Episode 179
Jaclyn Downs:What Every Autoimmune Patient Must Know About Genetic Testing
Jaclyn Downs:
What Every Autoimmune Patient Must Know About Genetic Testing
I talk with genomics expert Jaclyn Downs about what you really need to know about genetic testing when dealing with autoimmune conditions.
If you've ever wondered why your MTHFR gene test didn't give you the answers you needed, or why following general supplement recommendations isn't working, this episode is for you. Jaclyn breaks down the common misconceptions about genetic testing and explains why your genes are more like dimmer switches than on/off buttons.
You'll learn why most genetic reports miss the mark and what information you actually need to make your genetic data useful for your healing journey.
If you've ever wondered why your MTHFR gene test didn't give you the answers you needed, or why following general supplement recommendations isn't working, this episode is for you. Jaclyn breaks down the common misconceptions about genetic testing and explains why your genes are more like dimmer switches than on/off buttons.
You'll learn why most genetic reports miss the mark and what information you actually need to make your genetic data useful for your healing journey.
First Aired on: Feb 17, 2025
Episode 179
Jaclyn Downs:What Every Autoimmune Patient Must Know About Genetic Testing
Jaclyn Downs:
What Every Autoimmune Patient Must Know About Genetic Testing
I talk with genomics expert Jaclyn Downs about what you really need to know about genetic testing when dealing with autoimmune conditions.
If you've ever wondered why your MTHFR gene test didn't give you the answers you needed, or why following general supplement recommendations isn't working, this episode is for you. Jaclyn breaks down the common misconceptions about genetic testing and explains why your genes are more like dimmer switches than on/off buttons.
You'll learn why most genetic reports miss the mark and what information you actually need to make your genetic data useful for your healing journey.
If you've ever wondered why your MTHFR gene test didn't give you the answers you needed, or why following general supplement recommendations isn't working, this episode is for you. Jaclyn breaks down the common misconceptions about genetic testing and explains why your genes are more like dimmer switches than on/off buttons.
You'll learn why most genetic reports miss the mark and what information you actually need to make your genetic data useful for your healing journey.
First Aired on: Feb 17, 2025
Table of Contents:
Table of Contents:
In this episode:
In this episode:
In this eye-opening episode, I sit down with Jaclyn Downs, a genomics expert who specializes in helping people understand how their genes impact their health. We dive deep into why genetic testing is about more than just getting a report, and how understanding your genes can be a game-changer for managing autoimmune conditions.
Introduction
Jaclyn Downs is a genomics expert and the author of "Enhancing Fertility Through Functional Medicine." While her book focuses on fertility, her expertise in genetic testing and interpretation provides valuable insights for anyone dealing with chronic health challenges, including autoimmune conditions.
Episode Highlights
Understanding Genetic Testing Beyond Surface Level
Jaclyn explains why most genetic interpretations on the market fall short and how genetic variants aren't simple on/off switches.
- Genetic variants function more like dimmer switches than on/off buttons
- The presence of a genetic variant doesn't guarantee it's expressing
- Many genetic reports offer contradictory supplement recommendations
- Looking at genes in isolation misses the bigger picture of health
The Critical Role of Oxidative Stress
A deep dive into how oxidative stress impacts our health and why understanding it is crucial for autoimmune patients.
- Oxidative stress and inflammation have a cyclical relationship
- Your genes can affect your antioxidant capacities
- The body needs a "Goldilocks zone" of inflammation and free radicals
- Certain genes influence how well you process antioxidants
The Importance of Comprehensive Testing
Why genetic testing alone isn't enough and how to approach testing more effectively.
- Genetic testing should be paired with detailed health history
- Environmental factors significantly impact gene expression
- Lab work helps confirm whether genetic variants are expressing
- Looking at the whole picture leads to more successful outcomes
Going Beyond Popular Genes
Understanding why focusing only on well-known genes like MTHFR isn't enough.
- MTHFR is just a "gateway gene" to understanding genetic influence on health
- There are thousands of SNPs that can impact your health
- Different genes work together in complex pathways
- The body has multiple backup systems for important processes
Environmental Impact on Gene Expression
How modern environmental factors affect our genes and what we can do about it.
- Toxins can influence how genes express themselves
- The amount of stress or trauma can affect gene expression
- Living in a "toxic soup" requires proactive health management
- Small changes in environmental exposure can make a big difference
Notable Quotes
Just because you have a genetic variant does not mean it's expressing, and a lot of people think it's an on or off switch but really I think of it as like a dimmer switch.
Jaclyn Downs
The body is just infinitely wise. So the more important that a process or pathway is, the more backup it has. It needs to make sure that it gets that job done.
