Are Modern Foods the Main Underlying Factor In the Molecular Mimicry Of Autoimmune Diseases?

Molecular mimicry caused by similarities between cells in modern foods, infectious agents and human self tissues has been identified as a mechanism for the development of autoimmune disease in the case of celiac disease and is likely involved in other autoimmune diseases. This may be the most crucial aspect of evolutionary nutrition, and the most important area of research in evolutionary medicine.

SUMMARY:
> some modern, agricultural foods (grains, dairy and legumes) contain high concentrations of proteins that are structurally similar (homologous) to proteins in humans, bacteria and certain viruses; these homologous proteins have similar cell structures due to their similar peptide sequences (a.k.a. amino acid sequences)
> bacteria and certain viruses have these homologous protein cells on their surfaces, and they use them for attachment, locomotion and transmission
> the human body has its homologous protein cells on the surfaces of many of its internal and external tissues; they often even look similar to their bacterial and viral counterparts, frequently having a hair-like, bristle-like, filamentous, or whip-like appearance (which is characteristic of many fibrous proteins and filamentous globular protein chains); these homologous protein cells are often the targets of a misdirected immune system in autoimmune illness

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HISTORY

A possible connection between food and autoimmune disease was suggested as early as 1981 (Ronald Williams, MD, "Rheumatoid arthritis and food: a case study." British Medical Journal, 1981; 283:563). In 1996, Dr. Kalle Reichelt proposed that dietary proteins "may be responsible for many autoimmune diseases" through molecular mimicry (Kalle Reichelt, M.D., Food and mental problems, 26 Feb 1996, http://gluten-free.org/reichelt.html). Margo C. Honeyman et al suggested a three-way molecular mimicry link between dietary proteins (in milk, wheat and beans), viruses and human cells (Margo C. Honeyman, Stone NL, Harrison LC, "T-cell epitopes in type 1 diabetes autoantigen tyrosine phosphatase IA-2: potential for mimicry with rotavirus and other environmental agents," Molecular Medicine, 1998 Apr;4(4):231-9:). This three-way link is the current form of the dietary molecular mimicry hypothesis.

Loren Cordain, Ph.D. explained why and how modern food proteins trigger molecular mimicry by using Dr. S. Boyd Eaton's theory of evolutionary dietary discordance* ("The Late Role of Grains and Legumes in the Human Diet, and Biochemical Evidence of their Evolutionary Discordance," by Loren Cordain, Ph.D., copyright 1999, http://www.beyondveg.com/cordain-l/grains-leg/grains-legumes-1b.shtml). Cordain focused on the best understood case of food proteins triggering autoimmune disease--wheat gluten's triggering of celiac disease. He pointed out that "wheat contains peptide sequences which remain undigested and which can enter into systemic circulation" and that "These peptide sequences are homologous to a wide variety of the body's tissue peptide sequences and hence induce autoimmune disease via the process of molecular mimicry." Cordain posited that "All autoimmune diseases develop because of interactions between the genes and one or more environmental factors, such as a viral or bacterial infection or exposure to a certain food." Cordain cited rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, and type 1 (juvenile) diabetes as examples of autoimmune diseases. Ray Audette, author of NeanderThin, expanded on the list by mentioning "arthritis, diabetes, allergies, colitis, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, endometriosis, many forms of cancer, lupus, and most arterial diseases (heart attacks and strokes)" (Ray Audette, NeanderThin, 1999, p. 17).

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The full story involves more than just gluten and celiac disease. There appears to be a general mimicry link between modern food proteins and surface proteins in the cells of human tissues and infectious agents (bacteria and certain viruses). The surface proteins of mitochondria in humans may also be involved. The common factor shared by these food and human cell proteins is that they are similar to the surface proteins of bacteria and viruses that the human immune system has evolved defenses against. Interestingly, many of these surface proteins appear to share a hair-like (filamentous or bristly) structure in these three sources (modern foods, human tissues, and infectious agents). If these proteins are investigated, further amino acid sequence similarities may be found beyond those which have been identified.

Types of bacteria surface proteins and the structure(s) they are found in:
> hair-like fibrous glycoproteins - fimbriae (pili), and possibly the fibrous sheath of the flagellum
> filamentous globular proteins (tubulins) - core of the flagellum (surrounded by a fibrous sheath)
> transmembrane proteins (composed of beta strands connected into sheets) - porins

Types of virus surface proteins and the structure(s) they are found in:
> hair-like fibrous (external transmembrane) glycoproteins - peplomers (spikes)
> other transmembrane glycoproteins such as hemagglutinin (HA), the fusion protein of influenza viruses

Homologous human proteins and the structure(s) they are found in:
> hair-like fibrous proteins - epithelial cell proteins such as collagens, keratins (found in such human structures as skin, hair, nails, tooth enamel, liver bile ducts, the salivary gland, the bladder, ureters, eyelashes, nose hairs, and external ear hairs), elastins, f-actin, and myosin
> globular proteins - albumins, globulins, histones, protamines, microtuble associated proteins (composed of tau proteins) and tubulins (found in such human structures as axons and dendrites, cilia of the kidney nephrons, oviducts, the uterus, the upper two thirds of the cervix, sinus cavity and mucus membranes, and nose cilia), kinase proteins (enzyme proteins found in such human structures as villi and microvilli of the small intestine, tongue villi, axons and dendrites, breast ducts and mammary gland, salivary gland, bladder, ureters, bronchial tubes of the lungs, certain pancreatic cells, gingival tissues, and skin)
> both fibrous and globular proteins like actin (which has both globular and fibrous forms), myosin (fibrous) and calreticulin (globular) can be found in smooth muscle cells
> transmembrane proteins (composed of beta strands connected into sheets) - porins in mitochondria (mitochondria are descendants of ancient bacteria)

