Welcome to From the Spectrum Podcast. This is a podcast about autism. It is my goal to explain what is autism.
I plan to use a mixture of scientific literature, personal experience, and opinion.
With opinion, I will explain why, I fill the way I do, and give examples.
I will provide links to various references for each episode.
For each episode, we will discuss various aspects of autism.
For today's episode, we will explore autism and the gastrointestinal tract.
Gastrointestinal will mostly be referred to as GI or GI tract.
Immediately, the first and likely the most notable thing to mention.
The only thing common about this research, autism and GI complications, is this.
It exists, and it exists in a large population of autistics.
More on that later.
Because of the inconsistent data in the scientific literature about autism and GI complications,
we will spend some time discussing biological development, the things that's associated with development of these complicated systems.
In addition, we will spend time discussing what can re-establish order.
Light in our human evolution, light gives us information, gives us electromagnetic energy and power.
And that is how living organisms on earth evolve and live and sustain their species.
We will discuss what can happen and how to fix these.
We will explain biological components that take this information and provide order.
It takes the chaos from the environment and applies order.
Now in development, we have this order, so we have a normal development.
But things in our environment, especially modern environment, can cause chaos.
So insert the common health implications we see, such as autism or such as GI implications or such as autoimmune implications.
In the aging, the degenerative problems. All of these are disorder or chaos.
However, light meeting our biological components that are crucial for development re-establishes order.
But first, the GI tract begins in the mouth, the oral microbiome, a side note.
It's common for autistics to have something like Sjogren's, which is dry mouth, Sjogren's syndrome, or Polydipsia and Polyura, which is frequent thirst, frequent urination.
And that is my opinion and my experience. This is coming from the oral problem.
More specifically, dry mouth. Some cases of hyponatremia, such as low sodium, and an anti-diuretic hormone.
Remember the roles of oxytocin and vasopressin in the Autistic Phenotype episode.
Vasopressin, a separate type of vasopressin.
However, upstream of the biosynthesis of this hormone could be shared implications.
Now, it's understood that the dry mouth occurs, but what is not really explained besides the dry mouth are the reasons why the dry mouth.
And I think it's some sort of signaling problem and bad communication between cells and systems, such as the hormone systems that regulate this, the sodium and the saliva.
Let's continue down the track.
The pharynx or throat, esophagus, the stomach, the small and large intestines, and all the way out.
You get the picture.
A buzzword is the gut-brain axis or the gut microbiome.
The gut-brain axis is connected by nerves.
Nerves for sending information in a feed-forward, feedback communication loop.
This communication is between the central nervous system, the brain.
The branch that we mostly discuss, and the enteric nervous system.
Often, you will hear the enteric nervous system referred to as the gut-brain.
The number of neurons in the enteric nervous system equals the number of neurons in the spinal cord.
The enteric system, our hormones, of course, are regions of interest here, too.
In large part, the hypothalamus.
But first, the branches of the autonomic nervous system act to control or prioritize the GI tract.
If you are stressed, your mouth might get dry, your heart rate might change, breathing both the rate and the depth might change,
and uncomfortable feelings from the stomach.
Remember the hypothalamus regulates the hormones,
and an area of our biggest region of interest from the cause of autism episode, and autism and embryo episode,
is POMC, pro-opio-melanochortin.
This activates cortisol and insulin.
And cortisol, well, and insulin, too, from the glucocorticoids.
This begins in the POMC subdivision of the hypothalamus.
There is another axis, HPA, hypothalamic pituitary adrenals.
Remember autism and anxiety episode, too.
When the sympathetic branch is activated, our digestive tract will stop.
The body determines other peripheral organs or more useful.
And you can think of this in simple terms.
If you are stressed, you're not likely to eat.
With that, the sympathetic branch is not all about stress, or the so-called fight, flight, freeze, conundrum.
I'm not a big fan of those descriptors.
Those are just simple descriptions.
Immune responses are regions of interest, too.
But first back to POMC. POMC and gut microbiome have a biodirectional influence, as previously just introduced.
What is missing in much of the research, the development and function, is light.
Light is the regulator.
Before we get more into symbiology, let's touch on autism.
Common GI problems, and I should mention these are in no way only tied to autistics.
IBS and IBD, and consistency with bowels, abdominal pain, allergies, food sensitivity, bloated, or anemia.
Here is the complicated part about autism and GI, or the gut microbiota.
Everything is inconsistent, except some sort of GI problems exist.
50 to 80% of autistics have GI problems.
Back to POMC. Remember melanin, a black pigment that absorbs all frequency of light.
Melanin in the gut are enterochromathin cells.
Enterochromathin cells will be our most critical region of interest.
Melanin and enterochromathin cells works with the microbiome that's releasing light.