Jaclyn Downs
Survival of the fittest now means being proactive about your own health and being your own health advocate, because there's so many things that are bombarding us with toxins that are just burdening our liver and kidneys.
Jaclyn Downs
Other Resources:
Other Resources:
Connect with Jaclyn Downs
Connect with Jaclyn Downs
Watch this interview:
Watch this interview:
Episode Transcript
Jaclyn Downs:[00:00:00] You can really get targeted precision care with knowing your genetics. Pairing that with symptoms, a meticulous intake, health history and lab work because genetics are not a diagnosis, but they really provide clarity and a framework for why you reacted a certain supplement or drug, which antioxidant would be best, which liver detox pathway would be most effective supporting.
Jaclyn Downs: Genetic variant it's really like a dimmer switch. So the amount of toxicity, stress or trauma that you may determine how turned on or turned off that gene will be expressing.
Julie Michelson:[00:01:00] Welcome back to the Inspired Living with Autoimmunity podcast. I'm your host, Julie Michelson. Today, I'm joined by Jacqueline Downs, the author of the academically published book, Enhancing Fertility Through Functional Medicine, Using Neutrogenomics to Solve Unexplained Infertility. Jacqueline is a Functional Genomics Analyst that helps clients and practitioners move past puzzling roadblocks and individualized protocols through the use of genomic interpretation, functional lab testing, and meticulous intake consultation.
Julie Michelson: In today's conversation, we're discussing how understanding your genetics can be a powerful tool for optimizing your health. Whether it is to improve fertility, reverse autoimmune symptoms, or enhance longevity.
Julie Michelson: Jaclyn, welcome
Jaclyn Downs: to the podcast. Thanks so much [00:02:00] for having me here. I'm really excited to be here.
Julie Michelson: I'm excited for our conversation. I was chatting before we hit record saying, you know, to me, when I think of fertility, which, which I know is, you know, the, at least the topic of your last book, um, but that's our most healthy state, right?
Julie Michelson: We'd like when we're not healthy, we, our body doesn't use resources to reproduce. Um, and so I, I have had people ask me before in other episodes, you know, why, why a fertility expert, you know, and, and we're going to focus in on the genomics and nutrigenomics today, but it's that direct connect wellness is wellness.
Julie Michelson: Um, and the things that impact negatively impact fertility are the same. It's all inflammation, at least in my lay opinion, um, comes down to chronic inflammation for different reasons. Um, and so can lead to autoimmunity, can lead [00:03:00] to infertility, other chronic health challenges. So that was why I was really excited to have you join us today.
Jaclyn Downs: Thank you. Yeah. I completely agree. Thank you. It, it really all comes down to the health of the cell and oxidative stress. And so while I wrote my book geared towards the fertility demographic for motivated lay people, I'm not your first stop if you're still eating, you know, fast food every day, but for people that have really educated themselves, right.
Jaclyn Downs: Um, but also the book is written for practitioners to give them more clinical tools, uh, to, to help discover common but lesser known causes of oxidative stress that causes inflammation that is at the root of all chronic conditions. And fertility is especially predominant with, with that, because like you had said, the, the body has a protective mechanism.
Jaclyn Downs: And if it doesn't feel that it has enough energy, Or it has [00:04:00] some, uh, toxicities or, you know, some reason that it feels that now is not a good time to make a baby. It's going to halt mating ability. So the body needs to feel healthy and resilient and nurtured and have a good resource of energy production.
Julie Michelson: Amen. Tell us a little bit about, I am excited by, and I'm a geek listeners now, like I'm excited by and fascinated with genomics, nutrigenomics. Um, you, as somebody who, um, didn't win the lucky hand in genetics, um, I, I love that we have these conversations, not because someone can be like, well, it's all my parents fault, but we can do things.
Julie Michelson: It's empowering to understand like, okay, this is the hand I was dealt. How do we prevent or how do we reverse? Things that are going on that, that we may not want happening. So how did you, this is a huge subject. It, [00:05:00] many think it's a new field. Um, how did you get into genomics?
Jaclyn Downs: So, uh, I've always been interested in nutrition.
Jaclyn Downs: My dad was a nutritional biochemist and I talk about that in my book about how guaranteed I was the only kid in seventh grade who knew what a probiotic was in the early nineties. Right. Um, but I, I, Because I've seen how people react to my dad because he was thinking outside the conventional box. And, you know, he people he was called a quack and all of that I knew, because what he said made sense I knew that there was more information that then I, I didn't want to become a registered dietitian, nothing against them.
Jaclyn Downs: It's just, you know, a lot of people go further into their education so that they can go beyond just the, um, American Dietetic Association sponsored by Cargill, Pepsi, Sara Lee, M& M, Mars. I didn't want that education. [00:06:00] So they didn't have that education when, uh, in my, any colleges in Pennsylvania, it was all just your, you know, nutrition information.
