This recipe comes from the Radiant Recipes cookbook. This is a recipe that caught Kathleen's eye (smile). It was sent in by Kay.

Quiche

Crust:

• 1/2 c. Old Fashioned oats
• 1/4 c. butter
• 1/4 c. parmesan cheese, grated

Filling:

• 5 eggs, beaten
• 1 c. cream
• 1/4 c. of any and all of the following: diced ham, bacon, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, green onions, etc.
• 1/4 c. of cheese, any type you like
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Chop the oats. Melt the butter in the bottom of a quiche pan or dish. Add the Oats and the parmesan cheese. Mix the melted butter, oats and parmesan cheese well. Pat it around the bottom and sides of the dish. Using the back of a spoon might be helpful. Put the dish into the oven and bake for 5 minutes. The crust will puff a bit. Remove and cool. Lower oven to 350 degrees.

Add the filling. Mix eggs and cream well. Add the filling ingredients you like. Add the cheese and seasonings and mix well. Pour into the prepared crust and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean (about 40 minutes).

Kay says her favorite combination is fresh spinach, bacon, mushrooms, and sharp cheddar cheese. Enjoy!

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**Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**

In this week’s chat I was talking about what weight loss entails. I realize that it is so much fun to be reworking our map in person. It is as if we started off with a large scale map and now are discovering the tiny roads and contours. I think the thing that amazes me is how much fun we are having. Last night we were laughing so hard that no one could type. Who would have thought that weight loss would be fun!

For those of you who are not yet YLD members, Click here if you are ready to change your life or just plain ole have fun.

 

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**Radiant Ambassadors**

We just ordered another 10,000 ambassador cards. Thank you all so much for sharing the vision and hope. If you ever have times when you are telling someone about the program and wished you had something to give them, check out the special cards we have for you. If you haven't gotten any cards to pass out yet, order them now. They are free! It is a great way to spread the word. And if you want to share with others the exciting things you are doing, come join the ambassador group.

Come find us among the Online Groups

And a reminder, the bigapple group (for those in the New York Metropolitan Area) is having a get together on Sunday, March 13, Come join the bigapple email group through which final plans are being made this week. We are thinking of lunch around noon and possibly a show afterward for which we will have free tickets.

Come find us among the Online Groups

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**David's Corner **

 

This week I wanted to share a little about the CDs we have. I keep hearing from people that they are listening to What Else is Embedded in The Steps and loving it. Or else they listen to the Warrior Sprit and their entire perspective of their program and weight loss changes.

Now, these are not high tech recordings from some place like Nightengale Conant. We recorded Kathleen's speaking at ranch so the energy is the heart of our program. Every year Kathleen presents some new ideas at Ranch. They are always striking and very exciting. Last year we did something outrageous and made sure they were recorded. If you want to get something you will never find in the books, check out the CDs!

And by the way, you sure do love those mugs. They keep flying off the shelves. We have one woman who works in a nursing home. She got a mug for every patient and said, 'here this is how much you need to drink today.' She said it is working!

Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better.

Thanks
David

And of course, we have something for everybody in our store

 

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**Our Online Groups**

Hi, I'm Naomi, the liaison for RadiantYisroel. We are a group of mostly Torah observant Jews who get together to discuss the unique difficulties of doing the program while observing the Torah lifestyle. For example, we are forbidden to write on our Sabbath and Holidays, so how do we journal, especially if we have three holiday days in a row? Or how do we alter recipes to make them kosher and program friendly. Or how we get breakfast in within an hour of waking up when we are supposed to pray before eating? And, of course, there are the difficulties inherent in observing some of the holidays when those holidays involve a tradition of eating foods that are damaging to a sugar sensitive person. We also sometimes just talk about how doing the food has helped us overall in our lives . I know that doing the food has really helped enhance my own connection to G-d and made being Torah observant that more meaningful. If you are someone who thinks they would benefit from joining this list, I would love to see you there!

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** Featured Topic**
Some Reflections on Autism
Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.

