Autism, Mercury, and Melanin: How and Why Sunlight and Moonlight Exposure Can Help
In this discussion, we talk about how melanin (or a lack thereof) in the skin, eyes, ears, and brain contributes to autism symptoms. Melanin is a pigment that’s found in the skin, hair, and other structures of the body such as the ears and brain. This substance has the ability to capture radiant energy and vibrations from the environment to communicate with the autonomic nervous system and the brain about the environment. Melanin, of course, interacts with sunlight and other forms of light in the environment, but it also has the ability to pick up radiant, electrical information from other human beings. Humans, after all, emit electromagnetic information and our bodies are designed to receive this information through melanin in the skin, eyes, and ears. Melanin is sadly, not a topic that's readily discussed in terms of its relationship to autism symptoms, but we'll discuss some of the most important material about this vital substance below. Mercury exposure can disrupt melanin production. On the other hand, a lack of exposure to certain other nutrients like nutritional transition metals, can lead to disrupted melanin production as well. In this discussion, we present the idea that melanin plays a major role in autism symptoms. Melanin and melanocytes, after all, are hard-wired into the sympathetic nervous system and the pineal gland.
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In order to understand our references to moonlight exposure for autism, we need to reference an article about Lunaception and the role of moonlight exposure in women’s fertility. Exposure to moonlight helps women balance their reproductive hormone levels. Reproductive hormones may seem to be irrelevant to a discussion of autism, but in fact, these hormones have been mis-portrayed in terms of their actual function in the body. Though reproductive hormones do play a role in sexual health and fertility, they do so much more. For the purposes of this discussion, however, we simply wish to point out that moonlight exposure causes measurable physiological changes in women’s bodies that are beneficial overall to their health. In children with autism who are struggling to sync up with the physical and social environment, moonlight exposure as it is administered by women doing Lunaception may also be beneficial to balance hormone levels.
What is melanin?
Sunlight exposure as well as moonlight exposure can be extremely beneficial in treating autism and ASD.The presence or absence of L-cysteine and glutathione along with the enzyme tyrosinase plays a role in directing whether the body produces a higher or lower proportion of eumelanin up against pheomelanin and vice versa. These two substances (L-cysteine and glutathione) are extremely important in terms of how the body processes energy from the environment. Eumelanin is brown or black. Pheomelanin can be yellow, orange or red. Pheomelanin is typically concentrated in the highest proportions in the following areas of the body:
- Lips
- Nipples
- Glans of the penis
- Vagina
Eumelanin in small quantities in the hair produces blonde hair. Eumelanin and pheomelanin may sometimes also be present in combination to produce orange or red hair. Pheomelanin in the skin imparts a pinkish hue to the skin. When the skin is exposed to UV light, pheomelanin and eumelanin content increases. However, a higher amount of pheomelanin in the skin and hair causes the body to reflect yellow, orange-ish and red light wavelengths.
Skin Pigmentation in Autism
Autism and pale skin go together. Scientists have noted that there are especially high autism rates in children with hypomelanotic skin disorders. Indeed, hearing impairments and deafness are also a part of ASD symptoms in the majority of patients. Indeed, there are melanocytes present in the inner ear including the following structures:- Stria vascularis in the cochlea
- Vestibular organs
Both the vestibular organs and the stria vascularis play a role in endolymph / Scarpa fluid production. Endolymph is a fluid that’s found in the labyrinth of the inner ear where it functions to help the body understand and transmit sensory information to the brain. Endolymph conveys information not just about sound, but also position of the body in space and balance. This substance is unique in the body. Disorders of the endolymph are disabling and may include hearing loss, dizziness, or other issues related to the body’s orientation in space.
In addition to its presence in the skin and in the ear, melanin is also present in the brain. Below we’ll discuss the presence of melanin in the brain in greater detail. A specific skin pigmentation occurs as a result of melanin granule accumulation in the keratinocytes in the outer layer of the skin. The melanin in the skin and the resulting pigmentation plays a role in how the body interacts with sunlight, moonlight, and other forms of radiation in the environment as the melanin content or lack thereof in the ears and brain can impact how these structures receive radiant or vibrational information from the environment and transmit it for integration and understanding.
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Sunlight for ASD Children
Though contact between the melanin in human skin and sunlight has been portrayed as an unconditionally negative thing by popular media, the truth is that melanin in the skin has a complex relationship with ultraviolet wavelengths of light as well as with other wavelengths of light. Red light, for example, tends to have a healing effect on the body. Blue light is also used to heal specific dermatological ailments. Sunlight itself is full-spectrum light.