Jaclyn Downs: So I ended up getting a psychology degree. And, and during that education, I learned about psychoneuroimmunology. Yeah. And so that kind of put the holistic mind, body, spirit, all connected, like into science terms. So back then that I would be the science geek that I am today, but like, I, I loved that it was, it helped to put it into a scientific perspective as opposed to just some crunchy granola girl.
Jaclyn Downs: Sure. Uh, so I, um, more recently, I guess before, um, I guess it was about 10 or 12 years ago. I wanted to get a job that didn't require me to be on call because my previous birth work was in, uh, my previous career was in birth work as a doula and apprentice to midwife and stuff. And so I got a [00:07:00] job researching MTHFR again, this was about 11 or 12 years ago.
Jaclyn Downs: And I laugh now because I, you know, my whole job was to research this one gene. And then that quickly turned into the whole methylation pathway and transulforation pathway. And then how that pathway intersects Genes that make up another pathway. And so it just exploded with the amount of genes and pathways and information and things that I was researching.
Jaclyn Downs: And I took that research and it made so much sense. with my, my passion for female reproduction and fertility. And so I sort of dovetailed my previous career in birth work with my current knowledge and nutrition and especially genomics. And I could see how your genes can really affect things that affect your fertility, like your detoxification ability and inflammation and immune system reactivity.
Jaclyn Downs: And, um, all kinds of stuff, histamine intolerance. So it all just made so much sense to me. [00:08:00] And I felt I could pass the baton being a doula because, you know, there, there were now plenty of doulas in my town, but nobody was really taking the approach that I have to fertility and how you can really, really get targeted precision care with knowing your genetics, pairing that with.
Jaclyn Downs: Symptoms, a meticulous intake, health history and lab work because then all arrows are pointing in the same direction. Cause I say your genetics are not a diagnosis, but they really, really provide clarity and a framework for why things may be the way they are or why you reacted a certain way to a certain supplement or drug, or which protocol would be best for you, which antioxidant would be best for you, which liver detox pathway would you be best, most effective supporting.
Julie Michelson: I love that. That's amazing. And I applaud the thinking that you were raised to think outside of the box, um, which is, is great. Um, I want to [00:09:00] circle all the way back cause I wanted to hear a little bit of your journey and how did you get to be doing this? Um, but I, I want to circle back. You, you mentioned, um, oxidative stress.
Julie Michelson: And, and so I want to talk about that a little bit. It's a conversation we really, I don't think have had on the podcast. Um, like what, what is it? And, and is, you know, it's, our body's an amazing thing. I know we need oxidative stress. Like it's, it's not all bad across the board, just like inflammation is not bad across the board.
Julie Michelson: So can we, cause you, you said that this is kind of like a big deal, right? Yes. Yes. So
Jaclyn Downs: educate
Julie Michelson: us a little bit.
Jaclyn Downs: Okay. So yeah, in my book, I state that I want to shout from the roof rooftops about oxidative stress so that it becomes a common household term, because it is so integral in so many of the issues that we have today.
Jaclyn Downs: So [00:10:00] essentially oxidative stress is the reason why we need antioxidants. Now, Biochemically, it is when, um, so we are electrons. If you remember from like science class in junior high or high school, you're drawing the, the atom with the electrons and they're in pairs on the outer ring. And so electrons like to be in pairs.
Jaclyn Downs: And so certain things like stressors and radiation and just, Every day respiration can knock one of those electrons free and so antioxidants donate electrons so that they can be paired up again. So essentially an antioxidant neutralizes a free radical and free radicals are what cause oxidative stress.
Jaclyn Downs: Oxidative stress is damage to the cell that's damage to the cellular structure and damage to the cell. information to the information contained within the cell. And when I was writing my book, which is academically published, I was combing the scientific literature because I was like, nobody's ever [00:11:00] specified.
Jaclyn Downs: Does inflammation cause oxidative stress or does oxidative stress cause inflammation? And it is this cyclical relationship. So one increases the other. And so making sure you have antioxidants to stop that cascade. is really, really important. And knowing your genes can tell you what your predispositions are for your antioxidant capacities.
Julie Michelson: I love that. Um, again, like, uh, underscored, this is why I wanted you on the podcast because anybody struggling with autoimmunity, or even if they're not struggling, if they're like on the side where I am now, this information is so powerful. Um, And really important to understand it, it's, you know, it's the chicken or the egg.
Julie Michelson: Right. And so to me, it just becomes a snowball of like, okay, no, our antioxidants going to like, necessarily eliminate your inflammation. No, [00:12:00] but, um, and I do think we've evolved not, I think it's a fact we've evolved slower than the world around us. And so I think we're, we're just bombarded, whether it's toxins, like all the things.
