Published on 12, July, 2020
Don't hate me for asking this question.
I went down a bit of a research rabbit hole earlier, I suffer from stress and the occasional digestive issues as well as being ND.
I was reading about gut biology/bacteria etc, when I came across an article about how the gut bacteria in autistic people can differ in make up,some research says it could be due to a restricted diet others point the finger at other factors.
While down this rabbit hole I read an article about infants/babies that are given high doses of antibiotics have a higher prevalence of developing ASD. This seemed like a genuine well researched and linked article and not the "vaccine" horror that went around. Part of it was to do with the antibiotics killing off the gut bacteria in early development.
My son who is autistic went into hospital at around six weeks old and was given very high doses of antibiotics, so I wondered if there was any truth to it or has it already been debunked.
I'm not trying to scare anyone off antibiotics as my son probably wouldn't have survived without them.
Anyway, here's the link if anyone is interested. Does anyone use probiotics etc and do you find them of benefit?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9355470/
As far as I know, there is a lot of evidence about the gut/brain relationship and the impact of gut health on autism symptoms. I don't think there is anything very conclusive though, and certainly no cure. Some people anecdotally claim that probiotics attenuate some of the symptoms of autism.
It can be contentious because back in the 90s Andrew Wakefield's research was linking vaccines to autism because of the gut inflammation or dysbiosis they could cause. It's a complex topic. It would not surprise me if there was some impact of the gut on how the brain develops.
Even if the gut is implicated in some way, it's so difficult to actually do anything since your gut is an entire world or universe inhabited by 100 trillion organism, hundreds of thousands of different species, which battle and eat and consume and infect each other and their by-products in their own ecosystems and produce chemicals which can be beneficial or harmful and which can reach the brain. Plus your own immune system's response to them changes what happens. It's more unique than a finger print. Probiotics which in one person improve health, in another can make them worse. A poo transplant from an relaxed extrovert can lower anxiety and make an introvert more outgoing.
Thanks, I'm also ND. I once had a colonoscopy and "endured" the prep, which certainly wasn't pleasant. Afterwards many or my anxiety/fogginess etc symptoms disappeared for about a week and then gradually came back. I've often wondered if this was related. I've asked various medics and they say it's likely to be incidental.
Thanks, I tried an elimination diet for a while it it was pretty inconclusive. I think the closest I ever got was when I went on a low carb diet, I almost exclusively ate meat and fish with a few green vegetables to break up the monotony.
It's not a diet I could do for too long as it's not great for your body long term.
It's very effective if you want to lose weight and not feel hungry.
I might give it another go at some point.
I've also done a colonoscopy, and the prep was a lot more challenging than the actual procedure itself.
For my entire life, I've had anxiety, depression, and physical health issues, but once I eliminate inflammatory foods, like gluten from my diet, those symptoms cleared up as well, and in a week's time. After decades of struggling, for once in my life, my energy levels were high, and I've never felt better. But when I reintroduced gluten to my diet, those negative symptoms re-emerged, and my body went haywire, anxiety returned, and I felt low energy levels again.
I think that during the prep, you're on a strict diet, so you're not consuming the foods that were causing inflammation to your system. Gut health is so important. Everything in the body is connected.
The most common inflammatory foods are gluten, dairy, and sugar. If you just took one of them and tried not eating it for a week, and see how you felt, I think that would be helpful. If you see no difference, you could always reintroduce the food back to your diet.