WEBVTT 00:00:00.750 --> 00:00:05.610 My guest today is Dr. Kinda Rigdon, PhD. Dr. 00:00:05.669 --> 00:00:09.769 Rigdon holds a BS in microbiology from the University 00:00:09.769 --> 00:00:14.429 of South Florida and a PhD in microbiology and 00:00:14.429 --> 00:00:18.469 virology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. 00:00:19.570 --> 00:00:23.109 As an educator, entrepreneur, and research scientist, 00:00:23.530 --> 00:00:26.390 she's dedicated her career to understand the 00:00:26.390 --> 00:00:30.530 complexities of the gut's microbiomecosystem. 00:00:30.699 --> 00:00:34.380 and its critical role in human health and wellness. 00:00:35.719 --> 00:00:38.899 Dr. Rigdon is passionate about empowering people 00:00:38.899 --> 00:00:42.719 to achieve optimal health through informed nutrition 00:00:42.719 --> 00:00:46.619 and lifestyle choices. By the end of this episode, 00:00:46.659 --> 00:00:50.159 we hope you learn more about the gut and autism 00:00:50.159 --> 00:00:54.700 connection, yeast, the vast ecosystem of the 00:00:54.700 --> 00:00:59.399 gut, the mother's gut health, the birthing process. 00:00:59.789 --> 00:01:02.850 genetic implications tied to gut development 00:01:02.850 --> 00:01:06.390 and health. And we will also discuss melanin 00:01:06.390 --> 00:01:11.790 and Neanderthal DNA. Now, my conversation with 00:01:11.790 --> 00:01:16.189 Dr. Kenda Rigdon. But if you just want to start 00:01:16.189 --> 00:01:19.469 with giving us your background and sharing any 00:01:19.469 --> 00:01:21.609 information about your journey, that'd be great. 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:27.920 Awesome. Yeah. Okay. Well, so my PhD is in microbiology 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:33.060 and technically virology. I studied HIV -1. In 00:01:33.060 --> 00:01:36.939 the lab, we actually would look at the growth 00:01:36.939 --> 00:01:40.819 of the virus. We would figure out certain mutations 00:01:40.819 --> 00:01:43.459 and see how that virus was infectious or not 00:01:43.459 --> 00:01:48.180 infectious. It was fascinating to study that, 00:01:48.340 --> 00:01:51.459 but my program, I went through the Department 00:01:51.459 --> 00:01:56.200 of Microbiology, actually finishing at UAB, University 00:01:56.200 --> 00:02:00.859 of Alabama, Birmingham. From there, I went into 00:02:00.859 --> 00:02:04.480 teaching. And so I've taught upper level science 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:07.879 courses at the college level in several different 00:02:07.879 --> 00:02:11.639 institutions. But at one particular point, this 00:02:11.639 --> 00:02:16.560 was maybe back in 2015, For my department, I 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:19.919 had to actually teach biology, microbiology, 00:02:20.180 --> 00:02:23.719 and anatomy in the same semester. So when that 00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:26.900 happened, it's funny because you are talking 00:02:26.900 --> 00:02:30.780 about biology and ecosystems and animals and 00:02:30.780 --> 00:02:34.139 all of that in one class and then going across 00:02:34.139 --> 00:02:37.460 the hall teaching microbiology all about bacteria. 00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:40.479 bacteria and viruses and infectious diseases. 00:02:41.060 --> 00:02:43.539 And then I would go to an anatomy class and teach 00:02:43.539 --> 00:02:46.599 about the human body and how this relates to 00:02:46.599 --> 00:02:48.599 this and the functioning of different organs 00:02:48.599 --> 00:02:53.539 and such. And it was during that time that I 00:02:53.539 --> 00:02:56.740 kind of started to put all three subjects together. 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:00.120 And that's probably my, if I have a superpower, 00:03:00.599 --> 00:03:04.120 I have very few, but the one that I might have 00:03:04.120 --> 00:03:08.409 is connecting the dots. And so I'm very good, 00:03:08.409 --> 00:03:11.330 I think, at observation and sitting there and 00:03:11.330 --> 00:03:14.509 thinking about things and trying to see where 00:03:14.509 --> 00:03:17.270 the dots connect. And so that's what happened 00:03:17.270 --> 00:03:21.530 in this point in time in my career is I realized 00:03:21.530 --> 00:03:26.650 here we have a gut microbiome, meaning all of 00:03:26.650 --> 00:03:29.689 the microbes that live in your gut, your intestines, 00:03:30.469 --> 00:03:32.469 your gastrointestinal tract, however you want 00:03:32.469 --> 00:03:38.620 to call it. there are predators and prey and 00:03:38.620 --> 00:03:41.800 One kind likes to eat the other kind and then 00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:44.780 the yeast will make antibiotics to kill the bacteria 00:03:44.780 --> 00:03:48.180 and then you throw in viruses and you throw in 00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:52.060 parasites and the whole mix and it is an actual 00:03:52.060 --> 00:03:56.219 ecosystem inside of your body and Then I started 00:03:56.219 --> 00:03:59.400 to realize how all of this is happening in the 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:03.219 gut and how it connects to different organ systems 00:04:03.219 --> 00:04:08.340 in the human the host and how that affects disease. 00:04:09.439 --> 00:04:12.740 And so it was just this kind of aha moment for 00:04:12.740 --> 00:04:14.819 me. And that's when I really started to dive 00:04:14.819 --> 00:04:19.040 deeper into the gut microbiome. And especially 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:24.139 the part that I was super interested in is about 00:04:24.139 --> 00:04:28.060 yeast, which is a fungus, a single celled fungus. 00:04:29.329 --> 00:04:33.449 Yeast, if you've been in any basic biology class, 00:04:33.689 --> 00:04:38.089 you'll learn that fungi are eukaryotes, just 00:04:38.089 --> 00:04:42.230 like we are. Our cells, our human cells, are 00:04:42.230 --> 00:04:44.949 eukaryotic because we have a true nucleus and 00:04:44.949 --> 00:04:47.949 they're organized. All the organelles are organized. 00:04:53.149 --> 00:04:55.750 Evolutionarily, it's a step up. from a prokaryote, 00:04:55.889 --> 00:04:58.329 which would be like bacteria. They have kind 00:04:58.329 --> 00:05:01.870 of this mess of DNA in the middle. It's more 00:05:01.870 --> 00:05:07.089 primitive and simplistic. So whenever you think 00:05:07.089 --> 00:05:10.449 about a gut microbiome having eukaryotes, for 00:05:10.449 --> 00:05:13.629 me, that would almost be like going to Africa. 00:05:13.949 --> 00:05:17.269 and standing in a savanna and looking around 00:05:17.269 --> 00:05:20.310 and thinking, okay, what do I need to be cautious 00:05:20.310 --> 00:05:23.730 about? Is it the very large lion that's over 00:05:23.730 --> 00:05:26.910 there or is it the little tiny mound of termites? 00:05:27.589 --> 00:05:30.889 It's like that with bacteria and fungus, which 00:05:30.889 --> 00:05:33.670 fungus being yeast. You always want to keep your 00:05:33.670 --> 00:05:36.310 eye on the eukaryotes because they have a lot 00:05:36.310 --> 00:05:43.139 of tools for defense and for really out competing 00:05:43.139 --> 00:05:46.879 anything else around them. So yeast immediately 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:52.879 became my focus. And after that, reading a lot 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:55.939 of different publications and books, I started 00:05:55.939 --> 00:06:00.959 to realize the role of yeast. I started with 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:04.879 Candida albicans. Most people have heard of Candida 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:09.379 and Candida overgrowth in the gut and how that 00:06:09.379 --> 00:06:12.670 impacts health. I started there and then I started 00:06:12.670 --> 00:06:15.470 to learn about some other types of yeast. And 00:06:15.470 --> 00:06:18.670 it turns out we have about probably five main 00:06:18.670 --> 00:06:21.750 types of yeast that live in the gut in a typical 00:06:21.750 --> 00:06:25.509 human. And of course it is dependent on what 00:06:25.509 --> 00:06:27.410 food you eat and where you live and all those 00:06:27.410 --> 00:06:31.750 things. But another yeast that has recently been 00:06:31.750 --> 00:06:35.189 discovered to be in the gut is called Malassezia 00:06:35.189 --> 00:06:39.689 furfur. So genus and species Malassezia furfur. 00:06:40.060 --> 00:06:44.000 This is actually the yeast that originally they 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:48.300 found on the skin and it causes dandruff and 00:06:48.300 --> 00:06:52.240 It loves to eat oil sebum from the human skin 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:55.980 because that particular yeast does not make these 00:06:55.980 --> 00:07:00.959 oils in its its own It can't make it for itself. 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:04.160 So it has to get the oils from the host meaning 00:07:04.160 --> 00:07:07.779 the human And so it likes to live in an oily 00:07:07.779 --> 00:07:11.959 area with sebum or fatty acids. So this yeast, 00:07:13.300 --> 00:07:15.899 doctors used to say, oh, well, that yeast is 00:07:15.899 --> 00:07:18.740 just on the skin. It doesn't go inside the body. 00:07:19.139 --> 00:07:23.519 But as we are now learning so much more about 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:27.360 our microbiome, not only our skin microbiome, 00:07:27.439 --> 00:07:30.660 but our gut microbiome, everything, that actually 00:07:30.660 --> 00:07:34.459 was debunked, and they found Malassezia in the 00:07:34.459 --> 00:07:38.420 gut. And actually, they found it in nearly every 00:07:38.420 --> 00:07:44.300 organ of the body. And they say that by age 15, 00:07:44.759 --> 00:07:50.420 nearly 100 % of humans are inhabited by Malassezia 00:07:50.420 --> 00:07:53.480 for fur. So it's something you want to keep your 00:07:53.480 --> 00:07:57.819 eye on. It is a eukaryote. It has a lot of tricks 00:07:57.819 --> 00:08:04.040 in its toolkit. So those are my focuses, Candida 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:08.540 yeast and Malassezia yeast. So where does this 00:08:08.540 --> 00:08:14.519 intersect with autism and autism spectrum? For 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:18.180 me, I can't help it. As a trained microbiologist, 00:08:18.379 --> 00:08:22.600 I see the world in microbial terms. It's just 00:08:22.600 --> 00:08:26.000 my natural go -to. The first questions I ask 00:08:26.000 --> 00:08:28.560 are, okay, which microbes are involved, because 00:08:28.560 --> 00:08:33.840 I know there's something. So that's been my perspective 00:08:33.840 --> 00:08:36.799 on autism, and I understand that autism is a 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:41.860 very complex, it's a complex topic. It is not 00:08:41.860 --> 00:08:44.659 just one being, and there are many, many factors 00:08:44.659 --> 00:08:49.980 involved. Definitely genetics plays a role, and 00:08:49.980 --> 00:08:54.759 I think that they say autism spectrum is about 00:08:54.759 --> 00:09:01.919 80 % heritable, so genetically passed on, and 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:06.539 it involves over 800 genes. So yeah, I mean, 00:09:06.539 --> 00:09:09.919 we could look at a million different things and 00:09:09.919 --> 00:09:13.039 say, oh, well, that might contribute to symptoms 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:17.000 or different aspects of autism. The part that 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:22.019 I want to focus on is the microbial connection. 