to this, are unkind words from other children and an overprotective, bitter father.
Laura Ingles is a true friend to Olga and she and her father Charles come up with an idea to help. Charles designs a special sole for one of Olga’s shoes. It works. When she first tries it on, walking is comfortable and normal; no limping and no extra expending energy to get from A to B. The little girl throws her arms around Charles – to her, this means everything.
The sole of Olga’s shoe is like the role of nutrition in mental health care. As a practitioner, I cannot take away your stress, nor your anxiety – no-one could make Olga’s short leg the right length – BUT I can help your body rise to meet it, perhaps just enough to be life changing. Just a little adjustment, that’s all. Just a little help. It may be all you need.

Without warning. In September 2010, a major earthquake hit the town of Darfield, 40 km west of Christchurch, New Zealand. Though severe, it was the aftershocks that followed (some 1000 of them) that posed the greatest threat to the city, with a magnitude 6.3 striking on 22 February 2011. Buildings and terrain weakened by the large quake and subsequent aftershocks were damaged or destroyed. 185 lives were lost.

Recently, I got to return to my hometown after 29 years. Though it has been 13 years since the destruction, it is very evident in many places. Indeed, some buildings I remembered are no longer there and others stand empty and silent. In other places, the ground, no longer safe for building upon, has been given back to trees, plants and native birds. Life goes on.

Our health is shaken much these days, producing weakness that is inviting destruction. While the earthquake could hardly be avoided, it amazed me how some buildings, even very old ones, sustained little or no damage. Food for thought. The nutrients we consume and absorb are used to build sound structure; to strengthen that which needs repair. Just take two examples: copper and vitamin C. The one is necessary for cross-linking of the extra-cellular matrix (the structure in between skin cells) and the other for producing collagen fibres. Weakness here invites inflammation and further damage to the skin.

For certain, we cannot avoid all health problems, but we can strengthen what we have - and remain standing.

Me when someone says back pain has nothing to do with nutrition...

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Arthritis. Mental Illness. Asthma.
Shellharbour's top 3 chronic conditions in 2021.
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Happy New Year everyone! Taking Nutrition/Naturopathic appointments right now!!!
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Want some good dietary advice just prior to Christmas? Well, brace yourself because here it comes...
..enjoy your food!

Merry Christmas :)

You may have heard that rat poison can contain cholecalciferol aka vitamin D3. This is true, but the effect on rats is not the same as humans. The amount required to cause acute toxicity to humans is manifold higher than that for a rat. D3 causes a rat’s blood to cease clotting, leading to them bleeding to death; this does not happen to people taking a supplement of D3.

Now, let us move on to the “however,” part of this post.

Did you know, occupational sun exposure, in studies, has not been linked to increase in melanoma? That’s right, when folks who work in the sun were monitored, there was no proof that skin cancer was more common amongst them, in fact, the reverse was found, that is, those who worked indoors were more likely to develop melanoma. This should be cause for pondering.

Way back in 1919, it was discovered that sun exposure cured rickets. This led to the identification of vitamin D in 1930. Very simple really. Sun exposure increases the amount of vitamin D in your body. The way it does this gets a little complicated but put simply: UVB rays from the sun cause a change to a form of cholesterol which is in your skin. After this, further change occurs and vitamin D3 is made, packaged into a transporter (called, DBP aka d binding protein) and taken to your liver, where enzymes activate it and send it out to various tissues via DBP.

What is very interesting is that mechanisms exist in the body to prevent over-production of vitamin D. This should make us pause to ponder as well!

To complicate things just a little, the amount of sun-exposure required to form sufficient vitamin D will vary in respect to age, skin colour and where you live. One size then, does not fit all when it comes to getting this vitamin from sun exposure, BUT get it, you must!

Getting back to melanoma, one of the effects vitamin D can have is, “anti-proliferative.” When cancer occurs, it proliferates and in fact, it can be caused initially by dysregulated cell proliferation. Cancer feeds off inflammation. Poor diet, stress, and various other inflammatory promotors, drive the production of cancer. There is no time to write about every aspect of this, but with regards to vitamin D’s ability to prevent over proliferation (and therefore, exhibit anti-inflammatory effects), it is apparent that balanced sun exposure (non-burning exposure) being linked to a lower risk of cancer (including melanoma) is relatively easy to understand, hence the results of the study mentioned above (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5129901/).

Lastly, as a nutritionist, it would be remiss of me to not make mention of the importance of diet and stress management in the metabolism of vitamin D and here are some important reminders:
1. Vegetable oils added to a plethora of processed foods are inflammatory
2. Sunscreens worn too often will block vitamin D production, promoting deficiency
3. DBP (the transporter for vitamin D) is negatively affected by metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance or pre-diabetes)
4. Insulin resistance is promoted by prolonged stress, inflammation, and smoking
5. Magnesium insufficiency (which is common) promotes insulin resistance and impacts vitamin D status negatively
6. Vitamin K (from dark green leafy veggies and broccoli) is required for vitamin D to properly regulate calcium and phosphorus. K1 is found in foods, whereas K2 is scarce (eggs, fish, liver, fermented cheeses have some) but instead mostly produced by beneficial gut flora
7. Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin which can be toxic if taken for too long and at high doses. Evidence for the efficacy of supplements is not exhaustive at all, but has been shown with regards to cancer (a large trial in the US among older age groups showed significantly reduced mortality)
8. As always, an individual consultation with a nutritionist (aka, me!), is the best way to get targeted health care with a nutritional focus and well worth your hard earned cash!

Yes!

How's your tryptophan going? Book a nutrition/naturopath appointment to find out more at Uniquely You Psychology.
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***Important*** NEVER take a tryptophan supplement while on SSRI anti-depressants except on medical advice.

Things to note:
1. Supplements of PEA have not been proven safe
2. There is another substance called PEA (Palmitoylethanolamide) - the two are very different
3. PEA metabolism is complex BUT worth exploring with a practitioner who understands it - phone Uniquely You on 4257 3021 to book with a Nutritionist!

Even though you can use Google almost all the time, you don't have to. Brains need exercise too!