The different gut bacteria in autistic individuals may be...

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But that's the thing - anything that has a dramatic effect on your biochemistry is going to have side effects because it's all so interwined. That's partially why every medicine has a long list of side effects.

If your treatments are capable of rewriting someone's neurology (or reducing the body's sensitivity to certain chemicals or whatever) then they are capable of doing bad things too. If they aren't capable of doing that then there's little point taking them.

Acknowledging that we're not supposed to talk about locked threads, your central hypothesis is that a fungus took over your body and you killed it by eating pro-biotics and anti-fungals and injecting liquid through your anus. That's implausible because you would have been in intensive care if you were that severely immunocompromised.



Argument from popularity, the plural of anecdote is not data, many people have been wrong before...

I can say it has no effect because people have compared autistic people trying GFCF to those who are not in double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trials and found no difference between them. Fairly small sample size, but nonetheless: http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/stor ... fm?id=2860

A systematic review by the Cochrane Collaboration found that, despite widespread use, the evidence in favour of GFCF was "poor".

Worth reading this blog post about rubbish treatments for autism generally, which includes GFCF: http://www.autism-watch.org/about/bio2.shtml

I get fungus growing on my skin very easily. The only way I can get rid of it is an almost zero carb diet.

It starts as the jock itch fungus and ringworm on my arms.

There's little point in taking foods as natural medicines if they're incapable of doing bad things? How does that even make any sense whatsoever. How about the point is that they do good things.

Life isn't as black and white as you're painting here. Just because someone is physiologically ill does not mean they require hospitalization. MOST people who are sick with anything from the common cold to influenza and countless other ailments do not require a stay in intensive care. To suggest that because someone doesn't require a stay in intensive care that they were never sick in the first place is equally absurd.

I can find a counter opinion or negative review for anything in the world online. That doesn't mean that it's factual, or that it applies to everyone and all situations. Besides those generalized truths, I know for myself what happens to me and my symptoms if I consume gluten/dairy and other things. The effects are very real. I'll go ahead and continue eating/not eating what tends to optimize my brain functions so that I can continue living a better life, regardless of the fact that you're telling me I shouldn't be functioning one iota better by doing this.. - but I am.

Three straw men that all miss the substance of my points.

1) If a medical treatment does not have side effects, it probably doesn't have any effects at all. If a medical treatment does not have any effects at all, then it is not worth taking unless it is an uninvasive treatment and your condition responds well to placebo. It therefore can be said that medications without negative effects are not worth taking, but that misses out the crucial part.
2) Invasive Candidiasis is not influenza. The vast majority of cases are in people who are severely immunocompromised such as AIDS patients and premature babies. You would have specific symptoms such as fevers, chills, and multiple organ failure. It is fair to doubt your self-diagnosis of a life-threatening condition if you didn't require hospitalisation and didn't have your diagnosis medical confirmed, just as you would for someone who self diagnoses with lung cancer without a shred of evidence. Regardless, if fungal infection is your problem then you should have cured it by now and adjusting your diet again should not cause problems.
3) I am not saying that you are not experiencing any improvement in your autistic symptoms, I am saying it is improbable that it is due to your dietary regime.


Show me a systematic review as high in quality as the Cochrane ones and I will change my opinion to match it (unless my opinion already matched it).

That's the first time I've ever heard of a medical treatment requiring side effects in order to be effective. That's a very strange way of thinking, IMO. Why should it be a requirement that whatever heals you must also harm you? Bizarre.

Also strange that your thinking is so black and white that either someone is not physically ill at all OR they require hospitalization and there's no grey area in between where people are in fact sick but don't require intensive care. Again.. ??


My epsom salts/diet/detox/probiotic etc protocol is what I've changed that's made me healthier & my symptoms subside significantly. I haven't changed anything else - i.e. I'm not taking any new pharmaceutical drugs or anything. What I've done IS what's benefited my health & well being whether you believe me or not.

goldfish21: I'm terribly sorry you're always having to endure this. I've read / been reading your posts everytime I see your name, and I've never ONCE heard you say: "This is what I did, you MUST do it, TOO"----NOR have I ever heard you say: "I'm CURED"; but, for some reason----and, I can't, for the LIFE of me, understand why----people constantly jump all over your posts. I also understand people not liking people who speak so very matter-of-factly cuz I HATE it, MYSELF----BUT, you've never spoken that way, IMO----you've always been a bit humble, really. Maybe your enthusiasm is mistaken for matter-of-fact? I dunno.....

Anyway, here's two things I DO know......