Light, like the cause of autism, and autism and the embryo, is it.
Enterochromathin stores serotonin, phenylalanine, and tyrosine in the gut.
We will explore vitamin D receptors, or VDR, the biosynthesis of vitamin D, TPH1 and serotonin, which is from tryptophan.
Remember, TPH1 is tryptophan hydroxylase 1 for the peripheral, tyrosine and phenylalanine,
so those three aromatic amino acids, and briefly about chemo sensors, cryptochromes, and cholesterol.
Everything just mentioned are crucial for the GI and gut microbiome, and all of those have unique light absorption spectra.
First, remember, 95% of the body serotonin is in the gut.
And remember, serotonin is the first biological component researched, to my knowledge, with autism.
In 1961, gut serotonin are enterochromathin cells.
And tryptophan hydroxylase 1, TPH1, synthesize this.
It is common to read research target, this as a possible therapeutic option.
Great, more drug treatment.
Doesn't fix the problem, and doesn't fix the root cause.
In addition, serotonin here is vital, and plays a role in immune inflammatory axis.
Hard stop here.
What autism is, is likely an autoimmune condition.
Immune and inflammation, inflammation at its core is an imbalance of electrons and protons.
Which we kind of discussed without saying much of it, in the cause of autism episode.
Serotonin is vital for GI physiology, and a huge part of autism.
Cell proliferation, migration, and differentiation.
This is autism, this is what autism is, and how it's developed.
However, it cannot be explained, the why's and how's cannot be explained.
Let's dive into enterochromathin cells.
Enterochromathin cells have receptors for sensing chemicals.
Chemical changes in the gut, different nutrients, and metabolites.
And this signals serotonin.
Serotonin rolls here, and this is likely isn't exhaustive.
Pain perception, remember this is similar to brain serotonin from the RAFE.
It's about having, being comfortable with the self, and the time, that spatial temporal relationship.
And also mood and behavior.
This is chemo-sensory cells.
Research use fluorescent chemo-sensory with specific wavelengths of light.
Sensory paths, enterochromathin sends sensory signals to the central nervous system.
And large part for physiology and behavioral shifts.
Okay, melanin.
Melanin in omentum, which is translates to apron, is at the lower part of the stomach.
Right below the curvature.
The curvature, the greater curvature, begins with the transverse colon.
It kind of separates the stomach and this transverse colon.
The omentum is paramount for the gut, and helps with the clocked timing of the cells.
Omentum is a large, flat, adipose tissue, nestles on our organs.
It plays a function in immune regulation, and tissues, and regeneration.
All cells, organs, and tissues are clocked timed.
See the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology Medicine.
Humans evolved in light and dark.
A two-part process.
But light has changed drastically.
The type of light, and the timing of light.
Melanin links Pomsigine and the skin.
The skin on the gut is similar to the RPE, the retinal-pigmental epithelium, in your eyes.
Which absorbs the light.
Melanin is the powerhouse for the eyes, and therefore the brain.
Remember only the past six years or so, research published, melanopsin receptors, are all over the brain.
For the gut, the skin full of these melanocytes is the powerhouse, which targets those interocomathin cells.
Remember how light develops, the neuroectoderm, and the peripheral side.
The tissues, and organs, and so forth.
Light is doing this with inside the gut as well.
And vitamin D are crucial here too.
A side note, if you have acute stomach problems, gas, burping, pains, any acute problem,
go outside and get sunlight directly on the skin of your gut.
Evaluate it in just a few minutes or so.
That's my experience, and it is reliable.
Just give it a few minutes.
Now, based on reward prediction error, remember the discussions on the nucleus accumbens in that ventral striatum area of the brain.
Reward prediction error will cause you to have unreasonable expectations.
So, when doing this, when doing this outside, with the sun on your skin, on your gut skin,
have reasonable expectations and evaluate it then.
Reward prediction error is dopamine, which is wanting.
You're wanting something. You're wanting a result.
And you might, it might interfere with your ability to evaluate and understand.
Because you might be expecting some magical elixir, some magical happenings here.
But just be mindful during the evaluation of this tool.
Today, people can just eat things like antacids or indigestion medications, no prebiotics and probiotics.
And they can just rely on these over-the-counter medications or even a prescription medication.
And it's just influencing their ability to understand natural and nature's biology and how we've evolved.
One last note until vitamin D. We've discussed some neuromodulators, such as serotonin and dopamine.
And these are much more than what people think in the human body.
Melanin is too. Melanin is much more.
Bacteria in the gut, which we will discuss more in a moment.
Bacteria emits light and make dopamine from the aromatic amino acids inside the gut.
This is a biosynthesis of dopamine from the peripheral, from the gut.
