Lutein-free Diet To Cure Autism

somuch4food

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While exploring a low vitamin A diet, many were noticing problems with lutein too. After seeing that eggs are a source of lutein, I started exploring it more since my toddler is allergic to eggs (but has low antibodies according to a blood test). I stumbled upon this interesting diet: Sara's Diet - The Lutein-Free Solution

I do notice some autistic trait in my child. He is not very affective, often a bit hyperactive and seems to be in his own world. He is developing fine though. Sleep problems and gut discomfort have been a constant with him.

I do think I also have many autistic traits, but I have faired well in life. I think that is mainly because of my parents that refused to see my distinct traits as abnormalities needing medical interventions and so, I always felt accepted in my family. A part of me always felt like I was different though.

From my observations since exploring vit. A consumption, I have noticed that eating carrots, broccoli and even blackberries make me feel more nervous and make my skin more inflamed.

I will start to lower lutein in my diet and that of my child and see if I notice any differences.
 

alywest

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While exploring a low vitamin A diet, many were noticing problems with lutein too. After seeing that eggs are a source of lutein, I started exploring it more since my toddler is allergic to eggs (but has low antibodies according to a blood test). I stumbled upon this interesting diet: Sara's Diet - The Lutein-Free Solution

I do notice some autistic trait in my child. He is not very affective, often a bit hyperactive and seems to be in his own world. He is developing fine though. Sleep problems and gut discomfort have been a constant with him.

I do think I also have many autistic traits, but I have faired well in life. I think that is mainly because of my parents that refused to see my distinct traits as abnormalities needing medical interventions and so, I always felt accepted in my family. A part of me always felt like I was different though.

From my observations since exploring vit. A consumption, I have noticed that eating carrots, broccoli and even blackberries make me feel more nervous and make my skin more inflamed.

I will start to lower lutein in my diet and that of my child and see if I notice any differences.
That's interesting. My five year old is diagnosed autistic, although not the most severe form. Lately I have been putting about a teaspoon of magnesium carbonate in his bath and that has been keeping his bowels moving a lot better. I truly believe keeping things "moving" is key to gut health, as when he gets backed up he seems to also start having a lot of other issues (behavioral and infections that pop up.) I do think experimentation is key and I find that I like to use myself as a guinea pig as well! I know that Ray Peat discusses the carotene form of vitamin A as being problematic, especially for those with compromised metabolism and thyroid issues in particular. I have also found that really low doses of DHEA and pregnenolone and/or progesterone have helped his behavior
 

InChristAlone

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Wow, thank-you for posting about this! I see spinach is one of the highest sources! I used that to make green smoothies a lot when I was pregnant with my first. And he has mnay Asperger's traits. My younger son I ate a lot of eggs and then halfway through I found Peat and started orange juice and had a huge craving for melon. That kid hated to sleep unless he was attached to the boob. And wouldn't settle easily. Still doesn't at age 6.

Let us know what else you find out.
 
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somuch4food

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In regards to acetylcholine, does it mention the supplement piracetam?

No mention of supplements as it is a book mainly on the diet.

The author also stresses that the diet needs to be adjusted depending on the child's set of symptoms.
 

Elephanto

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A gluten and casein-free diet has produced significantly beneficial mental effects in autistic children. Autism was first described as very similar to the state of children administered morphine. Both gluten and casein contain opioid peptides with relevant effects which Naloxone prevents. Other dietary opioid peptides include cocoa, beer, Taurine, spinach, rice albumin. This would be an avenue I would look at, as I've found it produced good results in my case. I felt noticeably autistic on a previous staple diet of quark cheese. Opioids trigger Prolactin release which in turn decreases Dopamine and elevates Serotonin, blocking the Serotonin receptors is currently a promising avenue for autism.

Another thing that may be worth considering, a theory I put together for which I'm not sure if the chain of events is accurate but at least there's a couple of hints and markers of the autistic condition :
Ammonia/Kidney Damage From Mercury Theory Of Autism

There's a strong link between kidney's health and the mental state due to its function of detoxifying ammonia, and a correlation between kidney damage and Prolactin.

Interesting thread by the way, taking note.
 
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somuch4food

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A gluten and casein-free diet has produced significantly beneficial mental effects in autistic children. Autism was first described as very similar to the state of children administered morphine. Both gluten and casein contain opioid peptides

That is exactly what was said of both in the book. As a self defense mechanism, the body focuses on creating opioids from the wheat and dairy ingested to reduce perceived pain.
 

