Medical Study: Role of Gut Microbiome in Autism Spectrum Dis

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Role of Gut Microbiome in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Its Therapeutic Regulation published July 22nd 2022:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9355470/

Interesting.. especially since they're saying pretty much ~exactly what I have been sharing on these forums for the last ~11 years since I figured out the root cause of my own ASD symptoms and how to treat it. Right down details like inherited gut flora from mothers, cesarean born babies being more susceptible to ASD, antibiotics in infancy destroying the gut microbiome, gut dysbiosis and even resulting neurotoxins affecting enteric nervous system signalling, fibre and probiotic treatments, colon cleanses and FMT etc.

At the end there are references to 143 prior studies, including some I've shared here before.

Anyways, just thought I'd share in case ~11 years on anyone here is interested in discussing these things.

I think the whole concept of the gut biome affecting health and the brain is very interesting. This paper is very good but I was only able to skim it because the language is pretty technical so it's a bit hard for me to interpret.

But I always think I need to do things to improve my eating, though I'm never sure what I should do exactly. I already eat a lot of beans (as a salad), which are kind of my staple food. I don't really eat processed food except for a low-sugar cereal, and I suppose almond milk is processed but I don't think it's unhealthy. I try to eat fermented foods but the only one I've really been able to come up with is kombucha. I can't eat sauerkraut or kimchi because I have a mild allergy to cabbage. So yeah, not sure how to go about applying it really. I take a probiotic.

I have ME/CFS (chronic fatigue) and I have found that avoiding gluten really helps, though I'm not sure why.

Hi bee33, kimchi can be made from vegetables other than cabbage, like carrots, white daikon radish, green beans or spring/green/scallion onions. It's fairly simple to make, since it's basically just sliced vegetables soaked in brine until they ferment. Here's an example of a cabbage-free kimchi recipe:

Carrot and radish kimchi recipe

There are some words I skimmed over, long latin names for things like bacterias etc. But knowing the names of each bacteria strain isn't critical to understanding the study.

When I shared what I had learned and done for myself ~11 years or ago, I shared the list of herbs/oils/natural supplements etc that I had learned about and pieced together as a medicinal diet that I adhered to quite strictly for a couple years. Later on I came across a pdf copy of the book "The GAPS diet," (Gut And Psychology Syndrome) and I gave it a quick read and realized that that what I pieced together for myself was pretty close to the same as what's recommended in that book for healing many mental/neurological/behavioural disorders, so since then I've just recommended people give that book a read. It's not very long and covers what's necessary. They can also reference my old posts here for more info on what I did.

I've had sauerkrauts made out of red beets before. I'm sure there are other options. At most "quality," grocery stores they have proper sauerkraut in the refrigerated section (stuff in jars on shelves is pasteurized and dead) but in Chinese grocery stores (we have a chain here called T&T that's now owned by Loblaws/Superstore) there's 1/2 an aisle of options of fermented foods. Fermented bean curds etc. I believe Asian cultures have long since figured out the importance of live culture foods in our diets, realizing that we are symbiotic beings dependent on live microbes for full and proper healthy functioning.

Or as jennyishere pointed out, you could make your own. A friend of mine made his own cabbage sauerkraut once.. all it was was sliced cabbage and a pinch of salt - I guess the beneficial bacterial colonies that ferment it are present and multiply when sealed in a jar.

Kombucha is better than nothing, and supplement capsules are better than that - especially for a variety of strains as I've read more than once that variety is more important for general health than overall CFU count being the highest of a single strain. But sauerkraut/kimchi are off the charts for CFU count.. in the Trillions, not billions. If I go too many days without sauerkraut/kimchi I start to notice. I typically try to have a couple forks full daily. I buy them at Costco because it's convenient and inexpensive vs. double the price to buy smaller jars elsewhere.. but sometimes it's nice to get a different flavour somewhere - like carrot ginger.

I definitely Had cronic fatigue symptoms 11 years ago. I could barely hold the tools I was using, never mind use them. I've since varied in strength from fairly strong to VERY strong depending on my level of activity/workouts etc. Even all of that has subsided with digestive health. I also still Mostly eat gluten (and dairy) free - I'm not sure of the exact chemical reasons it's better, but it does make sense that not having a glue-like substance gumming up your insides would be better for digestion, especially if there's any diverticulitis going on in one's intestines.