Homologous modern food proteins and the food(s) they are found in:
> hair-like fibrous proteins - glycine-rich cell wall protein (GRP) [though a Wikipedia article claims that "Fibrous proteins are only found in animals"], which is in the cell walls of cereal grains and legumes, shares significant amino acid homology with human keratins, fibrillar collagen and procollagen, and with the Epstein-Barr virus nuclear (EBV) antigen-I (EBNA-I) [source: Claudio Lunardi et al, "Glycine-rich cell wall proteins act as specific antigen targets in autoimmune and food allergic disorders," International Immunology, Vol. 12, No. 5, 647-657, May 2000, http://intimm.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/12/5/647]
> globular proteins - gliadin, a lectin glycoprotein found in various forms in wheat, rye, barley, and other grains that shares homologous peptide sequences with human calreticulin; gliadin and other cereal grain prolamines (proteins with a high proline content) are homologous to Adenovirus 12E1b; high-molecular weight glutenin, a protein found in wheat, rye, barley and other grains that is homologous to human elastin; hemagglutinin, a lectin found in soy and potato that is homologous to influenza virus proteins hemagglutinin HA1 and HA2

The human immune system is rough, rather than precise, which gives it the ability to develop defenses against ever-changing infectious agents. This unfortunately also makes it more susceptible to mis-identifying food proteins and proteins in the surfaces of self tissues as infectious agents.

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* Dr. Cordain credited Dr. Eaton thusly: "Although a few physicians, scientists, and anthropologists had been aware of this concept, it was Dr. Eaton's writings that brought this idea to center stage" (Loren Cordain, Ph.D., The Paleo Diet, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2001, p. 4).

SUGGESTED READING:

"The Late Role of Grains and Legumes in the Human Diet, and Biochemical Evidence of their Evolutionary Discordance," by Loren Cordain, Ph.D., copyright 1999, http://www.beyondveg.com/cordain-l/grains-leg/grains-legumes-1b.shtml

Claudio Lunardi et al, "Glycine-Rich Cell Wall Proteins Act as Specific Antigen Targets in Autoimmune and Food Allergic Disorders,"
International Immunology, Vol. 12, No. 5, 647-657, May 2000, http://intimm.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/12/5/647

American Academy of Pediatrics Recommends Cold Pizza for Children's Breakfast

In their brochure, "What's to Eat? Healthy Foods for Hungry Children" (subscription required), the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends for a "good start" to "carry a child through an active morning" the odd "breakfast idea" of leftover spaghetti or pizza, served hot or cold. Even before I learned about the Paleo diet I knew that cold pizza was nowhere near a health food, and had never heard of it being recommended as a good breakfast food for children.

Not surprisingly, the AAP receives funding from such corporate sources as the Sugar Association and the International Food Information Council (the public relations arm of the food and beverage industries, including the Sugar Association, the National Soft Drink Association, makers of food additives, McDonald’s Corporation, Kraft Foods, M&M/Mars, etc.).

As I remember it, it used to be that pretty much everyone recognized that cold pizza or spaghetti made from refined grains was not health food or a good way to get energy for the day and certainly not breakfast food. The thinking behind cereal for breakfast is that whole grains provide fiber and are therefore healthy (bogus of course--but the standard view). I'm not sure what the AAP's thinking behind refined-grain pizza and spaghetti is. Maybe this is part of the carb-loading insanity--or maybe they were just guided by the modern food industry that funds them.

A Brief Paleo Diet Meal Plan

It's best if you can go "cold turkey" on modern foods and go right to eating a completely Paleo/ancestral diet for the first four months, or at least four weeks, so that you can see the difference an ancestral diet makes. Even if you go completely Paleo you will likely inadvertently eat some modern foods at times, since so many store-bought and restaurant foods contain modern ingredients, and you may find that you have sensitivity reactions to some of the modern foods when you mistakenly eat them or reintroduce them after avoiding them for a few weeks or more. These reactions should dissipate over time for most people, but they are instructive about the ill effects of modern foods.

Our ancestors didn't eat dramatically different foods at different times of the day. Sandwiches did not become lunchtime staples in America until the 1900's when bakeries started pre-slicing bread and cold breakfast cereal did not become popular until the twentieth century. Our Paleolithic ancestors cooked the fruits of the day's hunt and generally continued to eat them at each meal until they were gone, along with the fruits, vegetables and nuts that were gathered. When the meat or fish was too plentiful to be eaten in a few meals they dried, smoked or froze it (when the weather was sufficiently cold) to preserve it. To eat more like our ancestors you should try to follow the same principals, cooking meat and fish for dinner and finishing up leftovers at breakfast or lunch, drying, refrigerating or freezing any surplus.

Breakfast

Instead of the typical breakfast foods of cold cereal with milk, toast, bagel, muffin, donut, bacon or sausage for breakfast, an ancestral breakfast will typically include some combination of leftover or fresh meat, fruit, nuts or seeds. Breakfast is best suited to foods which are easy to prepare and digest quickly, so vegetables are less emphasized with this meal, but they can still play a role if you are creative (for example, veggies can be included in omelets). Eggs are common in the breakfast of both the Standard American Diet and the ancestral diet, but some ancestral diet advocates, like Loren Cordain, suggest limiting the intake of eggs because of concerns about weight gain and blood cholesterol levels. Choose omega-3 enriched eggs and think of the extra expense as an investment in your health.

Sample breakfast (your actual meals may differ depending on your needs, your appetite and your preferences):
Bowl of diced apple, shredded carrots, raisins and walnuts
Cold or reheated lean pork chop leftovers
Tea

Lunch

Instead of the typical sandwich or burger in a bun, an ancestral lunch will tend to more resemble a light dinner.

Sample lunch:
Ground beef and red sauce on spaghetti squash
Tossed green salad with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice
Melon and strawberry slices
Water with lime wedge

Dinner

Dinner is the American meal that most resembles the ancestral way of eating. Try to forego modern components like bread, pasta, milk, margarine and butter.

