There are ongoing studies
examining the causes of this condition in individuals on the autism spectrum,
as well as the underlying causes of the spectrum itself. But it’s been found
that autistics and other neurodivergent people have a sensitivity to
foods. Scientists have found that
staying away from certain foods, Gluten, casein, and processed additives, helps
people with Autism become more social and functional. There is still speculation
about whether this works, but I am living proof of it.
When I was little, I was below
size zero in clothes. I would eat food. There were constant doctor visits where
they told me to eat more protein and drink protein shakes. I did exactly that.
Nothing… My weight was embarrassing. I could only get clothes from the Gap
outlet, which had jeans with elastic straps on the inside. I had to get those
in a size zero with the elastic straps buttoned to the last notch. Playing
outside was not easy either. Every time a kid falls on their butt, they get back
up and continue to play. For me, every time I fell on my butt, I would knock the
wind out of me. Game over for me with playing outside. This would last for years.
As a teen, I couldn't fit
into clothes. Everything was too big. Or nothing fit me right. It wasn't pleasant. Eventually, I did gain some weight, and I was very happy to finally
fit into a size 5 or 7 instead of 0 or 1. Unfortunately, it was due to a growth
spurt and hormones, not nutritional balance.
When I was 17 years old, I was introduced to
the gluten-free diet. My parents quite literally told me, “Lena, we are going
to try this diet on you.” Not feeling like I had a choice, I didn’t ask
questions at first. Finally, when I did, they would say, “It’s because of your
autism, your immune system is somehow different”. I asked further questions,
but I got the same answer from everyone I asked. For many years, I wondered why
that was the only explanation I got, and at the same time, I accepted it, and for many years, the only explanation I gave was “ it’s a weird food allergy.” When
people ask or whenever I feel like it, I explain that they act like an opioid
and a beer in my immune system. They then give me this look of you're crazy, or
dam you lucky. I’d shake my head no.
They say the same thing about being skinny. I just say no.
I don’t understand the desire to
be skinny and or drugged. It’s not healthy. I'd rather have curves than look as
if I’d wither away and be in a daze. That is exactly how I looked, as if I
would wither away at any moment with no energy and essentially feel drugged.
A few weeks after changing the
way I eat, I felt more energetic and interactive. As if a cloud lifted and I
could see clearly. I also had to take multiple vitamins with breakfast and
dinner. My immune system was completely out of balance. As annoying as it is to have to live by this
eating lifestyle. (I like pastries.) We were pleased to have found a solution.
The question is why?
Scientists have found that Casein
is, in fact, the protein that bonds the baby to the mother. Most people switch to
cow's milk due to the calcium once they reach a certain age. There has been a
debate on whether or not we should continue drinking milk after breastfeeding
because of this. How is taking casein from a cow any better? Yet people have
been drinking milk for centuries. It’s in the Bible. Except the Israelites
mainly drank goat’s and sheep’s milk. Over the years, people drank milk from
goats, sheep, and cows, but only as needed. Milk is a super food and is only
meant for as required. A lot of people got sick from cow’s milk from the
lactose and bacteria. It should have been a hint, but people were determined and
came up with pasteurization, removing unwanted bacteria. People didn’t drink milk daily until the
Industrial Revolution. During this time, people were able to mass-produce and
ship goods for the first time. They overproduced. Finding themselves with too
much milk, they had trouble distributing it until the government came to the
rescue. The government acquired the milk
industry and took it over, promoting the idea that everyone should drink milk
daily. Now everyone is drinking cow’s milk. Cow’s milk does have many nutrients
that are good for you. I live in the south, where a lot of people eat fried
chicken, creamy, and cheesy casseroles, and don’t cook without butter, milk,
and cheese. It’s great that many people
can tolerate it. I enjoy a good casserole.
But is it necessary to drink/eat every day?
Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RD, LD
Registered Dietitian
Cow Casein vs. Goat and Sheep
Dairy: Which is Healthier?
https://www.mygenefood.com/blog/dairy-dangers-sheep-goat-dairy-healthier-cow-dairy/
The link above explains the difference between casein in
cow’s milk, goat’s milk, and sheep’s milk and the effect it has on people.
She states that not only does
casein break down slowly in the body, causing a strain, but opens the
possibilities for diseases such as cancer to invade the body, originally found
by Colin Campbell, author of The China Study.
Kristin Kirkpatrick
continues explaining how there are 2 different types of casein, A1
beta-casein, aka cow’s milk, and A2 beta-casein, aka goat’s/sheep’s milk. A1
takes up 80% of the cow’s milk.
In the section sub-titled: A1
beta-casein seems to be the worst
(It’s stated in the title that
A1is the worst.) It states that mental illnesses arise due to feeding cow’s
milk instead of breastfeeding, such as autism.
A1 casein also acts as an opioid
in the body. She states this in #1
under A1 beta-casein seems to be the worst. I must say that I was
excited to have found this blog post due to this exact statement. It is odd to
tell people that A1 beta-casein (found in cow’s milk) acts like an opioid in my
immune system. I feel crazy saying it half the time, and yet I tell people all
the time. Cow’s milk makes me high. In the book, The Autism Revolution, by
Dr. Martha Herbert and Karen Weintraub,
Ch 3Repair and Support Cells and Cycles, talks about a woman named Anna who
was diagnosed with Autism and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome at age 26, how she was
introduced to the gluten-free and casein-free diet along with taking certain
vitamins and supplements has made her conditions disappear. Odd... Anna even
states that it is strange that something so simple, such as changing one's
eating lifestyle, can help a condition so complex as autism. I agree. It was very
much the same for me. I can’t say that it has made my condition disappear, but
if I stay gluten and dairy-free, I function much better.
Alongside Kristin Kirkpatrick’s
blog and Dr. Martha Herbert and Karen
Weintraub’s book,
I also found various articles and YouTube
videos. Stating that there have been tests done showing that not only casein
but also gluten has been affecting people on the spectrum. Not yet knowing the
reason why scientists have found a solution before understanding the problem.
So far, it’s been stated that there is a misfire with the connection between the
liver and the brain. The two are connected; therefore, your brain and mentality
are affected by what you eat.
In The Autism Revolution, by
Dr. Martha Herbert and Karen Weintraub,
the book states that autism is caused by a huge web of problems that cause
autism that are unique to one another, and that every person experiences it
differently. They go over multiple different treatments that help other
conditions that come along with autism that have helped, but it has been proven
that staying away from certain foods has been the one thing that has helped the
most.
In this video NutritionFacts.org YouTube channel
video Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diets for Autism Put to the Test
Alongside, Autism
Research Institute https://autism.org/webinars/gluten-free-casein-free-diets-research-updates/
The link above states that it's been tested on a large group of kids who are on the spectrum, on how staying away from gluten and cow's milk helps, but unfortunately, they have not been able to find an accurate conclusion as to why. The speculation is that there is a misfire with the connection between the brain and the liver. Unfortunately, due to everyone on the spectrum being so different, it is supposedly impossible to know whether or not everything that the kids have eaten is gluten-free. There's speculation that the parents slipped something to the kid just to get them to eat. Due to this, it's not yet known for sure.
Before I dive in too deep, allow
me to explain what gluten is. Gluten is a germ/ protein found in wheat, barley,
buckwheat, and various other grains. I have to stay away from just the wheat
grain; others may have to stay away from more than just one grain. It weird…
When I consume gluten, it triggers my body to react as if there's beer in my system. I recently found how
accurate that sensation is; I went out drinking with a friend of mine on a Friday
night. Ordered a glass of beer that had a nice chocolate and smoky flavor to it,
with the alcohol being 10%. Even with
10% being a bit on the strong side for beer, I am not a lightweight. German
beer is typically 7%-10% alcohol by volume. I can get away with drinking multiple while
drinking water in between. It's not a race, and please be responsible. I drank
a cup of water alongside this beer as well, and it made me feel as if I had 3.
