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The one-page version

Low on spoons? Start here.

One idea at a time, in short sentences. You can stop anywhere. It will still be here.

About 5 minutes

The whole thing in five lines

If you only read this part, you have the idea.

  1. Spoons are energy. In the body, that energy is a molecule called ATP.
  2. Stress spends spoons fast. Fear, masking, and people pleasing all burn ATP, and using it up leaves waste behind that the body has to clear.
  3. Many autistic bodies clear that waste more slowly. The research keeps finding high oxidative stress and low glutathione in us.
  4. The gut can add more to the pile. An unbalanced gut lets bacterial waste (LPS) into the blood, which keeps the body on alert.
  5. So burnout may not be a lack of effort. It may be a body that is short on what it needs and carrying more than it can clear.

Why "eating well" might not be enough

The daily recommendations weren't written for us.

The RDAs were set to prevent deficiency in healthy people. No autistic group was part of setting them.

Our bodies may use more under oxidative stress. Some of us turn vitamins into their working forms more slowly, like folate, B6, and B2. And an inflamed gut absorbs less.

So "am I getting enough from food?" might be the wrong question. A better one is: what does my body actually need?

The pieces, one at a time

Each one gets a few sentences. The full version has the rest.

Glutathione

Your main cleanup antioxidant. Studies going back to 2004 find autistic children run lower on it and use it up faster.

Spoons, ATP, and purines

Used energy breaks down step by step until it becomes uric acid. If that chain backs up somewhere, the energy doesn't come through in a usable way.

Folate

Folate helps build new energy molecules. In about 75% of autistic children, antibodies block folate from reaching the brain. That's a delivery problem more than a gene problem.

The danger signal

Stressed cells push ATP out as an alarm. In one small trial, a drug that quiets that alarm improved core autism traits for a few weeks in all five boys who got it. Magnesium and zinc help quiet it too.

The gut and LPS

Some gut bacteria carry LPS. When it leaks into the blood, it can cause tiredness, pulling away from people, poor sleep, and pain. It also lowers zinc in the blood, one of the minerals that helps quiet that alarm.

The molybdenum cofactor

One cleanup system that handles used energy, aldehydes, and sulfites. A small study found its helper enzyme, MOCOS, turned down in 9 of 11 autistic adults. It needs molybdenum and B2.

B6 (P5P)

B6 turns glutamate, the "go" signal, into GABA, the "calm down" signal. It also helps keep oxalates down. Autistic kids not taking supplements had higher B6 in their blood, which may mean it isn't turning into P5P, the form the body uses.

B2

The quiet partner under almost everything. It activates B6, helps make usable folate, and recycles glutathione.

What I did

Three directions, worked on slowly over a few years.

✵ Where I'd start

  1. Take the pressure off first.
  2. Then minerals, B2, and folinic acid.
  3. Chitosan, if you think LPS is part of your picture.
  4. Fiber and protein changes come after that.

Go slow. One change at a time. High doses of magnesium aren't safe for everyone, especially with kidney problems. Zinc lowers copper and iron, so I take those at a different time of day. Binders also catch nutrients and medications, so I take them apart from food, supplements, and meds. This is my experience, not a dose recommendation.

What changed for me

A few of the things that cleared.

My brain improved because my body had what it needed.

This world was not designed for me, so I will redesign my world until I figure out what works.