Family health history is often called the first genetic test. Genetic disorders typically involve the inheritance of a particular mutated disease-causing gene. Generally we’ve thought of this in terms of a mutated gene that is passed down through a family, and each generation of children can inherit the gene that causes the disease. Most are just carriers and every now and then someone is affected by that gene.

New research claims that environmental factors affect not just your individual genes ..but those of your offspring too. Diabetes, obesity – even certain phobias – may all be influenced by the behavior of our parents and grandparents.  I talk about epigenetics all the time.  Childhood Obesity is a very serious epidemic in North America, as well as around the globe. Disease that has never been seen in children before are starting to pop up across the nation. And overweight child will become an overweight adult. Even if the epigenetics started at the grandparent stage.

The even greater surprise is the recent discovery that epigenetic signals from the environment can be passed on from one generation to the next, sometimes for several generations, without changing a single gene sequence. It's well established, of course, that environmental effects like radiation, which alter the genetic sequences in a sex cell's DNA, can leave a mark on subsequent generations.

Likewise, it's known that the environment in a mother's womb can alter the development of a fetus. What's eye-opening is a growing body of evidence suggesting that the epigenetic changes wrought by one's diet, behavior, or surroundings can work their way into the germ line and echo far into the future. Put simply, and as bizarre as it may sound, what you eat or smoke today could affect the health and behavior of your great-grandchildren. Methylation patterns also hold promise as diagnostic tools, and there is one of my podcasts where I go into a little more detail on this issue.

Remove, Repair, Restore, Reduce, Re-establish… the priorities of health. So we need to remove the toxins, and start to repair our health. When we remove toxic foods {IE junk, processed, pesticides, chemicals}, toxic personal care products and toxic cleaning chemicals out of our homes, we remove the largest impact of epigenetic impactors and that is where I generally get started when working with a new client. Changing food purchasing habits, meal planning, organic fruits and vegetables, and if you aren't vegan using wild caught or pastured raised foods. As well you should be looking for and using nontoxic cleaners or making cleaners with essential oils. This is the practice that could reduce the impact on the future generations of children.

Changing our epigenetics doesn't change something like having the MTHFR mutation. Epigenetic changes offer support with gene expression, and what genes we pass on to our children and their children. If you think of this in terms of digestive enzymes. If you are lactose intolerant you have an enzyme you can take to allow you to digest milk. There is no supplement that will, at this time, give you the support with the missing methylation enzyme you do not have. That is why we eliminate those foods and supplements that have the unmethylated versions, and instead use foods and supplements that are body can readily use.

Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research did research into how the Moringa Leaf Extract Prevents In Vitro Oxidative DNA Damage. What they found was that this extract has a strong potential as curative and therapeutic agent against oxidative stress originating from any source. So what is oxidative dna damage (besides being a part of that whole epigenetics cycle).. Well oxidative stress damages DNA.  Oxidative stress is essentially an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the ability of the body to counteract or detoxify their harmful effects through neutralization by antioxidants. When we over exercise, we create oxidative damage. With someone like myself with the MTHFR mutation, when you have oxidative stress it impairs methylation and our overall health. While I don't want to stop working out, I know that I can use fruits and vegetables to neutralize free radicals through their antioxidants. This is why I supplement every day with whole foods both as my main sources of diet, but also my main sources of supplementation as it has been proven to change over 1600 genes in just eight weeks of supplementation.

Oxidative stress is what happens as a result of an imbalance between free radical production and antioxidant defenses. This is why supplementation is so highly called for by integrative practice. As well, meditation can cause hundreds of genes to turn off or on including involved in cellular metabolism and in the body's response to 'oxidative stress'. Meditation can be the best sources to start using to offer your body brain-focused strategies. Our cells when they are out of balance, it is sort of like a game of tag, where one cell steals from another cell via electron robbery. Although the cell is once again complete, it will never be the same. Stress is the biggest generator of this imbalance in the body. Stress does so much to us, and impacts so many different areas of our biology. Glutathione, which I have talked a lot about over the years, and other major antioxidants are the cellular shields. Meditation raises your levels of glutathione, and along with your rich antioxidant foods and supplementation, can be a huge step in this Season of Becoming challenge.

