No other system in our body has the ability to impact so many others, to create or destroy health, to protect or injure our bodies
Hello! I want to personally thank you for taking time out of your busy day to visit my site BeyondMTHFR.com. And if you don’t mind, I would like to ask you a few questions: Why are you here reading and learning about methylation? Do you have a sick family member, a child or loved one? Or are you sick yourself, searching for answers to your problem that so far have been elusive? Are you a doctor or caregiver motivated to learn more? Well, you have come to the right place. Although we may not have met, we both have something in common; we both have a reason for learning more about methylation!
I started looking into methylation issues because I wanted to understand what makes people sick, what causes the body to stop functioning and decline in health. BeyondMTHFR™ is a project designed to help me answer that question. The reason we must look at genes has to do with the fact that our genetics influence every cell in our body. Not only are our genes powerful, but they are also malleable and programmable – they are never static! If you learn one thing at BeyondMTHFR™, you must realize that your genes are not your destiny, but they are your tendency. For when we optimize our genes, we optimize our lives!
Yours in Health,
Andrew L. Rostenberg, DC
If you’ve ever had Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) testing performed, you may have been told your antibody levels—or “titers”—are high. For many people, that result immediately raises concern: Does this mean I have an active infection? Is Epstein-Barr causing my symptoms? In most cases, the answer is no. Up to 95% of the global population has…
Research this concept by joining your colleagues at WellPower, an online learning platform built for functional medicine practitioners, naturopaths, chiropractors and nutritionists. Learn More Just the thought of candida growing wildly inside your body can make you sick. You’ve likely heard through books, blogs, and personal encounters just how many problems this yeast species…
I’m excited to bring you a new video. I know it’s been quite a while since I was able to publish one. All I can say is it’s been an amazing year and we’ve been super busy with lots of growth in our practice and personally as well. But I hope to refocus on…
It is a mind-blowing fact that 40% of our DNA is considered “parasitic” DNA. This non-human DNA, which occupies 40% of our entire genetic code, comes from viruses and bacteria which implanted their genes into our DNA. I can’t say I am excited about the idea of having bug residue in my genetic code.…
Researching methylation is a fascinating area of study that ties together many different systems of our body. While MTHFR, COMT, and MAO genes are very well-known, they are other lesser known genes that impact our health as well. In this video I am sharing with you my latest research into a gene called FUT2…
Our stomach is an amazing organ but it has an Achilles heel – it can develop a problem called a hiatal hernia. This occurs when the stomach slides up (or herniates) through the diaphragm and into the chest cavity. This puts the stomach in close contact with the heart, and the heart doesn’t like…
Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth, or SIBO, is a growing problem in our society. SIBO is a problem where too much bacteria is living in the small intestine. It can impact everything from your mood, your sleep, your energy, your methylation cycle, and of course your digestion. Living with SIBO is very difficult! Most doctors…
Introduction One of the most common questions I get when working with patients is “Can my methylation problems cause digestion issues?” This question has come up over and over again as many people with methylation issues also have gut problems at the same time. It wouldn’t be accurate, in a strict scientific sense,…
Depression has to be one of the most misunderstood and poorly treated health conditions in our modern age. Yet depression isn’t the monster it appears to be. Depression like all health problems has a root cause; and once the root cause is addressed amazing things happen. I know this subject well because for 20…
Depression has to be one of the most misunderstood health problems in our society. Tens of millions of people live each day in a fog of depression, negativity and lack of enthusiasm for life. We all know someone who has struggled with depression and seen its negative impact on the family, career and quality…
Introduction Many people who are looking at their genetics are often motivated by the problem of depression. Of course like many common health problems depression is now a big business in our society. Pharmaceutical companies rake in billions of dollars producing drugs to try and treat this problem. Unfortunately in the vast majority of…