00:09:22.350 --> 00:09:24.970 to the genetics. So if you take genetics and 00:09:24.970 --> 00:09:28.129 say, okay, yes, certain people have genetically 00:09:28.129 --> 00:09:31.509 inherited mutations, and this may affect how 00:09:31.509 --> 00:09:34.789 the body functions. And then you take the topic 00:09:34.789 --> 00:09:39.250 of epigenetics, which is kind of a, it's a newer 00:09:39.250 --> 00:09:42.649 science that people are learning about. Epigenetics 00:09:42.649 --> 00:09:47.370 is, epi means on top of, and genetics is your 00:09:47.370 --> 00:09:51.399 genes, your DNA. So it's not changes in the DNA 00:09:51.399 --> 00:09:55.539 bases, it's changes on top of the DNA. So the 00:09:55.539 --> 00:09:58.399 bases don't even have to change for you to have 00:09:58.399 --> 00:10:04.620 a function loss in a part of your body. And that's 00:10:04.620 --> 00:10:08.500 where epigenetics comes into play. Epigenetics, 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:14.299 I think, is where this topic connects to environmental 00:10:14.299 --> 00:10:18.360 stimuli. And so if there are certain things in 00:10:18.360 --> 00:10:22.259 the environment that either block changes, methylation 00:10:22.259 --> 00:10:25.279 that happens in epigenetics or maybe it promotes 00:10:25.279 --> 00:10:27.919 it, you want to look at that because that could 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:31.960 be important for the human that may have already 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:35.980 a genetic predisposition that environmental cause 00:10:35.980 --> 00:10:39.860 could make it worse or exacerbate the situation. 00:10:41.059 --> 00:10:45.129 So yeah, so you could look at like parental age 00:10:45.129 --> 00:10:49.330 at conception. You could look at the perinatal 00:10:49.330 --> 00:10:52.710 environment of the womb or the mother's health 00:10:52.710 --> 00:10:56.049 or the mother's gut health. You could look at 00:10:56.049 --> 00:11:00.110 her levels of estrogen, progesterone, all kinds 00:11:00.110 --> 00:11:04.250 of things. And I want to add this in so I don't 00:11:04.250 --> 00:11:10.210 forget about it. It looks like manganese is important. 00:11:10.409 --> 00:11:15.590 So levels of manganese in the mother in her diet. 00:11:16.909 --> 00:11:20.509 Collectively as a society in our food, we should 00:11:20.509 --> 00:11:22.950 look at that because manganese is actually pretty 00:11:22.950 --> 00:11:26.269 special and it does some things in the gut that 00:11:26.269 --> 00:11:32.970 are important. So this is kind of my take on 00:11:32.970 --> 00:11:36.929 it is how are we going to look at autism from 00:11:36.929 --> 00:11:40.559 a microbial perspective? and link that to environment. 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:49.779 There's actually two different mutations I'd 00:11:49.779 --> 00:11:53.519 like to highlight, if that's okay? Yeah, yeah. 00:11:54.139 --> 00:11:58.860 Okay, so, and this came about actually during 00:11:58.860 --> 00:12:03.159 COVID. I was part of a group of health professionals 00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:06.059 that I think it was every two weeks, we would 00:12:06.059 --> 00:12:09.919 get on a Zoom call. and discuss these were like 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:12.860 doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals that 00:12:12.860 --> 00:12:15.620 were dealing with the COVID crisis in real time. 00:12:15.860 --> 00:12:18.460 And they were trying to share like, hey, here's 00:12:18.460 --> 00:12:21.019 what works for me or here's what I've found that 00:12:21.019 --> 00:12:24.320 helps. And so on these calls, I remember one 00:12:24.320 --> 00:12:27.860 of the doctors had mentioned, hey, I've noticed 00:12:27.860 --> 00:12:31.789 that in my long COVID patients, so. people who 00:12:31.789 --> 00:12:34.570 were dealing with long COVID and symptoms of 00:12:34.570 --> 00:12:38.549 long COVID. Way after they had had COVID, they 00:12:38.549 --> 00:12:41.889 were still having micro clots and blood clots 00:12:41.889 --> 00:12:44.929 and stuff like that. He said, I've noticed something 00:12:44.929 --> 00:12:51.230 about these particular people. He said, in this 00:12:51.230 --> 00:12:53.870 group that I'm talking about, they are on the 00:12:53.870 --> 00:12:58.269 autism spectrum. They have long COVID and there's 00:12:58.269 --> 00:13:01.159 two mutations that are interesting. they have 00:13:01.159 --> 00:13:07.580 the MTHFR mutation and they have the PAI1 mutation. 00:13:08.460 --> 00:13:10.620 So I wanted to share a little bit about those 00:13:10.620 --> 00:13:13.820 mutations because when he said that I was like 00:13:13.820 --> 00:13:16.960 wait a minute I've never heard that before number 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:19.700 one and number two I need to know what's going 00:13:19.700 --> 00:13:23.679 on here because Yeah, that's just super important 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:26.639 because of kind of where my head already was 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:29.759 with thinking about autism and stuff from a microbial 00:13:29.759 --> 00:13:35.539 perspective so Let's start with mthfr. There's 00:13:35.539 --> 00:13:41.480 a lot about this in social media People I have 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:44.279 noticed more and more people talking about this 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:47.500 particular mutation I'll say the science name 00:13:47.500 --> 00:13:51.049 it is long We'll just get through it, and then 00:13:51.049 --> 00:13:54.409 we'll just call it MTHFR from there on. So it 00:13:54.409 --> 00:14:00.350 is the 510 -methylene -tetrahydrofolate reductase. 00:14:00.750 --> 00:14:05.929 So M -methylene -tetra -T -hydro -H -folate -F 00:14:05.929 --> 00:14:11.029 and reductase R, MTHFR. So if you have this mutation, 00:14:11.149 --> 00:14:13.950 there's two different locations in the genome 00:14:13.950 --> 00:14:17.990 where you can have a mutation. you can have one 00:14:17.990 --> 00:14:21.350 or you can have both or however it kind of shuffles 00:14:21.350 --> 00:14:24.429 out. One is a little bit more potent than the 00:14:24.429 --> 00:14:27.029 other. So like if you have one of these, you're 00:14:27.029 --> 00:14:30.090 gonna see more effects of it on your health versus 00:14:30.090 --> 00:14:35.230 the other. So the first mutation is the 667 C 00:14:35.230 --> 00:14:41.070 to T mutation. So a DNA base, the C changes to 00:14:41.070 --> 00:14:46.210 a T. In the next mutation, it's still the MTHFR, 00:14:46.679 --> 00:14:52.980 enzyme. It's the 1298 A to C, C as in cat, A 00:14:52.980 --> 00:14:57.759 to C mutation. So either you can get these from 00:14:57.759 --> 00:15:00.799 one parent or both parents. It just depends on 00:15:00.799 --> 00:15:05.980 how it shuffles for you. And I will say this 00:15:05.980 --> 00:15:09.240 is also, this is in my family. So I do have a 00:15:09.240 --> 00:15:14.159 personal interest in this particular mutation 00:15:14.159 --> 00:15:17.779 and this is why I've studied a lot about it. 00:15:18.019 --> 00:15:23.279 So this particular enzyme, it is involved in 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:26.480 the methylation of homocysteine to methionine. 00:15:27.100 --> 00:15:32.340 It also is involved in folate metabolism. So 00:15:32.340 --> 00:15:34.460 let me break that down to make it a little bit 00:15:34.460 --> 00:15:40.019 more simple. People who tend to have heart disease 00:15:40.379 --> 00:15:44.259 they will have elevated levels of homocysteine 00:15:44.259 --> 00:15:49.039 in their body. Homocysteine, so cysteine is an 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:52.039 amino acid. Homocysteine is a version of that. 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:55.100 It's also an amino acid. And then methionine 00:15:55.100 --> 00:16:00.320 is also an amino acid. So this particular MTHFR 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:03.600 enzyme takes one and turns it into the other. 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:07.399 But if you don't have that enzyme or if it's 00:16:07.399 --> 00:16:11.159 mutated or half mutated, your enzymes not working 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:14.899 at 100 % capacity. So you're not gonna get that 00:16:14.899 --> 00:16:18.000 homocysteine broken down into methionine like 00:16:18.000 --> 00:16:23.240 it's supposed to. So then there's potential outcomes, 00:16:23.659 --> 00:16:26.539 health outcomes from that. The other side of 00:16:26.539 --> 00:16:30.179 this is the folate. So this enzyme also takes 00:16:30.179 --> 00:16:34.960 folate, which is vitamin B9. Most people know 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:38.330 that. part of it, vitamin B9. But there's a difference 00:16:38.330 --> 00:16:41.769 between vitamin B9 that you might see on your 00:16:41.769 --> 00:16:45.669 daily vitamin bottle, and that's usually going 00:16:45.669 --> 00:16:49.070 to be called folic acid. They also tend to add 00:16:49.070 --> 00:16:53.509 that one to products on the shelf. So like cereals, 00:16:53.509 --> 00:16:55.990 they'll say, oh, added folic acid, whatever. 00:16:56.929 --> 00:17:01.049 That is not the quote unquote healthy type of 00:17:01.049 --> 00:17:03.590 vitamin B9. That's the type typically you want 00:17:03.590 --> 00:17:07.170 to avoid. what's the more natural type for the 00:17:07.170 --> 00:17:10.049 human body is called folate. It's still vitamin 00:17:10.049 --> 00:17:14.390 B9. It's just a little bit different composition. 