1. I've dabbled a bit in cleansing, restorative, helping things, myself----mostly juicing and supplements and have had AMAZING results (I was skeptic, TOO, before). I was amazed by the proof, IMO, of that old adage "You are what you eat". I haven't had enough money to sustain anything, and add a couple of other things I've read about----and I've been reading for YEARS, about all kinds of stuff. There are many, MANY accounts, everywhere (all kinds of media), of people doing diet changes to help ALL KINDS of things; but that, I guess, isn't good enough.

2. I can imagine that the same people who feel it needs "scientific proof", would be the very ones who poo-poo the evidence when they got it from a scientist, as well. Here's the thing that gets me.....

Scientists at the FDA approve drugs all-the-time that they then recall because it's killed a bunch of people----so, science is infallible????

Also, I've read TONS of articles about drugs, remedies, etc. that have been approved in Europe, for instance, because of studies they've done to prove their worthiness, or whatever, but our FDA won't approve them----so, WHAT, the Europeans don't know what they're doing? If something has been discovered in another country / culture that has shown marked improvement in whatever "malady", I think it's, at least, worth a study, HERE, in the U.S.

I'm so very glad you're continuing to do so well----both, in maintaining your diet, and continuing to have such good results!! I'm gonna get back to it myself, as soon as possible.

The original thread where he claimed to have discovered a miraculous cure and repeatedly urged others that they needed to follow his specific advice to prove it works was deleted by a moderator.

^But it's gone now, so nobody is supposed to talk about it, right?

I agree with Campin_Cat, he never told anyone it was a cure, or that they must do it, or anything like that. And I'm pretty sure even if a person didn't have miraculous results with improving their diet, they'd still probably see improvement, unless they already were extremely healthy to begin with. It's never a bad idea to eat more healthily.

While I do NOT see asperger's or autism as a horrible disease that must be cured, there are some aspects of it that make like a bit more difficult for some. Without a doubt my son changed drastically when I changed his diet many years ago. As opposed to what many parents out there say, my son is still and will ALWAYS be autistic. The great traits are all still there, yet the things that made him "suffer", such as very poor eye contact, meltdowns, etc. were greatly reduced by diet. He was on a strict diet only for about 3-4 years. I think that was enough for his system to heal. He now eats anything and has NOT regressed. He is still …WONDERFULLY autistic!

PS for those who say this is crazy stuff, give it a try for a few days…I can assure you that you will notice a huge difference in as few as 3-5 days

Maybe you don't remember the thread very well or didn't read it? Not sure. It was not advocating for people to live an overall healthier lifestyle - he specifically claimed to have a miraculous cure, it would only work by following his exact advice, and repeatedly told others to try it for proof that it works.

Sorry for bringing it up. I'd delete my previous post but I can't anymore.

Yes, thankyou, I'm well aware of his original post / thread as I copied and pasted, and kept, it in a word processing document. Again, he did not ONCE claim to have found a "cure"----NOR, has he told ANYONE that they "needed to follow his specific advice"! ! His overall tone, IMO, was: "Hey, everybody, I did this----check-it-out". I thought it was great that he wanted to offer help, and laboriously, I imagine, made a post to include recipes, daily regimen, links to articles, etc., that is a 19 page document!! (The first time I read posts slamming him, I went-through his post history to see if the people had a reason to slam him----if, maybe, he was a kook, or something----I found NOTHING of the sort, IMO.)

Another thing that gets me, is that I can imagine the same people on here who have a special interest, and do exhaustive research, EXPECT, seemingly, that people will take them at THEIR word, because they have done the work, and they consider themselves, seemingly, as experts. They offer THEIR findings, all-the-time, on here, and no one slams THEM the way they slam goldfish----I don't get it. The only thing I can figure, is that it has something to do with fear, maybe??? Fear of what, exactly, could be any of a myriad of things.

Thanks, L_Holmes----good point about eating healthily!

This post was not there when I started writing my last post, so I must address it, as well.....

IMO, he repeatedly SUGGESTED to others to try it, as it had / has helped him, so much.

The point that I see some people trying to make, so often, is that they want to like "save" people from believing anything and everything they read..... How about if you let people make-up their OWN minds, as to what and what not to believe?? (It really makes you appear INCREDIBLY narcissistic, IMO.) When one has a different opinion from yours, it doesn't mean they're wrong, it just means you each have a different opinion. Some of the people who are trying to convince everybody, seemingly, that goldfish is WRONG, are using ALOT stronger, matter-of-fact language than HE is, IMO!!

I didn't get a chance to read it thoroughly before it got deleted, it was really long and I have a difficult time concentrating for that long. So I'm not really sure, but I was just thinking that even if he did say anything like that, since it got deleted we can't really refer to it anymore.

But it seems to me that he is just trying to give people the opportunity to try something that could really help them. I think it's at the very least plausible and worth trying. And if somebody doesn't want to try it, it's not like they're being forced.