Elephanto

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That is exactly what was said of both in the book. As a self defense mechanism, the body focuses on creating opioids from the wheat and dairy ingested to reduce perceived pain.
I don't think the body creates anything, simply asborbs these functionally active opioid peptides. This defense mechanism may be present in the wheat itself, as it's been said to mask the gut-irritating properties of gluten.

A theory for greater effect in some individuals is the presence of intestinal permeability leading to increased uptake of the peptides. In the thread I shared, there are studies showing autistic kids having more permeability, more gut issues, lower serum Zinc and Glutamine levels. Both Zinc and Glutamine act as protectors of intestinal integrity. The cascade of lowered Glutamine in autism could start from hyperammonemia which is known to inhibit Glutamine Synthetase, and the root of high Ammonia levels can come from damaged kidneys as well as low Zinc itself, which has a strong negative correlation with Ammonia levels. Low Zinc -> High Ammonia and gut permeability -> low Glutamine Synthetase -> neurotoxicity from higher Glutamate and more gut permeability. Alternatively, mercury sources can start the cascade of damaged kidneys -> high Ammonia and so low Glutamine Synthetase. Then with opioid peptides -> Prolactin -> kidney damage and Serotonin -> high Ammonia and mental disturbance -> low Glutamine Synthetase.
 
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somuch4food

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Since reducing carotenoids (lutein and beta carotene), my toddler does not have his light diarrhea anymore. His runny nose has also stopped. Behavior is still somewhat erratic, but overall it has improved. He is still getting many carotenoids just a lot less, so that might be why.

His skin his slowly improving. I am using a cream with aloe vera and vitamin E as active ingredients.

New symptoms include strong smelling pee and hot to the touch (no fever). @Elephanto might have valid points on his ammonia link to autism. The book mentions ginger ale/carbonated water when pee has a strong ammonia smell, I haven't tested it out yet though.

As for me, I did not crash on Sunday which is a good feeling. Almost every week during the winter, I would feel the need to lay down all day on Sundays almost like I was down with a fever. I was thirsty a lot, it might have been my body trying to get rid of toxins.

My back pain reappeared on Sunday after eating a whole wheat tortilla wrap with chicken and a bit of green pepper, but I also ate a bowl of Rice Krispies with cold milk at about 10am. I am currently suspecting both cold milk and colored veggies as the main source of the pain.
 
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somuch4food

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I'm revisiting this. I had put my focus elsewhere and inadvertently soared my lutein consumption and I feel the worse I have in the last few months.

What got me to this low point:
  • An experiment with flaxseeds
  • A nuts mix with cashews and pistachios
  • More pasta than I normally eat
  • Ate a bread with chia seeds in it
 

Lynne

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A gluten and casein-free diet has produced significantly beneficial mental effects in autistic children. Autism was first described as very similar to the state of children administered morphine. Both gluten and casein contain opioid peptides with relevant effects which Naloxone prevents. Other dietary opioid peptides include cocoa, beer, Taurine, spinach, rice albumin. This would be an avenue I would look at, as I've found it produced good results in my case. I felt noticeably autistic on a previous staple diet of quark cheese. Opioids trigger Prolactin release which in turn decreases Dopamine and elevates Serotonin, blocking the Serotonin receptors is currently a promising avenue for autism.

It's possible that the high lutein content of pasta (mostly made from durum wheat) and wholegrain bread may be more of a problem for some than it's gluten content, and that the success of the gluten free diet for autism may be that it reduces the intake of lutein...

"In general carotenoids are very minor constituents in cereal grains except for einkorn and durum wheat and corn that contain relatively high levels of carotenoids or yellow pigments [27,29,36]. The common carotenoids in cereal grains are α and β-carotene, β-cryptoxanthin, lutein and zeaxanthin with lutein being the dominant carotenoid compound. In common wheat flour (low in carotenoids), the bran/gem fraction had 4-fold more lutein, 12-fold more zeaxanthin, and 2-fold more β-cryptoxanthin than the endosperm fractions [37]. Higher amounts of lutein were found in durum, Kamut and Khorasan (5.4–5.8 µg/g) compared with common bread and pastry wheat (2.0–2.1 µg/g). Einkorn, on the other hand, had the highest concentration of all-trans-lutein, which is influenced by environmental growing conditions [29] and processing [27]. Corn also contains exceptionally high levels of non-provitamin A carotenoids primarily lutein and zeaxanthin [29,38]." Dietary Sources of Lutein and Zeaxanthin Carotenoids and Their Role in Eye Health
 
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somuch4food

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From the diet book I bought, gluten and casein can be best avoided at the beginning to help healing and reintroduced after a few months.
 
