Celiac, HLA, MTHFR and APOE4: The Story Behind the Genes We Fear Most

There is something incredibly liberating that happens when you realize your genes are not a life sentence. We have all been told that if a gene runs in your family, you’re destined to live out the same story. Celiac. MTHFR. Hashimoto’s. Breast cancer genes. We’re taught to brace ourselves instead of learning how to influence the environment those genes live in. When I started learning about gene expression, it shifted the entire way I look at our health. It was like someone finally took the weight off my shoulders and handed me the steering wheel.

Most people don’t question their genetics because it feels too big or too predetermined. But what most of us were never taught is that genes are responsive. They are activated or silenced based on the conditions inside your body. Inflammation speaks to genes. Balance speaks to genes. Stress speaks to genes. Toxins speak to genes. The microbiome speaks to genes. And the loudest voice of all is the gut, because seventy to eighty percent of the immune system lives there. When the gut is overwhelmed, the immune system stays in a reactive state, and in that environment certain genes become more expressive than they would in a balanced body. And as the gut heals and the immune system steadies, those expressions often soften again.

Before we go deeper into this, it is really important to understand genetics as a whole. Every human has the same foundational set of genes. We are all working with the same basic blueprint. What differs from person to person is the variant, or the version, of each gene that we carry.

I like to think of it like everyone having the same song, but each person has a slightly different remix of that song. Some remixes play louder under stress. Some stay quiet their whole lives. Some only activate if inflammation is high. Some never activate at all. And this is exactly why we need to talk about the environment instead of obsessing over “bad genes.”

Not all variants are harmful. Some are very common. Some are less common. Some only increase risk in certain conditions. Some are completely neutral. Some are even protective. The gene itself isn’t the problem. It’s the environment the gene is responding to.

There are a few specific gene variants we are going to talk about in this episode that tend to scare people the most, because they’re fairly common and because we’ve all heard stories about what these variants have meant for someone else. Maybe you’ve heard how hard it was for them, or how life altering it became, and without even realizing it you start assuming that if you carry the same variant, your story is going to look just like theirs.

One last thing before we dive into these. Everyone carries dozens of what might be considered undesirable gene variants that they never even know about, simply because their internal environment never triggers them. For example, you might know you have an MTHFR variant, but there are likely several others you also carry that have stayed completely quiet your entire life. And that’s the part most people don’t realize. Expression depends on the environment, not inevitability.

The first gene family I want to talk about is the HLA genes, because this is where so much confusion and fear begins. The HLA genes are a large family of genes that help your immune system understand what is “you” and what is not you. These genes don’t create disease. They influence how your immune system responds to the world, and certain variants inside this family are connected to autoimmune tendencies.

And I use that word very  intentionally. Tendencies. Not guarantees.

You can carry an HLA variant your entire life and never experience autoimmune symptoms if your internal environment is in balance. And the opposite is also true. When the gut is inflamed, when stress is high, when toxins build up, and when your immune system is constantly scanning for danger, that’s when these variants can become more expressive. It’s the environment that determines their behavior, not the variant itself.

And this is where celiac comes in, because celiac is really just one chapter inside the bigger book of HLA. 

Celiac is tied to two specific HLA variants called HLA-DQ2 and HLA-DQ8. These variants increase your capacity for celiac, but they do not mean you will develop it. Most people who carry these variants never do. Again, it all comes back to your internal environment. When the gut is in balance and the immune system feels safe, these variants often stay completely quiet. And when the gut is inflamed or overwhelmed, that’s when food can start being misinterpreted as a threat.

So instead of seeing these HLA variants or the celiac variants as a diagnosis or a life sentence, I want you to see them as information. They tell you where your immune system may need a little more support. They tell you where inflammation might hit harder if it isn’t addressed. They tell you that the environment really matters. And the beautiful thing is that the environment is something you have so much influence and control over.