00:17:15.589 --> 00:17:19.390 So people who have this mutation, this MTHFR, 00:17:20.049 --> 00:17:24.890 their body cannot break down vitamin B9 into 00:17:24.890 --> 00:17:27.609 folate very well. So they're going to have a 00:17:27.609 --> 00:17:31.910 lack of vitamin B9 or folate in their body. And 00:17:31.910 --> 00:17:38.359 that has other health implications. And so I'm 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:40.960 gonna circle back to that later on because there's 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:45.059 also a connection with methionine and SAM. And 00:17:45.059 --> 00:17:48.680 SAM is involved in pigmentation, which I think 00:17:48.680 --> 00:17:53.480 is important in this topic as well. So starting 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:57.339 out, so we've got this MTHFR mutation. A lot 00:17:57.339 --> 00:18:00.720 of people who have that mutation also have the 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:06.980 PAI1 mutation. PAI1 stands for Plasminogen Activator 00:18:06.980 --> 00:18:11.359 Inhibitor Type 1. If you have this mutation, 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:17.119 you are mutated in your Serpine1 gene, S -E -R 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:21.660 -P -I -N -E. This gene provides instructions 00:18:21.660 --> 00:18:26.079 for making Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor, or 00:18:26.079 --> 00:18:31.559 PAI1. PAI -1 is associated with insulin levels. 00:18:33.319 --> 00:18:37.420 And it is involved in metabolic conditions like 00:18:37.420 --> 00:18:44.119 type 2 diabetes. So basically, this PAI -1 regulates 00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:49.000 liver lipid metabolism, lipid homeostasis. Anytime 00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:52.619 you're talking about fatty acids, lipids, PAI 00:18:52.619 --> 00:18:56.019 -1 is involved. So let's say you have a mutation 00:18:56.019 --> 00:19:00.079 in your PAI 1g and everybody has two copies one 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:04.920 from mom one from dad the normal not mutated 00:19:04.920 --> 00:19:09.819 Version is 5g 5g if you have a mutation. It's 00:19:09.819 --> 00:19:13.500 called 4g So some people have one good copy and 00:19:13.500 --> 00:19:16.519 one mutated copy. Some people have both copies 00:19:16.519 --> 00:19:21.980 mutated if you have any mutations in this gene. 00:19:22.059 --> 00:19:30.180 Basically, you have a lower amount of the PAI1 00:19:30.180 --> 00:19:35.640 enzyme levels. So here's where that kind of comes 00:19:35.640 --> 00:19:40.220 in. So there's two forms of PAI1. There's PAI1 00:19:40.220 --> 00:19:45.660 and PAI2. The PAI1 is just kind of in the whole 00:19:45.660 --> 00:19:50.990 body. PAI2 is made by the placenta. only during 00:19:50.990 --> 00:19:55.630 pregnancy. So if there's a mutation there, that 00:19:55.630 --> 00:20:03.490 could be an issue. Yeah, so these levels are 00:20:03.490 --> 00:20:07.150 regulated two ways. They're regulated by genetics. 00:20:07.210 --> 00:20:09.029 Like we just said, you could have a mutation. 00:20:09.430 --> 00:20:12.369 It's also regulated by your triglyceride levels. 00:20:12.769 --> 00:20:15.369 So that's where if you have high triglycerides, 00:20:15.470 --> 00:20:20.930 you should look into your PAI -1 genetics. So 00:20:20.930 --> 00:20:26.809 people with this PAI -1 mutation can commonly 00:20:26.809 --> 00:20:31.150 have issues during pregnancy. Sometimes it can 00:20:31.150 --> 00:20:34.730 be miscarriages. Sometimes it can be other pregnancy 00:20:34.730 --> 00:20:39.089 issues like placenta accreta is one of them where 00:20:39.089 --> 00:20:41.349 the placenta kind of grows into the wall of the 00:20:41.349 --> 00:20:45.849 uterus and there's complications from that. And 00:20:45.849 --> 00:20:52.759 then... Oh, obesity is another issue. Insulin 00:20:52.759 --> 00:20:56.119 resistance and heart disease are all involved 00:20:56.119 --> 00:21:02.180 in this mutation. So now that we know the two 00:21:02.180 --> 00:21:07.359 mutations I wanted to highlight. First, do you 00:21:07.359 --> 00:21:09.940 have any questions? Sorry, I don't want to talk 00:21:09.940 --> 00:21:15.960 the whole time. It's great. I was just shocked 00:21:15.960 --> 00:21:21.930 with the PA. I am the insulin connection. I'm 00:21:21.930 --> 00:21:24.809 just putting away by that. Yeah, it's something 00:21:24.809 --> 00:21:27.970 that's not talked about a lot and I actually 00:21:27.970 --> 00:21:30.250 didn't even know about it. I didn't know it existed 00:21:30.250 --> 00:21:33.269 until that friend of mine had mentioned, oh yeah, 00:21:33.269 --> 00:21:37.029 I see this in my population of autistic patients. 00:21:37.450 --> 00:21:40.390 And it was coincidentally part of the long COVID 00:21:40.390 --> 00:21:45.410 issues because of the clotting, micro clotting 00:21:45.410 --> 00:21:49.799 that these people were experiencing. So where 00:21:49.799 --> 00:21:57.519 does this connect? Let's connect the dots. I 00:21:57.519 --> 00:22:02.960 want to kind of start with that MTHFR because 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:08.099 studies have shown that it's approximately 24 00:22:08.099 --> 00:22:12.480 % of humans globally have this MTHFR mutation. 00:22:13.180 --> 00:22:18.049 It's more than you would think. What's the trend 00:22:18.049 --> 00:22:20.970 of that in the last couple of decades? Do you 00:22:20.970 --> 00:22:23.970 know? That's a great question. I don't know the 00:22:23.970 --> 00:22:28.150 trend. I know that it is European and Asian predominantly, 00:22:28.170 --> 00:22:31.730 and they think that's kind of where it started. 00:22:31.730 --> 00:22:35.410 So if you are of European or Asian descent, you're 00:22:35.410 --> 00:22:38.549 going to see that show up more often in your 00:22:38.549 --> 00:22:42.730 genome than, for example, African, because it 00:22:42.730 --> 00:22:48.440 didn't. it was not spread that way through genetics. 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:54.819 So actually I have written down that mutation 00:22:54.819 --> 00:22:59.460 worldwide is 24%. A double mutation in the MTHFR 00:22:59.460 --> 00:23:05.299 is 7 .7 % of the world population. In North America, 00:23:05.640 --> 00:23:12.339 31 % of people have MTHFR and European is 34%. 00:23:12.339 --> 00:23:16.000 So about a third of the population in the US 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:19.420 or Europe. They actually have this and maybe 00:23:19.420 --> 00:23:23.819 they don't know it. I have a question too. With 00:23:23.819 --> 00:23:28.200 that heavily involved with Europe and Asia, did 00:23:28.200 --> 00:23:33.500 I get that right? Yes, you did. Is it more pronounced 00:23:33.500 --> 00:23:38.359 for people that immigrate or they migrate to 00:23:38.359 --> 00:23:40.920 different latitudes or different areas? That's 00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:47.329 a great question. So genetically, I believe it's 00:23:47.329 --> 00:23:51.589 just in the European or Asian descent. Now it 00:23:51.589 --> 00:23:55.970 could cause different symptoms maybe, depending 00:23:55.970 --> 00:24:01.549 on your latitude, your exposure to the sun, different 00:24:01.549 --> 00:24:05.170 environmental factors. So you might end up having 00:24:05.170 --> 00:24:07.849 different issues depending on where you are with 00:24:07.849 --> 00:24:12.650 that mutation. Yeah. Okay. All right. Yeah. Great 00:24:12.650 --> 00:24:18.910 question. So with that, here's where my thoughts 00:24:18.910 --> 00:24:21.490 go. And I just think that there's not enough 00:24:21.490 --> 00:24:25.430 research on this area yet. And I would like to 00:24:25.430 --> 00:24:29.809 see research on this coming out. But kind of 00:24:29.809 --> 00:24:33.029 my take on it, or my hypothesis, if you would, 00:24:34.230 --> 00:24:38.750 if you have this PAI1 mutation, this is the clotting 00:24:38.750 --> 00:24:42.390 one, it's where, you know, you can't break down 00:24:42.390 --> 00:24:44.750 the fibrin clots very well because you just don't 00:24:44.750 --> 00:24:48.130 have the enzyme to do it. If you can't break 00:24:48.130 --> 00:24:53.890 down clots, we know that serotonin is released 00:24:53.890 --> 00:24:58.609 by platelets and serotonin helps the tiny little 00:24:58.609 --> 00:25:02.069 arterioles in your body to narrow and it's going 00:25:02.069 --> 00:25:05.509 to slow the blood flow and that prevents clots 00:25:05.509 --> 00:25:11.119 from forming. So if evolution has this individual 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:16.480 that has a PAI mutation, it's going to prefer 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:21.380 anything that lowers your serotonin levels, basically, 00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:25.980 because you don't want that serotonin to help 00:25:25.980 --> 00:25:28.539 clots deform, because you already have an issue. 00:25:28.700 --> 00:25:32.259 You don't have your PAI -1 enzyme. So let's say 00:25:32.259 --> 00:25:35.559 you're in this body with this PAI -1 mutation. 