Julie Michelson: Um, and, and that's that imbalance, if you will, of like why this is so prevalent with why infertility is, you know, skyrocketing why autoimmunity is skyrocketing and all other chronic health challenges. Um, and so I love. Just the, the conversation on what you talked about, um, you know, like understanding your genetics may, you know, give you a direction of like, okay, you probably are going to need these anti like, let's talk a little bit about if people have heard the word antioxidants and maybe they don't know what they are like, okay, what are some examples?
Jaclyn Downs: something that oxidizes. So we do [00:13:00] need inflammation and free radicals. It's that Goldilocks zone, right? If we didn't have any free radicals or inflammation, we wouldn't be able to fight off pathogens. And we wouldn't be able to, uh, inflammation is supposed to be, um, temporary You know, it's like, um, turning the fire hose on to put the fire out.
Jaclyn Downs: But once the fire is out, you don't want to keep the hose on because then you can get mold and all kinds of other funky stuff. So we need to have that Goldilocks zone with antioxidants.
Julie Michelson: Okay. And, and if somebody is like, you know, is that something I should be supplementing with or I'm not, I know you're not good.
Julie Michelson: We're not giving medical advice, but what are examples of common antioxidants people may or may not, you know, be including in diet or supplementing with.
Jaclyn Downs: Well, I always say let's start with food, right? So food, the rainbow of foods, right? Especially the reds and the purples, your pomegranate, your blueberries, your [00:14:00] acai berries, all of those are really, really rich in antioxidants.
Jaclyn Downs: And, and also bioflavonoids and polyphenols, all of those have antioxidant abilities as well.
Julie Michelson: But you can't So it's not just red wine? Correct.
Jaclyn Downs: I think the alcohol
Julie Michelson: actually negates the benefits. I would imagine, but I think it's the like most popular thing people think of.
Jaclyn Downs: So you can also supplement with antioxidants and the most common one is called glutathione.
Jaclyn Downs: That is known as the body's master antioxidant because Usually when an antioxidant donates an electron to neutralize a free radical, it's rendered ineffective. It's kaput. It can't do its job anymore. You know, the gun's not loaded anymore. Uh, but glutathione is called the master antioxidant because depending on your genetics, you have an ability to recycle and regenerate your antioxidants or your glutathione.
Jaclyn Downs: And Your glutathione can also help to regenerate your vitamin C [00:15:00] and your vitamin E and other antioxidants. So it's really, really powerful, really, really important, but it's not the only one. You never hardly ever hear about superoxide dismutase and catalase and Nrf2 and all of these really, really important things.
Jaclyn Downs: I could nerd out about Nrf2. I talk about it a lot in my book because a lot of people are focused on the glutathione genes, but you could have. no variations in your glutathione genes. But if you don't have enough of this thing called nerf two, which is like the spark plug for all of your antioxidant and detoxification reactions, your glutathione is not going to work.
Jaclyn Downs: It's going to be as if you had genetic variants. So you can't, you can't just say, Oh, well you have this genetic variant. So. Take this supplement and you have this one and take that one. And so that's why I have a problem with a lot of the genetic interpretations on the market, because they're just reporting about your genes.
Jaclyn Downs: They're saying, Oh, you have this genetic variant. So take this form of a supplement. And then 10 pages later, they're saying, well, you have this genetic variant. [00:16:00] So avoid this form of that supplement that they just told you to take. And so it's not. Comprehensive. And there's a lot of contradictory information and so many people get analysis paralysis when you just have these automated can't respond
Julie Michelson: to say that they're mostly AI algorithm driven to sell supplements is what a lot of them end up being.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. So I
Jaclyn Downs: like to say that I am like your genetics concierge, because when I do interpretations, they take me hours. People can send me their labs depending on which package they get. There's a really meticulous intake form where I am asking about your sleep, your poop, your periods, what you've tried that has worked, what you tried that hasn't worked, what's your sleep like, um, you know, where, where you live.
Jaclyn Downs: Do you live near a soy? Or a cornfield, you know, maybe. And then especially if you have variants in your PON1 gene, that could really cause you to not be able to, um, clear pesticides and organophosphates very well. So, [00:17:00] um, I, I ask so many questions. And then, like I said, there's the labs and then the genetics, and we pair all that together.
Jaclyn Downs: And I'm also emailing as I'm reviewing your genes, Hey, I'm seeing a predisposition for Uh, early premature graying of hair because this genetic variant, this genetic variant, does that run in your family? And if not, okay, so maybe they have the genetic variant, but just because you have a genetic variant does not mean that it's expressing.
