You are more susceptible to viruses when Vitamin B6 (B6) and the amino acid, lysine, are low.

Why?

Without B6 the spleen cannot clear pyrroles.

Without lysine, B6 cannot be utilized.

Without B6 the body makes endogenous oxalates.

Oxalates can come from food we eat, some considered very healthy, or they can be made by our bodies under duress due to missing nutrients, or genetic predisposition.  At high levels, oxalates deplete basic nutrient cofactors needed for neurotransmitter production, clearing toxins, and other biochemical processes including detoxing estrogen.  They can cause pain.  Inexplicable pain that may be labeled by a Physician as a need for antidepressants, through no fault of their own; just lack of training wrt genetic interactions and basic biochemistry.

Oxalates share the same transporters as sulfation and glutathione is a sulfur based molecule and without glutathione (our body’s homemade master anti-oxidant), we are susceptible to oxidative stress and disease.

According to Susan Costen Owens who has been researching oxalates and B6 deficiency for years, “When B6 activity is low, the body starts making endogenous oxalate, and that harms oxidative phosphorylation, so that you may make insufficient ATP (our cells energy source).  That can cause sulfur wasting into urine and therefore the sulfur cannot be used to assist in the Phase 2 liver detox sulfation pathway. Sulfate has to be converted into PAPS to be used to sulfate anything, and that requires ATP.”

Have you ever questioned why some people get the flu and others do not? One of the reasons is that you have some immunity with past strains that have not fully mutated into totally different other strains. But here is a clinical pearl that you may not be familiar with… Two people are in a room: Both get exposed to the flu (a virus) and one gets the flu and the other doesn’t. Person A who got the flu was sulfate deficient in their bloodstream. Person B was not. The flu is a stealth pathogen that will steal sulfates from the muscle tissue of those who are sulfate deficient in their bloodstream.

I’ve added a Youtube video of Stephanie Seneff from MIT speaking about this.
https://youtu.be/K5BF0x354BI

This may make you question whether it may actually be a blessing that you got the flu because it causes sulfates to move into your bloodstream to be transported to cells to support the trans-sulfuration pathway, which then ultimately makes glutathione (if sufficient amino acids glycine, glutamate and cysteine are present; that’s a digestion and assimilation of protein/HCl/parietel call robustness discussion that warrants an entire other newsletter).

Unfortunately some people’s immune systems are so compromised that they risk death from the massive need to detox and other things the flu brings with it.

When the body makes endogenous oxalates due to being lysine and/or B6 deficient, oxalates share the same transporters as sulfation as detoxing ability is compromised. In my opinion this leads me to believe that many people who get the flu may be B6 and/or lysine deficient.

A consideration is that you might be eating all that healthy sulfur rich food, but if you are low on B6 and making endogenous oxalates, you will waste sulfur into the urine instead of transporting it to cell walls and supporting Phase 2 liver detox.  As I mentioned before, oxalates “hog-up” the transport system.

I interface with many of the top alternative researchers in this area. So many that have discovered this oxalate/B6 issue have told me that most of their chronically ill patients do indeed have oxalate issues and this must be resolved before the gut can be healed and methylation can work efficiently and effectively.  This tells me that if you have a viral overload, you must address this issue first with augmented, targeted nutrient support, because it is your body’s way of saying that you may be low on sulfur, or you are wasting it.

This is where genetic information from the Variant Report is important, as addressing each individual biochemical pathway, in the proper order with a well-versed Practitioner.  This is key to stem the flow/excretion of important nutrient cofactors needed for basic enzymatic reactions, especially when a high oxalate status depletes many nutrients at a faster clip than our bodies can replenish.

