Question: What’s the difference between the NADH/NAD+ and the NADPH/NADH ratios? So the NADH to NAD ratio and the NAD pH to NADP plus ratio are things that are having real consequences as ratios and biochemistry that are dictating what’s going on in our body. The NAD pH to NADH ratio is physiologically irrelevant, but …
Question: What if my ferritin is low, but other iron markers are normal? I would first see whether getting more iron in your diet raises your transparent saturation or your iron saturation higher than 40%. If it does, then I wouldn’t push it but if it doesn’t or if your transparent saturation is significantly below …
Question: Menstrual Migraines, Pregnancy, and HRT What I think is happening is the estrogen is probably suppressing DAO when it’s higher, but because it’s staying suppressed, there’s compensation that’s happening for it to help minimize the histamine level. Whereas when the estrogen is cyclical, it’s suppressing DAO when the body hasn’t made any adaptations to …
Question: How do I know if biotin deficiency is causing my hair loss and fungal rashes? The plasma or serum biotin level is not a good marker of biotin status because it’s not very sensitive. And so, if you’re in the bottom 10% of it, I would definitely take that as a red flag that …
Question: How do you know if skin problems are from zinc deficiency? I would measure plasma zinc and if the plasma zinc, the sweet spot is around 120. If the plasma zinc is in the 70 to 90 range, that’s borderline and if it’s below 70, that’s very clearly potentially related to skin problems. I …
Question: Anxiety, Neurotransmitters, and Nutrition So there’s a few trans neurotransmitters that are particularly relevant. Histamine is a key anxiety neurotransmitter. Another neuro-transmitter that’s relevant is dopamine and I don’t see dopamine as primarily actually causing baseline anxiety. Measurement of neuro-transmitters is very difficult but you can get some hints and make some inferences. I …
Question: What are the best ways to stabilize blood sugar? I would definitely be trying to lower the glucose response. And what I would do in such a situation would be to run a series of experiments on the type of carbohydrate, as well as the amount of carbohydrate, as well as the context of …
Question: What are the best natural ways to lower cholesterol? The top things that I would think of to lower cholesterol levels are number one, I’d get thyroid status thoroughly checked out. Number two, I would consider experimenting with a diet low in saturated fat or diet low in cholesterol to see how responsive your …
Question: Does high B12 mean it’s not getting into the cell? The right way to address that would be to measure serum or urine or both methylmalonic acid MMA, and that’s a functional marker that’s very specific to B12. If B12 was not getting into the cell, then methylmalonic acid is going to be high. …
Question: What range of folate and homocysteine are good for MTHFR? So 18 to 22 nanograms per milliliter for serum folate and then for homocysteine, I would say seven to nine, I think eight is right smack in the middle and it’s fine. No harm in getting down to five, if you can get there …