Jaclyn Downs: Say
Julie Michelson: that again, because that's the most important part of the conversation.
Jaclyn Downs: Yes, just because you have a genetic variant does not mean it's expressing and a lot of people think it's an offer on switch but really I think of it as like a dimmer switch. So the amount of toxicity or the amount of stress or amount of trauma that you may or may not have had can determine how turned on or turned off that gene will be and how, how much it will be expressing or not.
Julie Michelson: I like the, the dimmer switch thought, um, [00:18:00] because yeah, especially like if you saw, if you were ever bored, I would send you my genetic work. Like, I, you know, I, you would look at that and think, okay, we got to either shut all this down or figure out how to turn all that on. And so it's not, we're not designed that way.
Julie Michelson: We aren't computers. So yeah,
Jaclyn Downs: so many, like the body is just infinitely wise. So the more important that a process. or pathway is, the more backup it has. It needs to make sure that it gets that job done. So if path A is clogged or slow or inefficient, then it's going to resort to plan B and path B. And hopefully you have the nutritional cofactors to support the functioning of that pathway, or hopefully there aren't toxins that are throwing wrenches in that pathway.
Julie Michelson: Yeah, so, so important. And, and I think one of the things that I enjoy listening to, to you [00:19:00] educate us all. Um, a yes, because I'm a nerd and I know your, your book is not a small book, but it sounds like lots of fun to me. Um, but you're, it's the whole human approach. Like you're not. Just running agenda. You just said, you know, you're not just looking at genetics and giving, you know, spitting out what a, what an AI program would spit out.
Julie Michelson: You are, it's, you're doing all kinds of testing with people. Um, and again, initially, like the focus is fertility. To me, it's the same, like optimizing is optimizing period, um, finding roadblocks, you know, looking, looking, I've called looking under rocks. Um, and if you miss one, yeah, you can get some improvement, but when your end goal is something like, you know, healthy baby, if you miss one, you may still miss the mark on that.
Julie Michelson: So I love that you're looking at, you're really taking into account the [00:20:00] whole human.
Jaclyn Downs: Thank you. Yes. It's so much more, um, holistic, but also there's so many more benefits to doing that. We have so much more successes.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Yeah. And you use, you also do like regular, what I call regular, it's funny. Like what I call like a regular functional medicine panel.
Julie Michelson: Um, which I had a client who is in Pennsylvania, not, not your area in Pennsylvania. And she, she has a functional medicine doctor. And I didn't think to look at her panel as to like what the functional medicine panel was like, it didn't, it was missing. So much. Um, but, but sometimes we jump to big and fancy and, you know, we have horrible omegas and D's and things, you know, just basics.
Julie Michelson: Um, and, and so I love that, that you're not just like super geeky, nerdy looking at the really complicated stuff, but you're [00:21:00] including other important foundational things.
Jaclyn Downs: Absolutely. Yeah. That's why I put in a chapter in my book that no matter what your genetics are, these are the things that are healthy for every living being on earth.
Jaclyn Downs: Whereas, and I've seen some genetic reports that people have brought to me and they're like, Oh, well, you have this genetic variant. So avoid processed foods and make sure you get exercise. And I'm just you paid how much money to get this generic information. So I really like that. You know, the more I learn, the more I realize it really comes back to those foundations, right?
Jaclyn Downs: You know, being outside, getting fresh, clean air, fresh, clean water, moving your body in a loving way, getting enough sleep, not eating too much sugar, all of that. But then if there's people that are already doing quote unquote all the things, but they still have A whole bunch of chronic pain or recurring yeast or UTI infections or, you know, whatever it is, then we can really use the genetics and the lab [00:22:00] testing to find the root cause and address it with precision.
Julie Michelson: Oh, amen. And I love that. I was, I was hooked when you were like, if you're, you know, in the fast food line, I'm not for you. Like you're not ready for me yet. Um, people think like they can shortcut. Um, or, or, you know, what is the, you, you can't, what is it? You can't out eat, not out eat. What's the, there's a saying about like, you know, we can't trade one thing for the other.
Julie Michelson: I got into functional medicine through biohacking and not in the sense of, you know, well, I don't want to exercise, but I want to stay healthy or, you know, yeah, there's some, a little bit of shortcut mentality, but it's actually really, you can't skip any of those foundations. Um, if you're sleeping four hours a night and eating the best food and drinking the best water and have a great [00:23:00] movement routine and all the things, you're still not going to be healthy.
Julie Michelson: Eventually, it's going to catch up with you.
