a little gluten experiment

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Hi everybody, this is my first post. I'm glad to have found this community
Anyway, I thought I should add my experiences with a gluten free diet. The past ten or so days I've been conducting a sort of experiment. On August 29th I read an article that there might be a link between autism and gluten, so I read a few more papers and went on a few message boards, but the answers did not exactly satisfy, and I decided to take things into my own hands. I wanted to see how this diet might affect me.

I decided to cut out gluten from my diet. No white flour or brown flour. I will supplement the carb loss with potatoes and rice (EXTREMELY glad that rice does not contain gluten). Not relying on bread for most of my nutrition, I had to eat a lot more fruit and veggies, along with whole grains, and this might also factor into it (I couldn't control all of the factors but meh).

August 30th: first day of a gluten free diet. Not noticing much, only feeling slightly dehydrated, and my head hurts a bit. Over-stimulation of the senses was still noticeable, and I was a bit irritable, nothing different from my normal life.

August 31st: day two, the headaches have gotten slightly stronger. (I read somewhere that gluten withdrawal might occur, so this is what thought was happening). Music on the radio seems cheerier, and I can pay closer attention to it. I notice the mathematical beauty of music, nothing new to me, but it sort of made more sense, if that makes sense

September 1st: noticing decreased headache intensity and frequency. I seem to be getting along with my coworkers better than usual, but I tell myself that I'm just having a "good day". My thoughts seem slower.

September 2nd through September th: pretty much the same as September 1st.

September 5th: reading the Orwell novel 1984 today, it seems to be a completely different book, I am aware of more subtleties and symbolism that lie "between the lines". today i eat a sandwich to see what will happen. Not much is noticeable, only I seem to be more hyperactive and can't think as clearly.

September 6th: didn't eat much that day, feeling really sleepy

September 7th: I decide to test the control; i open the box of donuts in my kitchen and eat 4 donuts before going to work. I seem to be completely discombobulated by about 4pm. I seem to be clumsier, more awkward socially, veeeery irritable, and I notice frequent mood swings. Even meditation is not working to calm me down at this point, I spent most of the day outside in a lawn chair fuming and snapping at everyone. This is the day I decide to cut out as much gluten from my diet as possible.

This is my experience with a gluten free diet, I would love to answer any questions. How many of you guys have tried a gluten free diet before?

No, but I notice that breads tend to make me feel like I have to be doing things or else I will literally get sick to my stomach.

I don't think we're generally intolerant to gluten, just that our digestive system tells us right away if it(and other things) is appropriate or not and it's only appropriate if it's put to proper use by the body. Rather than a gluten-free diet I've decided that when I eat breadstuffs I will keep myself busy afterwards and it's working.

Every nutrient in the body has some function, so it makes sense that if what you put into your body is not congruent with your actions whether at the time or later(which matters more depends on the nutrient) then this could lead to problems. Of course the body can expell waste but the amount of energy and wear and tear that occurs during this process depends on where the nutrients are when the body realizes it doesn't need them. Maybe when we have gluten in our stomach this primes the body to make full use of it(we tend to have higher metabolisms which is the same as using more of what is put into the body than average) and then when we don't make full use we get sick.

It's strange how dieticians never talk about relating diet to behavior.

Yes. Once a year for an entire week during which time I am absolutely miserable.

I'm not gluten intolerant and would happily live off of bread and pasta if I could do so without getting fat and developing deficiencies.

Yes. Tried it for a while, wasn't extremely scientific about it but cut out most gluten I think and felt so so so much better. I did this cause I was starting to feel an aversion to anything gluteny. The thought or sight of bread or pasta made me ill so I stopped eating it. People's physical selves are smart machines and they do a lot of decision-making without the consciousness being involved.

I was autistic long before I was introduced to solid food, so I am pretty sure gluten does not make me autistic. I already have so much cut out of my diet, I am not going to worry about gluten. I don't think it would make a difference for me anyway.

I have celiac and I can attest that when I get "glutened", it has a severe psychological effect on me (along with the usual physical issues). Anxiety through the roof. I can't sleep that night. I'm much less tolerant of other people. Certain smells, noises, light touches, etc. all become intolerable. My tinnitus gets out of control. I become very literal and get frustrated more easily. I just want to crawl into a hole and be left alone.

Before I went off gluten, I didn't notice a correlation, but once I was off for a few months, my reaction to susequent exposure was very obvious. I doubt that going gluten-free would have any impact on someone who isn't gluten-sensitive.

I remember reading about a group in Australia who had found some genetic correlation between Celiac and Autism, but it was very speculative and they were assuming correlation and not causation. It may be that there is some common factor that makes each group more susceptible to the other condition.

I don't think that Gluten "causes" autism or inherently makes it worse. But I do think that if you're autistic or you have the genetics for it, stresses like food sesitivities, environmental contaminants, and other extreme autoimmune responses, etc may be a factor in causing the genes to express. It's just a theory, of course. I haven't come across anyone pursuing this line of research, so it's just my own rambling at this point.

I also think that these same physical stresses and can make it more difficult to deal with with the mental stress of dealing with an NT world once your brain has developed that way.

Of course, Celiac is somewhat unique in that the reaction tends to be delayed and subtle. So you can be continuing to beat the hell out or your immune system without ever making the connection that it's gluten. In my case, it was likely 40 years of slowly killing myself before I got a diagnosis.