Here is a summary of oxalates and high oxalate impacts:

  • What is an Oxalate?
    • Organic acids from:
      • Diet: Plant “defense system”
      • Fungus: Aspergillus, Candida
      • Human metabolism

Markers for high oxalates in urinary testing:

  • High Oxalic acid, Glyceric acid, and/or Glycolic acid. Due to:
    • Genetic predisposition, or
    • Leaky gut and/or poor GI health
  • High Arabinose
    • Possible low Lactobacillus when oxalates excessive, as Lactobacillus assists in clearing oxalates
  • Low Vit B6
  • Low Vit C (oxidizes to oxalates)
    • Especially in the presence of high free Cu and/or Fe
  • Low Zn (bounded-up by oxalates). Zn is another nutrient cofactor required for neurotransmitter production and clearing ammonia (brain fog if too high)
  • Mimics CBS C699T “up-regulation issue”

Here are some test stats on genetic predisposition for high oxalates, aka hyperoxaluria (e.g., kidney stones):

  • Hyperoxaluria Type I, genetic
    • Deficiency in Alanine-glyoxylate Amino Transferase (AGT)
    • Great Plains (GP) OATs
      • Oxalic   > 90
      • Glycolic   >100
  • Hyperoxaluria Type II, genetic
    • Deficiency in glyoxylate reductase (GR) & hydroxypyruvic reductase (HPR)
    • GP OATs
      • Oxalic  >90
      • Glyceric  >150

Another thing that will induce hyperoxaluria (high oxalates and their mineral binding effect, among other negative impacts) is consuming GMO’s that contain glyphosate, aka Roundup.  GMO grains/soy and animals that we eat, who eat them, negatively impact our gut microbiome in a big way (Shikimate pathway is affected by herbicidal properties of glyphosates; our gut bacteria share). Each bite of those foods destroy our gut microbiome.

Roundup contains glyphosate and glyphosate turns into glyoxylate in the body which will inhibit sulfation from being utilized and will make you more prone to viral overloads.   Ever wonder why Lymes and co-infections are suddenly front and center?  Same with Autism, autoimmune dementia, Parkinson’s and many other neurological issues that are increasing?   Our gut microbiome is tied closely to our immune system and neurotransmitters. Epigenetics feeds forward their effects to our offspring, via gametes that form as we are exposed.  If you are interested in learning how big agra has hijacked our gene expression, log into USPTO.gov and enter “antimicrobial” and glyphosates.  You will see patent’s in the thousands where each patent cost thousands to file.

Glyphosates ruin our gut microbiome and all that entails, much like antibiotics.

Also, when you have DAO genes, one of DAO’s biological processes is glyoxylate metabolic process. So, you may be more compromised when you have certain mutations in DAO SNPs. Some people with critical DAO SNPs, compromised, are already at high risk of hyperoxaluria and consuming GMO’s could make this worse.

Testing to do when curious about this and ANYONE who has a viral overload:

Great Plains Lab organic acid test (see above) will show oxalate levels with three key markers. Lab Corp oxalic acid/creatinine random urine test is another set of tests that can uncover oxalate issues.

The lab may not flag the problem so if you are borderline high on oxalic acid but not flagged high, and are borderline low in creatinine but not flagged low, there may a problem. If you are high normal, or low normal, then take a second look.

Joining “Trying Low Oxalates” group on Yahoo or FB will give the layperson and Practitioner good information.

Another test is NutrEval FMV: High 3-methylhistadine. 3-methylhistadine results may not be in the red “high”, but may be in the high normal range, in conjunction with low creatinine. Creatinine may not be in the red “low”, but may be low normal.

All the following low or borderline low should encourage a second look at potential high oxalate issues; low or low normal creatinine, iron, potassium, zinc, B6, lysine, arginine, magnesium and/or manganese.  This is because oxalates bind to them and consequently chelate them out of the body, rendering their nutrient cofactor assistance for other key enzymatic reactions, nill.

So, high oxalate levels impact key enzymatic pathways by depleting key nutrient cofactors, or “tools” needed for their enzymatic function (e.g., CBS) to do their enzymatic conversions.  Remember, it’s not only about SNPs; it’s also about providing the nutrient cofactors (e.g., B6, Zn, Fe, Mg, etc.) for the enzymes that are coded for by our DNA and SNPs in same.