Before we get into down side of elevated oxalates it is important to repeat something I said my previous post titled Oxalates and MTHFR: Understanding the Gut-Kidney Axis – that oxalates in mild amounts are not a problem for the body. As long as the body can safely detoxify each molecule of oxalate, they…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKJI2nPHkr8 Deciding to start a family is one of the most important decisions in life. Its not only important to choose the right timing, its also necessary to optimize your health before starting a family. By learning simple, but powerful healthy concepts, you can make small changes today that can have major impacts on…
Infertility is a growing problem in our society. It is now estimated that up to 17% of couples are infertile, leading to a great deal of frustration, sadness, and confusion. But it doesn’t have to be that way. In this informative video you will learn the root causes of infertility in our society. You will…
No discussion of gut health and methylation would be complete without considering the problem of oxalates. I understand many of you reading this may not have heard of oxalates before. However, just because you haven’t heard of them doesn’t mean they aren’t a potential problem! Like many things in life moderation is the key;…
Listen to this video where I present my latest information to a sold out crowd in Portland, OR. Learn about the genetics involved with anger, anxiety, pain, and insomnia and how the gut microbes influence our genes and our behaviors. This presentation is the result of years of work and thousands of hours of study.…
This article is a brief overview of why I think the Organic Acid Test from Great Plains Laboratory is the best test for gut & methylation issues. Â It is important to point out that I am not in any way affiliated with Great Plains Lab – but I do use it regularly and…
Whether you are suffering from depression, anxiety, insomnia, chronic pain, brain fog or other concerns, optimizing your gut function is key to restoring your health. Gut bacteria produce vitamins, neurotransmitters and other molecules that can impact every cell and organ in our body. If our gut isn’t in an optimum condition, then the healing…
Introduction Optimizing methylation pathways means going further than just deciding how much B12 or folate a person needs. Seeking to optimize methylation pathways means you must go far beyond just looking at MTHFR and see all the genes and biochemicals that are impacting our health. And we cannot optimize genes without understanding how our…
Everyone has felt the negative effects of stress in their lives, yet not everyone responds to stress in the same way. While our life experience has a great deal of influence on our perception of stress, certain genes make us more or less sensitive to stress. One big reason why stress affects each of…
Adrenal fatigue is the most over-looked and unrecognized health condition in our society. Join Dr. Rostenberg for this information-packed presentation on how to identify the 7 Signs of Adrenal Stress. Symptoms such as dizziness, fatigue, poor sleep, weak immune system, hormone imbalance, and blood sugar issues are all related to adrenal stress.
Hormones are the most powerful molecules in our bodies. They influence how we feel, how we think, how we digest, how we look and how we grow. Modern pesticides, herbicides, heavy metals, and other toxins are interfering with our sex hormone system and putting us at risk for chronic disease.  Endocrine (hormone) issues are…
Whether you have methylation problems or a chronic disease of some kind, making sure your cholesterol levels are optimized is key for the healing process. New science is challenging the idea that high cholesterol is bad and low cholesterol is good. We’ve been “managing” cholesterol levels for 50 years and we are getting sicker,…
I meet patients every day who have a good diet, but they are not getting better. Despite their healthy diet and avoidance of many foods, they are unable to sleep better, lose weight, increase their energy and simply feel good. This often happens because their digestive system and their brain gets shut down by…
Friday, March 13, 2015 Jolyn has suffered from chronic issues for several years. She is finding relief in just a few weeks by following Dr. Rostenberg’s protocols for methylation and optimum health.  Before seeing Dr. Rostenberg she suffered from chronic adrenal stress that led to various diagnoses including
There is a reason why people in this society are chronically ill and sick. We all know that there is no shortage of drugs and surgeries in this country; we aren’t suffering from a lack of access to pharmaceutical drugs. What we are dealing with is a lack of understanding of what the body actually…
Have you ever heard that we eat first with our eyes? Its true! The sight of food activates a series of neurological reflexes and pathways that primes our system for digestion. However just looking at food is not enough to digest it; we actually need to get all those nutrients inside the body.  Most…