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somuch4food

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Lutein - the missing piece of the puzzle
In autism, we can now clearly state that recovery is possible. There are many stories of recovery, many using diet as a central platform. But to aim for recovery in every autist, we first have to identify the cause. In our understanding, the underlying root cause of autism is an immune system 'choice' or 'immune error' during development in the womb which marks a dietary pigment - lutein - to be targeted by the immune system. We believe this is happening because vaccination practices over the last century are leading to an evolution of the immune system as the human genome attempts to adjust to this medical onslaught in successive generations and includes the development of immune-compromised conditions such as autism, diabetes and asthma. We go into more detail in our other literature.

This immune choice leads to a cascade of changes and reactions in the body and mind. These start during pregnancy and can be seen in brain differences that can only have happened in the womb. Behavioral changes are first seen in early childhood, but the major deteriorations are most often witnessed by parents ascatastrophic reactions to vaccination. These changes and reactions differ from person to person depending on genetics, immunogenetics, environment, family history, diet, and the inherent strength of the individual, leading to the complex and wide-ranging presentation within the Autism Spectrum Disorders. The immune system takes control of the bodies vital functions - digestion, metabolism, heart rate, blood pressure. Social development is stalled as the Limbic System concentrates on the systems vital for survival and is replaced with defensive and coping strategies.

Sara's Diet - The Lutein-Free Solution

Interesting explanation on why autism is exploding in the modern world.
 

CLASH

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I'm revisiting this. I had put my focus elsewhere and inadvertently soared my lutein consumption and I feel the worse I have in the last few months.

What got me to this low point:
  • An experiment with flaxseeds
  • A nuts mix with cashews and pistachios
  • More pasta than I normally eat
  • Ate a bread with chia seeds in it


I doubt that lutein is the contributing factor here. The flax seeds are not only irritating but high in PUFA. The nuts can contain prebiotics substances, digestive inhibitors, PUFA’s and irritating compounds. Pasta is high in starch and exorphins, plus most likely PUFA and if fortified, folic acid and iron particles. The bread is the same as the pasta with the added benefit of the irritation of the chia seeds, and the PUFA of the chia seeds. All of these foods are recipes for disaster on the background of a sensitive gut and/ or a dysbiotic gut. Grains, nuts and seeds really arent people food, especially the popular nuts and seeds, especially without proper preparation and especially with fortification.

If I had to guess I would say the response to all these proteins and compounds in food by autistic children is a fuction of thier disease and perhaps a perpetuator not a cause. The cause is most likely poor diet and dysbiotic bowel from said diet and perhaps lack of breast feeding leading to permeable gut and immune imbalance. Grains, beans, nuts, seed, for certain populations dairy, for certain populations starch and for every population PUFA’s, are not human foods. When you feed farm animals such as cattle, goat, sheep, horses etc grain past a certain percentage of the diet they develop bloat, acidosis, laminitis (endotoxic inflammation of the connective tissue) and eventually die unless given antibiotics. When you feed dogs and cats with grain based feeds they develop autoimmune diseases and cancers. The mismatch of the diet is the problem in my opinion with lack of breastfeeding being a contributing factor. I think that when a child isnt breast fed a dysbiotic bowel is encouraged. Then foods, often the wrong foods are introduced way too early, vaccination and antibiotics are used and overtime the childs gut is completely compromised. Not too mention the issues they may have inherited from the parents and previous generations. Then the poor diet just maintains and progressively worsens the issue by damaging the gut, encouraging a pathogenic flora and encouraging immune system exposure to different components of these foods. I’m not surprised people are reactive to all these obscure compounds in foods considering thier bodies context. I just dont see these as the main cause, merely features and perpetuators of the underlying issues i.e. lack of breast feeding and/ or not eating human food from the start.