00:25:36.259 --> 00:25:39.569 You're worried about clots. If you lower your 00:25:39.569 --> 00:25:42.529 serotonin levels, the clots don't form as much, 00:25:43.509 --> 00:25:45.450 which, I mean, clots are kind of a big deal. 00:25:45.549 --> 00:25:49.369 That could be life -ending. So that's a big deal 00:25:49.369 --> 00:25:52.609 to a human body. So let's say you're trying to 00:25:52.609 --> 00:25:56.410 slow down the serotonin. Your body's gonna adjust 00:25:56.410 --> 00:26:03.009 by reducing the serotonin levels. And so interestingly, 00:26:04.390 --> 00:26:09.019 this is where I think the yeast comes in. If 00:26:09.019 --> 00:26:12.980 you have Candida albicans, so Candida yeast growing 00:26:12.980 --> 00:26:18.440 in your gut, Candida loves tryptophan, okay? 00:26:18.700 --> 00:26:21.140 Everything loves tryptophan. It is an essential 00:26:21.140 --> 00:26:24.480 amino acid. It's like, if you could put yourself 00:26:24.480 --> 00:26:27.500 into the gut environment, just pretend you're 00:26:27.500 --> 00:26:30.660 a bacteria or a yeast. Like everybody wants the 00:26:30.660 --> 00:26:33.500 food. Everybody wants the space. Everybody wants 00:26:33.500 --> 00:26:37.359 to fight off their enemies, right? So it's like, 00:26:37.390 --> 00:26:40.150 This is the environment. Let's say the human 00:26:40.150 --> 00:26:43.150 eats a piece of tryptophan, maybe a big turkey 00:26:43.150 --> 00:26:46.170 dinner. The human wants that tryptophan for their 00:26:46.170 --> 00:26:49.410 body so that they can make serotonin, melatonin, 00:26:49.450 --> 00:26:51.950 all the things that the human body needs. But 00:26:51.950 --> 00:26:54.150 the bacteria is looking at the tryptophan saying, 00:26:54.250 --> 00:26:56.950 I want that. And the yeast is looking at it saying, 00:26:57.069 --> 00:27:00.670 I want that. So now it's a competition. Who gets 00:27:00.670 --> 00:27:04.369 the tryptophan? And I think that's where if you... 00:27:04.240 --> 00:27:07.099 are an individual that has a lot of candida in 00:27:07.099 --> 00:27:10.279 your gut, maybe even what we would call an overgrowth 00:27:10.279 --> 00:27:14.980 of candida. It could be, and I don't know this, 00:27:15.099 --> 00:27:17.259 I haven't done this study, but it could be that 00:27:17.259 --> 00:27:20.420 the candida is out competing for the tryptophan, 00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:23.720 or maybe you have bacterial growth, overgrowth, 00:27:23.859 --> 00:27:26.599 and then that's out competing and taking all 00:27:26.599 --> 00:27:28.500 the tryptophan where the human just doesn't get 00:27:28.500 --> 00:27:32.630 as much. So this could be one way that the human 00:27:32.630 --> 00:27:36.710 body almost, I don't know if you would say, lets 00:27:36.710 --> 00:27:42.109 it happen or uses the yeast to help it. Like, 00:27:42.190 --> 00:27:45.309 hey, you know, I've noticed that if I let this 00:27:45.309 --> 00:27:49.170 yeast overgrow in my gut, then I get less serotonin, 00:27:49.390 --> 00:27:52.470 which doesn't narrow my arterioles and I don't 00:27:52.470 --> 00:27:55.990 get as many blood clots, right? So it could be 00:27:55.990 --> 00:27:59.099 a mechanism like that. I just think that needs 00:27:59.099 --> 00:28:03.220 to be investigated. The other thing about Candida 00:28:03.220 --> 00:28:05.740 that's interesting that I'll note here is that 00:28:05.740 --> 00:28:10.460 Candida also makes a product. And this product 00:28:10.460 --> 00:28:15.519 inhibits an inflammatory cytokine called interferon 00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:19.460 gamma. And so it could be that the human body 00:28:19.460 --> 00:28:21.779 kind of likes that. Like, hey, if I have more 00:28:21.779 --> 00:28:24.059 Candida growing, it's going to start to tamp 00:28:24.059 --> 00:28:27.500 down on at least a part of my inflammation. which 00:28:27.500 --> 00:28:31.059 would be good for the human. So it's possible 00:28:31.059 --> 00:28:35.000 that the candida is allowed or, you know, at 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:38.420 least tolerated to grow or overgrow in the gut, 00:28:38.819 --> 00:28:43.779 because big picture -wise, that would potentially 00:28:43.779 --> 00:28:50.759 help the human. And then I guess you could look 00:28:50.759 --> 00:28:55.859 at, well, if it's not candida, it could be malassezia. 00:28:56.559 --> 00:28:59.200 the other yeast that I mentioned at the beginning. 00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:03.799 So it just, I think that the human body, I'll 00:29:03.799 --> 00:29:08.240 put it this way. When you study biology, it's 00:29:08.240 --> 00:29:13.759 really cool because there's so many patterns 00:29:13.759 --> 00:29:19.720 that you can see. And in the wild, many, many 00:29:19.720 --> 00:29:24.109 species like to eat yeast. And it's interesting 00:29:24.109 --> 00:29:26.750 because, like, if you look at the leaf cutter 00:29:26.750 --> 00:29:30.349 ant, they are in the Amazon, and those are the 00:29:30.349 --> 00:29:32.869 little ants that carry those big leaves on their 00:29:32.869 --> 00:29:34.549 back. And you're like, wow, they're so strong. 00:29:34.589 --> 00:29:37.349 How do they carry that huge leaf, right? Well, 00:29:37.529 --> 00:29:40.170 they're not carrying the leaves back to their 00:29:40.170 --> 00:29:43.029 nest so that they can eat the leaf. That's not 00:29:43.029 --> 00:29:46.250 their goal. They're taking those leaves and putting 00:29:46.250 --> 00:29:50.630 it into their nest so that it will grow yeast. 00:29:50.940 --> 00:29:54.779 and ferment, and then they eat the yeast growing 00:29:54.779 --> 00:29:59.119 on the leaf, the dying decaying leaf. So it's 00:29:59.119 --> 00:30:02.420 the yeast they're after. And then if you look 00:30:02.420 --> 00:30:07.099 at bees, they also use a fermentation product 00:30:07.099 --> 00:30:10.960 to decide if a bee is going to be the queen or 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:15.720 the worker bee. And depending on the yeast in 00:30:15.720 --> 00:30:18.779 that pollen or the pollen type food that they 00:30:18.779 --> 00:30:23.579 eat, it determines what epigenetics turn on and 00:30:23.579 --> 00:30:27.240 change that bee into a worker or maintain it 00:30:27.240 --> 00:30:31.779 as a queen. So, yeast is actually a signaling 00:30:31.779 --> 00:30:35.200 molecule in the animal world, and it helps to 00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:40.599 signal certain changes, epigenetic changes, in 00:30:40.599 --> 00:30:43.940 the animals. And so if you look at that, and 00:30:43.940 --> 00:30:45.819 there's other examples I could give, those are 00:30:45.819 --> 00:30:48.640 just two, but if you look at that, you could 00:30:48.640 --> 00:30:52.779 think, hmm, Maybe for the human, our gut is our 00:30:52.779 --> 00:30:56.960 little nest or like in the ocean, it could be 00:30:56.960 --> 00:30:59.799 a tide pool where we are growing what we need 00:30:59.799 --> 00:31:03.380 for our health. Like we're gonna let certain 00:31:03.380 --> 00:31:06.180 things grow in there because we actually need 00:31:06.180 --> 00:31:10.339 the products they make to keep our body healthy. 00:31:11.000 --> 00:31:16.930 And so that's the way I see it. I think it can 00:31:16.930 --> 00:31:19.950 be good for the body, but I think it can also, 00:31:21.049 --> 00:31:24.309 an overgrowth or too much can be bad and can 00:31:24.309 --> 00:31:30.509 also affect disease. Okay. I don't know if this 00:31:30.509 --> 00:31:32.930 question is way off topic, but I'm just always 00:31:32.930 --> 00:31:36.029 curious because I've always heard that, or I 00:31:36.029 --> 00:31:37.710 haven't always heard, but more recently I've 00:31:37.710 --> 00:31:41.390 heard that fermented foods are the best thing 00:31:41.390 --> 00:31:44.890 for gut health. Yeah. What's the relationship 00:31:44.890 --> 00:31:47.630 with fermented foods and yeast? That's a great 00:31:47.630 --> 00:31:51.490 question. So fermented foods have lactobacillus 00:31:51.490 --> 00:31:55.049 growing in them. And lactobacillus is acidic, 00:31:55.269 --> 00:31:58.349 or it makes a lactic acid, which is acidic. So 00:31:58.349 --> 00:32:00.589 the more you have in your gut, the more acidic 00:32:00.589 --> 00:32:03.650 your gut will be, which is tends to be a good 00:32:03.650 --> 00:32:07.009 thing. And it's your gut. So if you're a microbe, 00:32:07.269 --> 00:32:10.390 you like to live in a certain oxygen level and 00:32:10.390 --> 00:32:15.289 a certain pH level. And so it has to be just 00:32:15.289 --> 00:32:17.589 right for you to live there. If it's not just 00:32:17.589 --> 00:32:20.069 right, you're not going to live there. So pH 00:32:20.069 --> 00:32:22.950 actually determines what grows and what doesn't 00:32:22.950 --> 00:32:26.670 grow. So the more of this lactobacillus you eat, 00:32:27.029 --> 00:32:29.789 the more you're going to have an acidic environment 00:32:29.789 --> 00:32:33.009 around that bacteria. And that's going to promote 00:32:33.009 --> 00:32:35.529 the growth of certain healthy bacteria that you 00:32:35.529 --> 00:32:38.190 need for your body. So yeah, I would definitely 00:32:38.190 --> 00:32:44.069 say lactobacillus is a fantastic thing to eat. 00:32:44.529 --> 00:32:47.269 And if you don't mind, can I make a connection 00:32:47.269 --> 00:32:53.069 with birth here? Okay, so the cool thing about 00:32:53.069 --> 00:32:57.029 lactobacillus, this healthy bacteria, is they've 00:32:57.029 --> 00:33:00.769 found that pregnant women in their last trimester 00:33:00.769 --> 00:33:07.009 will become enriched in the birth canal for lactobacillus. 00:33:07.309 --> 00:33:11.599 And so if the baby is born naturally, and comes 00:33:11.599 --> 00:33:15.039 down through the birth canal, it will get all 00:33:15.039 --> 00:33:18.039 of this wonderful lactobacillus in its mouth, 00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:21.660 in its nose, and that will all go down and it 00:33:21.660 --> 00:33:25.359 will seed the gut. So the very first microbes 00:33:25.359 --> 00:33:28.740 that go into that baby's gut during the birth 00:33:28.740 --> 00:33:32.880 of that baby are lactobacillus. And then if you 00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:36.259 breastfeed your child, that milk, the sugars 00:33:36.259 --> 00:33:40.849 in the milk, are specifically designed to feed 00:33:40.849 --> 00:33:45.009 the lactobacillus. So if you're doing the birthing 00:33:45.009 --> 00:33:48.130 process the way that humans were made to be, 00:33:49.369 --> 00:33:54.849 it should all line up, it should all, the gut 00:33:54.849 --> 00:33:59.109 sets up correctly. It has lactobacillus, the 00:33:59.109 --> 00:34:01.829 milk nourishes the lactobacillus, that grows. 00:34:01.930 --> 00:34:05.730 Now that baby is given this treasure for its 00:34:05.730 --> 00:34:09.250 lifetime on the very first day of its life. But 00:34:09.250 --> 00:34:12.150 sometimes the way that we do things interrupts 00:34:12.150 --> 00:34:15.349 that process. And so a baby that's born by C 00:34:15.349 --> 00:34:19.409 -section typically gets seeded with skin bacteria. 00:34:19.690 --> 00:34:21.889 That's the first bacteria that goes into their 00:34:21.889 --> 00:34:25.949 gut, not lactobacillus. And then if you don't 00:34:25.949 --> 00:34:28.730 nurse your baby and instead you feed it formula, 00:34:29.269 --> 00:34:32.949 that baby is now not getting the sugars and the 00:34:32.949 --> 00:34:35.329 so many other things in the mother's milk that 00:34:35.329 --> 00:34:38.460 is specifically designed to start them. in a 00:34:38.460 --> 00:34:42.079 healthy way. So I think we really need to take 00:34:42.079 --> 00:34:47.480 a step back and look at how the birthing process 00:34:47.480 --> 00:34:52.360 in a modern society occurs and I understand different 00:34:52.360 --> 00:34:54.500 mothers have different situations for sure and 00:34:54.500 --> 00:34:58.139 this is not judgmental in any way because I definitely 00:34:58.139 --> 00:35:02.139 have friends and family members that have birthed 00:35:02.139 --> 00:35:05.820 their baby c -section and it wasn't like a choice 00:35:05.820 --> 00:35:10.110 they had to do it. So I get that, but I think 00:35:10.110 --> 00:35:15.230 we really need to consider the method of birth. 