A number of you have asked me about autism and Asperger’s Syndrome and what you might do nutritionally? While I am not an expert in autism, I can outline some of the research that is being done and share my reflections on how it might fit together. You have the lived experience. Perhaps we can explore our way to some working solutions.

I have often wondered about autism. A couple of years ago I got a gorgeous rescue golden retriever. Her people gave her up because she was a “behavioral problem”. I took her and then observed. She would not connect, made no eye contact, and spent her days immobile with her head under the bed. She collected all the dog toys and hoarded them with her there under the bed. She could not cope with new experiences. She was stubborn, willful and terrified of rain and thunder. I worked with her behaviorally for 6 months with no change made.

Eventually, I took her to a homeopathic vet to see if he might offer some perspective. We met for an hour. He said, “I think she is autistic.” He had a remedy for her, but had to order it and said it would take 2 weeks. I figured while I was waiting, I would play with her food and see what happened. I did and in 3 days, this dog was transformed. She connected, she started wagging her tail, she started to play with the other dogs. Six months more and she was in a loving home being funny and loving. She is at times a little quirky, but they adore her and see her as a normal dog. The transformation got my attention.

Science does not know what autism is or how to treat it. Basically, researchers admit that they are trying stuff to see if it makes any difference. But as I started reading the literature, I found some intriguing connections.

Autistic children generally have high levels of serotonin in their blood platelets, but the level of “free” serotonin was low. This means that somehow the serotonin that is in the blood gets bound to the platelets but extra does not float around. This may mean high serotonin in blood cells, but low serotonin in brain.

One study suggests that this early high level could have an impact on the infant brain. Small babies do not have a formed blood-brain barrier; so high levels of serotonin could cross over ad “knock out” or overload the brain. This would mean a dysfunction in the serotonin receptor system. Fewer receptor sites, or impaired receptor binding, could account for the strange combination of no impulse control and obsessive brain lock we see in autistic children. At any rate, think of impaired serotonin function in your children. It is complex and not really clear, but there is no question that serotonin in some form is implicated.

Research also comments on the fact that autistic children have high beta-endorphin levels. The literature does not reference baseline beta-endorphin but talks about an exaggerated stress response. Measuring beta-endorphin evokes stress, so the high levels they see may be a function of the exaggerated stress reaction. Stress evokes BE, and generally serotonin modulates the spike. If the serotonin system is impaired, there could be nothing to tone the beta-endorphin spike down so there would be a constant spiking and crashing.

Higher BE levels are associated with difficulty in bonding. BE is designed to kill pain, it creates “numb”. This can be life saving in a crisis, but it does not bode well for bonding. Children treated with a BE blocker actually had fewer autistic symptoms. Researchers used a drug called Naltrexone that sits in beta-endorphin receptor sites and does not allow the heightened BE reaction to charge the system. But it does nothing to heal it.

I began thinking, what about food? What do we know and how might we design a food program for your kids. The variables we are working with:

1. An impaired serotonin system
2. A heightened stress response
3. Heightened levels of BE in response to the exaggerated stress response

OK, this simplifies the task. Here’s what we want to do:

1. Have no blood sugar spiking and crashing. These evoke stress. These children need to eat every 3 hours. Three meals, on time, 2 daytime snacks and an evening snack before bed.
2. No BE spiking from sugar and white things
3. Increased omega 3 fatty acids to repair the brain. The brain is made of omega 3 fatty acids. If your child’s brain does not have an adequate supply, it will be brittle rather than supple. And a brittle brain overreacts even more.

What does this mean in terms of food?

Increase the protein to make sure that the brain has the amino acids it needs to make serotonin in the brain factory. This means regular and consistent protein. And yes, I know that most of your children only want to eat carbs. Think whey protein power. Identify what proteins your kids are willing to try and use those creatively.

Give your children a children’s formula of fish oil. Check the DHA formulation we have in the store. I love Nordic Naturals Products and think they are safe and very appropriate for your children.