Radiation Defined
We can say that ultraviolet light is just that—light. Or we can call ultraviolet light “radiation”. If we refer to ultraviolet light as “ultraviolet radiation” the word “radiation” sounds ominous, though in fact, anything that radiates outward from a central hub might be called “radiation”. So the use of the phrase “ultraviolet radiation” is a bit overly dramatic in terms of what ultraviolet light is and how the body responds to ultraviolet light. For the remainder of this discussion, we’ll refer to “light” as light and we ask that readers read the word “radiation” as some form of energy with radiant qualities that are not necessarily toxic or bad.
When we talk about ultraviolet light and human skin, it’s important to understand that eumelanin absorbs ultraviolet light. Pheomelanin, on the other hand is unstable when it interacts with ultraviolet light. Hyperpigmentation of the skin can be caused by stress as well as to exposure to sunlight via the alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH). The melanocotrin 1 receptor (MC1R) is a molecule found on melanin-producing cells that react with alpha-MSH. When the MC1R reacts with alpha-MSH, the melanin-producing cell produces eumelanin.
Sun Exposure, Melanin, and Melanoma
In people with red hair, the MC1R has a different configuration which causes it to be inactive. This means that people with reddish colored hair produce less eumelanin overall. But here’s where it gets interesting in terms of scientific studies into skin pigmentation and melanoma:
Though some scientific studies have shown that the alpha-MSH/MC1R signaling pathway can cause skin cancer and melanoma, other studies have shown that this pathway actually reduces inflammation throughout the body and improves immunity against the development of skin cancer and melanoma. So here we have a contradiction and conflicting reports regarding skin cancer and melanoma in terms of sunlight exposure and ultraviolet “radiation”. Supposedly, people with exclusively eumelanin skin pigmentation configurations are more immune to skin cancer, but those with yellow to red colored skin pigmentation configurations are less immune to skin cancer that’s caused by exposure to ultraviolet light. In reality, scientific studies have shown that ultraviolet light exposure may actually help prevent skin cancer even in pheomelanin configured individuals who have been deemed particularly susceptible to this disease.
Many parents with ASD children are concerned about sun exposure for autistic children because their children are so pale. Parents are afraid that their child will develop melanoma or some other form of skin cancer as a result of regular and consistent sunlight exposure. But scientific studies definitely fail to prove that sun exposure causes melanoma or other forms of skin cancer. In fact, the data indicates that sun exposure actually prevents skin cancer. On the other hand, the chemicals found in sunscreen are known carcinogens.
In addition to its ability to treat and prevent melanoma and other forms of skin cancer, sunlight exposure along with exposure to seawater has been used as a powerful and reliable psoriasis cure at the Dead Sea. Please click here to read more about how sunlight can cure diseases of toxicity like psoriasis – how and why sunlight works to detoxify the organs of detoxification.
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Sunlight Exposure, Depression, and Autism
There are quite a lot of products out there to help children with sensory intolerance in autism. Noise canceling earphones are used by a lot of parents to help their children deal with ASD sound intolerance, but light exposure is a bit different. Not all ASD children experience light intolerance, yet a number of products exist to “cancel out” certain wavelengths of light for kids with autism. Some parents may end up purchasing and using these products without realizing that they may be doing more harm than good in some cases. Exposure to full-spectrum light can heal the organs of detoxification, specifically the liver, the kidneys, and yes, even the skin. If you haven’t already read about the use of sunlight to heal psoriasis, please click here to read this information so that you can understand psoriasis as another disease of toxicity.Some parents have been warned by their doctors not to expose their child daily to direct sunlight. Instead, these parents spend money on photo-therapy and they aim synthetic light that lacks certain light wavelengths at their child to try to treat seasonal depression in autism. Full-spectrum light exposure, or sunlight exposure in autism is important because kids with autism are having a hard time orienting themselves to time and space. Sunlight exposure as well as moonlight exposure helps normal, healthy human bodies orient themselves via the production and release of hormones like melatonin, a substance that is related to and triggered for release by melanin in the skin.
Sunlight exposure can cause a detoxification reaction if the organs of detoxification respond to the full-spectrum light predictably and begin to release toxicities for removal from the body. Click here to read more about detoxification reaction. Believe it or not, even a sunburn can be regarded as a detoxification reaction in some cases. Many people have had an experience where they “burned easily” as a result of sunlight exposure though usually they don’t burn. Personally, when I lived in at a more northern altitude, I would always get a sunburn when I got my first big exposure to the sun after a long winter. That sunburn would then turn into a tan and for the rest of the summer season my skin would get tan, but it wouldn’t burn even if I was out in the sun for an entire day.