Another thing about the genes DAO and also ABP1, when they are impacted by lack of nutrient cofactors due to higher oxalates, you may not be able to break down histamine, dopamine or estrogen well at all.

This is crucial. High oxalates are serious wrt nutrient depletion and chronic pain, and many chronically ill individuals have high levels, whether due to SNPs or due to lack of nutrient cofactors to clear them.

Did you know that they are directly related to CFS (not making glutathione may result in mitochondrial dysfunction as glutathione is used to quench oxidation), fibromyalgia (oxalates make little glass crystal-like shards that set-up shop in your tissues).  Google images of oxalates.  They really look like glass shards when they build up in tissues.  Other issues are leaky gut (these crystal shards penetrate holes in the gut lining), fatty liver/white stools (without glutathione, your liver function is compromised to detox and to make healthy bile), spleen dysfunction (B6 dumping, low B6 and/or low lysine needed to utilize B6 needed for spleen health and to remove pyrroles), interstitial cystitis (glass shards though urinary tract), osteoporosis (instead of transporting calcium to the bone, it sets up shop elsewhere), atherosclerosis (calcium buildup in arteries and vessels because it is not being transported to the bone), kidney stones (makes calcium oxalate stones), vaginal burning also known as vulvodynia (makes glass shards in reproductive system), salivary stones (makes glass shards in salivary glands), heavy metal toxicity (low glutathione, low detox), lyme disease rears its ugly head (low glutathione, poor immune system more susceptible to infections and bacteria that healthy immune system should fend off), viral overloads (low on nutrients, vitamins, amino acids the body cannot fight viruses), cancer (causes viral overloads, raises nagalase and reduces GcMAF) and so much more.

Many people will reduce oxalate food intake as they attempt to get high oxalate issues under control. Doing this can be dangerous if you taper down from high oxalate too quickly.  This is because your body may respond with a major oxalate dump and kick-start previous slow sulfation too fast.  The end result may be a major detox that could put your body into shock. A good Practitioner will know how to modulate this.

So, for example, a good Practitioner will replace one high oxalate food (e.g., spinach, sweet potatoes, stevia) for one moderate oxalate food, every 2 weeks and recheck in a few months. If there is still an issue then the Practitioner will usually remove one moderate oxalate food and replace by one low oxalate food every few weeks.

The trick is to shift away from high oxalate foods slowly, so dumping oxalate crystals is slow and steady, while mineral supplementation is targeted and matched.

So, for example ramping up nutrients like magnesium citrate and calcium citrate can help bind the oxalates and dump them via stool.

I would also like to add that ascorbic acid is a no-no here. Excess ascorbic acid may be converted into an oxalate and add to the burden. If you review many Great Plains tests, you will see that most folks that test for high oxalates have very low Vit C as its being converted.  So, it’s best to avoid ascorbic acid and instead try natural forms of Vit C such as Camu Camu 1/2 tsp a day, rose petal tea, or elderberry tincture, until oxalate issue is resolved.

Knowing all of this can help the Practitioner understand why some of their patients don’t heal, despite best efforts. Protocols for the most part DO NOT WORK unless highly tailored based on genetics and test results and an understanding of the interaction of genes with exposures. We are all unique and individual and what works for one will not work for another.

If you are interested in learning more about DAO genes and other genes (e.g., MTHFR, CBS, COMT, etc) that are impacted by our environmental exposures such as food, GMOs and other toxins, and resulting nutrient deficiencies, we offer a Variant Report.  We also offer a SNPbit Compendium 1 that is dictonary-like with pathway drawings, and aligns with the current Variant Report.

 

Cynthia Smith Life Zone Wellness

And

Sterling Hill Erdei
MTHFR Support, LLC  ©