It was not a tall glass either. A week later, I went back with my husband. Remembering
how I enjoyed that beer the other night, I ordered it again. As I am drinking
it, I catch on to something that I didn’t notice the first time. It was the taste
of wheat. It’s been such a long time since I have had something with wheat in
it that I almost missed it. From this, I learned how accurate the sensation I get
from eating gluten is. Funny how it doesn’t turn into alcohol in my system, but
it’s accurate.
There is a
condition called Auto-Brewery Syndrome (ABS). It’s a rare condition where the body ferments grain in the gut.
https://med.virginia.edu/ginutrition/wp-content/uploads/sites/199/2021/07/July-2021-Auto-Brewery-Syndrome.pdf
Even though ABS and my gluten
allergy have the same symptoms, I have not been diagnosed with ABS. There has
been no proven connection between autism and ABS. Yet I feel as if I drank a
glass of beer when I consume gluten. Odd….
I did find another article: Gluten
and Casein: Their Roles in Psychiatric Disorders, written by Ayşegül
Şimal Ulaş1, Arzu Çakır1, , Oytun Erbaş1, that does go over what gluten and
casein do to the human body combined. In this article, it states that:
“Gluten and casein peptides such
as gluteomorphin and casomorphin were found in urine samples taken from
patients with diseases like Down syndrome, schizophrenia, depression, autism,
and epilepsy. These peptides cross the vascular structure through the blood to
the brain and the fluid in the brain, causing the function of some areas of the
brain to be slowed down. This condition, which originates in the digestive
system, is more frequent in people who have an intestine-based psychiatric
disease. The psychiatric effects of gluten and casein on different individuals
were examined in this review based on the research in the literature, and it
was revealed that the findings of these effects were not the same in everyone.
Although a gluten-free, casein-free diet is not a cure-all, it can help lessen
psychological symptoms.”
(Gluten
and Casein: Their Roles in Psychiatric Disorders https://jebms.org/full-text/90#r39)
This indicates that the two
proteins together signal the brain to think that it’s having an opiate
reaction. One does not have to be on the spectrum to have this “food allergy”. The
paragraph above states that not everyone has to worry about this. I did find
videos on social media that state that it does affect everyone, but I don’t
fully trust videos on social media. Too much fake information has been posted
on social media. So I speculate that information. The only thing one can do is
listen to what your body is telling you, speak with a nutritionist, and do your
research.
I highly recommend consulting with a
specialist, since it’s not always easy to tell if you're feeling off because of the
food you eat. One time, I was visiting my aunt, and she became overly
controlling about what she allowed me to eat. She even had me stay away from
brown rice and corn syrup, which I didn't need to avoid. She went through every ingredient list except
for one thing. A small thing of fetta cheese. I ate that practically every
day. I didn’t notice anything, so I
thought it was all good. I’m feeling great. But then I would overhear my aunt complaining
to my dad on the phone, asking why I’m in a daze. I found this to be enjoyable.
Being in a daze is not unusual for me, even when I stay true to my eating lifestyle.
It’s called Being a dreamer. I just rolled my eyes, knowing how close-minded my
aunt is. I finally get through the container of fetta, and at the bottom of the
container, I see an image of a cow.
Oh fun, fun, fun! Let’s just say
that I learned that Feta is sometimes made from cow’s milk or a combination of
cow's milk and goat's milk. The point is that you won’t always notice that you
are feeling off.
Just recently, I tried
drinking goat's milk after drinking almond milk for many years, and I must have
had something missing in my immune system because I went from feeling tired and
sluggish to fully charged. I am slowly
learning that feeling tired and sluggish doesn’t always mean that I need sleep.
I have decided to make this part
one of two. There is way too much information on dietary change.
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