Jaclyn Downs: Yes. Yeah. And I say that, especially in, in regards to mold, because it doesn't really matter what your genetics are. Yes. There's some that can really make it like one plus one equals five, but really like mold just throws a wrench in your detoxification pathways and it causes your
Jaclyn Downs: You've been living in a mold for a while and you're really sensitive to it. You're going to have some histamine issues, but then if you have genetic predispositions for histamine tolerance, that just means you're going to be that much further off the mark.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Yeah. I love that. I love every, everything I've heard you say in other interviews or Um, it is, again, it's the same, you know, mold and mycotoxins are an underlying driver of inflammation, which [00:24:00] therefore also means of autoimmunity.
Julie Michelson: Um, and, and I do feel like, and I know there is, Um, science behind and then studies are coming out as you know, as to, you know, why is it so much more prevalent now? Is it the testing? Are we just aware? And I think it really is more prevalent now. And some of that are the EMFs and the mycotoxins are more active.
Julie Michelson: So those of us walking around that may be more susceptible to begin with. are, are feeling these secondary downstream effects. Um, and it doesn't mean you have to be, especially I, I call myself a collector. Um, I am a collector of anything that might not have been good for my body. Like, so just keep it. Um, and, and, you know, I was pretty shocked when I learned and started to heal and learn more and got into functional medicine and, um, [00:25:00] I was already living in Colorado for, for years by the time I did my first toxin panel and my mycotoxins were through the roof.
Julie Michelson: Well, I had lived in South Florida for 13 years and I mean, I'm still working on that 20 something years later of, you know, it's better and I feel great, but it's still there. And if I stop working on it, it's. gonna bite me again. Um, and also it doesn't matter where you live. It can, like, when we, when I moved to Colorado, I was told, um, the, in the, you know, through realtors, there's no mold problem here.
Julie Michelson: It's dry here. We don't have mold. There's mold everywhere. And, and, um, I love that you talk about that as, as being something really important to, to check with people as talks, not just their pathways, but also what's going on in their body. Like you can't just do the one or the other.
Jaclyn Downs: Yeah, absolutely. And I have a whole chapter on mold and mycotoxins because it's a lot of [00:26:00] people, first off, they don't really know how impactful negatively it is.
Jaclyn Downs: It's just toxic to basically all your cells, but also they think, well, I don't see any mold, so I haven't been exposed to it. And so, um, while my expertise doesn't lie in testing and remediation of environments, My specialty is more identifying it in the body, seeing if it has colonized and then detoxifying it with precision because certain molds are cleared through certain liver detox pathways or have affinities for specific binders.
Jaclyn Downs: And so knowing what you're dealing with will help you to know which is the most effective route to get it out of your body. And yes, it can stay in your body for decades.
Julie Michelson: Yeah, especially when it's not the only thing in there, you know, when you've got lead and mercury and all kinds of other goodies. And you know, there's
Jaclyn Downs: that mold and lime, all of those people that have gotten the unlucky combination, for sure.
Jaclyn Downs: Yeah,
Julie Michelson: well, and again, it's not a [00:27:00] It's it's really not that much of a mystery. I used to get frustrated before I really understood. Um, my fiance used to say all the time like with Lyme. Um, it's not the line like it's your body should be taking care of it, you know, and test 100 people. symptomatic, asymptomatic.
Julie Michelson: And a lot of us have Lyme. Um, and you know, why are some, it's the, why are some people so sick? And some of it definitely genetic predisposition. And like you said, and then is there that double whammy? Um, and it is, I find it fascinating that the, if you think back to how the body works and what it says, It's designed to do, then what are these roadblocks, you know, and, and so that's where I think your field is, it's so empowering to [00:28:00] understand that, you know, I hear it all the time too with autoimmune.
Julie Michelson: Well, my, you know, my mom had RA and her sister has RA and, you know, and it's like, okay, but are you all living a similar lifestyle too? It's like. saying, Oh, my, you know, our family is full of diabetics. Well, do you eat together? I'm just curious, you know,
Jaclyn Downs: saying maybe trauma or something like that.
Julie Michelson: Yeah. Yeah.
Julie Michelson: Um, and so I, I just think it, it just gives it for listeners to understand that, that getting this information can be really powerful and then finding somebody like you, um, I love the word precision, right? You want to detox with. Precision. Um, I, I tell this, or I say it all the time. My Approach to healing was throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks because I didn't know what I was doing.
Julie Michelson: I had never heard of functional medicine. I had, you know, and, and so I got lucky and think I was just supposed to find my way [00:29:00] to wellness so that I, I could do this. Um, but the precision isn't important because as we are all human, we're also bio individual. So, um, I love the, you know, the, that you're, Just have that scientific mind.
Julie Michelson: I can tell you're, it's like an addiction with you. The rabbit hole gets bigger.
Jaclyn Downs: Yeah. Well, like I said, the more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know. I want to learn about it. And then it's just like rabbit holes galore.
