Autism and Caesin

First see this◊

The picture is legit. After checking that, I had to know what the hell basis Pe Ta had for this (not that I want to defend them....)

''http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casein#Autism

Casein has been documented to break down to produce the peptide casomorphin, an opioid that appears to act primarily as a histamine releaser.[15] Some research indicates that this casomorphine aggravates the symptoms of autism.[16] A 2006 review of seven studies indicated that, although benefits were seen in all studies from the introduction of elimination diets (e.g., casein-free or gluten-free) in the treatment of autism spectrum disorders, none of the studies were performed in a manner to create an unbiased scientific opinion.[17] Preliminary data from the first and only double-blind randomized control trial of a gluten- and casein-free diet “indicated no statistically significant findings even though several parents reported improvement in their children.”[18] Although research has shown high rates of use of complementary and alternative therapies (CAM) for children with autism, including gluten and/or casein exclusion diets,[citation needed] the evidence for efficacy of these diets is currently unsubstantiated.[19]

http://autism.healingthresholds.com/therapy/casein-free-diet

Casein is broken down in the intestines into several by-products, including one calledcasomorphine. These by-products are much more common in the urine of children withautism than in children without autism. Some scientists have concluded that they are leaking from the intestines into the blood of these children (2, 5). Many research studies report that children with autism often have gastrointestinal problems, including intestinal leakage (5). The argument is that, if casomorphine is being absorbed into the general circulation in children with autism, then it could affect behavior (2-5).

In support of this theory, injection of casomorphine in animals activates areas of the brain that have been reported to be involved in autism (6). Moreover, there is evidence that blocking at least some of the action of casomorphine improves the behavior of children withautism (7). Finally, recent evidence of a genetic mutation common among children withautism has been traced to a gene involved in gastrointestinal function (8).

http://www.yourlittleprofessor.com/eaters.html This one is specifically about Asperger’s:

Parents begin the diet by first eliminating either the casein or the gluten food group. No gluten means no bread, barley, rye, oats, pasta, all kinds of flour, food starch, biscuits, cereals, cakes, donuts, pie, pretzels, pizza, croutons, and even crumbs stuck in the toaster. You can substitute gluten-free products. Next, you eliminate all dairy products including milk, cheese, goat’s milk and cheese, ice cream, yogurt, most margarines, puddings, and so forth. If you eliminate the dairy group, you may have to give your child calcium supplements. You also need to cut out “trigger foods” including chocolate, food colorings, caffeine, and peanut butter. The GFCF Diet website offers all kinds of resources for parents such as cookbooks, food products, and DV Ds.''

……OK, no way I’m giving up all that food and milk. My goodness. I’ve never been told any of this before, although I was only diagnosed early last year. I…..don’t want to give up bread, barley, rye, oats, pasta, all kinds of flour, food starch, biscuits, cereals, cakes, donuts, pie, pretzels, pizza, croutons and everything Dairy, Chocolate, Caffeine, Food colourings….a (possible) behavioral improvement isn’t worth that, is it?

(None of this is me supporting Pe TA, just what I read about now on Google. Is this all BS? I don’t know how reliable any of those sites are (except Wikipedia, which I just used as a starting point.)

I guess at my age it doesn’t matter…I don’t know. There is a lot about it though, I’m not seeing much disproving it.

So, to the point: Is there any basis to this, or are the sites I'm finding hokey? And would it matter if I'm an adult? I don't think I've ever had gastronomic problems very much, but apparently it could improve my, um, normality?

edited 30th Sep '11 2:17:07 PM by occono

The thing is, there's two cups in the scale; the health risks/benefits ofa diet, and how feasible it is on a large scale. Yes, glutens can cause a fraction of a percent rise in risk of autism or something, and in the course of a large population, this will translate to thousands of people, but there is simply no feasible way to feed seven billion people with a diet that removes those slight risks.

And for every autism sufferer whose condition can marginally be linked to milk, there are tens of thousands of milk drinkers without any sympotms.

Is there any likelihood then of me "improving" if I were to change my diet, or is it not likely to affect me if I haven't noticed any differences in behavior when I consume dairy? (I don't even know how to put it....being less stupid occasionally?) I guess I'll ask a college counselor or something.....

At best, such an effect might be placebo.

Though things like cutting excess fat and sugar, and having more vitamins and fibre would give you more long lasting energy.

Looking things up on PsychINFO and Google Scholar, there's not much evidence to suggest that the removal a dairy products from your diet will improve the symptoms of Autism. (One study suggests a very iffy "maybe", but that's it.) All in all, whatever improvements could be made by the dietary change, they don't appear to be large enough to be worth the effort.

Also, that ad linked is so horribly misleading that I almost feel like eating a burger out of spite.

I have Asperger's, and I stopped eating gluten and dairy when I was five or six. According to my parents (I don't really remember), I started getting stomach aches less frequently, I started growing faster, and my behavior improved a lot. I have a couple of family members with symptoms of Aspregrer's/autism on my dad's side, and a few with gluten or dairy sensitivity on my mom's side. As far as I know, there's no overlap between the autism symptoms and food allergies except me.

I don't know if there's some kind of connection or if it's just a coincidence. It will probably be a while before anyone can say for sure if there's a link or not, but if you want my advice, you might as well try it and see for yourself.

I'm not quite sure I can avoid gluten and dairy and not starve to death here.

...PETA recommends a course of action and anybody but delusional idiots takes it seriously?

Come on, people. Strawmen sometimes have a point, but PETA doesn't have one here. When they come up with non-biased, consistent results for the shit they say, I will rescind my "bullshit" stamp of disapproval for them.

I suppose I need to be even clearer about this: This is in no way me endorsing Pe TA. It's just what led to research the point. I suppose I just shouldn't have mentioned the ad.

This notion between autism and [insert any subtaince here including milk and medical jabs here] is nonesence! Autism is not some kind of illness: it is a genetic and mental affliction. It comes either random or (with my strand of the condition) via inheritence. It is not caused via the enviroment or subtaince.

The creators of this report are disrespecful and should reconsider their logic.

PETA's campaign, as you have accidentally shown, is ridiculous. They don't say anything about all those other products you listed, after all. This primarily consists of scare tactics (nothing new for such an unethical group), and not much more than that. They have an agenda, and they're not above doing ridiculous and morally questionable things to further that agenda.

I would then make the point that, if you don't think it'd be worth giving up all those foods for a reduction in your symptoms, then it's not worth giving them up. And if concerned parents honestly want to decrease their child's quality of life over such a tenuous link with questionable gains, then they're fuckwads who shouldn't be having children in the first place.

And for the record, yes, it seems that a lot of the sites out there are providing, if not false, then useless (but vaguely scientifically valid) information primarily for the purpose of calming down parents who can't deal with their child's affliction. "Hokey" does it.

edited 2nd Oct '11 6:41:13 AM by ekuseruekuseru

DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor. Take that I say with a big handful of salt, and talk to a proper physician before making a decision.

I found this and this on Google Scholar (boh behind a Cash Gate). They report that there is no statistical link between autism and diet, though both were done over a course of mere weeks on groups of less than 15 people. That means the studies themselves indicate you have nothing to worry about, but they aren't big enough to say for sure one way or the other.

However, I wouldn't worry. What seems to have happened is that some scientist suggested at some point that casein might possibly maybe be correlated with autism, and PETA jumped on this to promote its vegan agenda. Don't worry about dairy products; they're probably harmless.

I'm just amused that the evidence for PETA's assertion there comes from animal testing.