• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of and finding treatments for complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

Methylation--Another View: FREDDD AND RICH please read

jenbooks

Guest
Messages
1,270
Okay. I've received and read a copy of , "Trace Your Genes to Health" by Chris Reading M.D.

I would like Freddd to read it and Rich someday if he has time. I plan to email and dialogue with the doctor.

He uses family trees--and the various forms of heritability (x-linked, recessive, dominant etc)--to suss out the common nutritional vulnerabilities that lead to diseases that plague certain families. For instance you might find actual pernicious anemia, as well as red-green color blindness, and maybe mental illness etc---all linked to B vitamin deficiencies. He seems to find a *lot* of celiac, grain allergies and cow's milk allergies. I want to know what he thinks the underpinning of this is. I know celiac runs in my family and about the only grain I really can tolerate is totally refined white rice or white rice pasta.

What is in the grains? What lectins, what fractions, cause the problem? He sometimes finds the outright allergies and other times auto antibodies. He has treated (successfully) everything from Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy (which is not supposed to be treatable or related to a severe heritable vitamin deficiency) to schizophrenia, lupus manifesting in various ways in family members, and even suggests you can avoid higher risk of cancer this way.

He also has an extremely scary but interesting theory about fetal development in a mother with these allergies and autoantibodies and the fetus that has inherited them and thus is getting these fractions of food plus the mom's antibodies while in the womb. This is that they can influence the development of certain cells/organs, and that receptors will form to these fractions that will actually act like estrogens--and later can influence cancer formation if the unsuspecting individual, suffering from various health problems such as arthritis, myositis, chronic fatigue, depression whatever, I'm just listing a bunch----continues eating the perilous diet, having constant inflammation and autoantibodies, and being vitamin deficient *especially in the B vitamins!* he notes----because they're not absorbing properly...

This may sounds nuts but I fear it's not because I have researched and written about endocrine disrupters and very small amounts of, say, bisphenol A or other polymers from and in plastics when given to a rat mom while pregnant can completely disrupt the pup's mammary or sex gland development leading to a kind of hyperplastic hyperresponsive organ that later in life is more vulnerable to cancer...more responsive to environmental estrogens. To think this is coming from food is scary but I am very aware (increasingly so) of my own response to hormone-like chemicals in foods. I am not sure most people are as aware--but maybe more people are sensitive than I thought and just don't notice it.

Freddd I think I would appreciate if you order and read this book immediately.

Rich and others--this is something we haven't really considered in this kind of depth. Sure, we take autistic children (and some adults with CFS) off gluten and dairy...but we have never considered entire family trees, "unrelated" illnesses, direct vitamin deficiencies in the way this guy does.

If I haven't explained how he has a novel and missing piece of our puzzle very well, sorry, but he does. After I have a conversation with him (I'd like to try more than email maybe Skype?) I will try to post more.
 

dannybex

Senior Member
Messages
3,561
Location
Seattle
Okay. I've received and read a copy of , "Trace Your Genes to Health" by Chris Reading M.D.

I would like Freddd to read it and Rich someday if he has time. I plan to email and dialogue with the doctor.

He uses family trees--and the various forms of heritability (x-linked, recessive, dominant etc)--to suss out the common nutritional vulnerabilities that lead to diseases that plague certain families. For instance you might find actual pernicious anemia, as well as red-green color blindness, and maybe mental illness etc---all linked to B vitamin deficiencies. He seems to find a *lot* of celiac, grain allergies and cow's milk allergies. I want to know what he thinks the underpinning of this is. I know celiac runs in my family and about the only grain I really can tolerate is totally refined white rice or white rice pasta.

What is in the grains? What lectins, what fractions, cause the problem? He sometimes finds the outright allergies and other times auto antibodies. He has treated (successfully) everything from Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy (which is not supposed to be treatable or related to a severe heritable vitamin deficiency) to schizophrenia, lupus manifesting in various ways in family members, and even suggests you can avoid higher risk of cancer this way.

He also has an extremely scary but interesting theory about fetal development in a mother with these allergies and autoantibodies and the fetus that has inherited them and thus is getting these fractions of food plus the mom's antibodies while in the womb. This is that they can influence the development of certain cells/organs, and that receptors will form to these fractions that will actually act like estrogens--and later can influence cancer formation if the unsuspecting individual, suffering from various health problems such as arthritis, myositis, chronic fatigue, depression whatever, I'm just listing a bunch----continues eating the perilous diet, having constant inflammation and autoantibodies, and being vitamin deficient *especially in the B vitamins!* he notes----because they're not absorbing properly...

This may sounds nuts but I fear it's not because I have researched and written about endocrine disrupters and very small amounts of, say, bisphenol A or other polymers from and in plastics when given to a rat mom while pregnant can completely disrupt the pup's mammary or sex gland development leading to a kind of hyperplastic hyperresponsive organ that later in life is more vulnerable to cancer...more responsive to environmental estrogens. To think this is coming from food is scary but I am very aware (increasingly so) of my own response to hormone-like chemicals in foods. I am not sure most people are as aware--but maybe more people are sensitive than I thought and just don't notice it.

Freddd I think I would appreciate if you order and read this book immediately.

Rich and others--this is something we haven't really considered in this kind of depth. Sure, we take autistic children (and some adults with CFS) off gluten and dairy...but we have never considered entire family trees, "unrelated" illnesses, direct vitamin deficiencies in the way this guy does.

If I haven't explained how he has a novel and missing piece of our puzzle very well, sorry, but he does. After I have a conversation with him (I'd like to try more than email maybe Skype?) I will try to post more.