OK, VDR. VDR is highly expressed in the intestines.
Remember vitamin D for the body and organs and vitamin A for the eyes and brain.
These are powerhouses for the development in these specific areas.
Vitamin D in its biosynthesis components range from 220 to 315 nanometer light.
So it requires VUVC, UVB and UVA. Strong light wavelengths.
Skin controls the gut microbiome and these are all clock timed. The clock hit enterocytes and control metabolism.
So in other words, sun or the light hits the skin and they become clock timed based off of that information.
The clocks from the gut target the enterocytes and control metabolism of our microbiome, which is VDR in large part.
The clock timed mechanisms are essential. They are everything. Everything in the human body is clocked timed.
Cortisol starts the brain when you awake and they sell active intestinal peptide.
If your light is right, ghrelin. You might have heard of ghrelin with hunger.
Ghrelin sends information to the pituitary. Remember the P from the HPA axis.
Ghrelin is also controlled by the information and energy from the skin.
A buzzword recently with the obesity problem is ghrelin and leptin.
One, these are clock timed and two, they are clock timed based off of light information.
Blue light, which is our main source of artificial light now. LED, indoor lighting, tech light, all of these are blue light.
This sparks up and creates cortisol and glucose without eating.
Okay, melatonin is a regulator of this, the ghrelin. The ghrelin spikes or activates
Now generationally, it is common for these mechanisms to be abnormal because of the different light.
Sunlight is optimal. Artificial light is harmful.
Remember POMC. Remember research on autism and hormones have more traction lately.
You can think obesity and autism are quite similar.
I did not say one causes the other or I did not say they are often comorbid.
What I am saying is there is a lot of uncoupling and alterations in the biology of both.
And the cause is the same. Remember implications upstream can look very different downstream.
In other words, abnormal biology can cause various conditions.
Okay, some biosynthesis of vitamin D, just briefly. The synthesis includes pre-vitamin D at 260 nanometer light.
This is similar to absorption for DNA and RNA and protects DNA and RNA.
So in other words, pre-vitamin D protects the DNA and RNA and it requires the same wavelength of light to sequence.
Pre-vitamin D converts to tachysteryl 2 and this peaks at 282 nanometer light.
The tachysteryl absorption is the same as the two aromatic amino acids tyrosine and tryptophan.
Our commonly discussed proteins.
Also, they have connections to cryptochromes, a critical component of circadian rhythms.
Remember the clock timing, which is a large role in the gut microbiome.
Cryptochromes are photoreceptors too.
I say too as in also because we have many photoreceptors.
A lot of our biology that we discuss are photoreceptors.
Tachysteryl creates Pro-vitamin D3, which requires 290 to 315 nanometer light.
A side note, cholesterol and vitamin D3 interact here.
And this explains the problems across society with cholesterol and CBD.
And why? The majority of the population above 40 or so are on statins.
And cancers, the rates of cancer is directly linked to vitamin D.
And you can see this. You know people avoid the UV light.
People are told that it's harmful and they cover up.
But yet our health implications are spiraling out of control.
Yet our critical biology components require this light.
Remember our built-in sunscreen with the red light and the near infrared light and the infrared light.
Working with UVA, these two things, UVA and the red light spectrum, are internal and endogenous sunscreens.
Mother Nature has given us over evolution.
Okay, some side notes.
However, relatable to our conversation, these are shared implications upstream.
It happens, the implications and depletions interact with development.
Our more specific topic.
These implications that we discussed with the vitamin D and all of those proteins implicate development.
Okay, what does the scientific literature say about autism and GI problems?
One, as I mentioned in the beginning of the episode, it occurs 50 to 80% or so.
But two, everything is inconsistent.
The one thing that is consistent is, it's common in research literature that you hear the word confounding.
Results in data are confounding.
There is so much going on with this track, with this gut microbiome.
The whole gut brain axis communication point.
And remember the number of neurons mentioned in the enteric nervous system.
So there are a lot happening here.
So one, one study by Sue Etall asked a question whether gut, archaea, bacteria, fungi, viruses, microbiogenes have a function in the altered autism implication.
The study took fecal samples of 1,027 samples ages 1 to 13.
And 24.4% of these are female.
So a good ratio that represents the population.
With autism, there are 14 identified archaea problems.
51 bacteria problems, 7 fungi, 18 viruses, 27 microbiogenes, and 12 metabolic pathways were altered with autism spectrum subjects.
Now common in the GI track, common regions of interest are archaea, bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
Archea are single celled organisms.
Most common are methanogens.
And these produce methane and are a byproduct of fermentation.
Now you will often hear fiber foods are good for the gut.
And maybe that's true, but I am going to subordinate here.
I'm going to put these in a hierarchy.