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moringa oleifera leaf extract prevents in vitro oxidative dna damage
www.ajpcr.com/Vol6Suppl2/1708.pdf

Harvard Study finds that Meditation Impacts DNA | David R Hamilton ...
http://drdavidhamilton.com/harvard-study-finds-that-meditation-impacts-dna/ 

It all starts so very simple, and yet it can domino before you realize what has happened. That is exactly how it happened to me. I had been like an only child since I was the first girl, and had no close sibling like my Irish twin brothers did. When she came along it was an annoyance more than anything. She crossed my face out in photos, was dressed like me, and had all of daddy’s love and affection. I was the carbon copy, although I came first. How funny that she and I both felt this same emotion, when in reality we were and are so very different in personality. We looked so much alike that people often thought we were twins. She was taller, and genetically thinner than I was. I was more active, and genetically more of a lone wolf than she was.

So there I sat on a bright summer day far away from anyone that might burst my personal bubble. This is where that first sign showed up that I could later trace to being an autoimmune secret link. I was probably in the second or third grade that summer and I spent as many sunny days outside in the grass, or hiding behind the grape vines when I needed even more of a cave to escape to. I can remember sitting in the yard that summer, getting cut and licking the wound. Of course I was out in the grass because my sister was allergic to that, and could also not sit in the sun. I instinctively, however, would lick my wounds if I could reach them. It was later that I realized that this is an animal, lizard brain instinct to help our blood clot after an injury. Here I was hoping that I was just a special sort of vampire that could sit out in the sunshine. I was ahead of the curve long before ‘Twilight’. However once I got the taste of that blood it was like, “what is this!?”. Blood has that copper flavor, and I also was one that routinely could be found getting in trouble for roaming around with a penny in my mouth.

I didn’t know for most of my life that genetics play an important role in who we are beyond looking like our family, and even more so environment.. Early on I realized that I could intuitively tune in and help others, but I almost refused to tune in on anything that was related to me, until 2017. That was a breakthrough year for me in terms of acceptance and truth. If I go back in time to the first moments that I remember my body trying to tell me my story, it goes back to the wound licking and pennies. One of the key items I wanted to share was that I realize now copper was a symptom of the underlying DNA mutations and methylation pathways in my body.

The most talked about genetic mutation of the last decade is the varieties of MTHFR mutations. If you Google “MTHFR” there are about 1,700,000 results. I have the more serious of the MTHFR variations and my daughter has a similar mutation that come from her grandma on my husband’s family tree. MTHFR mutations are notorious for causing high heavy metals in the system. These heavy metals in our system that are unable to be broken down properly and are then stored and can cause a list of symptoms including fatigue. The problem with having a high heavy metal in your system, like copper, is that you crave more copper because it stimulates our fatigued brains. So we crave that which is doing us harm because we need it, or sometimes just needing a bioavailable form.

All of this excess copper can do a number on a system that isn’t performing in a ‘normal’ manner including depleting essential nutrients like vitamin C, zinc and folate. In turn the pituitary gland doesn’t get what it wants, nor do the adrenals. I also had delayed growth, and the related brain connections with ADD, anxiety, depression and problems with my neurotransmitters just like my mom and my dad. Another symptom was the anxiety that turned me into a hermit for about 18 months as a young adult. Thanks so much, genetics, for all that you give, without a roadmap to help us through the forest.

Without copper functioning properly my body was less likely to be able to to control the bad guys in my gut. Of course when you are born via C-Section your gut isn’t at it’s best to begin with. As well I was in the hospital as a premie for some time, and was dealt the blow of antibiotics and strange bacterial immunology shots as a child. I have know followed the paper trail that shows that copper toxicity in Staphylococcus aureus (1) is very much a part of my puzzle. Even before the summer of copper love, I had dealt with S. aureus for a long, long time.