Sample dinner:
Lean beefsteak
Steamed broccoli
Buttercup squash
Pitted, diced Medjool dates mixed with slivered almonds
Mineral water

Snacks

Ancestral snacks include fresh fruit, homemade beef jerky and dried salmon strips with no added salt, raw vegetables like carrots and broccoli, cold chicken breast and other leftover meats, sardines, unsalted or lightly salted nuts and seeds, dried fruit, trail mix, hard-boiled eggs, shrimp, homemade vegetable juice, and fruit smoothies (blended frozen fruit or fresh fruit and ice).

For more Paleo menus and ideas read The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain, Ph.D. and NeanderThin by Ray Audette and see "The Paleolithic Eating Support List's Recipe Collection" and
"A Sample of Paleo Recipes".

There is controversy over how much animal fat, particularly saturated fat, to include in a Paleo diet, with Ray Audette advocating far more than Loren Cordain. The issue is too complex to get into here, but suffice it to say that you would include more animal fat in your Paleo meals than the sample meals here if you side with Audette. I find I can eat more animal fat than these meals contain without negatively affecting my LDL cholesterol levels, but I kept these sample meals relatively lean for those concerned with saturated fat (though there is more fat than the low-fat diet faddists would advocate).

Rheumatoid Arthritis Linked to Asthma

It's not surprising that a drug that treats rheumatoid arthritis would also treat asthma, as they are both diseases that involve chronic inflammation and both are "diseases of civilization" that accumulating scientific evidence is showing have an underlying cause of a modern diet that is in conflict with human biology.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Drug Could Fight Problem Asthma
February 16, 2006 08:45:57 PM PST
By Serena Gordon
HealthDay Reporter
Yahoo! Health: Arthritis News

THURSDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Using a well-known rheumatoid arthritis drug to reduce high levels of an inflammatory protein could be a new means of fighting severe asthma, British researchers report.

Their study found that people with severe asthma have higher-than-normal concentrations of an inflammation-linked cytokine called tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFa). Reducing the levels using a TNF-inhibiting drug, etanercept, reduced asthma symptoms in people with refractory -- hard to manage -- disease.

....

Diabetes Epidemic

Diabetes has risen to "epidemic" levels and increased reporting does not account for all of the increase. More and more Americans are falling prey to this chronic disease and even higher diabetes rates have been predicted for the future as Americans eat more modern foods and become more sedentary. Dr. Loren Cordain reported that "the Average American now eats 83 pounds of corn syrup a year, plus 66 pounds of sucrose" [The Paleo Diet, p. 48.].

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine reported that from "1997 to 2003, the incidence of diagnosed diabetes increased 41% from 4.9 to 6.9 per 1000 population"
[The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Volume 30, Issue 5 , May 2006, Pages 371-377, http://www.sciencedirect.com]. Linda S. Geiss, MA and the other authors of the report analyzed data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) of the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Acne Cure

Loren Cordain, Ph.D. has just published an ebook titled The Dietary Cure for Acne. Cordain reviews the four known proximate causes of acne (pore blockage, excess oil production, bacterial infection and inflammation) and explains the underlying cause behind all of them: the modern diet. Cordain's ebook reveals how high glycemic foods increase oil production, and how dietary lectins prevent skin cells from sloughing off properly.

I personally have found a Paleo diet to nearly, though not yet completely, eliminate my chronic cystic acne. It is no longer significant enough to be noticeable to others.

Could Linus Pauling Have Been Right?

Scientists from the National Institutes of Health and McGill University in Canada are re-examining the effectiveness of vitamin C treatment of cancer. There are indications that the problem with some past studies may have been the method of administering the vitamin.

Oral dosing was used in the studies that found no benefit for vitamin C in treating cancer, instead of intravenous dosing, or a combination of the two as Linus Pauling and Dr. Ewan Cameron had done when they reported success with the treatment in the 1970's and 1980's. Pauling has long been considered a quack by the conventional medical community, but that assessment may need revising if these latest findings are confirmed with further research.

Intravenously administered vitamin C as cancer therapy: three cases
Sebastian J. Padayatty et al, CMAJ • March 28, 2006; 174 (7). doi:10.1503/cmaj.050346.
The National Institutes of Health and McGill University

“Larger doses (50–100 g) given intravenously may result in plasma concentrations of about 14 000 µmol/L. At concentrations above 1000 µmol/L, vitamin C is toxic to some cancer cells but not to normal cells in vitro.”

High-dose vitamin C therapy: Renewed hope or false promise?
Sarit Assouline and Wilson H. Miller, CMAJ • March 28, 2006; 174 (7). doi:10.1503/cmaj.060228.
McGill University

“…there is recent evidence from laboratory experiments to support the possibility that high-dose intravenous treatment might be more effective. Chen and associates report that vitamin C levels achievable in vivo only by intravenous infusion are selectively cytotoxic in vitro to various cancer cell lines but not to normal cells by a mechanism involving formation of hydrogen peroxide.9This is consistent with a growing literature that reactive oxygen species play an important role in the mechanism of action of proven cancer treatments and that impaired oxidation-reduction balance in cancer cells might cause induced reactive oxygen species to selectively kill cancer cells.10–12 Indeed, additional mechanistic studies may help define tumour types more likely to respond to this and other strategies that induce reactive oxygen species.

There is, therefore, both ample interest and evidence to support research of high-dose vitamin C administered intravenously as a treatment for cancer. At our institution, we have taken the next step of conducting a phase I trial to establish the safety and dosage of high-dose intravenous vitamin C therapy for patients with advanced cancer; we are collecting preliminary efficacy, quality-of-life and pharmacokinetic data.”

Tumor Risk from Cell Phones

Swedish researchers reported this week finding a correlation between long-term cell phone use and tumor risk, contradicting two earlier studies.

The report suggested a 240 percent increased risk of a malignant tumor on the side of the head the cell phone is used on. The researchers recommended using a headset to reduce the risk.

If the study is validated by additional studies it will not be surprising, as many new technologies, drugs and foods create new risks of negative effects since people have not had time to adapt to them the way we have the natural environment over the past three million years.