Now does this mean you should avoid gluten if you carry the variant? This is where things get nuanced, because it really depends on the state of your gut. If your gut is inflamed and out of balance, and if you’re already experiencing symptoms that point toward an overwhelmed immune system, gluten is definitely not helping. Not because the gene is necessarily expressing, but because gluten is one of the foods that feeds bad bacteria, yeast, mold, fungus, and parasites. When the gut is already struggling, adding something that fuels the very overgrowths causing the inflammation can make everything feel worse.

But once the gut is healed and the microbiome is in balance, the relationship with gluten often changes. For many people, the sensitivity fades because the deeper imbalance has been cleared. The variant didn’t magically disappear. The body just returned to a state where food isn’t being misinterpreted as a threat anymore. This is why healing the gut first matters so much more than jumping straight into lifelong food elimination out of fear. When the environment changes, the body’s response changes too.

We want your body to be in a place where food feels safe again. So instead of immediately cutting gluten out of fear, I always recommend focusing on healing the gut first. Bring down inflammation. Strengthen the microbiome. Support your immune system. And then, once you’re in a balanced place, you can see how your body actually feels with gluten. For so many people, their reactions disappear once the deeper imbalance is healed. Not because they fixed the gene, but because the gene never needed to express in the first place. And for others, they realize they genuinely feel better avoiding gluten, which is beautiful too. When you move through the rebalancing process, you learn how to make decisions from a place of empowerment rather than fear.

The same is true for MTHFR. This one brings up so much fear and I understand why. The way it’s talked about online makes it sound like something is fundamentally wrong with you or your child, or like your body is missing a critical piece that everyone else has. But the truth is, MTHFR variants are incredibly common. Depending on the variation, nearly half of the population carries some form of it. Almost fifty percent. So this is not rare, and it is definitely not a sign that something is wrong with you. It simply means your body processes folate a little differently. That’s it. And just like the celiac variant, whether or not this variant expresses itself comes down to the internal environment it lives in.

When the gut is inflamed and the body is depleted, you can feel the ripple effects of MTHFR more strongly. You might struggle with energy, or detoxification, or you might notice that you’re chronically deficient in certain nutrients. But once the gut is healed and nutrient absorption improves, the body tends to compensate beautifully. This is why so many people are shocked by how much better they feel once they rebalance. It’s not that the gene changed. It’s that the environment finally supported the gene in the way it needed.

MTHFR isn’t something you need to fear. It’s something to understand. And when you really understand it, you realize that most of the overwhelm you feel around it is actually a reflection of an imbalanced gut and an overworked immune system. When those pieces come back into alignment, the gene often quiets itself.

Another variant that often comes up is COMT. This one influences how your body metabolizes stress hormones. People with certain COMT variants often describe themselves as more sensitive or more easily overwhelmed, and they assume it’s just “how they are.” But again, this is so deeply tied to the nervous system. When your life keeps pushing you into survival mode, and when the gut is imbalanced and constantly sending stress signals, of course COMT is going to feel louder. But as the gut heals and the nervous system calms, people begin to notice that they can handle more. They feel steadier. Their emotions feel more manageable. Their reactions soften. And just like the others, it’s not the variant changing. It’s the environment no longer contributing to the overwhelm.

APOE is another big one, especially the APOE4 variant. This is the variant people fear because of its connection to dementia. But the science is incredibly empowering here. Even with APOE4, the biggest predictors of cognitive decline are inflammation, toxins, blood sugar imbalance, chronic stress, and gut dysregulation. Two people can carry the exact same variant and live completely different outcomes depending on their internal and external environment. So instead of hearing “APOE4” as a warning, I want you to hear it as an invitation. It tells you exactly what to focus on. Heal your gut. Lower inflammation. Support detoxification. And regulate your nervous system. These are the things that create safety for your brain long term. And I want you doing these things whether you have this variant or not.

When you look at all of these variants together, the pattern becomes impossible to unsee.

What all of these genes have in common is that they are information. They are possibilities. They are not destiny. And the same is true for your children. Their genes are not fixed either. Their bodies respond to safety, nourishment, balance, and healing just like yours.

They respond to you. They respond to your life. They respond to the state of your gut, your immune system, your nervous system, your environment, your nourishment, your healing. And one of the most empowering things you will ever learn is that you have so much influence over how your genes behave.

