New Idea to Reduce Stimming/Hyperness (long)

[Guest guest]

A New Idea to Reduce Stimming/hyperness

Stimming and hyperness continues to be a main concern, even with

enzymes. Certain enzymes seem to help reduce this more than others.

There are several reasons this can occur, especially with the

proteases:

1. body is adjusting to more food being processed

2. detox

3. gut cleansing

4. yeast/bacteria die-off

5. magnesium deficiency – add soluble source of magnesium (not oxide

or carbonate) or Epsom salts. Also sulfur helps with PST

phenol/detox pathway.

I have been thinking about this and have a new suggestion for those

who are still looking for methods to reduce these behaviors.

The Idea:

I think it is possible that a particular combination of enzymes/foods

may be depressing the tryptophan levels and influencing an increase

in stimming/hyperness. Trytophan an essential amino acid that is not

made by the body and so must be acquired by food. It is the precursor

that turns into serotonin...a chemical in the brain which promotes

calmness. It might be that the increase in protein breakdown by the

protease enzymes may be affecting the kids' tryptophan/serotonin

levels and this is why the proteases cause hyperness (along with any

of the reasons given above). At first, it seems like digesting more

protein should increase trytophan levels overall and decrease

hyperness, but that is not what we see. Then after looking into it

more, I found that trytophan competes with 5 other amino acids for

active transport across the blood brain barrier. So increasing

protein overall actually DECREASES trytophan levels because the

tryptophan is outcompeted by the other amino acids. This is supported

by several studies which show this is what happens. All meats with

have tryptophan, but also higher amounts of the competing amino

acids. Turkey, milk, whole grains, bananas, eggs do have tryptophans,

but much lower amounts of the other competing amino acids. McDougle

and colleagues (see The Serotonin System in Autism below) found

exacerbation of behaviors such as whirling, flapping, pacing, banging

and hitting self, rocking, toe walking and anxiety in more than 50%

of adults with autism after tryptophan depletion.

It might also be that the amino acids in the protease enzymes

themselves contribute to this issue along with the amino acids

produced by food digestion. I have ask a couple enzyme supplement

vendors what the percentage of proteases are in their products, and

specifically what is the ratio of the amino acid tryptophan to other

amino acids in the enzymes. If the enzymes also have a low tryptophan

to other amino acids ratio, and all those amino acids are added to

the total, that would make the problem worse.

To increase trytophan levels and thereby decrease hyperness/stimming,

you need to give carbohydrates and not animal meat (or not as much

animal meat), to minimize competition by the other amino acids. Foods

high in tryptophan are milk, whole grains, banana, eggs and turkey.

Eating a food in complex starch along with the tryptophan promoting

food helps tryptophan get to the brain (cheese on grain crackers,

milk and cookies, turkey sandwich). So, by giving proteases and

proteins, although we are decreasing the opiate peptides, we are also

decreasing tryptophan levels, and therefore serotonin levels. When

people add Zyme Prime, this increases the carbohydrates broken down,

and then we increase tryptophan and the serotonin levels, and have

the calm Happy Child Effect. This is probably not the entire reason,

but a contributing factor.

So, if you are trying to increase tryptophan and see if this reduces

the stimming/hypernes:

1. Don't give much animal meat with Zyme Prime. Eggs, milk and turkey

are all okay.

2. When giving animal meats and Peptizyde, balanced it with carbs

such as whole grains, banana, or milk or turkey.

3. Give the Zyme Prime and carbs with animal meat.

4. Have one of the trytophan promoting foods when you take Peptizyde

if hyperness/stimming is a problem.

Apparently, the serotonin level from food adjusts pretty rapidly,

right away lasting to two hours. This isn' t like the effect of using

the serotonin uptake drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft or tricyclics which

influence set levels over a day or so. I found

that " hyperness " " anxiety " or " stressed out " were conditions that can

occur when someone (anyone) goes on a high-protein, low-carb diet for

the same reasons.

If you don't have a serotonin deficiency to begin with, you may never

notice a slight decrease in levels. The research said that 15% of AS

people have too little serotonin, 40% have too much, and the rest are

reasonably balanced. So, for this theory, it applies mostly to the

people who are seeing too much stimming or hyperness, and may be

serotonin deficient.

Amino Acid Toxins

If amino acids are not digested readily, then they convert to toxins

in the gut...a couple of them become phenols. This conversion to

toxin/phenolic compounds may contribute to the phenol sensitivity

condition that some people see with increased protein digestion. I am

thinking that by taking enzymes to digest the meats, this will be

reduced because the amino acids will be absorbed much sooner before

being converted to toxins. However at the same time, the amino acids

absorbed is increased and serotonin levels drop (because the

tryptophan gets out-competed).

