Improving Detoxification Pathways By Kelly Dorfman, M. S.
Preliminary research on autistic children in England and
hyperactive youngsters in the United States has uncovered a
possible common enzyme deficiency. The enzyme in question,
phenol sulfo transferase-P (PST-P), is an important component of
liver detoxification pathways. When PST-P is inefficient, the
body cannot properly break down hormones, certain food
components, and toxic chemicals. The reason many hyperactive
children become agitated after eating foods with artificial
colors is because PST-P is needed to render the mildly toxic
dyes harmless. As the environment becomes more polluted, those
with the strongest capacity to break down poisons will survive
the best. From a natural selection perspective, hyperactivity
and autism may be nature‘s way of sorting out those with the
least ability, genetically speaking, to handle
internally/externally produced toxins or "overload". This
hypothesis is supported by research showing that environmentally
damaged