My mother loves telling me the story of how adorable it was to see me run about the house with a bare bottom. I have always had what she termed a “bubble butt”. However the truth is, she first started letting me go diaper-less because I had a large boil on my bottom when I was first learning to walk. As it turns out, Staphylococcus aureus is and was more common in infants. More common than I ever would have expected. Research currently shows staph and it’s more serious variety MRSA infection is becoming more common in children every year.

Staphylococcus aureus, or staph, was first identified in Scotland in the 1880’s. It wasn’t until the 1930’s that there was any sort of test to diagnose staph in wounds. Because of the outbreak of staph infections they were deliberately colonizing infants with the S. aureus. There is no way for me to know at this time what the cause of my boil was, or the reasons I was given shots weekly over a number of years after having that boil. Those shots didn’t stop until my mom forced the doctors to wean me off of the shots. The medical facilities where I was treated are long gone, so I have no idea if I was given gamma-globulin shots or long-term antibiotic therapy, or something completely different. Regardless of the type of treatment I received, I am sure it had a large impact on my microbiome over my entire life. I also am sure that the early S. aureus exposure is a domino in my life issues.

My sister also had shots for a very long time, after I was done with mine. Her’s were not weekly, but were monthly. I just remember being thrilled that she was getting a shot, which meant I would get an ice cream at the pharmacy. She had seizures between 10 months old and a year old, and were what they would consider a grand mal seizure. The first was when we were hiking above my uncle’s home in the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains. I cannot even imagine what my mom went through in those moments running her baby down the mountain to get her to the hospital, all while fearing her daughter was going to die. I have seen at least one study that showed a connection between high serum copper (Cu) in children with unprovoked seizures where they had normal MRI scan and abnormal EEG. (2) She hasn’t had a seizure since, however she had to overcome learning disabilities that our pediatrician believed was connected to those early seizures she suffered with.

Several years ago I came upon a book by Dr. William J. Walsh called ‘Nutrient Power’. This book was about the five biotypes that he has classified by nutrients that are overloading the body, as well as those that a person may be deficient in. When talking about genetic mutations you will often hear someone discuss their undermethylation or overmethylation problems. There is a lot of information out there to sort through while trying to become your own methylation guru. And for each mutation, like MTHFR, there are a variety of different heavy metals you may be high based on the way your body processes toxins and metals due to your methylation differences.

Methylation can be understood like a team working towards an end project. Each member of the team has a job to do in order to complete it. When a system is undermethylated there may be a team member that is hoarding rather than passing on the job. Besides my puzzle insights with copper and staph, I have a lot of allergies, or histamine related issues. It started to rev up when I was about my daughter’s age with one major anaphylactic reaction after another. My daughter doesn’t fall far from the tree with these histamine imbalances, although I am thankful that so far I have been able to keep toxic foods away from her system. I always told myself if was just DNA. Then I learned about epigenetics and was thrown into a spin.

The nutrients we need, the nutrients we don't... it's all a part of the wellness puzzle and as you figure it out, it's like knocking down the dominoes and seeing the images as they unwind. We’re lacking the wide spectrum of food. We’re lacking the orange peel, because orange peels are gross and you’d never eat it. However that’s where all of the big nutrients are in the orange!! No wonder orange essential oil is so AMAZING!! SO what opportunities would you open up if you were getting over 40 plants into your diet every day with ease? What else could you focus on if you didn’t have to worry about getting enough of the “good” stuff? The secret of manifesting our epic transformation is that it’s a journey of discovery every single day but nutrition should be the easy part. Do you want to join me?






