Where It All Began

I started studying methylation in 2012 and became interested in how it affects various processes in the body. I focused on the methionine cycle, folate cycle, and transsulfuration pathway, along with the important enzymes and nutrients involved. Like many in functional medicine, I became curious about genetic variants, or SNPs, and how they influence enzyme activity. The idea was simple: if a variant weakens an enzyme's function, adding more nutrients could help.

Nutrients such as methylfolate, vitamin B12, riboflavin, and magnesium are important in this area. However, I quickly learned that knowing which nutrients an enzyme needs doesn’t necessarily mean it’s struggling in a person. Just identifying a genetic variant doesn’t confirm there is a physiological issue that needs treatment. This understanding of the difference between biochemical possibilities and actual bodily function changed my perspective significantly.

The Questions That Changed Everything

As I learned more about methylation, I started to wonder if we focus too much on genetic variants and specific biochemical pathways. While a genetic variant might affect how an enzyme functions, it doesn’t show how that enzyme acts in a person’s body.

An enzyme is affected by more than just the gene that makes it. Factors like nutrient availability, energy levels in cells, metabolic conditions, and other regulatory processes all affect biochemical reactions.

This led me to ask a different question: If we haven't looked into the body’s conditions that affect these processes, how can we be sure that a specific genetic variant causes someone’s symptoms? And if we give extra nutrients to help an enzyme, how do we know those nutrients are needed or that they really improve the enzyme's function?

These questions made me realize something important. Knowing how a biochemical pathway works is not the same as understanding how that pathway functions in a specific person. This difference became one of the main principles behind The Systems Physiology Method™.

The Cell Comes Before the Gene™

One important lesson I’ve learned is that knowing someone’s genetics doesn’t necessarily show how well their cells are working. Every cell in the body relies on many biochemical reactions happening together. These reactions need energy, nutrients, minerals, oxygen, and a balanced internal environment.

Take methylation as an example. Methylation needs more than just genetic information. It needs cellular energy, the right nutrients, working enzymes, and coordination among several biochemical pathways. If someone lacks magnesium, has low iron, has thyroid problems, or faces other health issues, these can significantly affect how their cells generate energy and perform essential processes. Just giving someone methylfolate or other methylation supplements won't fix those underlying issues. 

This is why I believe we should look into the physiological conditions affecting cellular function before blaming a genetic variant for someone's symptoms. The idea that “The Cell Comes Before the Gene™” doesn’t mean genes don’t matter. It means we must understand genetic information in the context of the body’s overall functioning. 

This leads us to another important concept: “ATP Before SNPs™.” Before we think about what a genetic variant might do, we should check if the body's energy systems are working properly. This doesn’t mean energy explains every health issue, but cellular energy is crucial for many processes we want to understand. 

For me, this represents a key change in how we look at things. Instead of starting with a gene and searching for nutrients to help it, I start by examining the physiological conditions that let the whole system work well.

From Pathways to Physiology

As I learned more, I realized that checking someone's health involves more than just looking at abnormal lab results or specific body processes. It means understanding how different systems in the body impact each other. For example, if someone feels tired, the issue might be related to iron levels, thyroid health, blood sugar control, sleep, or other connected body functions. The symptoms may look alike, but the causes can be very different.

That's why I stopped approaching health as a collection of separate problems requiring separate protocols. Instead, I started looking at the person's complete health history, symptoms, lab trends, medications, lifestyle, and the relationships between their physiological systems. But collecting more information isn't necessarily the answer. The real challenge is determining which findings are meaningful, which are consequences of other problems, and which need attention first.

An abnormal lab result doesn't automatically identify the cause of someone's symptoms. And not every finding requires intervention. This led me to develop a more structured approach built around three principles:

1. Look into the situation before taking action.
2. Understand the relationships before deciding what caused the issue.
3. Identify physiological priorities before creating a plan.

These principles became central to The Systems Physiology Method™. The main goal is not to fix every abnormality we find. Instead, we want to understand what the evidence reveals about the person and decide what to focus on next.