This page may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure here.
Why your Environment and Terrain are More Important than Genes
Have you fallen into the treating SNPs rabbit hole? I fell into the mineral balancing world around the same time that the MTHFR community was gaining traction as well. For many reasons, it never sounded right to me to treat your genes so I never really wanted to test mine. To me, when you hear “genetic” you think unchangeable- and many others feel the same way. I haven’t made many posts about this subject because people tend to get VERY argumentative about it, and I like to spend my time sharing information about how to actually heal vs. arguing š
I’ve seen people blame MTHFR for everything from dry skin to bed-wetting to cancer. While it’s always nice to have as much information as possible when we’re trying to heal, we cannot blame these genetic SNPs for all of our problems. Our genes have not changed suddenly in the last 100 years- our environment has though!
Ā
Our GENES are not the problem. Our ENVIRONMENT is!
GMOs, vaccines, pesticides, toxic chemicals in household cleaners and beauty products, artificial everything in our food, and the list goes on and on. These things are the real issue, they are EVERYWHERE, and they are creating so many nutritional imbalances and toxicities.
We are absolutely bombarded with these things on a daily basis. There is a lot that we can control, but there is also a lot that we cannot. We have to just do our best when it comes to reducing our environmental toxins, and we have to start addressing our personal deficiencies and imbalances. Sure, there are those out there that are riddled with SNPs and need that extra help- but MTHFR is not a diagnosis, and you cannot treat it. You have to change your environment no matter what your genes are!
Plus: minerals are need to activate enzymes, and the enzymes regulate genes. Period! Balance your minerals, fix your nutritional imbalances, nourish your body, get rid of the environmental triggers, and your genes will no longer be an issue.
Ā
Even genetic experts admit that Genes are not the problem!
I came across an amazing article from Metabolic Healing recently that sums everything up very well about this whole genetic issue. You can read that article here, but here is a snippet:
“Have you been told that you are ādiagnosed with MTHFRā? Beware. This is not a diagnosis! A diagnosis can only be made for an illness, and if there has only been genetic testing in your case (which is common), this is simply impossible. If you have received some form of genetic testing from your doctor and you are heterozygous, homozygous, or compound heterozygous for MTHFR mutations, you have had this genetic map & reality your entire life. A map is not an indicator ofĀ biochemical expression, and thus cannot indicate disease! You may be experiencing symptoms that you have never had before, or you may have had symptoms/dysfunctions for a very long time, but to be ādiagnosedā with MTHFR by a doctor without full assessment and biochemical analysis of your body is faulty at best and irresponsible at worst. The most useful application of genetic results is as an alignment with a careful investigation of epigenetic influences coupled with biochemical evidence .”
Along with that article, there was a post on Facebook from Dr. Ben Lynch of MTHFR.net in about this very topic when I first wrote this post back in 2016.
He wrote:
“I’m going to redo my talk quite a bit as these genetic contributions are not the real issue.
The real issues are:
– GMO
– vaccinations
– harmful soil
– stressed out society
– industrialized food
– unsafe chemicals
Our genetics have not changed dramatically over the last 100 years.
Our environment has.
Our genetics are not responding well to the environment.
That’s the issue.
Genetics are handy when understanding why some of us act the way we do when exposed to these things –
Other than that – it’s the fundamentals that we must focus on.”
If the absolute EXPERT in MTHFR can admit this, then we have to start realizing it too! Yes, the genetic testing can be helpful, but it does not give you a diagnosis. And for that that are using it to switch people from synthetic folic acid and cyanocobalamin to other forms of synthetic nutrients- WHAT? If those synthetic forms were found to be harmful, who is to say the new forms won’t be found to be similarly harmful?
What will give you a solid plan? Blood tests, HTMA, using natural remedies to treat your worse symptoms RIGHT NOW as you balance minerals, and finding a practitioner that truly wants to get you on the path to wellness. People that are focused ONLY on genetics cannot see the forest for the trees and all it is doing is confusing more people.
If you’re having trouble detoxing, it’s more likely that your liver is sluggish, your bile flow is slow, your lymph is clogged, and your kidneys are struggling because of the environmental toxins that we’ve accumulated. Read my post on supporting detox pathways here.
Or check out my ebook on Foundational Care, which outlines ALL of the major steps people need to take in order to heal from almost anything.
Typical lives that many of us experienced:
Toxic fluoride and heavy metals in the water, antibiotics every year as a kid, eat nothing but fast food or food from boxes, 50 shots in the first few years of life, massive amounts of stress in school and then a career, unresolved trauma, lives off a pot of coffee a day and a bottle of wine a night, medications for every individual symptom, and the list goes on.
How can we know all that we’ve been exposed to and then dare to blame our GENES? Your environment is a million times more important than your genes. It’s tempting to blame our genetics for our health issues, but come on. Let’s get real here.