Fermented foods are optimal for the gut over fiber.
Okay, bacteria.
Bacteria are single celled prokaryotes.
The roles include digestion, metabolism, and immune system.
Bacteria synthesize vitamins.
It is understood that archaea and bacteria are two primary domains of life.
Life on earth, fungi, are eukaryotic organisms such as yeast, mold, and mushrooms, and balances the microbiome and influences the immune system.
Regulates permeability and inflammation.
Viruses.
Regulates and influences bacteria and the overall composition and diversity of the gut microbiome.
This study highlighted Obyquanol-7, which is a in the family member of CoQ10, coenzyme Q10, and thiamine diphosphate.
Both of these are involved in the TCA cycle.
Remember, Hans Krebs.
For CoQ10, it is a fat soluble in every cell membrane.
Its role is a familiar one for the podcast.
Transferring electrons in mitochondrial oxidative respiration chain while producing ATP.
Obycunon is an antioxidant that helps prevent cell damage caused by free radicals.
Remember, we discussed free radicals in the cause of Autism episode.
Obycunol-7, as the study highlighted, is a special isoform from the CoQ10 family.
They have unique absorption rates and bioavailability.
Two main roles appear to be cell energy production.
Remember the roles in mitochondria and ATP and as an antioxidant.
Thiamine diphosphate are derivatives of B1, which is thiamine.
Both Obycunon and thiamine metabolites play crucial roles in neural signaling transduction.
Now, this particular study, the benefits of this study is, there were 31 marker panels that were consistent with the autistic person, the autistic subjects.
31 marker panels from those four outlined sources, archaea, bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
For the microbiome, there are inconsistent data.
However, I think this is telling, 1. The spectrum and not limited to classifying autistic phenotypes.
But 2. What we've been discussing here with the implications upstream.
The atomic and light and melanin and so forth. Implications look differently downstream.
Now, a part of the research on autism and GI, or a lot of GI, research will suggest the inconsistency will be based on dietary.
Dietary is a very distal secondary component. Very distal. It is the light and the atomic features and development that is the spectrum.
That is the variability, not food.
They need to normalize and control for light with each individual.
This is the primary cause. Light is the region of interest because we've discussed the clock timing and the development and how they interact based off of the light source and things like melanin and different vitamins and proteins.
This is what's happening. This is how it's created and is processing in real time.
I look through several data sets, several different scientific literature papers, meta-analysis and multi-level meta-analysis.
And these studies are normalizing for age and sex and autism and dietary restrictions or dietary, typical dietary and bowel functionings.
There's a lot of controls that are being normalized and grouped. However, a lot is still missing, it seems. There are a lot of inconsistency.
Now, that could be the amount of data that can be collected within this gastrointestinal tract.
But it also could be this control of the light and how it controls the body.
When our light is right, the proper biology are very specific with the hormone release.
You might know that cortisol spikes in the morning and through the day and melatonin is suppressed.
And then at night, cortisol is suppressed and melatonin spikes and these are kind of anti-correlated. And this is proper for the human biology.
Everything though, with the ghrelin and leptin, these are specific spikes and suppressions.
Everything like this must be in sync based off of how we've evolved. But recently, within the last 100 years or so, the clock timing have spiraled out of control.
And remember, all cells, organs and tissues are clocked timed based off of the master clock.
In the hypothalamus, the super-cosmatic nucleus, or SCN, and this is controlled by light.
And we're seeing a lot of different health conditions because of this.
The clock timing and the release of all of these biological components, the activation and inactivation and everything being off. It's causing harm.
Now, we've covered, we've established how light is crucial for human development and through the lifespan over the last few episodes.
We've established this, how things like POMC and demelanin and vitamins such as vitamin A, B, D, and so forth, along with various proteins.
Remember the amino acids and how important those are for sequencing other proteins and DNA and RNA.
Now, we've established today that the research is kind of conflicted.
It's confounding was a popular word used while researching the GI problems.
Despite the, what is seemingly, good controls with sex and diagnoses and age and dietary preference restrictions, bowel functioning, bowel frequency,
various elements to a research project are considered.
However, the light environment and the light exposure are excluded because it's not well understood or it's not well accepted in better words.
However, research does agree on things like the cell proliferation, migration, differentiation, and the problems with the immune and inflammation,
and all of these different varieties of health implications.
They are common across autism.
And we've kind of tied a missing link, the missing element that is absolutely crucial for all living organisms.
Despite autism or not autism, this is all living organisms on earth.
This is where I would like research to spend some time on and at least consider.
I don't know if many researchers or science or the public have accepted this.
I know a few have, mainly my main sources.
However, the path of autism research is kind of questionable.
What is being done and what is the outcome?
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From The Spectrum Podcast.