Modern Fruits and Vegetables are Growing Less Nutritious

From: Nutrient content in veggies declines amid bigger yields
By LANCE GAY
Scripps Howard News Service
27-FEB-06

"[D]ata collected by the federal government shows that the nutritional content of America's vegetables and fruits has declined over the last 50 years - in some cases dramatically. ..."


SUMMARY AND COMMENT:

Donald Davis, a biochemist at the University of Texas in Austin found significant declines in six major nutrients in fruits and vegetables tracked by the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1950 to 1999 and said that the nutrient decline "has not been widely noticed" since an agriculture scientist first revealed the decline in a 1981 research paper comparing garden crops grown in the US with those in England.

Davis suspects the trend in agriculture toward crops that grow the fastest and largest is a reason for the decline. The faster-growing plants have less time to acquire nutrients by photosynthesis or from the soil. Davis said his study shows that people need to eat even more vegetables and fruits to make up for the nutrient decline. Trying to find older varieties of fruits and vegetables, perhaps from small organic farms, would also seem to make sense.

Davis' findings confirm earlier British and American research which found that vegetables are becoming less nutritious and fruits more sweet. The level of nutrients in foods is critical because people are eating less fresh fruits and vegetables and nutrient deficiencies appear to be a major problem. The British National Diet and Nutrition Survey revealed that "the blood plasma of a quarter of British men and a third of women was iron-deficient and that many people may also be deficient in nutrients such as selenium and vitamins C and B12." (It’s not the fruit it used to be..., Jonathan Leake, Environment Editor, The Sunday Times, 8 February 2004, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-993250,00.html as of 2/28/06)

When it comes to fruit and vegetable varieties and even breeds of animals, older tends to be better. The closer a food is to its ancient wild origins, the healthier it tends to be. As a general rule, new is not improved when it comes to food.

Study Review Debunks Soy Health Claims

The Associated Press
Jan. 23, 2006

DALLAS - Veggie burgers and tofu might not be so great at warding off heart disease after all.

An American Heart Association committee reviewed a decade of studies on soy’s benefits and came up with results that are now casting doubt on the health claim that soy-based foods and supplements significantly lower cholesterol.

...

The panel also found that neither soy nor the soy component isoflavone reduced symptoms of menopause, such as “hot flashes,” and that isoflavones don’t help prevent breast, uterine or prostate cancer. Results were mixed on whether soy prevented postmenopausal bone loss.

Based on its findings, the committee said it would not recommend using isoflavone supplements in food or pills. It concluded that soy-containing foods and supplements did not significantly lower cholesterol, and it said so in a statement recently published in the journal Circulation.

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My take:

This news regarding the lack of health benefits for soy, which is a legume, will be no surprise to paleolithic nutrition experts like Dr. Loren Cordain. He stated in his book, The Paleo Diet:

"My research group and I have recently published a paper in the British Journal of Nutrition describing our theory that dairy foods, grains, legumes, and yeast may be partly to blame for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases in genetically susceptible people. Legumes and grains contain substances called "lectins." These substances are a mixture of protein and carbohydrates that plants have evolved to ward off insect predators. Because of the carbohydrate portion of the lectin molecule, lectins can bind with almost any tissue in our bodies and wreak havoc-if they can enter the body, that is."

While there is disagreement over when legumes were first eaten in significant quantities by humans, there is general agreement that they were not a staple food during the Paleolithic era or before. Those who know and understand the history of the human diet know that foods like legumes that were not a major part of that diet for most of human history can predict that these foods will not found to be healthy and are likely to be eventually confirmed by studies to be somewhat or significantly unhealthy.

Eggs beat bagels in intake study

Metro Toronto, Canada
Lifestyle
Published January 12, 2006

... The American College of Nutrition is touting results of a study that found eggs are better than bagels at curbing the appetite.

...

The study, published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, found that eating two eggs for breakfast, instead of a small bagel, reduced hunger and caloric intake at lunch and over the next 24 hours.

Study participants received one of two breakfasts with the same caloric and weight value: the first group ate two scrambled eggs and two slices of toast with low-calorie jelly, while the second group ate a 3 1/2-in. bagel with cream cheese and a small container of fat-free yogurt. The results showed that the first group, who ate eggs, had an average 163 fewer calories at lunch that day. On average, over the following 24 hours, this group ate 418 fewer calories.

...
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My take: Not surprising, given that eggs are a natural, ancestral food, whereas bagels, cream cheese and yogurt are man-made inventions. The best chicken eggs available in stores today say "Omega 3" on the package--they are higher in healthy omega 3 fatty acids.

Autism Increasingly Common--Parents Find that Diet and Supplements Help

Autism is "the fastest growing developmental disability among children. The number of children diagnosed with autism has risen from one in 2,000 15 years ago to one in 250 two years ago to 1 in 166 today."
(Autism ever more common: Mother assures parents there is hope, By TAMMY BOULD, The Register-Mail, Sunday, December 18, 2005)

The number of anecdotal cases of autistic children being helped by diets and supplements continues to grow and more and more parents are trying this approach despite the skepticism of doctors. For example, four-year-old Tyler Ferris of Galesburg, Illinois has autism and is helped by a special diet and supplements. (Autism ever more common). Joe and Selina Farrell of Orange County, California, started their son Joseph on a wheat- and dairy-free diet. "After some months, they said, Joseph began to think more clearly and had less self-stimulating behavior seen in autistic children." (Sunday, December 25, 2005, Alternative Approach: Parents of some autistic kids are at odds with many experts over the efficacy of nontraditional treatments, By JENIFER B. MCKIM, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER)

More parents nationwide are trying a wheat- and dairy-free diet to treat autism, many under the supervision of doctors trained by the Autism Research Institute. A conference held by Defeat Autism Now, a project of the Autism Research Institute that promotes the DAN! diet to treat autism, included a discussion of the "debated theory that autistic symptoms can be caused by intestinal and immune-system problems that prompt toxins to affect the brain."

