The Cause and Cure of Autism

In 2014 I came down with a mild case of thyroid cancer. I was actually elated when we discovered the tumors on my thyroid because for the previous five years my health had been falling off a cliff, and no medical professional had yet been able to tell me why, or even to help slightly, though my tests always came back as showing elevated white blood cell count. A much longer version of this story told in my book ends with my life being upended, discovering I had cystic fibrosis, and having to fight these illnesses all on my own, a journey that took me down paths of discovery I never thought possible, and over the last few years I have not only been able to get rid of my cancer symptoms but have also been able to resolve other problems like regrow my lost hair, restore my thyroid function, restore the ability to sleep, and eliminate conditions of depression, insomnia, erectile dysfunction, and even my alcoholism and addiction, which I discovered to be a neurological disorder.

While studying the neurotransmitter gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) for its promotion of sleep, relaxation, and cellular regeneration I was learning about the necessity for biotin in the sequestration of ammonia into the amino acid glutamine as I had been plagued by debilitating insomnia for almost the entirety of my adulthood. Ammonia is highly neurotoxic and causes symptoms like insomnia, brain fog, and interrupts conduction of neurological stimuli to the brain as ammonia is very structurally similar to water and as such competes with water for entry into cells. Not only that but glutamine is a major fuel source for many systems in the body, including the immune system and brain, and when we are deficient in glutamine it causes low energy, poor immune response, and can contribute also to depression, malaise, and reproductive problems. Biotin deficiency which underlies dysfunctional ammonia metabolism does not make sense because the diet is normally high in biotin, and In the course of this study I realized that certain bacteria called Streptomyces could cause biotin deficiency because they produce a biotin-binding protein called streptavidin. Avidin producing microbes have been known for some time but never considered a suspect in development of metabolic conditions because they are merely opportunistic, and indeed there is almost no research on the effects of avidin producers in the human body. But the avidin-biotin bond is the strongest known in nature and, making matters more complicated, the research industry has for decades also used Streptomyces bacteria to mass produce streptavidin for the research and medical industry in the manufacture of laboratory tests, and have developed mutant strains which produce molecules which are even more powerfully effective at binding biotin than streptavidin, which is impressive considering that the streptavidin-biotin bond is the strongest found in nature, and it may be likely that these strains now circulate in the population and make conditions of autism and metabolic disease more common and severe.

Egg whites, which contain a lot of avidin, can and do cause so-called “egg white toxicity” biotin deficiency when eaten regularly without the yolk. Egg yolk is very high in biotin so eating eggs usually does not result in biotin deficiency since the egg’s biotin binds to the egg’s avidin, but eating egg whites alone is actually very bad for our health. Many of the health problems I had as a child can be explained by biotin deficiency and some studies have recognized biotin deficiency in those with autism as well as excess of ammonia and deficiency of glutamine, and it is shown that a supplement of biotin helps alleviate many of the symptoms. Indeed, when I began supplementing biotin it helped alleviate many of the most uncomfortable symptoms which had burdened me for many, many years including the improvement of sleep, mood, alleviation of brain fog, and even better libido and energy.

Streptomyces bacteria and other avidin producers do eventually colonize all humans, but in fully grown adults the biotin deficiency they cause results in symptoms normally associated with aging such as weight gain, fatigue, or declining quality of hair or skin. Biotin is extremely important for growth, so when avidin producing microbes colonize young people it causes severe metabolic stress, gastrointestinal dysregulation, and impairs growth and development, and most people with autism spectrum disorders experience painful gastrointestinal stress, pronounced malodor problems, and high stress caused by dysregulation of the endocrine system as a consequence of B vitamin deficiencies and production of other toxic compounds by opportunistic bacteria. This chronic microbial and nutritional stress also results in even worse health issues as an adult due to long term deficiencies in necessary nutrients like the short chain fatty acids or difficulty maintaining electrolytes, and accounts for the reduced lifespan of those with autism spectrum disorders.