If you are concerned that your child may get a sunburn as a result of sunlight exposure, click here to read more about Jim Humble’s burn protocol using Chlorine Dioxide Solution.
Melanin Configurations
Let’s return now to a more in-depth discussion of the types of melanin found in the body.
There are three types of melanin configurations found in the human body. These include:
- Eumelanin
- Pheomelanin
- Neuromelanin
Eumelanin
Eumelanin might be black or brown. It is found in skin, hair, or eyes that have darker pigmentation. People with brown or black hair have variable amounts of eumelanin. When a person has no black eumelanin and only a small amount of brown eumelanin, the result is blonde hair.Individuals with darker skin tones due to the presence of eumelanin are able to reflect more ultraviolet wavelengths of light than individuals with other melanin configurations or in those with low levels of eumelanin in the skin.
Part of the structural formula of eumelanin. This structure varies somewhat from person to person. Brown eumelanin is chemically somewhat different than black eumelanin. The arrow shows where the polymer continues in various forms. Eumelanin polymers are believed to be made up of cross-linked 5,6-dihydroxyindole (DHI) and 5,6-dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA) polymers. Eumelanin is rather diverse in terms of how it can be configured in the human body but molecules include DHI and DHICA. This is a vital fact because this melanin precursor, 5,6-Dihydroxyindole, has broad spectrum of medicinal effects on the human body including:
- Antibacterial effects
- Antifungal effects
- Antiviral effects
- Antiparasitic effects
Pheomelanin
Pheomelanin is the molecule that pigments lips, nipples, the vagina, the glans of the penis, and the other areas of the body that have a pinkish color. People with red hair have both eumelanin and pheomelanin in their skin and hair. While eumelanin causes tissues to have a brownish or black color, pheomelanins give the skin hues of yellow to red.
Pheomelanin in the skin gives redheaded people a more pinkish hue to the skin.
Exposure of the skin to sunlight increases the skin’s production of pheomelanin, but rather than absorbing ultraviolet wavelengths of light, pheomelanin reflects the yellow to red wavelengths of light, while absorbing ultraviolet rays. This is why individuals with higher levels of pheomelanin and lower levels of eumelanin in the skin may be more prone to sunburn under certain conditions.
Pheomelanin consists mainly of benzothiazine and benzothiazole, two sulfur-containing molecules. L-cysteine is the primary source of sulfur used in the production of pheomelanin.
The arrow shows where the polymer continues in various forms.
Neuromelanin
Neuromelanin is found in neurons, endocrine glands, and certain organs of the body. Neuromelanin consists of a combination of both pheomelanin and eumelanin. It is produced by all catecholaminergic neurons in the brain such as those that produce dopamine. This is a type of melanin that is found in the highest quantity in humans. Though primates have lesser amounts of neuromelanin, this substance is entirely absent in most other species of animals.The function of neuromelanin in the human body is a heavily guarded secret, but we’re going to reveal some of those secrets here.
Neuromelanin is able to bind to transition metals and toxic molecules to function like eumelanin and pheomelanin as a form of armor to protect the body. Some transition metals are essential nutrients. Other transition metals like mercury are extremely toxic to the human body.
Healthy transition metals include the following:
- Lanthanum, sometimes (often considered a rare earth, lanthanide)
- Lifespan and growth are improved through the consumption of lanthanum.
- Chronic fatigue syndrome can sometimes be caused by a lanthanum deficiency.
- Iron
- Iron in proper quantities is an essential nutrient in the production of red blood cells.
- Yttrium
- Enhances cell growth and promotes longevity.
- Vanadium
- Vanadium deficiency worsens chromium deficiency.
- Chromium
- Chromium is vital in glucose metabolism.
- Silver
- Silver deficiency can cause an impaired immune system and impairment in the growth and healing of tissues.
- Cobalt
- Cobalt is a component in cyanocobalamin, also known as vitamin B12.
- Nickel
- Nickel deficiency can cause zinc deficiency.
- Copper
- Copper plays a role in iodine metabolism.
- Zinc
- Zinc plays a role in iodine metabolism.
- Molybdenum
- Molydenum plays a role in iodine metabolism.