More and more research has made connections between the diseases of modern civilization, immune system malfunctions (autoimmune illness), gastrointestinal problems and modern foods. If doctors were aware of the latest science in autism, evolutionary nutrition, and paleolithic anthropology, they might not doubt the parents of autistic children so much.

Brain Inflammation and Immune Activation Linked To Autism

Last Updated: Monday, 15 November, 2004, 00:02 GMT
BBC News
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Johns Hopkins University research, published in Annals of Neurology, "produced compelling evidence that autism may in some cases be linked to inflammation of the brain."

They found certain immune system components that promote inflammation are consistently activated in people with autism.

...

The condition has a strong genetic component [..., but] the number of children with autism appears to be increasing more than expected for a genetic disorder.

This suggests ... that genetic abnormalities require the influence of other factors to cause the disorder.

Birth complications, toxins, diet, and viruses and other pathogens have been suggested, though there is no strong evidence for any of these.

...

Compared with normal control brains, the brains of the people with autism were found to contain abnormal patterns of immune system proteins called cytokines and chemokines consistent with inflammation.

Researcher Dr Carlos Pardo-Villamizar said: "These findings reinforce the theory that immune activation in the brain is involved in autism [...]."

Similarly, samples of cerebrospinal fluid obtained from six children with autism were also found to contain elevated levels of cytokines.

The researchers say it might eventually be possible to develop a diagnostic test for autism based on looking for signs of inflammation - and that treating this inflammation might reduce the symptoms of autism.

Another study found raised levels of nitric oxide in the plasma of children with autism. Nitric oxide plays a role in the immune response, and is known to affect neurodevelopmental processes.

Autistic Child Helped by an Ancestral Diet

Ray Audette, author of NeanderThin, reported the following success story on June 29, 2004. While one anecdotal case like this is not strong scientific evidence, it does offer yet another ray of hope that the world's leadings scientists in the field of Paleolithic nutrition may be on to something:

Larry was vegetatively austistic when Mary first e-mailed me some years ago. I sent her a book (free) and a bag of pemmican in the next day[']s mail. One week later, she called me on the phone to tell me that Larry had started to say words again and was making eye contact for the first time in years. Two month[s] later she called again to tell me that Larry had hug[g]ed her and said "I love you Mommy". Last year she called to tell me that he had won the school spelling bee!

Helping Larry (and the others who have contacted me) was the most important thing I had ever done in my life. It is the reason I persist in being controversial in spite of personal and financial hardships I have endured to continue.

People who meet him tell me that Gray-Hawk (my own 9 year old son) is the best testimonial for my book. Helping others with their children is my way of thanking God for giving him to me.

Study Finds Food Allergies Suspected in GI Symptoms

Milk Not Seen as a Major Culprit

"In a previous study, Dr. Laura Paajanen of the Foundation for Nutrition Research in Helsinki and her team found evidence that gastrointestinal problems in school-age children were sometimes due an intolerance to cow's milk. They conducted the current investigation to determine the cause of similar discomfort in young adults."

Unfortunately, the placebo beverage contained soy, another modern food and also one that is associated with allergies. A true placebo beverage would contain no modern or more allergenic foods. They found milk induced symptoms in just 2 of the 23 study participants who completed the test, despite the fact that four of 47 study participants carried a gene associated with lactose intolerance (which would suggest that two participants should not include milk in their diet, despite showing no symptoms, because of genetic predisposition to intolerance).

However, study participants who had gastrointestinal problems did show higher levels of markers (antibodies) of immune system activity within their intestines and in their blood. "They were also twice as likely as people without symptoms to carry a gene associated with autoimmunity," according to study results.

"The findings suggest that some type of allergic reaction to food may cause such gastrointestinal symptoms, but that cow's milk is rarely the cause, the researchers report." Which leaves the question, which are the allergenic foods involved? Wheat is certainly worth investigating, based on past studies.

Source:
Cow's milk intolerance rare in young adults
Yahoo News
Wed Dec 14, 3:12 PM ET

ADD/ADHD Linked to Diet

The accumulating evidence is making it ever more difficult for anyone to deny a likely link between ADD/ADHD and diet. The holidays are an especially difficult time for parents of children with ADD/ADHD, because there are so many tempting and reactive modern foods available at this time of year: candy, cookies, cakes, pies, brownies, bread, stuffing and so on.

A study published in the May 2005 issue of the journal Pediatrics found that children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)--which has substantial overlap with ADHD, dyslexia and autism--had dramatic improvement in their ADHD-related symptoms after taking essential fatty acid supplements for three months. The symptoms that improved included hyperactivity, restless and impulsive behaviors, inattention, opposition, cognitive problems, and anxiety, and their performance on spelling and reading tests also improved, with no adverse side effects. Essential fatty acids like omega 3 fatty acids formed a much larger part of the Paleolithic diet than today's standard American diet (SAD).

A 1999 review of studies found that most of the evidence pointed to a link between ADD and diet and that the food industry was ignoring the growing body of evidence:

Studies Show that Diet May Trigger Adverse Behavior in Children
HHS urged to Recommend Dietary Changes as Initial Treatment

WASHINGTON - In a [1999] review of two dozen scientific studies, the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) contends that food dyes and certain foods can adversely affect children's behavior. CSPI, in a 32-page report titled "Diet, ADHD, and Behavior," charges that federal agencies, professional organizations, and the food industry ignore the growing evidence that diet affects behavior.

The report cites 17 controlled studies that found that diet adversely affects some children's behavior, sometimes dramatically. Most of the studies focused on artificial colors, while some also examined the effects of milk, corn, and other common foods. The percentage of children who were affected by diet and the magnitude of the effect varied widely among the studies. Six other studies did not detect any behavioral effect of diet.