Digestive problems are among the most common health problems in our society. Many people suffer daily from bloating, gas, pain, acid reflux, and abdominal discomfort. Many people are unable to find relief, even with powerful and dangerous medications.  Its not what we eat but what we absorb that actually nourishes our bodies.Â
Have you ever considered that gut bacteria can influence your genes? That thought might sound strange, but that is exactly what the latest research is showing us. It is becoming ever more apparent that who and what lives in our gut has a huge influence on our methylation cycle. The compounds that come from…
Samantha called my office for help because she has been dealing with symptoms of yeast and adrenal fatigue for 40 years. She is a grandmother in her seventies who has battled the symptoms of rapid heartbeat, dizziness, blood sugar swings, weak immune system, and insomnia off and on for decades. The last four years have…
Sunday, August 18, 2014 From Sheila Corbin via Email: In 2002, at age 32, I had a brain stem stroke which resulted in a spontaneous vertebral artery dissection. Obviously brain stem strokes are different than hemispheric strokes. A BSS affects the part of the brain that is the main switching station. Movement, speech, breathing, heartbeat,…
Monday, June 10, 2014 From Bobbi Allstott via Facebook: Just wanted to publically thank Dr. Rostenberg for helping me figure so much out this last year. This morning I went on the longest bike ride that I had in 4 years. There were days that I wondered if I would ever be able to exercise…
Do you find yourself worrying excessively about the future, about money or about fearful things in general? Does a small amount of stress cause you to feel very stressed out? Do you feel good while you exercise, but afterwards feel drained and worn out? Are you easily agitated, nervous or upset? Is your behavior…
Have you ever heard that before you treat your methylation problem, that you must heal the gut first? Well I am here to share with you more information that supports that idea. As you will see, SIBO is a problem that is caused by several major issues which plague our society – poor nutrition,…
The health of the gut determines the health of the body. This is a well-known fact. There are roughly 100 trillion cells inside our bodies, yet the there about 10x as many cells of bacteria living on our bodies. This mass of bacteria lives in harmony with us (most of the time) and helps…
In the world of methylation and genetic testing things can become complicated very quickly. I speak to patients on a daily basis who are more confused after they did their genetic test than they were before. What we are seeing are thousands of patients testing their genetics to find the answers to their health challenge,…
Check out this video produced by Dr. Rostenberg where he explains the complex issues of gluten sensitivity in easy-to-understand language. Gluten is not a fad, not a fluke, it is the real deal food poison that impacts MANY people, esp. those with chronic challenges like MTHFR, candida, etc.Â
Stress in our lives creates stress in our guts. That is a known and predictable fact of science. What is less clear, and what is the focus of this investigation, is to uncover just how those effects of stress show up in other parts of our bodies. I would like to remind you that…
Are you tired or toxic? That is a fair question since many symptoms of toxic overload are commonly mislabeled as digestive issues, insomnia, chronic fatigue or even allergies. Our bodies can detoxify the pollutants that exist in our modern world. But in order to do that, our nutrition, our biochemistry, and our methylation pathways…
Part III of the video series MTHFR and Homocysteine picks up where the parts I & parts II leave off. In those previous videos, I’ve already outlined where homocysteine comes from and the multiple ways it can damage our bodies. You can review those ideas anytime by watching parts I and II. In this…
One of the best parts of researching methylation is meeting people who ask very good questions. One very good question came up the other day about MAO-A and whether or not it was sped up or slowed down. This question is important considering how much impact the MAO system has on how we handle stress…
This is a video series dedicated to answering two very important questions. The first question is “How does our gut health influence the health of the rest of the body?“. The second question is “Why do supplements, esp. methylation nutrients, make my symptoms WORSE?” These are questions which come up again and again in…
Friday, June 6, 2014 I just wanted you to know as a busy family practice doctor who’s a naturopath at heart that I absolutely loved the videos you just did on methylation. I heard about them through a Twitter from Dr Rheum .