Ultimately, you will want to move your kids to a food plan that has no wheat, no hard-core dairy (whey protein powder is ok because it does not have casein), and no sugar. Get a subscription to the magazine Living Without (www.livingwithout.com). They are great about the no wheat, no dairy part. They do not understand about the no sugar part.

Wheat and dairy contain opioid peptides and raise BE levels more. Sugar does the same. Obviously you will not do all of this at once. But you can take out things like soda and move incrementally towards the goal.

Now, at this point, you are probably either laughing or recoiling in horror. You may be thinking, “Kathleen, that is a joke, my child only eats 2 things.” I realize we have some major logistics to get through. I am very pragmatic. But, if you knew that putting your child on a protein/veggies/oil food plan with a timed evening carb would create a profound improvement, wouldn’t you wan to at least try? I know you have spent thousands of dollars and have tried 100 other things. We have nothing to lose. Let’s share and do problem solving together.

And, of course, it is critical that YOU do the steps. You cannot even think of making these changes with your child unless you are totally steady. Let’s do it together. I am thinking of setting a group for you to share about these issues. Let me know what you think. And here are the citations. All of the abstracts are on Pub Med if you want to read them. Go to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi? if you want to read them

Akbari, H. M., H. K. Kramer, et al. (1992). "Prenatal cocaine exposure disrupts the development of the serotonergic system." Brain Res 572(1-2): 57-63.

Anderson, G. M., D. X. Freedman, et al. (1987). "Whole blood serotonin in autistic and normal subjects." J Child Psychol Psychiatry 28(6): 885-900.

Anderson, G. M., A. W. Zimmerman, et al. (2004). "Autism clinical trials: biological and medical issues in patient selection and treatment response." CNS Spectr 9(1): 57-64.

Blum, I., Y. Vered, et al. (1992). "The influence of meal composition on plasma serotonin and norepinephrine concentrations." Metabolism 41(2): 137-40.

Buitelaar, J. K. (2003). "Why have drug treatments been so disappointing?" Novartis Found Symp 251: 235-44; discussion 245-9, 281-97.

Bursztejn, C., P. Ferrari, et al. (1988). "[Metabolism of serotonin in autism in children]." Encephale 14(6): 413-9.

Cazzullo, A. G., M. C. Musetti, et al. (1999). "Beta-endorphin levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and long-term naltrexone treatment in autistic children." Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 9(4): 361-6.

Chugani, D. C. (2004). "Serotonin in autism and pediatric epilepsies." Ment Retard Dev Disabil Res Rev 10(2): 112-6.

Cook, E. H., Jr., R. C. Arora, et al. (1993). "Platelet serotonin studies in hyperserotonemic relatives of children with autistic disorder." Life Sci 52(25): 2005-15.

Hollander, E., A. Phillips, et al. (2005). "A placebo controlled crossover trial of liquid fluoxetine on repetitive behaviors in childhood and adolescent autism." Neuropsychopharmacology 30(3): 582-9.

Humble, M., S. Bejerot, et al. (2001). "Reactivity of serotonin in whole blood: relationship with drug response in obsessive-compulsive disorder." Biol Psychiatry 49(4): 360-8.

Leboyer, M., A. Philippe, et al. (1999). "Whole blood serotonin and plasma beta-endorphin in autistic probands and their first-degree relatives." Biol Psychiatry 45(2): 158-63.

McBride, P. A., G. M. Anderson, et al. (1989). "Serotonergic responsivity in male young adults with autistic disorder. Results of a pilot study." Arch Gen Psychiatry 46(3): 213-21.

McCauley, J. L., L. M. Olson, et al. (2004). "Linkage and association analysis at the serotonin transporter (SLC6A4) locus in a rigid-compulsive subset of autism." Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 127(1): 104-12.

Moore, M. L., S. F. Eichner, et al. (2004). "Treating functional impairment of autism with selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors." Ann Pharmacother 38(9): 1515-9.