"It makes a lot more sense to try modifying a child's diet before treating him or her with a stimulant drug," said Dr. Marvin Boris, a pediatrician in Woodbury, New York, whose 1994 study found that diet affected the behavior of two-thirds of his subjects. [...]

Researchers have also found that 79% of hyperactive children improved when suspect foods (foods that included sugars, artificial colorings and flavorings and foods that seemed to cause allergic reactions--including dairy products, soy products, chocolate, wheat, oranges, eggs, legumes, mushrooms, and yeast containing foods) were eliminated from their diets, and that their symptoms worsened again when the foods were reintroduced. (March 9, 1985 issue of the British Medical Journal, Lancet).

As with autism and so many other modern illnesses and syndromes, accumulating evidence strongly suggests a link between ADD/ADHD and diet. This could help explain the recent rapid increase in ADD/ADHD cases, which coincides with increases in obesity, type 2 diabetes and other disorders and diseases of civilization. The Paleolithic/evolutionary model of nutrition could help explain a host of chronic modern illnesses.

Unfortunately, there aren't many large industries that would fund Paleolithic nutrition research the way there are for research seeking to demonstrate the benefits of modern foods like whole grains and low-fat dairy. There isn't a lot of profit to drive Paleo research, so humanity will likely have to suffer a lot longer before these findings become widely known and more thoroughly researched.

The Autism - Diet Connection

The links: Autism – Autoimmune Disease – Connective Tissue Disorders – GI Disorders - Diet

In addition to the recent [controversial] links made between thimerosal (a mercury preservative commonly used in a number of childhood vaccines) and autism, there have also been links made between diet and autism, though not all studies support the connection. The evidence is sufficiently strong to make a dietary approach worth trying by parents, under the supervision of a doctor or nutritionist [open to ancestral diets], and worthy of further investigation by scientists.

Autism is an autoimmune disease (see Autoimmune Disease Research Foundation, A Theory of Autoimmune Disease, and Autoimmune Diseases, IMMUNOSCIENCES LAB., INC.). Many independent sources have found a link between autoimmune disease and diet. For example, the NeanderThin program, created by author Ray Audette, “is based on the authors’ research into the connection between autoimmune disease … and agricultural foods.” Dr. Loren Cordain of Colorado State University has also researched this connection. He states the following in his book, The Paleo Diet:

Many environmental agents have been suspected in the development of autoimmune diseases. But only one of these types has proved capable of causing a disease. Cereal grains—such as wheat, rye, barley, and oats—are responsible for celiac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis. In celiac disease, the immune system attacks and destroys cells in the intestine, leading to diarrhea and many nutritional problems. In dermatitis herpetiformis, the skin is attacked.

Withdrawal of all gluten-containing cereals causes complete remission of both diseases. Cereal grains, dairy products, and legumes are suspected in other autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis.

Autism has many symptoms and characteristics in common with connective tissue disorders. There is a strong connection between connective tissue disorders, diet and nutritional deficiencies, which is explored in depth at Sandy Simmon’s Web site (www.ctds.info). Symptoms that are associated with both autism and connective tissue disorders include (but are not restricted to): allergies, anxiety, arrhythmia, asthma, attention deficit disorder, autistic-like behaviors, bowel symptoms, eye disorders, food intolerances and allergies, hypersensitivity to sensory stimuli, mood instability, muscle pain, obsessive-compulsive disorder, repetitive language, sleep difficulties, and strong food preferences and aversions. One connective tissue disorder, fragile x, is found in 10% of autism cases.


Research has linked autism to gastrointestinal disorders. A University of Maryland study strongly made the link:

UM DOCTORS FIND FIRST CLEAR LINK BETWEEN AUTISM AND GASTROINTESTINAL DISORDER
1999 Releases - University of Maryland Medical News
Originally Released: December 12, 1999
BMJ 2002;325:419-421 ( 24 August 1999 )

Children with autism have a much higher rate of gastrointestinal disorders than other children, according to a study conducted by doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. The study, led by Karoly Horvath, M.D., Ph.D, further suggests that gastrointestinal disorders may contribute to some of the behavioral problems associated with autistic children and may be caused by low levels of the hormone secretin in the body.

…. Fifty-eight percent of the examined children with autism suffered from chronic diarrhea caused by malabsorption of carbohydrates. ….

Numerous studies have linked autism to diet. Here are links and excerpts from just some of them:

Nutr Neurosci. 2002 Sep;5(4):251-61.
A randomised, controlled study of dietary intervention in autistic syndromes.
Knivsberg AM, Reichelt KL, Hoien T, Nodland M.

The development for the group of children on diet was significantly better than for the controls.

Panminerva Med. 1995 Sep;37(3):137-41.
Food allergy and infantile autism.
Lucarelli S, Frediani T, Zingoni AM, Ferruzzi F, Giardini O, Quintieri F, Barbato M, D'Eufemia P, Cardi E.

“The aim of the present study has been to verify the efficacy of a cow's milk free diet (or other foods which gave a positive result after a skin test) in 36 autistic patients. We also looked for immunological signs of food allergy in autistic patients on a free choice diet. We noticed a marked improvement in the behavioural symptoms of patients after a period of 8 weeks on an elimination diet and we found high levels of IgA antigen specific antibodies for casein, lactalbumin and beta-lactoglobulin and IgG and IgM for casein. The levels of these antibodies were significantly higher than those of a control group which consisted of 20 healthy children. Our results lead us to hypothesise a relationship between food allergy and infantile autism as has already been suggested for other disturbances of the central nervous system.”

Expert Opin Ther Targets. 2002 Apr;6(2):175-83.
Biochemical aspects in autism spectrum disorders: updating the opioid-excess theory and presenting new opportunities for biomedical intervention.
Shattock P, Whiteley P.