00:35:15.309 --> 00:35:18.969 If it's not like an emergency, maybe the mom 00:35:18.969 --> 00:35:22.010 should be educated better and saying, this is 00:35:22.010 --> 00:35:25.869 really why we do it this way. I think that antibiotics 00:35:25.869 --> 00:35:30.170 during the birthing process should be looked 00:35:30.170 --> 00:35:34.530 at. For example, certain mothers, well, before 00:35:34.530 --> 00:35:37.960 you give birth, Sometimes if they find a certain 00:35:37.960 --> 00:35:41.260 streptococcus bacteria in the mother's birth 00:35:41.260 --> 00:35:44.699 canal, they will give her antibiotics for the 00:35:44.699 --> 00:35:47.579 last week or two right before she gives birth 00:35:47.579 --> 00:35:51.239 to eliminate that streptococcus. And there's 00:35:51.239 --> 00:35:54.179 a reason for it. But I think we have to look 00:35:54.179 --> 00:35:56.960 at the big picture and say, well, wait, why are 00:35:56.960 --> 00:36:00.400 we doing that for everybody? Like, maybe that 00:36:00.400 --> 00:36:03.860 should not be an across the board practice kind 00:36:03.860 --> 00:36:07.190 of thing. I definitely think it's important to 00:36:07.190 --> 00:36:10.769 look at the birthing process and keep that as 00:36:10.769 --> 00:36:15.110 close to nature as we can. Yeah. Yeah. Because 00:36:15.110 --> 00:36:19.070 evolution provided us that. Right. And, you know, 00:36:19.130 --> 00:36:22.489 and it's not making any mistakes by doing so. 00:36:22.489 --> 00:36:25.789 It's provided us with what it needs to do. It 00:36:25.789 --> 00:36:29.329 works. I guess there are those outliers, I guess, 00:36:29.389 --> 00:36:33.389 like you mentioned about. Yeah. But it's still 00:36:33.389 --> 00:36:36.260 common. It's so common now. It's just like convenience. 00:36:36.619 --> 00:36:38.599 We'll just schedule the C -section at this time. 00:36:38.800 --> 00:36:47.019 Right, right. That's wild with how that gut lining 00:36:47.019 --> 00:36:51.239 happens and then the breastfeeding. Yeah, right. 00:36:52.840 --> 00:36:57.519 It's beautiful what a mother can give her baby 00:36:57.519 --> 00:37:03.760 on day one. Yep. So let's, if you don't mind, 00:37:03.860 --> 00:37:08.340 I'd like to talk a little bit about, let's see, 00:37:08.480 --> 00:37:11.500 is it Malassezia? Oh, no, no, no, we didn't talk 00:37:11.500 --> 00:37:16.500 about the Neanderthals yet. You wanna go there? 00:37:17.119 --> 00:37:22.599 Okay, let's do it. So recently there was a scientific 00:37:22.599 --> 00:37:25.420 paper published, I think originally the paper 00:37:25.420 --> 00:37:30.400 was 2024, but it became, it just kind of, at 00:37:30.400 --> 00:37:34.920 least it crossed through my email inbox, maybe 00:37:34.920 --> 00:37:38.940 in May, it was May, of this year. And it talked 00:37:38.940 --> 00:37:43.400 about how they looked at Neanderthal DNA and 00:37:43.400 --> 00:37:46.639 they've found certain Neanderthal genes that 00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:52.280 they're linking to autism spectrum. And I jumped 00:37:52.280 --> 00:37:56.349 on that because for a long time, I have wondered 00:37:56.349 --> 00:37:59.869 about the Neanderthal DNA. And anybody who's 00:37:59.869 --> 00:38:03.230 in the division of studying genetics, I'm sure 00:38:03.230 --> 00:38:05.889 this has been on their radar for a long time, 00:38:06.010 --> 00:38:10.329 probably much longer than me. But the interesting 00:38:10.329 --> 00:38:13.110 thing about Neanderthals is that they say that 00:38:13.110 --> 00:38:17.849 approximately 2 % is in the human DNA. So every 00:38:17.849 --> 00:38:22.610 human has about 2 % Neanderthal DNA in their 00:38:22.610 --> 00:38:25.449 genome. some people a little bit less, some people 00:38:25.449 --> 00:38:29.230 a little bit more, depending on what area of 00:38:29.230 --> 00:38:32.829 the globe you're from. And I believe the Neanderthals, 00:38:32.949 --> 00:38:37.110 if you look into it, they were living in this 00:38:37.110 --> 00:38:41.090 main area, I want to say in Spain, like near 00:38:41.090 --> 00:38:44.849 the Gibraltar, Rock of Gibraltar, in that area 00:38:44.849 --> 00:38:47.070 there was like a cave where there was a pretty 00:38:47.070 --> 00:38:50.210 large population. So it kind of came from that 00:38:50.210 --> 00:38:54.639 area and spread and so they interacted with homo 00:38:54.639 --> 00:39:01.599 sapiens, humans, and it crossed over. So interestingly, 00:39:01.840 --> 00:39:05.320 they say that Neanderthals had red hair and blue 00:39:05.320 --> 00:39:09.219 eyes, which when I learned about that, I was 00:39:09.219 --> 00:39:11.619 pretty shocked. I actually did not know that. 00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:17.619 But where that becomes interesting is the story 00:39:17.619 --> 00:39:22.380 of melanin. And so you've talked about this before 00:39:22.380 --> 00:39:24.440 on your podcast, but there's different forms 00:39:24.440 --> 00:39:28.380 of melanin and there's the pheomelanin, which 00:39:28.380 --> 00:39:31.679 is like the red tint that you have if you have 00:39:31.679 --> 00:39:35.780 reddish hair, you know, light colors, light color 00:39:35.780 --> 00:39:39.719 eyes, all of that. And then there's the eumelanin, 00:39:39.820 --> 00:39:43.119 which is the brownish, darker pigment that you 00:39:43.119 --> 00:39:46.519 would find in like the brown eyes or browner 00:39:46.519 --> 00:39:50.559 shades of hair and stuff. So these different 00:39:50.559 --> 00:39:55.219 shades of melanin actually turn out to be pretty 00:39:55.219 --> 00:40:02.360 important. And this is where I think that they're 00:40:02.360 --> 00:40:05.900 on to something, that this Neanderthal DNA may 00:40:05.900 --> 00:40:11.000 be connected to certain pathways in the human 00:40:11.000 --> 00:40:15.280 body that are important to the autism community. 00:40:16.229 --> 00:40:20.170 Yeah, yeah, I think so too. Melanin is definitely 00:40:20.170 --> 00:40:23.250 underrated, especially just as a protective, 00:40:23.610 --> 00:40:27.329 what it's doing as a protective role. Yeah, exactly. 00:40:28.289 --> 00:40:32.309 Yeah. So I think I had learned that on your podcast 00:40:32.309 --> 00:40:36.949 about how it scavenges the reactive oxygen species 00:40:36.949 --> 00:40:41.769 from UV light. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's a massive 00:40:41.769 --> 00:40:46.300 protector. might be our top protection, I think, 00:40:46.800 --> 00:40:51.800 is with the moon. And it absorbs, it's huge for 00:40:51.800 --> 00:40:58.260 transferring biological energy. It's like transduction. 00:40:59.679 --> 00:41:02.260 And that's why, because it's like that darker 00:41:02.260 --> 00:41:08.480 melanin, it just absorbs everything. But I don't 00:41:08.480 --> 00:41:12.199 know, that's like more quantum. stuff that's 00:41:12.199 --> 00:41:15.599 not really mainstream, I don't think. Not like 00:41:15.599 --> 00:41:19.739 it should be. Yeah. I agree. Yeah. And then, 00:41:19.760 --> 00:41:23.239 you know, we have the melanocytes, the three 00:41:23.239 --> 00:41:26.019 types of melanocytes, and then the three types 00:41:26.019 --> 00:41:30.559 of melanin. The neuromelanin is so important 00:41:30.559 --> 00:41:34.139 in especially the brain stem area. Yes. I don't 00:41:34.139 --> 00:41:37.579 know. That deep inside the brain, like where 00:41:37.579 --> 00:41:41.489 the brain evolved out of. It's huge there. The 00:41:41.489 --> 00:41:44.929 neuromelanin is so big. And then there's diseases 00:41:44.929 --> 00:41:49.869 like Parkinson's. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And 00:41:49.869 --> 00:41:52.449 yeah, substantia nigra, of course, is black because 00:41:52.449 --> 00:41:55.590 of the neuromelanin, the locus rilius as well. 00:41:55.969 --> 00:41:59.150 And we can connect tyrosine to all of that, too, 00:41:59.789 --> 00:42:02.630 because we were talking about those neurotransmitters 00:42:02.630 --> 00:42:07.659 and methionine and SAM and so forth. But But 00:42:07.659 --> 00:42:09.860 yeah, let's we can get back to the Neanderthals 00:42:09.860 --> 00:42:16.579 though, okay Yeah, is there anything else like 00:42:16.579 --> 00:42:19.280 from that study because that was published in 00:42:19.280 --> 00:42:24.260 nature a very good journal so Right. I know they 00:42:24.260 --> 00:42:29.420 talked about This gene see I'm not great at genes 00:42:29.420 --> 00:42:34.340 but SLC 22 a 10 which helps encodes proteins 00:42:34.340 --> 00:42:37.400 for transporting adenions and castions across 00:42:37.400 --> 00:42:41.079 the plasma membrane and the cell membrane, which 00:42:41.079 --> 00:42:45.199 is pretty important, I think, in autistics, you 00:42:45.199 --> 00:42:48.760 know, just that cell health. Yes, and mitochondria 00:42:48.760 --> 00:42:53.420 function. Yeah, yeah, yeah. For sure. They found 00:42:53.420 --> 00:42:57.539 several Neanderthal genes. From what I read, 00:42:57.659 --> 00:43:03.269 it wasn't just like one, but I'll read, I put 00:43:03.269 --> 00:43:06.650 a few little notes down from this article. Yeah, 00:43:06.650 --> 00:43:10.869 go ahead. They said Neanderthal genes may increase 00:43:10.869 --> 00:43:14.329 your risk of depression. They're involved in 00:43:14.329 --> 00:43:17.409 certain skin lesions like actinic keratosis. 00:43:18.309 --> 00:43:21.769 They're involved in blood clots and hypercoagulation, 00:43:21.929 --> 00:43:26.250 which we talked about today. Actually, the good 00:43:26.250 --> 00:43:31.150 part is they boost your immune response. found 00:43:31.150 --> 00:43:33.969 that these genes help you to defend against fungi. 