What about taking tryptophan supplements?

Looked into this. Trytophan used to be sold as an individual

supplement until about a decade ago for sleep problems and migraines,

etc. Then a batch came into the US that was contaminated and a bunch

of people got really ill and some died, so now it is banned. It has

been found that it was a contaminant in the formulation (called Peak

X) and NOT the tryptophan itself so it may be unbanned soon. You can

buy a supplement of the next precursor in the line on its way to

becoming serotonin. It is called 5-HTP. The 5-HTP is supposed to work

well and even performed equally to Prozac in one study. It doesn't

have the side effects that the prescription drugs do. The 5-HTP might

work for some. The main side effect, however, if stomach irritation

which is not good news for people who already have gastrointestinal

problems. 1000 mg of tryptophan = 100 mg of 5-HTP. Doses of 25-50 mg

5-HTP/day are recommended and maybe up to 100 mg. B6 should be taken

the same day because it is necessary for the conversion of 5-HTP to

serotonin. Hopefully, adjustments in menu will help considerably.

You must be very careful about taking this with any tricyclic

antidepressant or SSRI (serotonin-reuptake inhibitor) and some places

say not to take them together at all. Both the SSRIs and tricyclic

antidepressants function to increase serotonin. So you risk creating

too much serotonin, and sometimes this can be a problem too. Remember

some people post saying their kids go bonkers on Zoloft? Same reason –

too much serotonin. But the tryptophan or 5-HTP supplements won't

produce this on their own because the brain self-regulates these.

Trytophan is also used to make vitamin B3, so the body can use it for

other purposes. You have problems with the prescription medications

because there is no way for the brain to self-regulate it. Also, they

block other reactions besides just the serotonin one in the brain, so

more unpleasant side-effects occur.

Also, in one study I saw they specifically used casein as the factor

to increase tryptophan/serotonin and promote calming - you know, like

drinking a glass of warm milk before bed to help you sleep. That's

why it works. So when people go on the gluten-free (whole grain-

free), casein-free diet, you eliminate peptides along with a major

source of tryptophan. And usually lots of meats are added into the

diet, further driving the effect of a decrease in tryptophan. Diets

high in animal meats tend to create more toxins in the gut and some

of those toxins are phenols. Thus, this correlates with the effect

some people see of going on a GFCF diet and after awhile the

person " becomes " reactive to phenols and " regresses " . So you start

removing phenols, probably more meats are introduced, and the cycle

continues.

Research on Tryptophan, Serotonin and Autism

There is a TON of research on tryptophan in the body and as a

supplement; how serotonin levels definitely affect mood, behavior and

mental processing; and serotonin with autism, so this is a well inter-

connected area. I will be making a list of studies, but if anyone is

interested in something specific, let me know.

Should anyone be interested in seeing if this strategy of watching

the tryptophan load makes a difference, I would appreciate hearing

from you – even if it doesn't work! It may lead to better guidelines

for the hyperness/stimming seen by some.

Thanks.

.

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References and further reading:

http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1200/2_158/65132275/p1/article.jht

ml?term=%2BTryptophan+%2BPsychological+%2Baspects

L-Tryptophan - nature's answer to Prozac

http://www.smart-drugs.net/ias-tryptophan-article.htm

http://www.lightparty.com/Health/5-HTP.html

http://www.selene.com/healthlink/dep.html

http://www.click2houston.com/sh/health/stressbusters/health-

stressbusters-19991222-192048.html

Study on 5-HTP in comparison to tryptophan

http://biopsychiatry.com/5-htp.htm

The Serotonin System in Autism

http://www.shuteye.com/sleep_info/tips_for_travelers/nutrition.html

More studies on tryptophan, serotonin and autism

http://www.fwt4c.com/htm/autism1.htm

http://www1.burrelles.com/NewsAlert/B2253PR/20010711/20684.htm

[Guest guest]

,

Thanks for a wonderfully researched post. In my experience, it makes perfect

sense. Remember, we are vegetarian, so Spencer has never had meat ( a big

problem food apparently), and doesn't like milk. So, stimming for us was

never a big problem at all until we stopped the enzymes and started

supplementing with zinc. OH, my GOSH, I can't even imagine more stimming than

that...even biting his hands. So, we reintroduced the enzymes (no change in

diet) and the stimming went away again. I had heard of other autistic kids

and the terrible stimming and thought that maybe Spencer wasn't autistic

because I hadn't seen this...until the zinc.

Good job, .

Amber