“One area of interest … is the opioid-excess theory of autism. The main premise of this theory is that autism is the result of a metabolic disorder. Peptides with opioid activity derived from dietary sources, in particular foods that contain gluten and casein, pass through an abnormally permeable intestinal membrane and enter the central nervous system (CNS) to exert an effect on neurotransmission, as well as producing other physiologically-based symptoms. Numerous parents and professionals worldwide have found that removal of these exogenously derived compounds through exclusion diets can produce some amelioration in autistic and related behaviours. There is a surprisingly long history of research accompanying these ideas. The aim of this paper is to review the accompanying evidence in support of this theory and present new directions of intervention as a result of it.”

Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004(2):CD003498.
Gluten- and casein-free diets for autistic spectrum disorder.
Millward C, Ferriter M, Calver S, Connell-Jones G.

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that peptides from gluten and casein may have a role in the origins of autism and that the physiology and psychology of autism might be explained by excessive opioid activity linked to these peptides. Research has reported abnormal levels of peptides in the urine and cerebrospinal fluid of persons with autism. If this is the case, diets free of gluten and /or casein should reduce the symptoms associated with autism. ….

MAIN RESULTS: The one trial included reported results on four outcomes. Unsurprisingly in such a small-scale study, the results for three of these outcomes (cognitive skills, linguistic ability and motor ability) had wide confidence intervals that spanned the line of nil effect. However, the fourth outcome, reduction in autistic traits, reported a significant beneficial treatment effect for the combined gluten- and casein- free diet.

Food allergy and infantile autism.
Authors: Lucarelli S , Frediani T , Zingoni AM , Ferruzzi F , Giardini O , Quintieri F Barbato M, D'Eufemia P , Cardi E
Department of Paediatrics, University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy.
Panminerva Med 1995 Sep;37(3):137-41

“Researchers at Johnson & Johnson have found a very toxic compound in the urine of children with autism - dermorphin. Dermorphin is only found one other place in nature - the poison of the Amazonian Poison Dart Frog! It is 10 million times more potent and toxic than morphine (Alan Friedman, PhD at J&J). Other researchers have confirmed it is essentially always present in children with autism that receive even tiny amounts of casein or gluten.”

The rate of autism in the population in America has been rising, indicating an environmental factor(s) in causation. Even though thimerosal is being phased out, autism rates have been rising, suggesting that there is another factor(s) involved.

Autism's Surge Mystifies
By Anita Manning, USA TODAY
May 18, 2004, p. 8D

Autism, once a rare and mysterious disorder, is no longer so rare. A generation ago, only two to four of every 10,000 children were labeled autistic. Today, it's more like 60 per 10,000 by some estimates.

But no one knows why. Experts cite a much greater awareness of autism and related conditions, grouped as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), and a broader definition that has allowed children who might otherwise have been overlooked to receive a diagnosis. But they also say there has been an actual increase, and the reasons for that are not entirely clear — though there are plenty of theories.

....

"We know there are genetic factors," Hollander says, but something else may also be involved. "It is possible there are environmental factors" that trigger the genes.

Several possibilities have been investigated, from junk-food diets, which are high in fatty acids that could interfere with the coating of nerve cells in the brain, to a drug used to induce labor in pregnant women. But no environmental link has been found.

…

List of Scientists Supporting the Paleo Model is Growing

More and more scientists, doctors and experts are doing research related to Paleolithic nutrition and advocating the basic Paleolithic nutritional and lifestyle model, including the following:

• Loren Cordain, Ph.D., Professor of Health and Exercise Science at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, author of The Paleo Diet, www.ThePaleoDiet.com
• S Boyd Eaton, MD, Professor of Radiology and Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, author of The Paleolithic Prescription: A Program of Diet and Exercise and a Design for Living
• Lionel Tiger, Ph.D., Charles Darwin Professor of Anthropology, Rutgers University
• Jeanne Sept, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology, Indiana University, Bloomington
• Artemis P. Simopoulos, MD, founder and President of The Center for Genetics, Nutrition and Health, Washington, D.C., author of The Omega Diet
• Bo Ahren, MD, Head, Research Department, Lund University Hospital, Sweden
• Anthony Sebastian, MD, Department of Medicine and UCSF/Moffitt General Clinical Research Center, University of California, San Francisco
• Bruce A. Watkins, Ph.D., Professor and University Faculty Scholar, Director of the Center for Enhancing Foods to Protect Health, Purdue University
• Mary D. Eades, MD, co-author of Protein Power: The High-Protein/Low Carbohydrate Way to Lose Weight, Feel Fit, and Boost Your Health-in Just Weeks!
• Michael R. Eades, MD, co-author of Protein Power: The High-Protein/Low Carbohydrate Way to Lose Weight, Feel Fit, and Boost Your Health-in Just Weeks!
• Paul W. Ewald, Ph.D., Evolutionary biologist, Professor of Biology at Amherst College
• Greg L. Florant, Ph.D., Professor of Physiology, Colorado State University
• Kristen Hawkes, Professor of Anthropology, University of Utah, http://www.anthro.utah.edu/hawkes.html
• Magdalena Hurtado, Associate Professor of Anthropology, a human evolutionary ecologist who has spent many years studying the Ache, a group of hunter-gatherers who live in the South American country of Paraguay; her story is told in Anthropologist: Scientist of the People, by Mary Batten
• James H. O'Keefe, Jr, MD, Mid America Heart Institute, Cardiovascular Consultants
• Neil Mann, the Department of Food Science, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
• Staffan Lindeberg, the Department of Medicine, Lund University, Sweden
• Bruce A Watkins, the Department of Food Science, Lipid Chemistry and Molecular Biology Laboratory, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
• Janette Brand-Miller, the Human Nutrition Unit, Department of Biochemistry, University of Sydney, Australia
• Peter S. Ungar, Professor of Anthropology, University of Utah, co-editor of Human Diet: Its Origin and Evolution
• Mark F. Teaford, Professor of Anthropology, Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, co-editor of Human Diet: Its Origin and Evolution
• Eric B. Ross, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology, Institute of Social Studies, co-editor of Food and Evolution: Toward a Theory of Human Food Habits
• Melvin Konner, Ph.D., Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor of Anthropology and Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology at Emory University, www.anthropology.emory.edu/FACULTY/ANTMK

and more ....

