EDS, Histamine and Collagen – Keeping It Simple

We had a lot of love for the bendy folk after last weeks newsletter, so let’s follow-up on that.

This is a 23 year old semi-pro jump cyclist who came back in again recently after a fall from his bike and some nasty back pain.

Remember he is a biological male, spends a lot of time bent over a bike with hands gripping very tightly and other spare time he is at a desk.

If we look at his Beighton scale out of nine, let’s use some common sense and context.

First, can he touch both palms to the floor with his legs straight?

Not quite, but he is not that far away.

Let’s remember he a male, with no history of being a gymnast, is recovering from an injury.

The fact he is that close is, for me, pretty much a technical positive.

Then his knees, do they bend backwards?

The photo isn’t great, but again I would say yes, especially again if it is borderline and they are male, I tend towards yes-ish.

Elbows, do they bend backwards?

Left one, yes, right one, maybe but he has had trauma on that one with a fracture, so again, given it is borderline, I am swaying towards yes-ish.

Thumbs back to the forearm, which is a big no, same with the little fingers back past 90 degrees.

And while he did point out that his fingers and thumb are almost permanently gripped on the handlebars, and this might have tightened them up over the years, it is still a no.

So we are coming in at a solid 5 out of 9, he is very definitely hypermobile

But let’s also consider if I discount the palms nearly to the floor and the right elbow, it would be three out of nine. What then?

Well, let’s check his skin, some clear striation/stretch marks here:

Oh, and six years ago, when he first came to me, he had gut issues. The upshot was they removed gluten, and the rest is history (see last weeks newsletter).

His Mum also then dropped gluten, you can’t argue with genetics.

The other thing I have noticed is a relationship between EDS/HMS and histamine overload.

Once again, it turns out I am not the first one to spot this by a long way.

There is a definite overlap with mast cell activation disorders (MCAD), postural orthostatic hypertension syndrome (POTS) and EDS.

Remember, with histamine overload, there are many factors in play, including poor methylation (see education section on IN health site, link at end)

One key enzyme inside the cell that removes histamine is HNMT – the MT is methyl transferase, the H is Histamine.

This is where products like Methyl B Hero come into play.

Note the ingredients, METHYLcobalamin (B12), active folate is 5- METHYL THF.

They are being used to methylated away the histamine.

Also, these patients tend to react to most probiotics as the bacteria can make more histamine in the gut.

For these patients, use Lacto Rhamnosus GG, which is also safe for brain fog patients and is the most widely researched bacteria on the market.

I use this one, but there are plenty of companies now selling this

https://naturaldispensary.co.uk/products/Essential_Biotic_L_Rhamnosus_GG_60_s-10002402-0.html

Soon we will have our Collagen Hero product out, a blend of grass-fed collagen to give your body the building blocks to make new collagen.

If you thought that the collagen in fish scales or cow’s hoofs would magically become your skin and cartilage, you are missing the point.

Think about it.

Are you Aquaman or cowgirl?

Do the muscle fibres from your rump steak get taken intact to your butt?

Clearly not, so why do we think the ground up fish scales we drink will go directly into our skin?

If you have grown gills, let me know.

If your chicken wings help you fly, let me know.

Until then, let’s live in reality.

The reality is the string of aminos that makes up your collagen peptide is broken down into aminos and then absorbed into your blood.

The body will do what it wants with them.

It is not your choice, sorry.

Gut lining gets first dibs on the aminos, they might not even make it into the blood.

If they do the liver will want some for detoxing, then to the heart and then around into your connective tissues.

It is GLYCINE that is the rate-limiting factor for collagen production, hence why we have upgraded and evolved our collagen with an additional 6 grams of glycine.

It is due out within 8-12 weeks, keep your eyes peeled.