Hi Jen,

I'm not Rich (in more ways than one) nor Freddd, and certainly not even 1/100th as articulate and educated as them, but would like to attempt a couple of possible answers to a couple of your questions. If this is too embarrassing I can always delete it later! :)

"What is in the grains? What lectins, what fractions, cause the problem?"

It might be not only what is in the grains, but what has been sprayed on them...pesticides, fungicides, etc.. Plus, having recently been diagnosed with high arsenic levels, I googled my head off and found that high levels have been found not only in kelp, (and of course fish), but in dessicated liver supplements from supposedly grass-fed argentinian cattle, and also in RICE...depending on where it's grown. Apparently in the south, arsenic was used on cotton crops for decades, and may still be in the soil, where they now grow rice. Plus, arsenic is still used in chicken feed...and no doubt for other animals as well.

I was also diagnosed with a 'hidden' mercury problem, and during that appt, I was asked if my mother had a lot of almalgam fillings -- and she did. I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if mercury disrupts hormonal function, among many other things.

At the same time, I sometimes I wonder if genetics are too easily blamed for certain conditions, like obesity, for example. You know, my parents were heavy, my sister, my brother, etc.. Well...did you all eat the same type of foods, or worse, the ubiquitous chemical-laden 'frankenfoods' that have been around for the last 40+ years?

Having said that, this topic is very fascinating, and I've no doubt that Dr. Reading is on to something.

my two cents,

Dan
 

klutzo

Senior Member
Messages
564
Location
Florida
Nature vs. nurture

Hi Dan,
You said you've always wondered if we put too much emphasis on genetics, and mentioned obesity as an example.

You may be interested in the research done at the University of Minnesota Center for the Study of Twins. This is an ongoing study, done for well over 35 years now. It is international, and uses identical twins raised apart who've had no previous contact. There are more of those than you might think! To cut to the chase: the argument of nature vs. nurture is over and nature wins by a mile. In fact,the influence of genetics is so strong that the genes will actually create a compatible environment for themselves.IMO, this does not mean we cannot overcome genes, only that we should cut people some slack, realize how difficult it can be, and stop blaming mothers for everything.

With regards to obesity, they looked at twins raised apart who were at least 25 yrs. old, so they were done growing taller. It turned out environment did not matter as to weight. Even when one twin was raised on Cheetos and Twinkies by total couch potato parents, and the other twin was raised on organic food with no sugars by health nuts in a family that all participated in active sports, the end result was a 100% correlation in both twins as to where the weight was distributed on the body, and an adult weight that was not more than 5 lbs. different between the twins. I am not saying the couch potato twin is as healthy as the active twin, just that they weigh the same.

I remember how this study quickly disappeared off the front page of our newspapers after only one day, when the results of the first 25 years were published. I believe that is because it violates a sacred American paradigm and we can't stand to face facts if it requires a complete change in viewpoint. This work should have changed how we formulate our social policy entirely, but it didn't, and as a result our social policy is still a failure.

The results were picked up by the Tabloids and reported along with Elvis's two-headed baby from Mars, as if they were fiction. Do you remember seeing stories like the one about two long-lost twin brothers who'd never met, both named Jim, both had first wives named Betty and second wives named Linda. Both had 2 kids, and one of their kids had the same names, both drove the same make and color of car, both did the same work to earn a living, and both were volunteer firefighters, etc.? Those stories were not made up. Those were real cases from this research, and show just how strongly genes will express themselves into creating the environment around them.

klutzo
 
Messages
84
"Freddd I think I would appreciate if you order and read this book immediately"

this was a joke right ?

or maybe it s really in the head for some of us ..
 

jenbooks

Guest
Messages
1,270
Not a joke

"Freddd I think I would appreciate if you order and read this book immediately"

this was a joke right ?

or maybe it s really in the head for some of us ..

But Freddd wasn't interested. I need to follow up with the author/MD whose email I have. Lots of questions for him.
 
Messages
84
i came back here to erase my first msg but i think it s a bit late : ) i m ona a flagyl pulse , can be irritable at times and doing nonsense things sorry ..
 

Freddd

Senior Member
Messages
5,184
Location
Salt Lake City
I am actually interested in the effects of genetics and how it affects us. I see the same nutritional problems with all 3 of my children. The program I am developing will include generational tracing of problems. It is quite well indicated that b12 and folate processing problems are heritable. The only real question is whether they are dominant or recessive. In the individual families I am familiar with they appear either dominant or very common recessive. I have yet to see any children that don't have b12 probems when the parents do. However that is very limited and much more data needs collection.

Unfortunately, my own personal situation is that I am unable to backtrack my genes for the most part. It would be helpful to know genetically what my risks are but it will have to come via genetics research rather than hereditary studies. I find the twin study fascinating.

I just don't have time to read everything or especially now the money to do so.

There is something I can change. I used to go to the library a lot but got completely out of the habit when I was too sick to go out much for so many years. Then at the end I was literally unable to read a lot of the time becausof visual problems related to deficiency. I used to read 5 books a week. I need to get a library card and do something about that. There is a library less than 2 miles from my house and anything available in the entire county can be there the next day ordered on line. Sometimes I just don't see things I have lost in all this until pointed out. Thankyou.
 

jenbooks

Guest
Messages
1,270
I can lend you my copy when I get my act together IF YOU PROMISE TO SEND IT BACK :).
Right now I'm overwhelmed tho. PM your address if you want and hopefully sometime in the next month I'll find a moment of calm to mail it.