How many of us grew up absolutely SMOTHERED with toxins? You’re not sick ONLY because of your genes or even epigenetics.
You’re dealing with health issues now because your body has had ENOUGH.Ā We are resilient AF though. Our bodies are strong, and we’ve all withstood a LOT of damage. We CAN heal too. I’ve had many clients over the years that chased the “treat my genes” rabbit hole. I rarely see anyone that actually healed this way.
The genes aren’t the problem. The environment is what influences our genes. We cannot go from eating Big Macs and frappucinnos everyday to then blaming our genes for our health issues. It takes a long time to heal because it takes a long time to heal. It takes a lot of energy, time, nutrients, and rest to undo the damage that has been done.
I know that admitting that our environment is an issue can be rough because then you have to admit that we’ve been utterly bombarded for years, decades, and generations. That is a lot to take in- because then it also leads to more questions. WHY has this been happening for so long? WHY are so many people dealing with chronic illness? WHO is profiting off of our illness?
In order to truly heal, we have to face the TRUTH of things: our environment has been twisted and turned into the perfect storm to create issues.
This isn’t to discourage or instill fear. This is to show you the darkness behind our current situation- and without darkness, there cannot be light. We are all healing and we are all undoing the travesty of the last 100 years.
The body is a whole and we must treat it as such! I have my Bachelor of Science in Natural Health Sciences, certificates in Herbal Studies from Herbal Academy, and I am constantly learning more about health to help my clients and followers.
My goal is to help you unleash your own inner healer! You already hold the power to heal inside you. My role is as a guide to help you realize this potential.
I understand where you are coming from. I have a lot of have SNPS and that means I can be predisposed to many Diseases, and if all of those exposures cause symptoms supplements and things are needed to heal. How much do you know about mold exposure? Because I believe that mold has been the cause of many symptoms and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome that has gotten worse over the years until the perfect storm hit for me in 2019. My daughterās symptoms have been getting worse and Iāve been trying to get my husband to understand this and get the walls taken care of in our every way into the living room (which wall happens to be on the others of my daughterās bedroom) the roof leaked a few years ago leaving the paint to lift and showing water damage in the drywall. Heās finally going to call the insurance co. And see what it takes to get it remediated. We had mold under our kitchen sink that he failed to take care of the right way and I didnāt know about it until years later and looking back that was around the same time that my symptoms started. I was working as an RN in the New Born ICU! Had been functioning well for years even after getting mono, Epstein Bare etc. In High School. (I had 2 ticks two separate years in the back of my neck when I was very young when we were camping, before anyone knew what Lymes Disease was) anyways I was wondering if you or any of the other women deal with mold that could help me know how to keep us safe during remediation and guidance on if we really need to throw certain household items away that have been exposed for years??? Thank you in advance. Also because of surgeries and cranial nerves that were damaged I donāt remember to check my Emails often and wonder if you can send a text when you have responded by email. (801)499-2307 Iām looking forward to learning. Have just recently been able to go off daily iv fluids after starting to use a healing modality similar to the infrared heating pad, but is soo much better and you use it all over your body and over the water(it breaks the molecule clusters in water down so it can pass through the cells and hydrate) which has allowed it to take my POTS symptoms away. Iām not trying to sell it but would like to talk to one of you about it. Itās been Amazing to go from totally bedridden and only awake for 2 hours in late afternoon and an hour before bed to living an 80% normal life. But since Iām not getting the Sodium from the IVs I started having symptoms of Electrolyte imbalances and an acquaintance took me about this group and I am looking for help. I have been dying my hair since last year when I got COVID it was falling out in clumps and cooking it Silver and black and looked horrid. So Iām looking for guidance on how to do the hair testing. Can I use pubic hair and how long would it need to be? Also I purchased a kit from Holistic Health monthās ago before I found out that you couldnāt use dyed hair. So Can I use the kit but have the results come back to you? Sorry I need a lot of helpš But Iām so grateful that I found this site.
Hey Kendra!
I’m glad it resonates a bit. The SNPs are influenced by our imbalances, so the SNPs aren’t as dire as some make them out to be.
I’m sorry to hear about all that you and your daughter are dealing with. I have actually been through mold illness myself so I do understand it, and have a post on healing here: https://www.sassyholistics.com/healing-mold-illness-naturally/
We’ve worked with many people with mold, especially sensitivities like you’ve mentioned. It really is a horribly common issue these days.
For HTMA- we really encourage scalp hair as it is so much more accurate than pubic hair (we’ve had people send in both samples at once to compare, and there really is a massive difference). The lab requires 4-6 weeks of new growth. You could use that other kit and just get the consult with existing test with one of our practitioners though, that is definitely an option š