1 - Copper Stress Induces a Global Stress Response in Staphylococcus aureus and Represses sae and agr Expression and Biofilm Formation. Department of Genetics, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, United Kingdom,1 Department of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois 617902

2 - PRASAD R , SINGH A, DAS B K, UPADHYAY R S,SINGH T B , MISHRA O P. CEREBROSPINAL FLUID AND SERUM ZINC, COPPER, MAGNESIUM AND CALCIUM LEVELS IN CHILDREN WITH IDIOPATHIC SEIZURE. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research [serial online] 2009 December [cited: 2017 Nov 29 ]; 3:1841-1846.

Most of us know what the W30 is. 

The Whole 30 is a program where you eliminate gluten, dairy, soy, corn, peanuts, sugar and processed foods and eat very clean paleo for thirty days. The idea is to get back to eating real food. They say no to pancakes, smoothies, protein powders, pizza or anything that they call food that are like having " sex with your pants on". SWYPO is the biggest push back I get in my Paleo Vegeo group because people don't agree with using any supplementation. However most of us that are eating in a paleo vegan or vegetarian manner have to address the large elephant in the room, which is we need supplementation. 


People always say they can't do the whole 30 as a vegetarian or as a vegan... and I've one it... and this is the whole 30 list for vegan/vegetarian with my allergies all crossed off. So no excuses.

Here is a look at the recommendations for supplementation for vegans by the Vegan RD. 

All vegans:Vitamin B12. You can’t get enough by eating unwashed organic produce or mushrooms grown in B12-rich soil. The recommended dose is 25 to 100 micrograms per day or 1,000 micrograms 2-3 times per week. If you have not been taking B12 for a while, start out with 2,000 micrograms daily for several weeks. Or get a blood test to see where you are and whether you might need a more therapeutic dose.

Most vegans:Vitamin D. If you live where it’s sunny and warm all year and you spend time outdoors without sunscreen, you can make enough. The rest of us need a supplement or fortified foods (just like omnivores do) supplying 1,000 I.U.s of vitamin D. (This amount is well above the RDA for vitamin D but most experts think it’s warranted. {I was taking 10,000 units at one time, and now take 5,000 because we just don't get the natural vitamin D here in the Seattle area} 
Iodine. Omnivores get most of their iodine from dairy products, which pick up iodine from solutions used to clean cows and equipment on dairy farms. Vegans who regularly eat sea vegetables may get enough, but the content varies a lot as it does for sea salt and other “natural” salts. {Yesterday in my group I shared some information on the toxins in some packaged sea vegetables} Miso, which some vegans prefer to use in place of salt—because it’s a whole food—is not usually a good source of iodine. The only reliable sources are iodized salt or a supplement providing around 90 micrograms per day.
Some vegans:Calcium. We don’t know if vegans have lower needs, but the old “low protein diets reduce calcium needs” theory has taken some real hits in the past years. Based on current understanding–which is admittedly pretty poor–we vegans should strive for the RDA. Our ancestors didn’t drink milk and got all the calcium they needed from wild greens. And even though modern cultivated greens have less, we could get enough calcium just from these foods, too. But the recommendation to eat four or more cups of cooked greens per day makes veganism a hard sell. Without fortified foods, many vegans fall short on calcium. (So do most omnivores; the food industry doesn’t fortify orange juice or instant oatmeal with calcium as a favor to vegans. Those foods are marketed to omnivore women.)
Iron. Young women with heavy periods may have a tough time keeping up with iron needs, and again, this is not a problem that is specific to vegans. Rates of iron deficiency anemia are actually very high among pre-menopausal omnivore women. It can help to take a low dose supplement (high doses can be hard on the stomach) with orange juice to boost absorption, or to include some fortified foods in the diet. There is some evidence that taking supplements of the amino acid L-lysine boosts absorption of supplemental iron.
Possible supplement requirementsDHA: 200 to 300 mg several times a week. It may be a good idea, but we don’t know for sure. I take this amount almost daily and would recommend it in particular for anyone who is prone to depression.
Sound like a lot of supplements? Well, here is some perspective: Omnivores get their vitamin D from fortified foods (cow’s milk is not a natural source of this nutrient) and their iodine from accidental contamination of dairy foods. Many omnivores—women especially—depend on supplements to meet calcium and iron needs. And the Institute of Medicine recommends that everyone over the age of 50 should add vitamin B12 supplements or fortified foods to their diet since it becomes increasingly difficult to digest and absorb the vitamin B12 in animal foods with aging.