Diet has been critical, but the level of improvement I've achieved couldn't have been done w/o high volume intestinal cleanses - especially in the beginning. I still do them as they're still necessary, but not as frequently. I function well enough. I do wonder IF I did ever go down the FMT path if I could more permanently change my gut microbiome to a more ideal balance and then avoid having to do these sorts of things to maintain myself. Might find out someday, but I do know from experience that cleansing the undesirable organisms out of me as thoroughly as possible over many months back in the beginning of treating myself allowed for my digestive tract to heal significantly better and improve so many symptoms like all those caused by the salycilate acid sensitivity (anxiety, depression, audio sensitivity etc) and I do believe it benefitted the chronic fatigue as well. Desperate times, desperate measures.. I was definitely quite an extreme case and thus required extreme intervention vs. just eating an apple a day or whatever and expecting some sort of miracle to happen. That's not to say people wouldn't experience better health and benefits by dramatically changing their diet, I'm just saying I Know that Also doing this was critical for me and I believe is responsible for a significant amount of my own improvements.

Thanks for the info out of interest what particular things did you do i.e eat / cut out certain things

It may be some of the meds we are given to reduce stomach acid causes a lot of problems also as they create the conditions for bad bacteria to grow, who knows

I cut out a lot - dairy, gluten, sugar, most carbs etc and added a lot, herbs/oils/spices/supplements etc many of which I used very intensely for a long while. Now I still eat a restricted diet but am nowhere near as strict as I was when I started as I've definitely healed my digestive tract quite a bit and can tolerate all kinds of things that I couldn't back then.. and can deal with some amounts of almost anything. I just know that if I eat certain things that they'll cause me some grief and will likely necessitate having to do a colon cleanse soon to counter the effects of having a bunch of sugars/dairy etc.

Here's the original thread from 2013 that does include almost all of the dietary changes I made:

viewtopic.php?p=5766370

There are certainly some errors in it - things like cellular counts that I had read or heard but didn't Confirm to be fact when I drafted this. But the main info is all still there and valid, as well as the dietary changes etc. As you can see, the response here wasn't exactly positive in November of 2013 with several posters suggesting then and since that I was lying or perpetuating some kind of hoax. Nope! Was and still am simply sharing what I learned and did for myself and what the result have been that have allowed me to a live a second life of work, play, socializing, earning money etc all of which I was pretty well locked out of entirely when I hit health & neurological lows back then.


The book "The Gaps Diet," is a much better formatted read for putting together a digestive health healing diet for mental/neurological health issues. https://www.amazon.ca/Psychology-Syndro ... 183&sr=8-5

A new study Published:April 03, 2024

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2024.02.035

"Summary
This study has followed a birth cohort for over 20 years to find factors associated with neurodevelopmental disorder (ND) diagnosis. Detailed, early-life longitudinal questionnaires captured infection and antibiotic events, stress, prenatal factors, family history, and more. Biomarkers including cord serum metabolome and lipidome, human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genotype, infant microbiota, and stool metabolome were assessed. Among the 16,440 Swedish children followed across time, 1,197 developed an ND. Significant associations emerged for future ND diagnosis in general and for specific ND subtypes, spanning intellectual disability, speech disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and autism. This investigation revealed microbiome connections to future diagnosis as well as early emerging mood and gastrointestinal problems. The findings suggest links to immunodysregulation and metabolism, compounded by stress, early-life infection, and antibiotics. The convergence of infant biomarkers and risk factors in this prospective, longitudinal study on a large-scale population establishes a foundation for early-life prediction and intervention in neurodevelopment."

^makes sense. No surprises there (to Me) since I figured this stuff out ~11 years ago and told y’all.. to much disbelief & criticism; but like my forum signature used to say for a few years: “Just because you don’t believe me doesn’t make me a liar.”

Anyways, told ya so. Probably unrealistic to expect any apologies from anyone here who had anything negative to say about what I shared here, so w/e. Much more value in moving forward with any productive conversations about any of this stuff if anyone else decides to hop aboard the self improvement/natural medicating & healing train now that it’s “officially,” on track and moving with credentialed scientists, Medical Doctors & researchers signing off on the reality of the root cause of Most cases of ASD instead of just goldfishies’ personal lives experience and self treatment.