Not only this but Streptomyces and other pathogens actually produce ammonia to alter the pH of the gastrointestinal system to fight our healthy commensal microbes, and this also invites other harmful colonizers into the gut such as H. pylori or C. difficile which are extremely virulent and can cause life threatening infections. Opportunistic microbes also produce toxic biogenic amines like tyramine, phenylethylamine, histamine, putrescine, etc., which cause significant emotional and psychological stress so severe that it is more comfortable to engage in repetitive coping behaviors and even sometimes self harm, and because this also depletes dopamine many people with autism, especially those who are grown, also present with chronic depression. Toxic hydrogen sulfide is also produced by these opportunistic microbes which inhibits the immune system and causes yet other nutrient deficiencies such as that of copper, sulfur, and molybdenum. Researchers do not know what biological function avidin performs for the microbes which produce it, but it is clear to me that streptavidin’s purpose is to function as an antibiotic, to alter the environment and compete with other bacteria by blocking biotin.

This premature ingress of avidin-producing microbes into the guts of children is caused by exposure to factors which destroy or disturb the natural commensal gut microbiome, and can be anything from a very bad diet to exposure to antibiotics or agrochemicals like herbicides which destroy the microbiome. But we also inherit our microbiome from other humans close to us, especially our parents and mother, and dieting stress and exposure to antimicrobial chemicals can and do impair our parents microbiome which is then insufficient to fortify our own when we are born which makes children even more susceptible to dysbiotic stresses and predispose us to early microbiome dysbiosis. Supplementation of biotin can dilute streptavidin and thus overcome some of its effects, but just taking a pill of biotin will fail to resolve this problem because avidin producers are not competing with our body for biotin but instead with our commensal microbes which produce biotin. One study I found showed that microbial biotin producers were restored by a supplement of biotin delivered along with a source of prebiotics, which is fermentable substrate used by our commensal microbes as a food source (but was not restored by prebiotics alone). To accomplish this, a biotin supplement should be mixed with plant sourced beverages that contain potent prebiotics like tea, herbal tea, or fruit juices, and are most effective when consumed immediately before or alongside meals. Most supplements of biotin are also far more potent than what is required for this purpose, and can be divided into smaller doses like 1 mg per batch or 1/2 mg (500 micrograms) per glass.

Removal of all toxic agricultural chemicals like organophosphates such as glyphosate, pesticides, and dioxins from the diet by eating organically produced food as much as possible will also better help restore the commensal microbiome. Grains and potatoes are some of the biggest offenders, for instance the skins of potato concentrate herbicide chemicals so eating non organic potato can easily wipe out the microbiome every time it is eaten (i.e. diarrhea). Exposure to lawn care chemicals is also a possible source and should be removed from households entirely. Antibiotics are often required to treat other illnesses so those should not be avoided as this can be dangerous, but only used if it is really necessary and never recklessly. The following advice will also help promote better recovery from antibiotics anyway and should be practiced if antibiotics are required.

Like many pathogenic or opportunistic microbes, Streptomyces are also aerobic, which means they cannot typically survive in places low in oxygen like the human gut, except that they can also respirate on nitrates which are used in synthetic agricultural fertilizer to promote more robust plant growth. Nitrates occur in nature but the primary point of artificial fertilizer is to supply them in enormous quantities, and as a result non-organic food contains double or triple or even higher amounts of nitrate which also fuel Streptomyces in the gut. Nitrate can be acutely toxic to humans and before the use of synthetic fertilizer was regulated by the government tragic deaths and poisonings by nitrate led to regulations which limit nitrate levels, but only below that which is lethal. Nitrates are also added as preservatives to processed meat products like sausages, and nearly all flour has added thiamine mononitrate which adds yet more significant nitrate toxicity to a diet. Avoiding these can be extremely helpful not just in the resolution of autism spectrum disorders but also other metabolic problems as well. In fact, the misguided use of thiamine mononitrate for food fortification causes a significant amount of metabolic disease and metabolic stress in those who eat in an industrialized food system (more on that is discussed in my book).

Normally our stomachs actually secrete ascorbic acid (vitamin C) in digestive juice, and both stomach acid and ascorbic acid scavenge nitrates into safer nitrites and nitric oxide, specifically to prevent these kinds of microbes from colonizing the gut, so vitamin C deficiency from a poor diet can assist in causing gut conditions like Autism. But the ammonia produced by opportunistic microbes like Streptomyces and other gut pathogens like Candida, H. pylori, and even parasites actually neutralizes stomach acid and destroys ascorbic acid so that both oxygen and nitrates reach those opportunistic microbes anyway.