And I want to leave you with something deeper. When we move through life in the energy of fearing our bodies, or resenting the parts of us that feel complicated or confusing, it creates a disconnect. Not just within us, but within our children. They feel it. They feel the way we brace around certain symptoms. They feel the heaviness we carry when we believe something is wrong with us, or wrong with them. Our energy teaches them what to believe about their own bodies, the world around them, and what is possible or impossible.

If your child has a gene variant that society labels as undesirable, the most healing thing you can offer them is not fear. It’s acceptance. It’s steadiness. It’s the belief that their body is not broken. Because when you hold that belief, they learn to hold it too.

Your body is not something you need to fear. Your child’s body is not something to fix. Every single part of you was designed on purpose. Every one of your gene variants is a page in your story. And when certain genes express, it is an invitation. It is your body communicating with you and bringing you back into alignment so you can show up in your life as the best version of you.. It is your body asking you to come closer, not pull away.

When you view your body through this lens, everything shifts. You stop battling yourself. You stop bracing for what might happen. You begin partnering with your body instead of fearing it. And this is where your deepest power lives. In relationship. In understanding. In the environment you create on the inside.

Your genes respond to you. They respond to the way you live, the way you nourish yourself, the way you support your gut and your nervous system, the way you speak to yourself, the way you choose to show up every day. And the more safety and nourishment you bring into your life, the more your genes settle into the expression that serves you.

This is the freedom of gene expression. This is the empowerment that no lab report can ever take away from you. 

Transformation of the week:

Every single day I get messages that stop me in my tracks. I know how powerful this healing is but still, when I receive messages like this I have to pause. This weeks transformation comes from a mama in Australia. She said “I wanted to send you an update because my jaw literally dropped. My heavy metal test went from 'high' and 'very high' in almost every category... to NORMAL ranges after rebalancing. I honestly went into this very skeptical. My headaches are gone, my skin is clear, and I don't have brian fog.”

When I read this, I felt a mix of gratitude and awe. Not because it is rare. It actually happens all the time. But because every single message like this is a reminder that the body is capable of so much when we focus on healing the gut. Even when we feel chaotic. Even when the symptoms feel unrelated. Even when we have been carrying these toxins and heavy metals since childhood. 

What most women don’t realize is how deeply heavy metals, overgrowths, and old toxins influence the nervous system. They create inflammation that steals our clarity. They disrupt our hormones. They weigh on the immune system. They affect sleep, mood, energy, and the way we think. So when the body finally starts releasing those layers, it feels like waking up. 

What I love about this transformation is not just the numbers on the test. It is that her life feels different. 

And this leads into our question of the week. I get this one all the time. “Has rebalancing ever helped with autism characteristics for any of your clients"

This is such an important question. And I want to make sure to answer it very clearly and respectfully. Rebalancing the gut does not change who a child is. Autistic children don’t need to be fixed. Just like every child, they don't need to be shaped into someone else's expectations.

But something remarkable that I have seen over and over again is that when the gut is imbalanced, the symptoms of that imbalance can layer on top of a child’s natural wiring. Gut overgrowths affect behavior, sleep, attention, sensory processing, communication, and emotional regulation because the gut and brain are so deeply connected. When the gut is inflamed, the brain feels that inflammation. When the microbiome is disrupted, the nervous system becomes overwhelmed. When the immune system is overreacting, the whole body is in a stress state. And that can amplify a child’s challenges, no matter what their neurotype is.

So when a child begins rebalancing, parents often tell me things like, “My child is more regulated”. “They are looking at me in the eyes or wanting to snuggle whereas before they didn’t want to be touched”. I hear it all the time… “My child is more connected”. “My child is sleeping deeper”. “My child is calmer”. “My child is communicating more”. 

Rebalancing supports the gut. The gut supports the brain. And when the brain is supported, a child’s true self has more room to come forward. Their strengths become easier to access. Their nervous system is less reactive. Their sensory system is less overloaded and their body feels safer.

So yes. I have seen many children with autism experience the most beautiful healing with rebalancing.