Julie Michelson: Yes. Yeah. It's, but in a good way there, it's a, it's a wonderful thing. Um, how, tell, tell us a little bit about how do you work with people?
Julie Michelson: How do, how do people find you and, and what does that look like? What's your process?
Jaclyn Downs: Okay, so my website is just jaclyndowns. com, J A C L Y N D O W N S. And I do have a resources page that has all the different ways you can, uh, work with me, whether it's genetic [00:30:00] interpretation, or one to one consultations, or if you just want some freebies.
Jaclyn Downs: Um, and then I am very, very, bad at posting on Instagram. Um, but my handle is at Functional Genomics. Uh, so I'm, I'm working on, you know, I feel like I have, um, like blank slate or blank canvas anxiety because like, obviously I have a whole entire book's worth of information, but I'm like, I don't know what to post about, but it's also really hard when it's very biochemical and trying to put it into layman's terms, which I'm good at, but not within 90 seconds.
Jaclyn Downs: Well, I was going
Julie Michelson: to say snippets are, and also for some of us, and I'm, I shouldn't put this on you. It's not my happy place. I would rather do this and have amazing conversations with incredible experts and get jazz and then go down another rabbit hole on my own time than, you know, be. Putting out that kind of content.
Julie Michelson:[00:31:00] Um, but I, I love the, I always appreciate the people that are good at, at breaking their stuff down because everybody learns differently. So, um, yeah. So I, I love that you, you qualified, like I'm there. I'm
Jaclyn Downs: just not. Yes. I have something that I need to share about MTHFR all rant about bio. Like I've been in the nutrition industry.
Jaclyn Downs: for decades. And, you know, even when I was like going to work with my dad and stuff, um, it's only been in like the past two or three years that I have started to hear about bile and I love bile. I could talk, I've done podcasts completely just talking about bile.
Julie Michelson: Well, we may have to have a whole nother conversation just about bile because.
Julie Michelson: It's essential. It's important. And, and I feel like this and just another area of the body that's been slammed with modern times.
Jaclyn Downs: Yes. And it's the unsung hero. You know, everybody wants to go into [00:32:00] a liver detox, but if your bile's not flowing, those toxins are going to get mobilized and then they're just going to get recirculated right back to where they started.
Jaclyn Downs: And so there's so many other important things that bile does too, but there's also. a lot of genes related to bile production and bile flow. And so again, like, yes, if you have mold, that's going to just cause sludgy bile. But then if you have genetic variants, I use the analogy that like, of like a scale.
Jaclyn Downs: And so sometimes we don't know how big or heavy the marbles are with the genetic variants, but we know which side of the scale to place them on. So if you have been living in mold for example, then boom, there's like a big old marble on the one side. And then you throw these separate genetic variants from these different genes and different snips, that's going to just be adding weight to the side of the scale for there to be some bile or gallbladder issues.
Julie Michelson: So interesting. And see, you do put it all in layman's terms. Like I love, I'm a visual learner. So I love that the visual of the, of the scale, although I, [00:33:00] I'm thinking like younger listeners probably don't even know what a real scale looks like.
Jaclyn Downs: Just every single lawyer, a
Julie Michelson: teeter totter, right? Right. A seesaw, if you're from the East Coast.
Julie Michelson: Cause so amazing. And for, for those that might've missed it in the intro, your book, which is not a little Instagram snippet is enhancing fertility through functional medicine, using nutrigenomics to solve unexplained infertility. And I would say you already said it, but it's your book. So I'm going to say it.
Julie Michelson: It's, it's really a wellness book.
Jaclyn Downs: Yes.
Julie Michelson: It's a wellness book. Um, and, and I love, I, I can't wait to dig in. I, and like you said, it's, it's not for the beginner, um, in the health world. It is, it's a big book. And, and, um, but I love that you're also focused on educating practitioners because that's what we need is we need [00:34:00] more practitioners understanding, you know, all of this.
Jaclyn Downs: Yes, that's, that's my goal. That's my sweet spot. You know, that Ben diagram, because originally I was going to write two books, one for the lay person and one for the practitioner. But what I did was I put all of the biochemical technical genetic stuff into appendices for each chapter. So, take what you want, leave what you don't, you don't have to turn to the appendices if you don't want to.
Jaclyn Downs: So that way it's, it's. something that you can get, even if you don't understand a lot of it. And it's actually not a very fat book at all. Um, it's just very information heavy. Um, but I, a while ago, when it first came out and got published, I said like on Instagram, like just name a random page number and I will read it and I will guarantee there'll be a clinical pearl on that page.