Wednesday, June 4, 2014 Dear Dr. Rostenberg: Just wanted to give you some feedback on my daughters Conley and Torey since we started working with you and they have been introduced to your protocols. Â
Good Morning, Today I am posting two published research articles about methylation that I have written in the last couple of years. The first article is called Methylation and the Physical Exam. It describes what to look for on the outside of the body if you suspect someone has a methylation problem. I would also…
In the first video the groundwork was laid in understanding where homocysteine comes from and how it impairs methylation, esp. in the brain. In Part II, Dr. Rostenberg goes deeper into the science and peer-reviewed research to throw light on how homocysteine acts as a toxin to disturb health and methylation. Like most things…
This 2014 Memorial Day post is not exactly a methylation-based presentation, but still worth your thoughtful consideration. Adrenal fatigue is a plague that impacts everyone whether we are genetically imbalanced or not. We cannot live without stress, yet our world seems to be running wild with stressful situations. It takes a toll on each and…
If you are reading this blog its likely that you have heard of homocysteine and know that is related to the methylation cycle. And maybe you’ve even had your homocysteine levels tested recently. But what you likely haven’t heard is what homocysteine actually DOES inside your body – and that is the focus of…
Listen to what Dr. Rostenberg has to say about how blood sugar and digestion impact the methylation cycle. If you ever suffer from anxiety, depression, insomnia, moodiness, fatigue, etc. you need to pay close attention to your blood sugar and insulin levels. You’ll see in the video how having insulin and blood sugar swings…
Ever wonder why so many people are getting their gallbladder surgically removed? What is causing all these gallbladders to fail? Listen to Dr. Rostenberg expose the connection between estrogen, methyl imbalance, choline and gallbladder function. You will be surprised once you start investigating how methylation impacts this issue! In fact, methylation cycle processes are…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qezmdDnY0s In our last video Dr. Rostenberg laid out the fundamentals of how COMT and MAO polymorphisms affect our brain. This video expands on these ideas and explains why and how methylation nutrients can heal the imbalanced brain. The peer-reviewed research is clear that proper methylation is needed for normal brain function. It also…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPsHxqBbACs Have you ever noticed that people with methylation issues are usually very smart? It has a lot to do with having difficulty breaking down neurotransmitters. Having SNPs is not always a curse; it can bless you with attributes as well. COMT is a definitely contender for such a double-edged sword. It can keep…
In this video Dr. Rostenberg explains some of the very important basics of methylation, epigenetics and the value of genetic testing. Whether you are young or old, chronically-ill or at the peak of health, learning about your genes can serve you well. Dr. Rostenberg can help you learn how to be healthy by optimizing your…
Estrogen and Choline Deficiency Given the connection between low lipids and choline deficiency, it would be tempting to think that as long as someone has enough cholesterol and TG that they will be protected from choline deficiency. Unfortunately this is not the case. Having adequate lipids does indeed help support healthy choline levels, but it…
Low Lipids as a Common Cause of Choline Deficiency Choline is an amazing molecule and one that is very important for optimum health. It has often been said that our health depends first and foremost on the health of our cell walls. And if that is true then choline must be considered among the most…
Ever heard of Methylation? Its okay if you never have…most doctors haven’t either! It is a big subject and connects the dots between your genes, the environment, and why some people get sick with chronic diseases and others don’t.
Have you ever wondered how to find out if someone has a methylation problem? Well you have probably heard to doing saliva or blood tests to see which genes a person was born with. Â And that is certainly one way to figure out if someone has a methylation problem. Â Tests like that are valuable…
Phenotypes vs. Genotypes In order to understand methylation problems, we need to clarify the differences between genotype and phenotype. When we talk about genotype we are speaking about nothing more than the unique set of genes you inherited – the one half from your mother and the other half from your father. These genes you…
