New online enzyme articles

[Guest guest]

Kirkman Labs has a few new articles online concerning enzymes and

probiotics:

http://www.kirkmanlabs.com/products/articles/Enzyme & Probiotics/index.

htm

1. Autism-Dysbiosis-Probiotics - very short

2. Probiotics Role in GI Health - very long; a thorough description

of probiotic strains and functions

3. Research on Probiotics - very short, researc citations

4. Enzymes and Dietary Peptides - commentary on enzymes by Jon

Pangborn (see below)

5. Enzymes and Probiotics Together - short, commentary saying that

enzymes and probiotics can be taken together and that the literature

doesn't support the idea of probiotics and enzymes having a possible

interation. This is different than Dr. Kartzinel's observation and

some of the parents who feel the results were better when probiotics

and enzymes are given separately. [my opinion: it may depend on the

particular products involved. Kirkman may feel there is no problem

with taking their enzymes and their probiotics together. I think

just going with what gives you the best results depending on what

you are using is best.]

The article on enzymes is longer and I would appreciate anyone else

reading it and posting their opinion. It is 4 pages long. Jon

Pangborn was one of the first people to have the vision of a

possible enzyme product to break down the potential opiate peptides.

There is some background research establishing this fact. Then there

are some reasons one may see adverse reactions when starting

enzymes. One is further withdrawal, another is die-off of

yeast/bacteria overgrowth, and a third is increased tryptophan from

an increase in protein breakdown [my thoughts: I have never heard of

the trytophan issue with AS and don't know anything about it...yet!

lol].

Then comes the interesting part. Jon writes that these digestive

enzymes (referring to Kirkman products) are NOT a substitute for the

an elimination diet. That progressive removal of such foods from the

diet followed by introduction of one of these enzyme formulations

can lessen the intensity of withdrawal. That not all autistics have

a casein or gluten exorphin problem and a trial avoidance of 30-60

days may be needed. And then that food allergy tests for casein or

gluten, either IgE or IgG do NOT apply to exorphin chemistry. So the

tests are not definitive as to whether you have a casein/gluten

problem. [my opinion: I think that it is evident that a bunch of

people are replacing the GFCF diet, or going off diet, or having

infractions every half hour, or however you want to diplomatically

say it, without problem. In fact, a lot of people are doing much

better off diet, although this does not mean everyone is. Whether

enzymes would hold up over time was not known in the beginning, but

is now. So I am interested in why someone thinks that certain

enzymes cannot replace (or insert another more PC term) the diet at

this point in time. Why not? Maybe there is disagreement some of the

terminology. Or it only applies to Kirkman enzymes and not to other

brands. Complete hasn't been out as long, so it is a legitimate

concern as to whether you can stay on it instead of the diet for

months (my guess is it will be even if you need a slightly higher

dose, based on how it worked for us, but this is just my opinion).

These comments may be based on information regarding these

particular enzymes I don't know about.]

Then there are six Q & A questions. Two of these again repeating that

digestive enzymes (at least the Kirkman ones) are not to be used off

diet, and it is not reasonable to think they are effective enough to

break up all the peptides. So, again, I am thinking, " Why is it not

reasonable? " and would appreciate other opinions on this. Maybe

there is a glaring point I am overlooking. I am basing my opinion on

the fact that lots of people are doing so much better when they add

enzymes even though they had been on an elimination diet for some

time. Also, other people, including us, are doing much better on

enzymes with regular food than eliminating foods. However, these

examples are based on Peptizyde, so maybe brand plays into this.

One question also says that it is important to go with your child's

response and not lab tests and these are not a reliable measure of

what you should do. So if we are to base our opinions on the child's

response and the child is doing far better on enzymes+gluten/casein

food (no elimination diet), that also points to the enzymes being a

very effective or better replacement. I think it is very acceptable

to say that a person MAY be able to use just certain enzymes and not

need to do a certain elimination diet.

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