SO what about my own Paleo Vegeo supplementation? 

I take a whole foods supplement (6 capsules daily, and 2 daily for my daughter) for my A, C, E and Folate. I also supplement with Vitamin D, Iron, Magnesium, Calcium, DHA, Kelp, Methylated B12 and Probiotics (both supplemental and in food). So ... do you supplement or do you think you get enough in your food? 
You know that I have to add the little disclaimer on the website, but I am certified in personal nutrition, and am now working on my advanced degree. So I have seen the way that nutrition impacts us, and our children. Women's nutrition is one of the most important areas that I see lacking, especially because either women don't take any supplementation until they are pregnant, can't stomach the synthetics, or eat primarily poor quality foods before, during and after pregnancy. Or they suffer from fertility issues that are often complicated from the chemicals they use in their home, and the ones they are eating.

Then we take these babes and we give them a non-nutritional formula, or packaged, gmo foods. Did you know that babies to 3 years are best left to good complex carbohydrates and not starchy pastas? Yet it's there in the "entry to food" prepacked items.

Nutrition should start early with real whole foods after six months of nursing minimum, and for most of us supplemented as needed, and for even my family it's needed.

Let's compare the T30 and the W30

Now what about the comparison to the T30. The Transform 30 is eliminates gluten, dairy, meat, processed foods. It has you drinking 3 liters of water daily, getting eight hours of sleep, drinking two shakes per day, and eating real whole vegan foods for your other meals as well as supplementing with their whole foods capsules. The shake is not aligned to those that are focused in on the paleo vision of non-soy. However, the Whole 30 allows for the right type of soy for vegans. Did you know that? And the T30 shake is an organic, non-gmo cold washed soy and tofu protein with other proteins as well. It also has chickpea, pea and rice proteins (rice is making a paleo comeback due to it's resistant starch and probiotic nature) a sprout blend and pumpkin, pomegranate, spirulina, mushroom extract and digestive enzymes. For a lot of people dealing with PCOS issues we are told to move to paleo. Meat is often a bodybuilder staple to raise the testosterone levels, so I think that diving into all meat isn't always going to be the PCOS answer. That being said, if you struggle with fertility, the capsules are going to be exactly what you need, but the shake maybe not. It will balance out those insulin spikes, but it won't increase fertility. You may also want to look at the 22 Days protein shakes, although it is just protein and you still need to add to it for a meal replacement shake. It's all something to think about, right? 

How have I done with the T30?

Well this has been life changing for my family... and I would love to share it with you! In 30 days, my husband has been able to see great changes. I can't wait to share his next 30 days.

Of course real food-based nutrition in a vitamin format has been really helpful for me. I think with the methylation issues I have, I really wasn't getting the nutrients I needed. I call it the farmer's market in a capsule! Unlike common multivitamins that you've heard me talk about and that only deliver fillers, chemicals and less than active nutrients, these deliver actual food-based nutrients that are organic and pure, making them impressively bioavailable and easy to digest. They're all completely non-GMO, gluten-free, soy-free, dairy-free, low heavy metals verified and completely free of pesticides and herbicides. All food should be made this way! Labels and ALL!!

Before I go on, let me be clear about something. The best source of nutrition is the real, organic, fresh foods that you buy at your local market or farm. No supplement, no matter how amazing, can replace real, fresh foods and superfoods that you grow in your own garden or aquaponic system. So we do get a lot of fresh foods, and the shakes and capsules are a good support tool. 

In 120 days I have seen big strides in my own progress as well. And after the last 24 months I really wasn't sure I was every going to see any changes... but thankfully I am on the journey back to where my body is at it's healthiest. So the question is, what is stopping you from deciding you are ready to change?