GI Disorders Linked to Modern Foods

Accumulating evidence links gastrointestinal diseases and disorders to modern foods. Leading scientists believe that the reason grains, as well as dairy and possibly legumes, contribute to the development of GI diseases and other chronic disorders is that the human body has not evolved to digest these agrarian foods. The human body is believed to be best adapted to eating the wild foods that were consumed from 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago--not the modern (agrarian and processed) foods introduced during the last 10,000 years. The diseases that result from consuming these modern foods, which include diverticulosis, diverticulitis, and other GI disorders, are called "diseases of civilization."

Diverticulosis, which is an acquired condition marked by mucosal herniation through defects in the colonic wall, has been termed both a "disease of the 20th century" and a "disease of Western civilization" due to its increasing prevalence in modern times and its striking geographical variability. (S. Jun and N. Stollman, Epidemiology of Diverticular Disease, Best Practice & Research: Clinical Gastroenterology, 2002 Aug;16(4):529-42)

Interestingly, diverticulosis was virtually unknown prior to the 20th century, and all studies indicate that its prevalence is increasing, especially in the urban areas of Western countries. An increasing incidence also is occurring in population groups that have moved from rural or less-developed regions to industrialized centers. The low incidence of diverticulosis in the less-developed countries of Africa may be explained in part by the high fiber content of the diet in those areas. (Ralph M. Myerson, Control diverticulosis with a high-fiber diet - includes related information, Better Nutrition (1989-90), August, 1989)

Modern foods like sugars, vegetable oils, dairy products, refined grains, and even whole grains, contain much less fiber than the fruits and vegetables common in most Stone Age diets. This lower intake of high quality dietary fiber may contribute to some modern illnesses.

Origins and evolution of the Western diet: health implications for the 21st century
Loren Cordain, S Boyd Eaton, Anthony Sebastian, Neil Mann, Staffan Lindeberg, Bruce A Watkins, James H O’Keefe and Janette Brand-Miller
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Fiber content

The fiber content (15.1 g/d) (23) of the typical US diet is considerably lower than recommended values (25–30 g) (116). Refined sugars, vegetable oils, dairy products, and alcohol are devoid of fiber and constitute an average of 48.2% of the energy in the typical US diet (Table 1). Furthermore, fiber-depleted, refined grains represent 85% of the grains consumed in the United States (Table 1), and because refined grains contain 400% less fiber than do whole grains (by energy), they further dilute the total dietary fiber intake. Fresh fruit typically contains twice the amount of fiber in whole grains, and nonstarchy vegetables contain almost 8 times the amount of fiber in whole grains on an energy basis (64). Fruit and vegetables known to be consumed by hunter-gatherers also maintain considerably more fiber than do their domestic counterparts (145). Contemporary diets devoid of cereal grains, dairy products, refined oils and sugars, and processed foods have been shown to contain significantly more fiber (42.5 g/d) than either current or recommended values (159).

Once again, the displacement of fiber-rich plant foods by novel dietary staples, introduced during the Neolithic and Industrial periods, was instrumental in changing the diets that our species had traditionally consumed—a diet that would have almost always been high in fiber. Soluble fibers (those found primarily in fruit and vegetables) modestly reduce total and LDL-cholesterol concentrations beyond those achieved by a diet low in saturated fat and fiber, by slowing gastric emptying, may reduce the appetite and help to control caloric intake (171). Diets low in dietary fiber may underlie or exacerbate constipation, appendicitis, hemorrhoids, deep vein thrombosis, varicose veins, diverticulitis, hiatal hernia, and gastroesophageal reflux (172).

Some medical doctors, such as Sidney V. Haas and Harv Haakonson, have for years had much success treating their patients with diets that are lower in modern foods like grains (www.scdiet.info/main.asp, www.pecanbread.com/elainesstory.html, www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info, www.slowcarbforlife.com/science.htm ).

Unfortunately, it usually takes many years for radical scientific breakthroughs to filter down into the general medical community and spread out beyond the innovators and early adopters. So in general, the best source of dietary information today is not MD’s or nutritionists—it is anthropologists who have studied hunter-gatherers.

"Back Engineering" the Causes of Acne from an Ancestral "Template"

From: The Paleo Diet Newsletter-November 1, 2005

Dr. Loren Cordain reports that "in the dermatology community, diet has long been dismissed as an underlying factor in the development of acne (1), but unfortunately no alternative hypotheses regarding its fundamental origin have been proffered. Consequently for most dermatologists, the root cause of acne remains unknown (1). When my research group and I originally began to examine whether or not diet had anything to do with acne, our first and foremost question was, "does it occur in hunter gatherers and other less westernized people?" Once we were relatively certain that acne was a "disease of civilization" and was virtually nil or absent in non-westernized populations (2), it then became a matter of "back engineering" how certain western dietary elements could influence the known proximate causes of acne (1, 2). Proof that diet causes acne now exists from a dietary intervention involving 47 acne patients in Melbourne, Australia from the laboratory of my colleague Neil Mann. Hence, the insight and ability to answer this formerly contentious diet/health question (does diet cause acne?) came not from years and years of directly studying acne per se, but rather by examining the origins of this disease from an evolutionary perspective."

Dr. Cordain Explains that breakthroughs in understanding human nutrition and health can be achieved once one understands the ancestral/evolutionary model that underpins it all, when he states that "controversies typify the chaos and disarray that run rampant in the science of human nutrition. By placing the evolutionary template over [dietary controversies], you can gain instant insight into the dietary patterns for which our species is genetically adapted."

1. Cordain, L. Implications for the role of diet in acne. Semin Cutan Med Surg 2005;24:84-91.
2. Cordain L, Lindeberg S, Hurtado M, Hill K, Eaton SB, Brand-Miller J. Acne vulgaris: A disease of western civilization. Arch Dermatol 2002; 138:1584-90.