00:43:35.969 --> 00:43:39.090 They are also involved in the development of 00:43:39.090 --> 00:43:41.849 skin and hair, which I think is interesting when 00:43:41.849 --> 00:43:45.650 you consider melanin and how different hair and 00:43:45.650 --> 00:43:50.070 skin types can be different colors. They're involved 00:43:50.070 --> 00:43:53.369 in urinary tract infections, the transport of 00:43:53.369 --> 00:43:57.630 vitamin B1, which helps to metabolize carbohydrates 00:43:57.630 --> 00:44:00.639 in the gut. And then they're involved in nicotine 00:44:00.639 --> 00:44:05.480 addiction. So we definitely have, I think we 00:44:05.480 --> 00:44:09.579 have to keep an eye on this and like, hey, wait 00:44:09.579 --> 00:44:14.500 a minute. What is the Neanderthal DNA doing as 00:44:14.500 --> 00:44:16.639 far as human health goes? Because maybe back 00:44:16.639 --> 00:44:19.769 in the day, it helped the Neanderthals. It was 00:44:19.769 --> 00:44:22.389 actually like good for them to have these genes, 00:44:22.429 --> 00:44:26.070 but our life looks very different now. We eat 00:44:26.070 --> 00:44:28.230 different foods. We live in different regions 00:44:28.230 --> 00:44:32.449 of the world. We have artificial light. You know, 00:44:32.449 --> 00:44:34.849 there's a lot that's changed and maybe now it's 00:44:34.849 --> 00:44:38.690 maladaptive to have some of these genes. So I 00:44:38.690 --> 00:44:46.389 think it needs to be considered for sure. One 00:44:46.389 --> 00:44:49.429 thing I've would like to say before I forget 00:44:49.429 --> 00:44:54.449 about the melanin part, if you don't mind. So 00:44:54.449 --> 00:44:57.429 you had mentioned about the substantia nigra 00:44:57.429 --> 00:45:00.510 and how that has the darker pigment from the 00:45:00.510 --> 00:45:05.130 melanin. And like Parkinson's disease, that substantia 00:45:05.130 --> 00:45:08.809 nigra area gets lighter and lighter as the disease 00:45:08.809 --> 00:45:12.269 goes on. The melanin actually is reduced in that 00:45:12.269 --> 00:45:16.190 area of the brain. But interestingly, remember 00:45:16.190 --> 00:45:19.829 at the beginning, I mentioned that yeast melasezia 00:45:19.829 --> 00:45:28.309 furfur. So that one makes melanin. Okay, this 00:45:28.309 --> 00:45:31.610 is okay. Yeah, and it actually uses the same 00:45:31.610 --> 00:45:36.369 pathway, the tyrosine to dopa to melanin. Same 00:45:36.369 --> 00:45:43.170 pathway. So this is where I think, what if The 00:45:43.170 --> 00:45:47.170 human doesn't have enough melanin. So, well, 00:45:47.250 --> 00:45:50.730 we've got this yeast living on our skin and potentially 00:45:50.730 --> 00:45:53.989 in our gut and other parts of the body. What 00:45:53.989 --> 00:45:56.949 if we can use this yeast to make melanin for 00:45:56.949 --> 00:46:01.230 us? Because where this yeast occurs, they find 00:46:01.230 --> 00:46:04.809 darker pigments around the yeast as it eats and 00:46:04.809 --> 00:46:07.949 it produces melanin. So I don't know. I think 00:46:07.949 --> 00:46:10.980 it's an area that needs to be researched. I think 00:46:10.980 --> 00:46:13.920 it would intersect with Parkinson's disease and 00:46:13.920 --> 00:46:17.599 other things. And personally, this is a debated 00:46:17.599 --> 00:46:22.820 idea, so I'll put that out there. I personally 00:46:22.820 --> 00:46:26.199 believe that this yeast could get into the brain 00:46:26.199 --> 00:46:30.719 and live there, potentially undetected by the 00:46:30.719 --> 00:46:34.780 immune system, or at least enough where it's 00:46:34.780 --> 00:46:37.840 allowed to live there by the human body. I don't 00:46:37.840 --> 00:46:43.030 fully know. Some people believe that the body 00:46:43.030 --> 00:46:47.869 Especially the brain is protected and does not 00:46:47.869 --> 00:46:51.570 have organisms microorganisms living in it But 00:46:51.570 --> 00:46:56.010 there was a study in 2018 actually from the school 00:46:56.010 --> 00:46:59.409 I went to and finished my PhD where a professor 00:46:59.409 --> 00:47:04.570 she was in neuroscience and Her student found 00:47:04.570 --> 00:47:09.920 these little rod tiny rod shapes on the slides 00:47:09.920 --> 00:47:12.960 of brain tissue that they were looking at. And 00:47:12.960 --> 00:47:15.500 the student said, what is this? I don't recognize 00:47:15.500 --> 00:47:17.400 this. It's not a part of the brain. It's not 00:47:17.400 --> 00:47:20.539 a brain structure. And the professor, she was 00:47:20.539 --> 00:47:22.739 like, yeah, I don't know what that is either. 00:47:23.139 --> 00:47:27.360 And they actually looked at all 32 slices of 00:47:27.360 --> 00:47:32.840 brains. And that was in all 32 samples. And the 00:47:32.840 --> 00:47:35.199 way they figured it out is that they invited 00:47:36.090 --> 00:47:38.769 a professor from the Department of Microbiology 00:47:38.769 --> 00:47:41.409 to come look at their slides and say, what is 00:47:41.409 --> 00:47:44.289 this? And he said, oh, that's bacteria. And they're 00:47:44.289 --> 00:47:48.869 like, wait, what? Bacteria in the brain? And 00:47:48.869 --> 00:47:50.630 he's like, yeah, that's bacillus right there. 00:47:50.690 --> 00:47:53.289 It looks just like bacillus. And then they had 00:47:53.289 --> 00:47:56.650 to go through and make sure they had not contaminated 00:47:56.650 --> 00:48:01.840 their slide prep materials. Maybe it was growing 00:48:01.840 --> 00:48:04.960 in the gel that they used to make the side. And 00:48:04.960 --> 00:48:07.559 it wasn't in there. It was actually a part of 00:48:07.559 --> 00:48:10.639 all of the brains. And they presented this in 00:48:10.639 --> 00:48:13.320 a neuroscience meeting. And it was kind of a 00:48:13.320 --> 00:48:16.420 mic drop moment where everybody in the meeting 00:48:16.420 --> 00:48:21.219 was like, wait, what? Excuse me? So like I said, 00:48:21.380 --> 00:48:24.579 it's debated. Some people say, no way, it's impossible. 00:48:24.860 --> 00:48:27.900 Other people say, yeah, it's in there. There's 00:48:27.900 --> 00:48:31.000 microbes living in the brain. So who knows? I 00:48:31.000 --> 00:48:35.960 think that's also interesting. I wonder if it's 00:48:35.960 --> 00:48:40.280 the amount of inflammation and immune problems 00:48:40.280 --> 00:48:42.940 now, if that blood -brain barrier is opening 00:48:42.940 --> 00:48:47.320 up. And I know like vasopressin, I think, is 00:48:47.320 --> 00:48:50.320 involved with that and that's connected to autism. 00:48:51.320 --> 00:48:55.989 And I wonder if just our... You know, because 00:48:55.989 --> 00:48:58.869 autoimmune problems are skyrocketing and everybody's 00:48:58.869 --> 00:49:01.909 inflamed. I left it some degree if it's opening 00:49:01.909 --> 00:49:04.949 up that blood brain barrier. Yes. Because I was 00:49:04.949 --> 00:49:07.610 at first I was wondering if these brain slices 00:49:07.610 --> 00:49:10.989 was maybe that person just had a lot of inflammation 00:49:10.989 --> 00:49:17.409 or immune problems or maybe not. Yeah. I don't 00:49:17.409 --> 00:49:20.510 know, though. And when they looked at it further, 00:49:20.570 --> 00:49:22.510 I don't I think this may have been another group. 00:49:22.510 --> 00:49:26.309 I can't remember that. The type of bacteria that 00:49:26.309 --> 00:49:29.050 they found in the brain samples was the same 00:49:29.050 --> 00:49:31.730 type of bacteria that was predominant in the 00:49:31.730 --> 00:49:35.630 gut of that person. So potentially they think 00:49:35.630 --> 00:49:39.210 that you've probably heard of leaky gut, where 00:49:39.210 --> 00:49:43.550 they think your gut is leaky and potentially 00:49:43.550 --> 00:49:46.369 some of the bacteria or microbes that should 00:49:46.369 --> 00:49:50.130 stay in the gut maybe are leaking out, spreading 00:49:50.130 --> 00:49:53.210 through the body. I think that's being researched. 00:49:54.840 --> 00:50:03.380 So that could be a potential source. Earlier 00:50:03.380 --> 00:50:06.199 you mentioned everything loves tryptophan and 00:50:06.199 --> 00:50:10.280 you mentioned some synthesis with like the melanin 00:50:10.280 --> 00:50:15.199 and things. I can't help but ask, like on the 00:50:15.199 --> 00:50:18.280 epidermis, we have those melanocytes and then 00:50:18.280 --> 00:50:22.659 we have caroteno sites. Within the caroteno sites, 00:50:22.940 --> 00:50:27.239 TPH1 is very heavy. Tryptophan, hydroxylase 1. 00:50:28.219 --> 00:50:31.300 Is there some sort of interaction with yeast 00:50:31.300 --> 00:50:35.699 going on there? I think that's potentially. Yeast 00:50:35.699 --> 00:50:39.780 needs tryptophan. Yeah, okay. It needs to be 00:50:39.780 --> 00:50:44.559 studied. Yeah, okay. Because I'm very fascinated 00:50:44.559 --> 00:50:49.849 with TPH1 as it's involved with the maternal 00:50:49.849 --> 00:50:55.150 side and then the placenta and then the fetal 00:50:55.150 --> 00:50:57.550 providing those nutrients and so forth. That's 00:50:57.550 --> 00:50:59.969 why I was just wondering about that. Well, and 00:50:59.969 --> 00:51:03.250 I think it would be interesting to look at people 00:51:03.250 --> 00:51:07.389 who are albinos and so they don't have melanin. 00:51:07.869 --> 00:51:11.030 And so then you like questions I've asked before, 00:51:11.230 --> 00:51:14.030 OK, what diseases are they not getting because 00:51:14.030 --> 00:51:16.250 they don't have melanin or what diseases do they 00:51:16.250 --> 00:51:18.550 commonly get? because they don't have melanin. 00:51:18.889 --> 00:51:22.030 And so I think it would be pretty easy to set 00:51:22.030 --> 00:51:27.110 up even like a study where you're looking at 00:51:27.110 --> 00:51:30.550 people with no melanin or maybe reduced melanin 00:51:30.550 --> 00:51:34.429 or like pheomelanin instead of eumelanin and 00:51:34.429 --> 00:51:37.650 then look at people that have extra melanin or 00:51:37.650 --> 00:51:41.030 higher levels and like how does this compare 00:51:41.030 --> 00:51:44.329 to what diseases they're getting what yeast lives 00:51:44.329 --> 00:51:48.699 on their body in their body like It needs to 00:51:48.699 --> 00:51:51.739 be looked at. I am not aware of a study that 00:51:51.739 --> 00:51:57.480 has been done on that yet. Okay. I do know that 00:51:57.480 --> 00:52:00.500 melanin is very good with anti -aging because 00:52:00.500 --> 00:52:04.460 we're losing our ability to make water in cytochrome 00:52:04.460 --> 00:52:07.860 oxidase, but that melanin will rescue that and 00:52:07.860 --> 00:52:10.500 then we're creating more free electrons. Oh, 00:52:10.500 --> 00:52:16.170 interesting. I didn't know that. Yeah. That's, 00:52:16.269 --> 00:52:19.929 yeah, that's 100 % true. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. So 00:52:19.929 --> 00:52:23.230 like, um, just increasing your melanin will help 00:52:23.230 --> 00:52:28.130 you age because cytochrome C oxidase is breaking 00:52:28.130 --> 00:52:30.769 down because we're not making water. If we just 00:52:30.769 --> 00:52:33.570 reverse engineer the electron transport chain, 00:52:33.570 --> 00:52:36.210 you know, cytochrome C oxidase is the last step 00:52:36.210 --> 00:52:40.070 until ATPase. Yes. And then we're just losing 00:52:40.070 --> 00:52:42.760 biological energy, essentially. And then we can 00:52:42.760 --> 00:52:44.820 just backtrack that through all the cytochromes 00:52:44.820 --> 00:52:49.380 and the TCA cycle and so forth. It's just, I 00:52:49.380 --> 00:52:52.400 don't know. I don't think we go far enough upstream 00:52:52.400 --> 00:52:55.679 whenever we're talking about things. Maybe by 00:52:55.679 --> 00:53:02.179 design, I don't know. I understand. Yeah. It's 00:53:02.179 --> 00:53:05.880 fascinating. Yeah, it is very, I love this stuff. 00:53:07.420 --> 00:53:10.860 I've learned so much so far. What else is, what 00:53:10.860 --> 00:53:14.559 else? was there uh let's see we talked about 00:53:14.559 --> 00:53:21.599 the yeast the melanin neanderthals the yeast 00:53:21.599 --> 00:53:24.679 is fascinating stuff oh you know what we didn't 00:53:24.679 --> 00:53:29.139 talk about is the um the manganese and we started 00:53:29.139 --> 00:53:32.320 out with that at the beginning yeah it was the 00:53:32.320 --> 00:53:35.539 manganese okay so here's the interesting part 00:53:35.539 --> 00:53:39.500 about manganese and so The reason why I think 00:53:39.500 --> 00:53:44.059 it's important in autism spectrum is that you 00:53:44.059 --> 00:53:47.500 have this epigenetics thing going on in the body 00:53:47.500 --> 00:53:51.539 where outside environmental factors can influence 00:53:51.539 --> 00:53:53.940 which genes are turned on or turned off. And 00:53:53.940 --> 00:53:56.199 it doesn't even have to change the DNA base. 00:53:56.460 --> 00:53:59.400 All it has to do is methylate or tag the top 00:53:59.400 --> 00:54:05.059 of the DNA or not. And so things like what you're 00:54:05.059 --> 00:54:09.579 exposed to. chemicals, you know, carcinogens, 00:54:09.679 --> 00:54:12.139 whatever, all of that can affect epigenetics. 00:54:12.639 --> 00:54:16.159 Well, turns out manganese is really important 00:54:16.159 --> 00:54:21.280 in the body and in the gut. Manganese keeps your 00:54:21.280 --> 00:54:26.659 gut hypoxic. So meaning low levels of oxygen, 00:54:27.219 --> 00:54:30.539 because manganese will scavenge some of the oxygen 00:54:30.539 --> 00:54:34.139 and keep the levels down. A hypoxic gut is a 00:54:34.139 --> 00:54:36.679 healthy gut. I know it's different from other 00:54:36.679 --> 00:54:39.519 parts of your body. But in the gut, you do not 00:54:39.519 --> 00:54:43.000 want to have high levels of oxygen because it 00:54:43.000 --> 00:54:46.099 promotes yeast growth, Candida albicans growth. 00:54:47.239 --> 00:54:52.860 So there are certain bacteria that are healthy 00:54:52.860 --> 00:54:55.000 in your gut. And the reason they're healthy is 00:54:55.000 --> 00:54:57.599 they're keeping that gut environment hypoxic. 00:54:57.820 --> 00:55:01.239 They're keeping the oxygen levels low. Well, 00:55:01.239 --> 00:55:04.610 if you don't have manganese, or for some reason 00:55:04.610 --> 00:55:08.110 your body is, you know, keeping the manganese 00:55:08.110 --> 00:55:10.710 away from the gut or whatever's happening. Because 00:55:10.710 --> 00:55:14.849 sometimes, you know, your body can take metals 00:55:14.849 --> 00:55:17.710 and kind of hoard them away so that it kills 00:55:17.710 --> 00:55:20.269 the pathogen you're being infected with. That 00:55:20.269 --> 00:55:23.730 does happen. So we don't know if it's that or 00:55:23.730 --> 00:55:27.190 another potential place where this could be happening 00:55:27.190 --> 00:55:32.030 is that when we spray our food with glyphosate, 00:55:33.199 --> 00:55:37.320 Glyphosate is something that in the soil, it 00:55:37.320 --> 00:55:42.059 strips a plant of manganese, interestingly. And 00:55:42.059 --> 00:55:44.940 we're spraying glyphosate on a lot of our common 00:55:44.940 --> 00:55:49.619 crops throughout the Central US, commonly corn, 00:55:49.840 --> 00:55:55.380 soy, things like that. And actually the plants 00:55:55.380 --> 00:55:59.300 are worse for it. They are not as nutritious, 00:55:59.420 --> 00:56:02.519 but they don't have the manganese that they need. 00:56:03.480 --> 00:56:06.619 And so potentially if this were to be ingested 00:56:06.619 --> 00:56:10.960 by a human, do we know the effects of a chemical 00:56:10.960 --> 00:56:14.639 that strips manganese? Does it strip manganese 00:56:14.639 --> 00:56:19.380 in our gut? I don't know. Right, we've been told 00:56:19.380 --> 00:56:22.179 that the studies were done and glyphosate does 00:56:22.179 --> 00:56:27.780 not harm the human cells. Does it harm the microbiome? 00:56:28.039 --> 00:56:30.719 Does it harm the bacteria? Does it harm the yeast 00:56:30.719 --> 00:56:34.000 in the gut? Does it change the oxygen levels 00:56:34.000 --> 00:56:37.059 in the gut so that we now have a yeast overgrowth, 00:56:37.440 --> 00:56:41.420 which then causes different effects or symptoms 00:56:41.420 --> 00:56:45.239 in the human body? So I think that that part 00:56:45.239 --> 00:56:48.860 needs to be looked at, manganese, because it's 00:56:48.860 --> 00:56:55.610 shifting the oxygen levels in the gut. Okay. 00:56:58.909 --> 00:57:00.949 I wrote down a question here and I don't know 00:57:00.949 --> 00:57:04.230 if I want to ask it as specific as I wrote it 00:57:04.230 --> 00:57:07.269 down or just more general, but I'll just ask 00:57:07.269 --> 00:57:12.230 it as I wrote it down. Is the hypoxia because 00:57:12.230 --> 00:57:15.869 it is better for the smaller prokaryotic cells, 00:57:16.650 --> 00:57:23.369 like the lower oxygen? So when the gut is hypoxic, 00:57:25.369 --> 00:57:29.449 Keeps the candida yeast from growing as well. 00:57:29.469 --> 00:57:35.309 So you have lower yeast levels and It also alters 00:57:35.309 --> 00:57:40.489 certain bacterial species. So it will like upregulate 00:57:40.489 --> 00:57:45.590 Have the paper I think it said E. Coli a Certain 00:57:45.590 --> 00:57:48.150 type of E. Coli and there was one other maybe 00:57:48.150 --> 00:57:51.710 Clostridia Anyways, there's two bacterial species 00:57:51.710 --> 00:57:54.969 that it promotes like they grow more and then 00:57:54.969 --> 00:57:57.650 the candida grows less. And that is a healthier 00:57:57.650 --> 00:58:04.670 gut, a hypoxic or low -oxygen gut. Those first 00:58:04.670 --> 00:58:07.150 two things that you mentioned is big in autism 00:58:07.150 --> 00:58:18.570 research. Bacteria? Yeah. Clostridia. Yes, that 00:58:18.570 --> 00:58:26.389 one. Yeah, it is. Yeah. That's a cool one actually 00:58:26.389 --> 00:58:33.210 Yeah, okay. Yeah When does when does yeast form 00:58:33.210 --> 00:58:38.210 like in the human Living organism like through 00:58:38.210 --> 00:58:40.469 embryo genesis or when does it come on board? 00:58:40.530 --> 00:58:44.530 That's a great question. Um So that goes back 00:58:44.530 --> 00:58:47.570 to a debate as to whether or not there are microbes 00:58:47.570 --> 00:58:52.469 in the placenta and in the womb Some people or 00:58:52.469 --> 00:58:54.989 scientists believe it's sterile. Some believe 00:58:54.989 --> 00:58:59.210 that there are microbes in the womb with the 00:58:59.210 --> 00:59:02.949 B. So it depends on kind of where you land with 00:59:02.949 --> 00:59:06.250 that, but let's pretend or say that it's sterile. 00:59:06.650 --> 00:59:09.610 Let's say that the first exposure to microbes 00:59:09.610 --> 00:59:13.150 is the day of your birth and either through the 00:59:13.150 --> 00:59:16.750 birth canal or through the skin or a C -section. 00:59:17.730 --> 00:59:23.320 So the way the nature made it is that the baby 00:59:23.320 --> 00:59:25.420 would go through the birth canal and pick up 00:59:25.420 --> 00:59:28.599 lactobacillus, but also some yeast. I mean, that's 00:59:28.599 --> 00:59:31.940 just a normal inhabitant of the human. So I would 00:59:31.940 --> 00:59:35.099 say on day one, you're getting yeast. I don't 00:59:35.099 --> 00:59:37.679 think it's a bad thing necessarily to get yeast. 00:59:37.820 --> 00:59:41.400 I think it can be helpful. I think yeast overgrowth 00:59:41.400 --> 00:59:47.480 is the problem. And so for example, I'm friends 00:59:47.480 --> 00:59:52.659 with certain farmers that are trying to really 00:59:52.659 --> 00:59:56.380 do a wonderful job of maintaining soil health 00:59:56.380 --> 00:59:59.559 for their plants because they want the microbes 00:59:59.559 --> 01:00:02.139 that are living in their soil to be just right 01:00:02.139 --> 01:00:05.480 so that the plant takes up all the nutrients 01:00:05.480 --> 01:00:07.940 from the soil and it's the healthiest possible 01:00:07.940 --> 01:00:10.619 product that they can make to feed the humans. 01:00:11.119 --> 01:00:14.440 And what they look at, it's not whether or not 01:00:14.440 --> 01:00:16.780 there's bacteria and yeast in the soil. It's 01:00:16.780 --> 01:00:20.340 the ratio. So like, do we have enough bacteria 01:00:20.340 --> 01:00:24.099 and enough yeast, but not too much so that everything 01:00:24.099 --> 01:00:28.179 in the soil lives and it's a healthy living ecosystem? 01:00:28.280 --> 01:00:31.440 And I would say our gut is exactly the same way. 01:00:31.980 --> 01:00:35.860 It's our dirt. It's our garden. You want some 01:00:35.860 --> 01:00:38.199 bacteria and you want some yeast. You don't want 01:00:38.199 --> 01:00:40.980 overgrowth. You want the healthy products they're 01:00:40.980 --> 01:00:44.059 making to feed the nutrients to the human, but 01:00:44.059 --> 01:00:46.059 you don't want it to be out of control where 01:00:46.059 --> 01:00:49.199 now it's like trying to take over or spread, 01:00:49.199 --> 01:00:57.079 you know? The gut, it's like I always think of 01:00:57.079 --> 01:01:00.719 the gut as, I shouldn't say I statements, but 01:01:00.719 --> 01:01:05.460 to me it's, I'm like, The gut brain predates 01:01:05.460 --> 01:01:08.320 this big complex human brain because we had to 01:01:08.320 --> 01:01:11.039 we had to extract all these nutrients and Be 01:01:11.039 --> 01:01:14.260 healthy in the gut way before we had to do, you 01:01:14.260 --> 01:01:16.980 know this part of the brain stuff. Yeah, like 01:01:16.980 --> 01:01:21.159 planning and Just like navigating and surviving 01:01:21.159 --> 01:01:24.500 really because that was survival for us way before 01:01:24.500 --> 01:01:28.460 this Yeah. Yeah, so actually good is very in 01:01:28.460 --> 01:01:30.699 Eastern medicine. A lot of times they'll call 01:01:30.699 --> 01:01:33.210 the gut your first brain and your brain brain 01:01:33.210 --> 01:01:37.650 is your second brain. Yeah. Yeah. And the heart, 01:01:37.949 --> 01:01:42.989 I think even the heart is and then you know, 01:01:43.230 --> 01:01:45.789 the human brain is very fast. And it's all connected 01:01:45.789 --> 01:01:50.010 by the vagus nerve cranial nerve 10, which picks 01:01:50.010 --> 01:01:53.409 up signals from several different organs, including 01:01:53.409 --> 01:01:56.369 the gut. It kind of, you know, connects to the 01:01:56.369 --> 01:01:58.889 nervous system, but your enteric nervous system 01:01:58.889 --> 01:02:01.880 that goes around your gut. So all of these signals 01:02:01.880 --> 01:02:05.500 that are coming from your gut, even neuromodulators 01:02:05.500 --> 01:02:08.280 and stuff, can send signals through the vagus 01:02:08.280 --> 01:02:11.400 nerve. Yeah, yeah. It's a big communication. 