I also don't know exactly what he did that worked for him though, it seems like a lot of things. I'm sure I'm probably oversimplifying by saying that he's advocating living a generally healthier lifestyle, but I think that's still what he's doing in a sense. I do have the text from the original post because I was wondering this, but I still haven't read it all because of the length.

EDIT: My grandparents are having a house party right now, and my friend is talking to me incessantly on speakerphone as I'm trying to write all this, so I'm having a hard time thinking totally clearly right now. So if I'm not making sense or saying something stupid that's probably why.

See, here's the thing about this, and the core problem with it, and why people tend not to believe you:

Self diagnosis not only rarely works, but it's usually an outright TERRIBLE idea. It can actually be very dangerous. And I mean real, physical danger in many cases. There's a reason why so many medical-based internet sites tend to say things like "this information is NOT meant to replace a detailed examination by a licensed professional", because even if you read up on it so very much, one way or another, you arent that licensed professional with years of experience in a field that is also their actual career. There's a rather enormous chance that in situations like this, the person making the self-diagnosis is absolutely dead-wrong, even if their symptoms appear to match up. With something like a bad illness, this can be *really* bad. With something like THIS, it can lead to giving incorrect advice (even though your intentions are good) that simply will not work for the individuals trying it out.... and THAT can cause even more problems. It could drastically increase depression, for instance, as they get so excited to finally try out something that they believe will finally cure them.... and it either has no effect whatsoever, or possibly even makes it worse. And depression can be BAD. It could also cause problems such as chemical interactions with medications they take, or things like that, which they wouldnt really know about because they decided to follow the "cure" without the opinion of a licensed professional.

And no, simply READING stuff written by someone like that doesnt cut it. That bit is a myth, and one of the bigger reasons why people have this tendancy to self-diagnose... and why it can go so very wrong. With stuff like this, you need to actually GO to a licensed doctor that specializes in these things, and get a detailed examination with proper testing and all that stuff, even if it takes bloody forever (and honestly, if it DOESNT take bloody forever, chances are not enough is being done, and seeking out a different doctor might be a good idea). That you have not done this is the reason why people are so skeptical in many places. And it's a very valid reason.

To be honest, I think you should stop giving the advice, or even bringing it up in most cases (as the phrasing I see you using at times often still translates to "I did this, it works, you should try this now too!" even if that's not the intent of the words in your posts, people will still read it that way). If you were to go to those that are properly licensed for this... and likely, you'll have to go to more than one, as this sort of thing is NOT a simple issue, as I've discovered in my own experience... and get a barrage of testing and research done on you, THEN the advice would have some credibility. Until that happens though... I think it's a bad idea for anyone to put much stock in it. ...not to mention that with people not believing you ANYWAY, there's little point in repeating it at all. It becomes a waste of your time, and a possible source of stress and irritation, when there's all sorts of other interesting topics that are plenty constructive to discuss on here, and which WONT get people snapping at you.

And note, Im not saying any of this to be mean... I apologize if it might sound that way, I'm not very good at phrasing stuff in a way that avoids that. You seem like a pretty nice person, and you're polite on the forums here, and I know your intentions are nothing but good. Rather, I'm saying it because I think it's an important factor that NEEDS to be addressed, yet one that usually ISNT (as I've seen SO many times on this forum already, and I dont mean from you). Do so, however, and you might find that people are much more open to considering the things you have to say.

See sig.

When you say "this" what do you mean?

That fruits and vegetables in a healthy diet are good for you is not in doubt or disputed. That the gut microbiome is important and has significant health effects is not in doubt.

BUT: what I do know, from reliable sources who worked hard to understand this, is that the gut microbiome is complicated. Very complicated. Some balances of the species in the gut microbiome are harmful and others confer benefits, but there is more than one beneficial equilibrium and more than one harmful equilibrium and I don't want to go messing about randomly with mine.

Lots of serious science is being done in this area now and some of "this" will be shown to be beneficial and some harmful. I would like to know which is which before trying "this." I would like to know what is real and how it works.

Consider the two people who died from encephalitis caused by a mistake in their approach to neti pots. There is an approach you can take to this otherwise benign practice that can kill you in a really horrible way. It's an easy risk to mitigate, but the mistake made by the dead neti pot users was not one that would immediately occur to most people as a risk. What unexpected risks might come from introducing various substances to your lower GI tract through exotic enemas? How would you judge what is and is not safe in exploring this?

There was a piece about the gut microbiome in the New Yorker a couple of years ago that is still relevant:
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/ ... rms-are-us
The story does a good job of making the case for more research in this area and the important role an understanding of the gut microbiome will play in medicine going forward, but it also notes:


Given what we know, it's not unreasonable to ask for evidence and proceed with caution in trying to change your own gut microbiome.