Note that eliminating wheat from your diet is not the same as being gluten-free. Gluten is insidious and is in a lot of places that you might not suspect. So you may think that you're gluten-free, but you may not be.
(See this article for a starter: http://www.celiacsolution.com/hidden-gluten.html)

In addition to the obvious Wheat, Rye, Barley, Oats(unless explicitly gluten free), you also have to look for less obvious things like malt, "food starch", soy sauce, etc. For the first month that I was "gluten free", I was pigging out on thai, chinese, vietnamese, japanese and other rice-based cuisines. (my preference anyways). Unfortunately, I didn't see any improvement because I didn't realize that soy sauce and many fish sauces are made with wheat. (also, that fake crab that so many places use for sushi is also wheat based) Once I actually got the gluten out of my diet, it took about 7-10 days before I started noticing a difference and about a month before I got the full benefit.

Note: it didn't cure my non-NT-isms. But it certainly helped to reduce the stress and give me more concious control. Again, let me stress that I don't think that going gluten-free is going to do anything for you unless you're gluten-sensitive. Gluten isn't inherently evil any more than peanuts, dairy, eggs, strawberries, cats or pollen are. (well...maybe cats are slightly evil
It just so happens that there seems to be a population who are both gluten-sensitive and autistic.

Good luck!

I have a restricted diet anyway, so going GFCF isn't at all practical. It would put me down to just fruit and vegetables, unless I could find a suitable replacement for bread.

You say "experiment", but this isn't a true experiment because you know when you are not eating gluten. Your expectations change how you experience the world--really change it, not just in a fooled-you sort of way. You can put somebody on a placebo and tell them it's for their blood pressure, and their blood pressure will actually go down.

So, if you wanted to really experiment with GF/CF, you would have to get somebody else to prepare your meals--identical except for the presence or absence of gluten--for several periods of time, and then make your observations. The switches would have to be secret. For that matter, it would be best if the person who gave you the food wasn't the same person who prepared it, because you could get information from their mannerisms.

That said, I was on GF/CF for a while as a kid, and it made no change. Those were actually some of my toughest years, though I'm pretty sure that's unrelated to my diet.

I've made changes to my gluten intake before without any change in behavior. However, I've definitely seen others who functioned better without gluten.

I am less anxious without gluten or dairy or soy. I just have a really sensitive stomach though...
And my OCD gets much better. But my social problems are all the same.

So the difference wasn't enough for me stop eating pizza and all the good stuff I love

I think she issue was you ate a box of donuts. Those are not particularly healthy. You probably had less sugar so the sudden rush of sugar was too much for your body to take in. Also, when you don't eat something for a long time eating it again will have adverse effects. Ice cream made me sick for a very long time because I stopped eating it.

Wheat to me is like a drug. Day one going off of it and I had the shakes. I need my drug.

There are gluten free foods you can buy now. They are a bit on the expensive side. You can also buy gluten free products to make your own breads, cakes, etc.

hi there,

i don't drink soy milk often, but from time to time. And i notices, that it really affects me, I can't describe it yet clearly, I think it reduces my concentration.

anyone who has more experience in that?

thanks,
anton

I'm a picky eater, so if I did try going gluten-free I might not have anything to eat...

My first time going gluten free over 4 years ago was hard; I had anxiety and major withdrawal which should be enough to tell you something's up right. I never had noticeable neurological withdrawal from meat or anything else I went without for a few days.

I tried it again last summer until a few days ago when my new allergist recommended I go back on gluten for three weeks for a lab test.


Here is my short version:

1. It's hard. Try phasing it out instead of quitting cold turkey.
2. The first time may bring on anxiety. Try to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and take a multivitamin and extra B vitamins on top of that and minerals too. Eat plenty of good quality natural protein and plants. Doing this the second time helped.
3. Don't immediately run to gluten substitutes like gluten free breads. Go Paleo a while, then introduce GF cereal, then maybe a bread every now and then. GO to Thai restaurants that use GF soy and offer rice noodles.


I did notice one oddity though. My clumsiness, verbal slowness went away, but I felt very serious and more grim than before. Truly felt my abilities and eye contact were very much towards NT, but I didn't have the emotional "happy" energy to match. Suspected lack of zinc and B vitamins.

I am supposed to go back in to the allergist for a blood test and for thyroid checking too, but I am nervous it may be wasted time now since I just discovered
Gluten Ataxia
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18787912
http://www.celiac.com/articles/21635/1/ ... Page1.html


Gluten Ataxia is a form of gluten sensitivity that damages the neurological system. Unlike Celiac, there are no digestive tract issues with diarrhea or weight loss. Diagnosis is easy to miss because it doesn't fit what most MDs know about Celiac Disease.

Going off meat is easy compared to going off wheat. It makes me hyper so I'm thinking I'm sensitive to it. Well maybe not hyper like what fish does but it gives me a noticeable boost of energy.

Another good tip about going on the GFCF diet is to first go off dairy for a week and then wheat. But I like the idea of phasing it out too.

I'm gluten intolerant so I follow a gluten free diet. I do sometimes allow myself some bread or croissant or pastry. I notice hightened anxiety, irritability straight away,, then a big low and extrem tiredness in the following days. To me it does have an influence on my AS symptoms. They are definitely lesser on a gluten free diet.