The Mystery of Autism Solved! Look to Coconut Oil!

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Stop Autism Now! A Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Reversing Autism Spectrum
Disorders by Bruce Fife, ND

Autism is a brain disorder characterized by impaired communication, poor

social interaction, and abnormal repetitive behaviors. The most obvious
characteristic is difficulty with both verbal and nonverbal communication.
About 40 percent of autistic children never learn to speak. Many seem to
have no understanding of facial expressions or body language such as a
smile or a wave. Those who can speak may do so with difficulty. Others
may not learn to speak until later in childhood. Between 25-40 percent
develop normally for the first 12 to 18 months of life and then rapidly lose
their language skills.

Currently over 1 million people have autism. This number is rapidly

growing. Over the past several years autism has increased to epidemic
proportions. Thirty years ago it affected only 1 in 2,500; today 1 out of
every 88 children in the United States has autism.

To most people, autism is a mystery. Doctors have no clue what causes it

or why it is increasing so rapidly and have no idea how to prevent or
successfully treat it. The only medically recognized form of treatment is
an attempt to teach affected children how to manage the disorder and live
with it. Antidepressants, antipsychotics, and stimulants are often
prescribed to help them cope with their symptoms. No possibility of a cure
is offered, as the condition is considered hopeless.

A number of theories have been proposed as to its cause including

genetics, vaccinations, and allergies, yet these conditions cannot explain
all cases of this terrible disorder. A new book titled Stop Autism Now! A
Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Reversing Autism Spectrum
Disorders finally solves the mystery and reveals the underlying cause of
autism – a chronic hyperactive immune response in the brain – and
explains how to correct it.1

The most rapid period of brain growth and development occurs during the
last three months of pregnancy and the first two years after birth. During
this time the brain more than quadruples in size. This is the most critical
stage of brain development. It is during this time that the brain is most
susceptible to the influences that can lead to autism.

Our immune system is our primary defense against harmful agents such
as infections and toxins. However, due to the blood-brain barrier, the
central nervous system is generally inaccessible to the white blood cells
and antibodies that protect us from harm. Therefore, the brain has its
own immune system, separate from the rest of the body. Specialized
brain cells called microglia act as the brain’s primary defense system.

Normally, microglia exist in a resting state. When activated by bacteria,

virus, or toxins they spring into action, quickly proliferating, enlarging,
mobilizing, and going on the attack, engulfing these foreign substances
and removing damaged cells. Essentially, they take on the duties and
character of white blood cells. In the process, they release chemical
signals that increase blood flow into the brain, stimulate inflammation,
and rally various substances to their aid. After the crisis is over, the
microglia gradually return to their normal docile existence.

Ordinarily, this process protects the brain while stimulating cleanup and
repair. However, during microglia activation some collateral damage is
sustained. It’s somewhat like firefighters putting out a fire. As they flood
the burning building with water and break out windows for air circulation,
they cause some damage themselves. However, this damage is necessary
in order to save the building from total destruction and to prevent the fire
from spreading. Once the fire is out, cleanup and repair restores the
building to its former use.

When microglia are activated, they initiate the release of a variety of

substances to aid in the brain’s defense. While beneficial in the short run,
some of these substances, such as proinflammatory cytokines and
chemokines, nitric oxide, excitotoxins, proteases, and free radicals, are
potentially harmful to brain tissues.

Frequent exposure to harmful agents can keep the microglia continually

activated, stoking the flames of inflammation and promoting tissue
damage. Chronic inflammation disrupts the brain’s ability to absorb
glucose, its primary source of fuel. Consequently, brain cells are in a
continuous state of starvation. In a small child, this can seriously interfere
with normal brain function and growth and even cause developmental
regression.

In 2003 neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock, MD, proposed the idea that

autism was caused by the over-activation of the brain’s immune system.
Repeated immune stimulation from vaccinations, infections, and
environmental toxins (including mercury and aluminum) could result in
severe disruption of proper brain development and function leading to
autism.2

Two years after the publication of Blaylock’s paper, researchers at Johns

Hopkins University published a study that supported his hypothesis. The
researchers examined brain tissues from 18 people with autism, aged 5 to
44 years, who had died from accidents or injuries. They also measured
levels of inflammatory proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid (the fluid that
surrounds the brain and spinal cord) in six living autistic patients, ages 5
to 12 years. In each case, they found extensive activation of the microglia
and widespread elevated inflammation. The evidence indicated that brain
immune activation had persisted for years.3 The Johns Hopkins team
concluded that overstimulation of the brain’s immune system plays a key
role in the pathogenesis of autism. They suggested the use of therapies
that would modify immune responses in the brain as a way to treat
autistic patients. These findings have now been confirmed by a number of
other researchers.4-8

Microglia over activation can be caused by a number of factors including

exposure to environmental toxins, heavy metals, infections, head trauma,
certain drugs (including vaccinations), and food allergies. Each one of
these can trigger microglia activation. Overexposure to any one or
repeated exposure to a combination of these factors can lead to micoglia
over activation and a disruption in normal glucose metabolism. Exposure
can occur before or after birth or both, so a mother’s health during
pregnancy is important too.

While conventional medicine offers no effective treatment, autism is not a

hopeless condition. It can be prevented and successfully
treated without the use of drugs. As the researchers at Johns Hopkins
University suggested, the key to fighting autism is to regulate microglia
hyperactivity. This can be accomplished using ketone therapy.