Jaclyn Downs: And so I did probably about, Six or eight Instagram posts with page numbers that people had, um, given me. And yeah, I'm like, oh my God, [00:35:00] I'm so glad they picked this page. This is like, I love this information. So if you want, you can scroll down through my feed and um, you'll see I'll be holding my book in a couple of those.
Julie Michelson: I love it. You should do more of those there. There it is. Right there. That's what you should do. Those are your snippets. Is do more of those.
Jaclyn Downs: That's a good idea. I will. I will do that. Cause you know, it's the new year. So I should be posting more. Yeah. I am doing a new thing for my newsletter list where I am going to be spotlighting a gene.
Jaclyn Downs: Oh, I love that. Yeah. So this is the gene. Not just MTHFR? Exactly. Yeah. So this is the gene. This is what it does. This is how variants can affect you. And this is how you can support it. Of course. you know, no gene works in isolation. So that's all, you know, not medical advice or taking right. Right. Yeah. Yeah.
Jaclyn Downs: So that people know that it's not just, you know, the top three that people hear about it's first, usually MTHFR, which is great. It introduces people to the concept that your genes influence your [00:36:00] health and your state of health influences the way that your genes are expressed. So. Yeah. That's great.
Jaclyn Downs: That's why, you know, MTHFR is a gateway gene. But then people hear about COMT, and they say they have the COMT variant when literally there are hundreds of them. And so, you know, I know which one they're talking about. They're talking about the Valmet, but still, you know, there's more than one. And then people hear about CVS.
Jaclyn Downs: So those are like the top three The popular crowd.
Julie Michelson: Okay. And then the, the, yeah, I was gonna say, and then the brain health focus people, the APOE, we got to throw that one in there. Yep.
Jaclyn Downs: Yep. And I look at all of those, but when I do my interpretations, I don't do your typical, like, here's the set list of genes, because I literally look at thousands of SNPs.
Jaclyn Downs: So based on what somebody has written in their intake form, what their goals are, what their previous diagnoses are, or where I'm seeing it. The most genetic variants. is what I mentioned. So if you don't have, like, [00:37:00] I will just say you do not have any MTHFR variants, right? And I, but I won't let go into that, how it's going to affect you because people want to know about that.
Jaclyn Downs: But, but yeah, so I, I mentioned the ones that are noteworthy and could be impacting your situation that you're concerned about.
Julie Michelson: I love that. Well, we're at the point of the interview where listeners are leaning in because they want to hear your one step that listeners can take today to start to improve their health.
Julie Michelson: Trick question. Avoidance.
Jaclyn Downs: Avoidance of toxins because we live in a toxic soup of a planet. And so it's becoming harder and harder and harder. We have to just, I say in my book that Survival of the fittest now means being proactive about your own health and being your own health advocate, because there's so many things that are, are bombarding us with, uh, toxins that are just burdening our liver and kidneys.
Jaclyn Downs: And so the more that we can, um, [00:38:00] avoid them coming into the body, then the less hard our liver and kidneys and detoxification pathways have to work to just try to maintain homeostasis.
Julie Michelson: Amazing. Wonderful gold. Yeah.
Jaclyn Downs: So that's, you know, your, your home environment, your, you know, your water, your air, water, and food are a great place to start your kitchenware, your body care products, that kind of stuff.
Julie Michelson: I know it doesn't end.
Jaclyn Downs: Yeah. And it is overwhelming, but you know, I say use a, this is better than that approach. So maybe next time don't buy the Lysol by, you know, Something else. And if you want to be like super nerdy, you can get the hypochlorous acid, right?
Julie Michelson: Which is, which is awesome as well. And I can't stand the smell, smell of vinegar.
Julie Michelson: So that one's a winner
Jaclyn Downs: for me.
Julie Michelson: Jaclyn, so much. You really have given us so much information. Um, I'm excited for the listeners that didn't know
Julie Michelson: you before to get to know you a little bit. I say, you know, Check out the book, check out the snippets on Instagram too, but definitely go to Jaclyn's website. Um, and we [00:39:00] appreciate your time.
Jaclyn Downs: Thank you so much. I really enjoyed speaking with you and I look forward to speaking with you again.
Julie Michelson: Absolutely.
Julie Michelson: For everyone listening, remember you can get the show notes and transcripts by visiting inspiredliving. show. Hope you had a great time and enjoyed this episode as much as I did. I'll see you next week.
​[00:40:00]
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Jaclyn Downs
Jaclyn Downs, MS, CHC, CD, is the author of the academically published book Enhancing Fertility Through Functional Medicine: Using Nutrigenomics to Solve ‘Unexplained’ Infertility (Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 2023). Jaclyn is a Functional Genomics Analyst that helps clients and practitioners move past puzzling roadblocks and individualize protocols through the use of genomic interpretation, functional lab testing, and a meticulous intake consultation.
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