Those of us with autism also often present with malodor of the breath, skin, feces, and flatulence, and this malodor is that of toxic hydrogen sulfide or related molecules like methyl mercaptan produced by other pathogens which colonize the gut alongside avidin producers. Hydrogen sulfide smells offensive to human senses because the microbes which produce it are very harmful to human health and not only cause many nutrient deficiencies but actively impair the immune system. Streptomyces and hydrogen sulfide producers respirate by reducing nitrates or sulfates (we as humans reduce oxygen), and for years I searched for a reliable and effective way to easily resolve this bacterial colonization and finally found that strategy in dietary carotene, which are the yellow, orange, and red colors of foods like apricots, peaches, nectarines, mangos, papaya, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes. Carotene is actually a very powerful antireductant which functions just like an antioxidant but where antioxidants block oxidation carotene blocks reduction pathways. It is SO effective in fact it can completely eliminate malodors of the breath, feces, and flatulence if it is consumed with sufficient frequency (not quantity). Supplying a near constant stream of dietary carotene through the snacking and dining of carotene foods, by suppressing microbial respiration on nitrates and sulfates helps to inhibit those microbes which bind biotin to impair the normal metabolism of ammonia.

This is not a function of quantity, and carotene can accumulate excessively in the body and skin (the skin concentrates carotene for protection against sun damage so skin can actually turn orange, yellow, or red from excess carotene). Rather this a function of frequency, which is why it took me so long to figure this out because although I had carotene almost daily it never actually accompanied all other food intake, so when it was absent it didn’t do any good for suppressing these opportunistic microbes. Rather than going overboard and consuming enormous quantities of carotene simply snack on organic apricots (do not use sulfured products as the sulfur dioxide will wipe out the microbiome too), peaches, nectarines, plums, carrots, mango, papaya, red or orange peppers, and accompany or follow every meal with a few bites of a carotene food (if carotene is not already in the meal) in order to keep microbial reduction pathways suppressed. Because hydrogen sulfide is highly malodorous it is actually very easy to diagnose whether this is working or not and can be used to gauge if carotene intake is sufficiently frequent—yes, your shit should NOT smell bad, nor the breath, and if it does this is the presence of not only hydrogen sulfide but likely also avidin producers which bind biotin and produce ammonia to destabilize commensal microbes.

Fruit of prunus species like apricot, peaches, and plums are even more important for our health than what I can cover in this article, and having them every single day can do a great deal in treating many of the uncomfortable symptoms which accompany conditions that affect the gut. In support of frequent carotene consumption a low dose supplement of biotin can help promote better ammonia removal and assist in recovery from the harmful symptoms associated with autism, and a sign that biotin levels are increasing and ammonia reducing will be noticed as an obvious change in bowel function, primarily an increase in gut motility and reduction of transit time, but also significant reductions in constipation, bloating, brain fog, incontinence, and improvement in energy and cognitive function (ammonia strongly causes brain fog).

Also, there are a lot of microbes of putrefaction which derange the gut microbiome when there is a lot of salt in food, and it can help greatly to cut way back on food salt, but then to supplement salt in a beverage between meals so as not to become deficient in sodium or chloride. These microbes which thrive in the gut on protein and salt produce harmful biogenic amines like putrescine, cadaverine, histamine, and tyramine which are responsible for the turbulent emotions and physical suffering of those with autism, so this step helps quite a bit to normalize gut function and restore a balanced endocrine system. Lastly, microbes which produce harmful ammonia actually use water as a cofactor, and drinking plain water, sodas, or other beverages with meals actually contributes to the production of ammonia from dietary protein. Instead of water or sodas with meals use tea for adults or grape juice for children (or other fruit juices) as these contain potent phytochemicals like tannin that help inhibit ammonia production from dietary protein. This is not an insignificant step in this treatment and is most effective if practiced with all meals as a habit and not just when it is convenient. But because tea and juices are so pleasant it should not be a difficult habit to practice.

Foods like apricots, peaches, and nectarines are even more important than inhibition of nitrate and sulfate reducers as explained in my book, Fuck Portion Control. You can also explore other related articles such as how to Improve Your Resistance to Coronavirus, or Why Depression Is So Bad in the Winter. My new book, The Perfect Child, explores childhood trauma and teaches how to recover from trauma as well as how to become a great parent, and you can also catch my videos and podcast at youtube.com/natehatch