Ketones are produced specifically by the body to feed the brain. The brain
can use either glucose or ketones to satisfy its energy needs. Ordinarily,
the brain gets most of its energy from glucose. Ketones are produced only
when blood glucose levels become low. When glucose levels fall, the body
starts mobilizing stored fat to produce ketones in order to maintain
adequate energy levels.

Richard Veech, MD, a long time ketone researcher and senior scientist
with the US National Institutes of Health describes ketones as “superfuel
for the brain.” Ketones are a more potent and efficient fuel than glucose.
When ketones are available it is like putting high performance gasoline
into the tank of your car. You get better gas mileage and higher
performance with less wear and tear on the engine and less pollution.

Ketones not only supply a superior source of energy to the brain but
trigger the activation of specialized proteins called brain derived
neurotrophic factors (BDNFs) that function in brain cell maintenance,
repair, and protection.9 Ketones can have an incredible healing effect on
the brain. If blood ketone levels are raised high enough they can fuel a
heightened level of healing and repair, calm micoglia over activation,
relieve oxidative stress, ease chronic inflammation, and stimulate the
growth of healthy new brain cells. As a result, normal brain function can
be restored.
Ketone levels in the body vary depending on the amount of glucose is in
the blood. This is determined by diet. Glucose comes primarily from the
carbohydrates in our food. Reducing the consumption of carbohydrate
prompts the production of ketones. By replacing carbohydrate in the diet
with fat (which is needed in order to produce ketones), blood ketone
levels can increase to therapeutic levels. This is the basis for ketogenic
diets.

The classic ketogenic diet is very low in carbohydrate (2 percent of daily

calorie consumption) and high in fat (90 percent of calories). Ketogenic
diets were developed 90 years ago specifically to treat epilepsy and are
still used today for this purpose. Recently, they have shown to be just as
useful in treating other neurological disorders such as Alzheimer’s,
Parkinson’s, narcolepsy (a sleep disorder characterized by sudden,
uncontrollable urges to sleep), depression, and migraine headaches, as
well as autism.10-14

Preparing meals that consist of 90 percent fat and only 2 percent

carbohydrate is very difficult and often unappealing. The purpose of the
ketogenic diet is to increase blood levels of ketones to therapeutic levels.
Fortunately, there is another way to accomplish this which allows much
more flexibility in the diet. This can be achieved by replacing most of the
fats in the diet with a source of fat consisting of medium chain
triglycerides (MCTs). When MCTs are consumed they are automatically
converted into ketones by the liver. This transformation occurs regardless
of blood glucose levels. Therefore, therapeutic levels of ketones can be
obtained simply by adding an adequate source of MCTs into an otherwise
ordinary diet.

There are very few dietary sources of MCTs. The richest dietary source by
far comes from coconut oil, which is composed predominately of MCTs.
Eating coconut oil can raise blood ketones to levels that can have a
pronounced effect on brain growth and development. If the MCTs are
combined with a typical low-carb diet the effects can even be enhanced.

Thanks to coconut oil, a diagnosis of autism is no longer a life sentence. A

cure is possible. This new approach is proving to be highly effective at
stopping the progression of the disease, significantly improving
symptoms, and in many cases even bringing about complete recovery.

References
1. Fife, B. Stop Autism Now! A Parent’s Guide to Preventing and Reversing Autism Spectrum

Disorders. Piccadilly Books, Ltd.:Colorado Springs, CO, 2012.

2. Blaylock, R.L. Central role of excitotoxicity in autism. JANA 2003; 6(1):10-22.

3. Vargas, D.L., et al. Neuroglial activation and neuroinflammation in the brain of patients with

autism. Ann Neurol 2005; 57:67-81.

4. Zimmerman, A.W., et al. Cerebrospinal fluid and serum markers of inflammation in

autism. Pediatr Neurol 2005; 33:195-201.

5. Chez, M.G., et al. Elevation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha in cerebrospinal fluid of autistic

children. Pediatr Neurol 2007; 36:361-365.

6. Li, X., et al. Elevated immune response in the brain of autistic patients. J Neuroimmunol 2009;

207:111-116.

7. Sajdel-Sulkowska, E.M., et al. Increase in cerebellar neurotropin-3 and oxidative stress markers

in autism. Cerebellum 2009; 8:366-372.

8. Molloy, C.A., et al. Elevated cytokine levels in children with autism spectrum disorder. J

Neuroimmunol 2006; 172:198-205.

9. Maalouf, M., et al. The neuroprotective properties of calorie restriction, the ketogenic diet, and

ketone bodies. Brain Res Rev 2009; 59:293-315.

10. Reger, M.A., et al. Effects of beta-hydroxybutyrate on cognition in memory-impaired

adults. Neurobiol Aging 2004; 25:311-314.

11. VanItallie, T.B., et al. Treatment of Parkinson disease with diet-induced hyperketonemia: a

feasibility study. Neurology 2005; 64:728-730.

12. Husain, A.M., et al. Diet therapy for narcolepsy. Nuerology 2004;62:2300-2302.

13. Strahlman, R.S. Can ketosis help migraine sufferers? A case report. Headache 2006; 46:182.

14. Evangeliou, A., et al. Application of a ketogenic diet in children with autistic behavior: pilot

study. J Child Neurol 2003; 18:113-118.

About the Author

Bruce Fife
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Bruce Fife, C.N., N.D., is a certified nutritionist and naturopathic physician. He is
the author of more than 20 books including The Coconut Oil Miracle, The New
Arthritis Cure, and Stop Alzheimer's Now!: How to Prevent and Reverse
Dementia, Parkinson's, ALS, Multiple Sclerosis, and Other Neurodegenerative
Disorders.