Another point to keep in mind is almost every large mammal, atleast that I have researched (cows, great apes, whales, large carnivores like wolves) eats about 40-50% of thier calories from fat. With the whales, cattle, apes this comes from fermentation of fiber to short chain fatty acids and from carnivores this comes from a preference of eating the organs and fatty tissues over the muscle meats. When I made my diet about 40-50% fat from mostly beef tallow alot of my symptoms such as anxiety, adrenaline rushes, bloating, constipation, hairloss, loss of libido and brain fog etc. went away. I have a theory that people of the northern areas of the planet require more fat than people of the equatorial climates due to the adaptation to the decreased availabiloty of plant foods. So I would venture to guess people of european decent would be better suited with higher fat diets and less tolerant of starch while people of african decent or carribean decent would be more tolerant of starches (thier traditional starches were yams, cassava and plantain; not grain). Still overall even in the equatorial peoples I still have seen accounts of the prized place for fats in the diet. Also, as a note 40-50% fat in the diet doesnt neccesarily mean low carb, atleast in my experience, the other 30-40% of my diet is fruit juice (be careful of the juice you choose, juices like apple have a poor fructose to glucose ratio and can be high in sorbitol effectively inducing disaster pants even in people with the best of gut function. Juices like grape, orange, pineapple, pomegranate have a better ratio of glucose to fructose and dont have any sugar alcohols or FODMAPS in high quantities. Plus the antioxidant compounds in the juices are effectively antibiotics and antifungals so they can actually help to decrease bacterial utilization of the sugars, atleast in the small intestine while encouraging the more favorable bacteria in the colon). The remainder of my diet is 20% or sometimes less of protein from low PUFA, low mercury seafood and ruminant meats. If your interested I gleaned some of my perspective from these resources (I take them with a grain of salt though, theres a lot of theory and some personal opinion in them):



Bread and Other Edible Agents of Mental Disease

Meat and Nicotinamide: A Causal Role in Human Evolution, History, and Demographics
 
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somuch4food

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@CLASH Thank you for your reply. You have some interesting theories.

But, I must say that carotenoids (and other plant pigments) can also affect us in different manners after all they are ingested.

I don't doubt that many factors you mention probably contribute to the excessive sensibilities to those pigments.

The flax and chia seeds are pure evil and not fit for human consumption. The lutein, phytoestrogens, soluble fibers and bad PUFA profile all contributed to the reaction I got probably. My hands really dried out when I used flax seeds frequently.

I must say though that there is something that I react to in carotenoids. I don't think it's all of them, but I see changes in mood and behavior in me and my toddler depending on the profile of the fruit.

I would like to ask what you think would trigger eczema in carrots if not for carotenoids?
 

CLASH

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@somuch4food

I dont disagree with you, my point was more geared to the cause from the root. Once the issue is in place I’m sure the sensitivities are much increased. As for the specific foods you mentioned I was trying to point out what I thought were the bigger players at hand, I think the caratenoids were more like the 6th man on the bench so to speak. As to the caratenoids causing issues I dont doubt that they do. I have issue with orange carrots myself and only eat the white, yellow or purple varieties as theyre available.

Overall, I think if you can address the root issues by adjusting the diet you can atleast decrease the level of sensitivities.
 

tankasnowgod

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If you've looked at the carotenoids, you'll notice that all of them are highly unsaturated, with around 10 or so double bonds, twice as many as retinol. They seems to have effects like PUFAs as well, as yellow butter is much softer and spreadable at cool temps than butter that is whiter in color.

While at least some of the carotenoids can be converted to retinol, the carotenoids also act as "retinol receptor antagonists." Since everyone experimenting with the low A diet is also eating low caroteniods (in general), this seems to be a massive potential confounder.
 
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somuch4food

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Overall, I think if you can address the root issues by adjusting the diet you can atleast decrease the level of sensitivities.

I also think that a supportive diet would decrease sensitivities, but I'm thinking that the sensitivities themselves are encoded in my genes like mentioned in the article.

While at least some of the carotenoids can be converted to retinol, the carotenoids also act as "retinol receptor antagonists." Since everyone experimenting with the low A diet is also eating low caroteniods (in general), this seems to be a massive potential confounder.

I agree that's why I keep posting on that thread about my successful experiment of liver pate and try to bring a middle ground approach. I also feel that a retinol deficiency could make things worse since carotenoids would displace it.
 

tankasnowgod

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I agree that's why I keep posting on that thread about my successful experiment of liver pate and try to bring a middle ground approach. I also feel that a retinol deficiency could make things worse since carotenoids would displace it.

Nice, I must have missed that, but that thread is at insane volume at this point, so I'm sure that's easy to do. I also found some liver to be highly beneficial after experimenting for three months.
 

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