When I was pregnant with my munchkins, I took care of myself and did all of the things I was supposed to do. I didn’t drink alcohol, I tried to eat healthy (not easy with morning sickness), I took my giant fish oil capsule, which, for a girl who doesn’t like the taste or smell of fish, was no easy task at the best of times, but with morning sickness it was almost impossible. Blahhh. And of course, I took my pregnancy multivitamin…with folate. Of course, we all know now that low levels of folate when a woman is pregnant can cause neural tube defects in your new born, which is something that none of us would risk, especially when taking a simple folate supplement can avoid that all together. All pregnant women are told to take folate for this reason, and of course, we do it for our children and ourselves. To avoid problems in women who don’t supplement, the government require food and beverage manufactures to ‘enrich’ their products with folate and thiamine (vitamin b1). Thiamine is added to avoid a nasty condition called Beriberi which is caused by overconsumption of carbohydrates and depletion of B1.
We are all aware for the most part to some extent, that food is not what it used to be. We know this don’t we? As an example, take my beloved Sauvignon Blanc, or Merlot. Were they traditionally made with the preservatives that they contain now? Nup. They have not always contained sulphites, as alcohol IS a preservative. Has meat always contained the growth hormones that it contains now? Nup. Cows and sheep all managed to just grow just fine on their own, thank you very much, if they were given grass, water and sunshine. So what we have, is a situation where food and livestock have been manipulated over time to be vastly different than they used to be. I remember an ad growing up that said ‘bread is the staff of life’ and for hundreds of years this may have been true, but now that the bread is enriched, it may be the exact opposite for a large percentage of people.
That problem is that approximately 45% of people can’t break down this chemical into the form of folate that the body can use, so it then becomes a toxin. Did any government check with the population before they loaded up every product that contains flour with these extra ingredients? Nup. It’s really a cheap and easy win for the government (I really don’t want to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but i’m getting fed up with this crap). They pass a bill saying ‘put folate into flour that is used for baking and babies won’t get spina bifida’. They look like super heroes. They just need capes and a leotard with a great big ‘F’ on the front. We of course would let them think that the F stands for folate 😉
A lot of people are affected by a Single Neucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) of the MethyleneTetraHydroFolate Reducatase gene (MTHFR). A what? Big long words for gene mutation. What is this gene mutation? I have written about this before in my post ‘You MTHFR’. MTHFR is a gene and an enzyme that breaks down folate into the usable form ‘l-methylfolate’ which then is used for several cycles that included methylation (detoxification) and the B4 cycle (neurotransmitters). In a percentage of people, the mutation is such that they are unable to break down the folate into a usable form, so not only are they low in folate, but are now more toxic because the supplement then becomes a burden that the body has to deal with. If you’re on the pill the news is not good. The pill depletes folate in the body, and makes a bad situation worse. Gluten has been the big buzz word for the last decade and I couldn’t agree more that there is waaaay to much gluten around, but this flood of folate has been overlooked and could be causing a lot a people a lot a problems that they don’t realise. What if, in taking my supplements and eating enriched foods, I have inadvertently helped to create or exacerbate another condition???? High histamine, or histadelia, is linked to this gene, and can run in families. Is it possible that I have contributed to my own histdelic state, causing severe morning sickness and bombarding Fraser’s growing body with harmful levels of folate and hormones that my body could not break down or detoxify, which have in turn caused some or all of the issues he has today? It seems not only possible, but very likely. He had hallmarks of histamine issues from the time he was a month old, such intestinal discomfort and eczema on his face, which with good ol’ hindsight seems quite obvious now. So from where I stand today, looking back over this chain of events, it seems painfully obvious that I HAVE in fact at best, made things worse than they would have been, and at worse, caused a situation that might not have been. It might not be as cut and dried as that, but it might be. I am not one to look back with regret though, as regret serves no purpose in this instance. I keep my head high and look forward. I look forward to a time when scientists are able to stop a worm hole collapsing in on itself and making time travel possible. Only kidding….sort of.
Are you wondering what the hell this has to do with Autism? Well, my investigations constantly bring me back to a figure of 98%. It is estimated the 98% of people with Autism have a MTHFR gene mutation. That is a pretty staggering number. The list of health conditions linked to this gene don’t stop at Autism. It is really mind blowing. I won’t overwhelm you with it here, but it’s worth Googling or Binging or Yahooing.
So, solution? Come on Kitty, what do I do then? For Fraser I get Oat sour dough that does not contain folate from the local health food shop. Yes it’s expensive, but I think of it as an investment in his health rather than an expense. The thing about it is, is that he is better on this bread. Of course the other option is to make your own bread. I mean from scratch…even the bread mixes at the supermarket already contain folate. Argh! Be aware of everything that has flour in it from breads to biscuits to pastries. It’s everywhere! Avoid packaged foods as much as possible and add in fresh fruit and vegetables as much as you can. Not easy with a kid with Autism! I guess the thing is to not be too stressed. Just do what you can and be aware that it could be causing problems. The best thing to do if you can is get a test for the gene (doing it in the next few weeks), and you can supplement with the active forms of B Vitamins. I use a website called iherb which have very affordable supplements and shipping. Just type in ‘activated b vitamins’ and you’ll have a range to choose from that will suit your budget. It pays to do this slowly as it will begin a cascade of detoxification processes that could be uncomfortable. I will post on this in the coming weeks. Otherwise, do the easiest thing…stay away from processed food and stick to food naturally high in folate. Ah, if only wine were high in folate 🙂
Take care,
Kitty. xx
Link to my app – https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/emotion-fonts/id779305002?mt=8
AUTnotISM 