01:02:11.780 --> 01:02:16.019 It's a big communication. And it seems like through 01:02:16.019 --> 01:02:18.280 embryogenesis, they're all connected, though. 01:02:19.639 --> 01:02:23.119 I don't know if the entire nervous system comes 01:02:23.119 --> 01:02:26.260 from neuroepithel or if there's a different one. 01:02:26.320 --> 01:02:28.429 I think it's a different one. Yeah, I don't know, 01:02:28.630 --> 01:02:31.809 actually. I need to look that up. Yeah, the neural 01:02:31.809 --> 01:02:35.550 relation has a, like there's, there's four cell 01:02:35.550 --> 01:02:38.329 types, and then one of them are neural epithelial, 01:02:38.750 --> 01:02:42.090 and it's like connecting, like, like the GI and 01:02:42.090 --> 01:02:46.690 the central nervous system, I think. Yeah. Yeah, 01:02:46.730 --> 01:02:48.309 I don't remember. But, you know, and that goes 01:02:48.309 --> 01:02:51.050 all back to the environment and everything, and 01:02:51.050 --> 01:02:53.809 the mother's gut health, and, you know, the mother's 01:02:53.809 --> 01:02:57.559 physiology. and our modern environments not being 01:02:57.559 --> 01:03:04.800 as optimal as they were for evolution, but why 01:03:04.800 --> 01:03:09.179 I learned so much. Is there anything else that 01:03:09.179 --> 01:03:10.940 we haven't covered that you think is salient? 01:03:11.519 --> 01:03:21.309 Oh, that's good. Gosh. I think that. You know, 01:03:21.389 --> 01:03:24.690 maybe this leads to the next conversation and 01:03:24.690 --> 01:03:28.469 maybe not with me, but whoever that can talk 01:03:28.469 --> 01:03:33.030 about foods that you can eat to keep your gut 01:03:33.030 --> 01:03:37.909 healthy and lifestyle choices like exercise and 01:03:37.909 --> 01:03:40.170 different things and the impact that those things 01:03:40.170 --> 01:03:43.570 have on your gut. Because really, I think if 01:03:43.570 --> 01:03:46.949 you view bacteria and yeast as, ooh, they're 01:03:46.949 --> 01:03:50.510 bad, kill it. That's really the wrong way to 01:03:50.510 --> 01:03:53.750 look at things. I think that most of them are 01:03:53.750 --> 01:03:56.590 healthy most of them are here for our bodies 01:03:56.590 --> 01:04:01.050 to help our bodies and I think you need to feed 01:04:01.050 --> 01:04:04.409 them and keep them happy so that they keep you 01:04:04.409 --> 01:04:08.210 happy and I think that Needs to be paid attention 01:04:08.210 --> 01:04:10.889 to because there's things in our modern diet 01:04:10.889 --> 01:04:13.869 They call the standard American diet the sad 01:04:13.869 --> 01:04:17.900 diet There are things in there that kill the 01:04:17.900 --> 01:04:21.420 good bacteria and the good yeast. And it's sad 01:04:21.420 --> 01:04:24.360 because like it's almost like when it when something 01:04:24.360 --> 01:04:26.380 goes extinct, it's extinct. Like you don't get 01:04:26.380 --> 01:04:29.380 it back. You killed it. You killed every single 01:04:29.380 --> 01:04:32.539 living member of that population. It doesn't 01:04:32.539 --> 01:04:37.800 come back. So antibiotics, certain chemicals 01:04:37.800 --> 01:04:45.019 in our foods, even what was I going to say? Yeah, 01:04:45.019 --> 01:04:47.320 just preservatives. Everything you add to your 01:04:47.320 --> 01:04:50.199 food, it's doing things to your gut. And when 01:04:50.199 --> 01:04:53.639 it's gone, it's gone. You don't just get it back. 01:04:54.360 --> 01:04:59.739 So I think it's important to consider that. So 01:04:59.739 --> 01:05:01.760 yeah, I think it leads to more conversations. 01:05:03.199 --> 01:05:09.179 Yeah. Can you define the phytobacteria? Is that 01:05:09.179 --> 01:05:13.139 complex or no? It's not. That is one that they've 01:05:13.139 --> 01:05:16.480 linked to happiness, that bifida really promotes 01:05:16.480 --> 01:05:19.179 a feeling of happiness and well -being in a person. 01:05:20.219 --> 01:05:23.139 And bifida is a bacteria that's one of the first 01:05:23.139 --> 01:05:25.599 ones that starts your gut off when you're a baby. 01:05:26.239 --> 01:05:31.760 So actually, it is almost, we call it an immature 01:05:31.760 --> 01:05:35.929 gut when you have a lot of bifida. It's like 01:05:35.929 --> 01:05:38.550 a baby in the first two, three years of life, 01:05:38.550 --> 01:05:41.250 they'll have a lot of bifidobacteria. But then 01:05:41.250 --> 01:05:43.949 their gut will change as they age and it starts 01:05:43.949 --> 01:05:47.710 to, your gut ages naturally and that you'll see 01:05:47.710 --> 01:05:50.829 kind of a shift in species. And then when you're 01:05:50.829 --> 01:05:54.090 in your older years, then there's even further 01:05:54.090 --> 01:05:58.090 shifting and you're gonna go more towards bacteroides 01:05:58.090 --> 01:06:00.849 and some other bacteria. So you can kind of tell 01:06:00.849 --> 01:06:04.449 a person's age by what is living there. Ambipedal 01:06:04.449 --> 01:06:08.829 is a baby, one that we find in babies. And actually, 01:06:09.170 --> 01:06:11.730 autism spectrum, they do say is an immature gut, 01:06:12.170 --> 01:06:15.809 that it just doesn't quite develop past a certain 01:06:15.809 --> 01:06:19.750 point. And they really say that the first thousand 01:06:19.750 --> 01:06:22.989 days of life, it's this window of time that you 01:06:22.989 --> 01:06:27.010 have to establish your gut. It's basically three 01:06:27.010 --> 01:06:30.389 years. So when that baby turns three years old, 01:06:30.690 --> 01:06:33.599 that's when it's kind of sealed and done. Any 01:06:33.599 --> 01:06:36.739 changes you wanted to make in that gut, you kind 01:06:36.739 --> 01:06:40.300 of ran out of time by age three. And kind of 01:06:40.300 --> 01:06:42.659 what's there is there, and that's what they get. 01:06:43.980 --> 01:06:47.099 So the first three years of life are crucial 01:06:47.099 --> 01:06:52.179 for, you know, trying to keep that gut as healthy 01:06:52.179 --> 01:06:55.900 as possible and considering what foods that child 01:06:55.900 --> 01:06:58.000 is eating, what antibiotics they're getting, 01:06:59.239 --> 01:07:02.239 any kind of chemical exposure, things like that. 01:07:02.360 --> 01:07:05.260 you want to look at those three years of life. 01:07:08.920 --> 01:07:11.599 I look at the ingredient list of formula and 01:07:11.599 --> 01:07:16.559 there's like 90 ingredients it looks like. It 01:07:16.559 --> 01:07:22.159 seems nefarious to me. It's not ideal. And then 01:07:22.159 --> 01:07:27.880 if you further consider the antibodies that the 01:07:27.880 --> 01:07:31.780 mom is giving her child through the milk, I mean, 01:07:32.000 --> 01:07:35.760 There's nothing that's equal, just nothing equal. 01:07:37.920 --> 01:07:43.300 Wow. Bifida bacteria is heavily attached to pathotism. 01:07:43.300 --> 01:07:50.719 Yes. And, well, like some of the vaccines are, 01:07:51.739 --> 01:07:55.719 I know it's touching you, but they're destroying 01:07:55.719 --> 01:08:00.800 this biology that we're talking about. It's destroying 01:08:00.800 --> 01:08:03.360 them. is what it looks like. I think everything 01:08:03.360 --> 01:08:05.480 should be considered, especially in the first 01:08:05.480 --> 01:08:07.760 three years of life, we should be looking at 01:08:07.760 --> 01:08:10.460 it and saying, okay, what is this doing to the 01:08:10.460 --> 01:08:16.979 gut? Yeah, yeah. What's something recently that 01:08:16.979 --> 01:08:20.060 you're most excited about? Oh, great question. 01:08:21.380 --> 01:08:23.699 You're, you're gonna probably like this one. 01:08:24.000 --> 01:08:27.640 I'm actually working on starting a podcast of 01:08:27.640 --> 01:08:32.000 my own. So I want to talk about gut health, and 01:08:32.000 --> 01:08:35.260 it's going to be called Right in the Gut. So 01:08:35.260 --> 01:08:37.819 I'm getting started. We'll see where it goes. 01:08:37.859 --> 01:08:41.279 Right now I'm teaching. So that is my day job. 01:08:41.300 --> 01:08:45.319 It pays the bills. But in my extra time, I'd 01:08:45.319 --> 01:08:47.640 love to teach about gut health because I just 01:08:47.640 --> 01:08:50.640 love it. And I find that people, you know, they 01:08:50.640 --> 01:08:52.979 might not have an outlet really where they're 01:08:52.979 --> 01:08:56.720 hearing some of this. And it seems to be that 01:08:56.720 --> 01:09:01.310 they appreciate it. So yeah, that's coming next. 01:09:01.590 --> 01:09:04.270 So maybe you can - That's a great - Thank you, 01:09:04.289 --> 01:09:07.789 thank you. Maybe you can be my first follower. 01:09:09.550 --> 01:09:13.850 Yeah, definitely. I learned so much today. And 01:09:13.850 --> 01:09:15.449 you know, cause this is an area that I haven't 01:09:15.449 --> 01:09:18.350 navigated a whole lot, just kind of surface level 01:09:18.350 --> 01:09:23.130 stuff. Sure. You know, I get in rabbit holes 01:09:23.130 --> 01:09:25.350 and sometimes I don't come out of them. So I 01:09:25.350 --> 01:09:28.680 got to watch it. We all do. Same. Yeah, so good. 01:09:28.680 --> 01:09:34.119 Same. Yeah. Well, yeah, good luck with the podcast 01:09:34.119 --> 01:09:38.520 and stuff. You should definitely do it because 01:09:38.520 --> 01:09:41.180 you can tell that you love it and we should do 01:09:41.180 --> 01:09:43.939 more things that we love in life. I agree. I 01:09:43.939 --> 01:09:48.199 agree. Yeah. I'm sure. Why? Anything else before 01:09:48.199 --> 01:09:50.840 we wrap up? No, but I sure have enjoyed talking 01:09:50.840 --> 01:09:54.939 to you and being here to share with your listeners 01:09:54.939 --> 01:09:58.380 and I hope I hope somebody has something out 01:09:58.380 --> 01:10:02.439 of it. Yeah, I think they will. This is such 01:10:02.439 --> 01:10:06.380 good information. Well, have a good day. Okay, 01:10:06.500 --> 01:10:08.739 you too. Take care. Bye -bye. Bye.