Since you mentioned asperpers in your last posting, boysclubx3, I thought I would add this reference to autism. You have probably come across the information about gluten-free/dairy-free diets and autism by now, since it has been widely reported. But just in case, I will pass along a link and a quote:
http://www.livingwithout.com/features/vault_gfcfdiet.htmlAs early as 1979, researcher Jaak Panksepp noted the similarity between characteristics of autistic children and the effects of endorphins (naturally occurring substances) and opiate drugs... He set out to look for evidence of opioids in autistic children, choosing to study urine samples that could be collected with minimal disruption to his young subjects.Not only did Reichelt find very elevated urinary peptides, his work was later replicated by Paul Shattock in England and then by American Robert Cade. Reichelt began recommending the removal of gluten and casein from the diets of these children as early as 1981. Shattock and his colleagues at England’s University of Sunderland wrote extensively on their findings throughout the 1990's, and in 2000 American Robert Cade published similar findings in the United States.
These findings led to the "opioid excess theory" of autism. The theory holds that a metabolic defect leads to the incomplete breakdown of gluten and casein proteins. Proteins are composed of amino acid chains; in the normal course of digestion, the proteins are broken down into their constituent amino acids. At some point during this process, short chains of amino acids remain. These chains are known as peptides.
It has long been known that gluten and casein have opioid characteristics if incompletely digested. The fact that autistic children often have "leaky guts" (through which incompletely digested proteins can pass to the blood) lends further support to the theory. Undigested peptides that cross from the intestine to the blood will be, for the most part, dumped into the urine, and that is where scientists have found them.
Some peptides will cross into the central nervous system, according to the theory, and affect the brain by mimicking neurotransmitters, the chemicals that deliver messages between nerve cells by sending or inhibiting nerve impulses. It is now known that everyone has some level of peptides in the gut, but far greater numbers of peptides are found in the urine of people on the autistic spectrum. This means there is likely a concomitant increase in the number that reaches the central nervous system. The increased permeability (leakiness) of the gut worsens the problem.... In addition to verifying the presence of opioid peptides in the urine of autistic children, Friedman also found another extremely unusual compound. Identified as dermorphin, this chemical is a hallucinogenic far more powerful than LSD. No wonder so many autistic children seem as if they are on a�bad trip’"
My son reacts just like how you described your son whenever he eats gluten, dairy, and eventually we discovered corn as well. I would describe it, with my son at least, as an impulse control problem when he eats these food. And remember that many of the non-food items in schools contain wheat and corn: paints, glues, play dough or clay. My son always reacted to touching these items, and the reaction would last between 2-3 days. So if he paints or glues every day at school, it can seem like a constant behavior. It may be just a similarity, boysclubx3, so take it with a grain of salt. It is hard to try to eat without any of these foods, and I know that it would be impossible for me if I were a single mom. But we spent three very long years finally deciphering this. If my long and arduous journey can help anyone in the future, then I will be happy to tell my tale to anyone who is interested.
