Autism, Diet and Urinary Opioids
Friday, March 28, 2008 14:04
A recent study which compared levels of urinary opioids in autisitic boys with age-matched controls has found no connection between opioids in the urine and autism. Proponents of the “leaky gut” theory of autism believe that gluten sensitivity causes inflammation in the small bowel, resulting in damage which allows opioid peptides from food to be absorbed into the blood and then enter the urine. According to this theory, before entering the urine, these opioid peptides travel to the brain and cause the symptoms of autism.
Out of the leaky gut concept, grew the idea that excluding gluten and the milk-protein casein from the diet could reduce the levels of circulating opioids and effectively treat or cure autism. Practitioners who subscribe to this theory sometimes use tests for urinary opioid peptides in an attempt to diagnose or measure treatment success in autistic patients.
This study is important, because no urine opioids were found in the boys with autism, and overall urine profiles of boys with and without autism were the same, indicating that tests for urine opioid peptides are of poor diagnostic use in suspected cases of autism, and have no function in quantifying treatment success in autistic children. It’s important to note that this study did not look at the effectiveness of dietary therapy for the treatment of autism. It is possible that although the theory behind the mechanism was incorrect, these diets could still play a role in autism treatment.
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