Mulder, E. J., G. M. Anderson, et al. (2004). "Platelet serotonin levels in pervasive developmental disorders and mental retardation: diagnostic group differences, within-group distribution, and behavioral correlates." J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 43(4): 491-9.

Nabi, R., F. J. Serajee, et al. (2004). "Association of tryptophan 2,3 dioxygenase gene polymorphism with autism." Am J Med Genet 125B(1): 63-8.

Nader, R., T. F. Oberlander, et al. (2004). "Expression of pain in children with autism." Clin J Pain 20(2): 88-97.

Nagamitsu, S., T. Matsuishi, et al. (1997). "CSF beta-endorphin levels in patients with infantile autism." J Autism Dev Disord 27(2): 155-63.

Palermo, M. T. and P. Curatolo (2004). "Pharmacologic treatment of autism." J Child Neurol 19(3): 155-64.

Ross, D. L., W. M. Klykylo, et al. (1987). "Reduction of elevated CSF beta-endorphin by fenfluramine in infantile autism." Pediatr Neurol 3(2): 83-6.

Sandman, C. A. (1988). "Beta-endorphin disregulation in autistic and self-injurious behavior: a neurodevelopmental hypothesis." Synapse 2(3): 193-9.

Scifo, R., M. Cioni, et al. (1996). "Opioid-immune interactions in autism: behavioural and immunological assessment during a double-blind treatment with naltrexone." Ann Ist Super Sanita 32(3): 351-9.

Sodhi, M. S. and E. Sanders-Bush (2004). "Serotonin and brain development." Int Rev Neurobiol 59: 111-74.

Spivak, B., P. Golubchik, et al. (2004). "Low platelet-poor plasma levels of serotonin in adult autistic patients." Neuropsychobiology 50(2): 157-60.

Tordjman, S., G. M. Anderson, et al. (1997). "Plasma beta-endorphin, adrenocorticotropin hormone, and cortisol in autism." J Child Psychol Psychiatry 38(6): 705-15.

Tordjman, S., C. Antoine, et al. (1999). "[Study of the relationships between self-injurious behavior and pain reactivity in infantile autism]." Encephale 25(2): 122-34.

Vered, Y., P. Golubchik, et al. (2003). "The platelet-poor plasma 5-HT response to carbohydrate rich meal administration in adult autistic patients compared with normal controls." Hum Psychopharmacol 18(5): 395-9.

Whitaker-Azmitia, P. M. (2005). "Behavioral and cellular consequences of increasing serotonergic activity during brain development: a role in autism?" Int J Dev Neurosci 23(1): 75-83.

Whitaker-Azmitia, P. M., M. Druse, et al. (1996). "Serotonin as a developmental signal." Behav Brain Res 73(1-2): 19-29.

Whitaker-Azmitia, P. M., L. J. Molino, et al. (1990). "Serotonergic agents restore appropriate decision-making in neonatal rats displaying dopamine D1 receptor-mediated vacillatory behavior." Eur J Pharmacol 180(2-3): 305-9.

Whitaker-Azmitia, P. M., A. V. Shemer, et al. (1990). "Role of high affinity serotonin receptors in neuronal growth." Ann N Y Acad Sci 600: 315-30.

Willemsen-Swinkels, S. H., J. K. Buitelaar, et al. (1996). "Plasma beta-endorphin concentrations in people with learning disability and self-injurious and/or autistic behaviour." Br J Psychiatry 168(1): 105-9.

 

©Kathleen DesMaisons 2004.

Here are the folks who are helping put the newsletter together:

Gretel, the liaison for the recovery list and the webmaster puts it all together
JoAnna, the liaison for vegetarians gathers the testimonials
Naomi, the liaison for Yisroel gathers the recipes
Terri, the liaison for Ambassadors sends over the ambassadors quote
Marie, the liaison for diabetes gathers the info on the online lists
David, who runs the Radiant Recovery® Store talks about what new products we have.