We're in heart attack season!
Sounds morbid but it's true.
Multiple studies show a 10 to 30 percent increase in myocardial infarctions during winter months compared to summer. Peaks often occur in December and January in the Northern Hemisphere.
Why is this?
High blood pressure.
High blood pressure affects nearly half of all adults in the US, and it’s often labeled the “silent killer” because it can quietly damage your heart, arteries, and organs without obvious symptoms. Traditionally, it’s treated with prescription medications, lifestyle changes, and dietary guidelines (low salt, etc). According to Gary Brecka the root cause of hypertension may go much DEEPER into your cells, where nutrient deficiencies and genetic factors play a powerful role.
Hypertension is not simply a disease of aging or stress, but a biochemical imbalance, often caused by missing nutrients and impaired methylation. Methylation is the body’s process of turning genes on and off. If a gene is supposed to be on or methylated and is not, that's called a genetic disorder.
A specific amino acid may be one of the key players in naturally regulating blood pressure without the side effects of pharmaceuticals.
Methylation is responsible for:
- Detoxifying your body
- Supporting brain function
- Regulating inflammation
- Producing neurotransmitters
- Synthesizing nitric oxide (key for blood vessel dilation)
Methylation also controls homocysteine levels, an amino acid that, when elevated, can contribute to high blood pressure, arterial stiffness, and inflammation. Many people unknowingly suffer from methylation impairments due to genetic mutations, e.g. the MTR gene variant which reduces the your ability to convert and use homocysteine into methionine.
Too much homocysteine?
- Low nitric oxide levels
- Poor blood vessel flexibility
- Elevated blood pressure
So while your blood pressure monitor says 140/90, your real problem might be a nutrient shortfall at the cellular level. Homocysteine is a naturally occurring amino acid in your body. It’s produced when you digest proteins, especially those containing methionine, another amino acid found in meats, eggs, and dairy. Homocysteine is meant to be temporary. The body converts methionine to homocysteine and then the body should quickly convert homocysteine back into methionine or into other useful compounds.
But when that conversion process breaks down usually because of nutrient deficiencies or genetic mutations homocysteine starts to accumulate in your blood. That’s when the real trouble begins.
High Homocysteine = High Blood Pressure
When homocysteine levels rise, it creates a toxic environment inside your blood vessels, which results in:
Inflammation of the artery walls
- Stiffening of blood vessels (less elasticity = higher pressure)
- Damage to the inner lining of arteries (endothelium)
- Decreased nitric oxide production, which is crucial for relaxing blood vessels
In short, high homocysteine makes your arteries inflamed and rigid, from a soft garden hose into a hard PVC pipe. The heart has to work harder to pump blood through, and your blood pressure rises. It’s bad for your brain, kidneys, and entire cardiovascular system.
We shouldn't be trying to suppress blood pressure with drugs, but to restore the body’s ability to convert homocysteine --> methionine. This conversion happens through enzyme specific vitamins and cofactors, including:
- Vitamin B12 (in the form of methylcobalamin)
- Folate (in the form of methylfolate, or 5-methyltetrahydrofolate) DO NOT SUPPLEMENT WITH FOLIC ACID. We will discuss why folic acid is actually toxic in another post.
- Eat more collagen like our ancestors did to increase glycine intake, which balances methionine, stabilizes methylation, lowers homocysteine, and supports connective tissue and cardiovascular resilience.
These nutrients act like fuel for your body’s detox engine (methylation). When you have enough of them, your body converts harmful homocysteine into helpful methionine.
Methionine is then used to:
- Build proteins
- Support detox pathways
- Create powerful antioxidants like glutathione
- Improve liver function and overall cellular health
Most importantly, this process lowers inflammation, improves blood vessel flexibility, and naturally reduces blood pressure. By supporting methylation and converting homocysteine into methionine, you’re reversing the root cause of blood pressure elevation.
When you get this process working again:
Lower homocysteine = less inflammation in your arteries
Improved nitric oxide = more relaxed blood vessels
Better blood flow = lower blood pressure naturally
No need to “manage” hypertension with pills, your body heals it. This is why Gary Brecka says you can’t medicate a nutritional deficiency. If your cells are starving for the right nutrients, no blood pressure drug will solve the root problem.
What You Can Do Today?
If you have high blood pressure, you may want to add a supplement with Vitamin B12 (in the form of methylcobalamin) and Folate (in the form of methylfolate, or 5-methyltetrahydrofolate). These two vitamins/enzymes will lower your homocysteine levels and bring down your blood pressure to a normal level.
A normal blood pressure is 120/80. The American heart association has recently changed their recommendations to 120/60 so they can sell more medication to you (in our opinion). The high blood pressure pharmaceutical industry is a $30.5 billion annual industry, do with that information what you will.
You’re Underfed (At the Cellular Level) “The body doesn’t make mistakes it makes adjustments” - Gary Brecka.
High blood pressure isn’t just a mystery or bad genetics, it’s often a sign that your body is lacking key nutrients that drive the essential process of methylation.
When you correct that imbalance, you give your body the tools to heal itself. So before you accept lifelong hypertension medication, ask the deeper question:
❝What’s my body missing that’s stopping it from converting homocysteine into methionine?❞
TLDR: Eat a more whole food diet like your ancestors, or go get checked for MTHFR issues or Homocystinuria (CBS deficiency)