- Manganese
- Manganese plays a role in iodine metabolism.
- Gold
- Gold is sometimes used medicinally. It is not, however, considered to be a nutrient.
Unhealthy transition metals / heavy metals include the following:
- Actinium, sometimes (often considered a rare earth, actinide)
- Rutherfordium
- Dubnium
- Seaborgium
- Bohrium
- Hassium
- Meitnerium
- Darmstadtium
- Roentgenium
- Copernicium presumably is a transition metal.
What does melanin do in the body?
We’ll talk more about the specifics of what melanin does in the human body in greater detail later, but let’s summarize some of the major functions below that have been identified in scientific studies examining the function of melanin in fungi, plants, bacteria, animals, and also humans:- Melanin acts as a form of armor against dangerous forms of energy and vibrations. For example, molds that produce melanin are able to survive even in nuclear reactors because the melanin provides a shield against radioactivity.
- Melanin protects the body from heavy metal and has the ability to remove heavy metals from the body.
- Melanin plays a role in how our bodies use medications. Melanin protects the body from toxic drugs that would otherwise kill us.
- Melanin absorbs ultraviolet light and other wavelengths of light to produce energy as water-dependent hybrid electronic-ionic semi-conductors.
- Melanin scavenges for free radicals by acting as an antioxidant.
- Eumelanin functions as a powerful antibacterial substance.
- Eumelanin functions as a powerful antiviral substance.
- Eumelanin functions as a powerful antiparasitic substance.
- Eumelanin functions as a powerful antifungal substance.
Synthetic forms of eumelanin have been developed for use in nanomedicine and bioelectronics. These synthetic forms of melanin should be avoided because they will inevitably disrupt the natural melanin systems in the body which would have devastating global effects on a person’s general health.
How to Create a Global Pandemic: GMOs and Melanin Deficiency
Genetically modified (GMO) plants like corn, wheat, and soy are staple food products in the developed world. Unfortunately, GMO plants are genetically modified to NOT go through the Shikimate Pathway to produce essential amino acids like L-tyrosine and L-tryptophan (to name just two nutrients that are missing in GMO foods). L-tyrosine is the precursor to dopamine, the neurotransmitter that’s responsible for helping us make positive decisions for ourselves and for others. A deficiency of dopamine causes people to become vulnerable to addiction and neurological disorders. Dopamine is also the neurotransmitter that makes it possible for a person to have “parental” feelings or feelings of warmth toward others. But dopamine is also the precursor, or starting molecule that our body uses to produce eumelanin.Click here to read more about the nutrients that are lacking in GMO foods.
A deficiency of eumelanin makes our bodies vulnerable to diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi. As such, if you were a national or global leader who wanted to unleash a pandemic on the world, you might begin by removing as much L-tyrosine from the food supply as possible. Without L-tyrosine, people would become vulnerable to addiction, dementia, autism, neurological problems, skin problems, and more. They wouldn’t be able to resist foods that are bad for them, relationships that are bad for them, drugs that are bad for them, and social media and digital media that is bad for them. L-tyrosine would make it hard for parents to successfully care for their children as dopamine allows us to feel “parental feelings”. And the body would become susceptible to all forms of infection due to a lack of eumelanin to act as a form of armor. In addition to infection, the body would also become susceptible to toxins and heavy metals as well as toxic forms of energy and radiation.
Whether the removal of L-tyrosine and L-tryptophan (the nutrient precursor to vitamin B3 as well as serotonin and melatonin) was intentional or merely an accident of fate resulting from greed remains unknown. In any case though, if you are searching for ways to reduce symptoms of autism, the relationship between sunlight exposure (or lack thereof), melanin in the skin, ears, and brain, and nutritional deficiencies resulting from GMO staple foods is worth noting.
Synthetic melanin products should be avoided because they will inevitably lead to disruptions in natural human melanin production. However, synthetic melanin emulates natural melanin in terms of its functional properties. As such, this image shows what melanin can do in our bodies. Not specifically its semiconductor capabilities and its ability to absorb and use healthy wavelengths of light and energy to power the body.
Neuromelanin
Neuromelanin is essentially a pheomelanin core covered in a eumelanin crust. Though, in humans, melanin has generally been regarded as nothing but a skin-pigmentation-producing substance and a tool that the body uses to protect itself from ultraviolet light, melanin is, in fact, much more than that.
For example, melanin and melanin-stimulating or inhibiting hormones control autoimmune-disease-related phenomena like the experience of pain. The precursor molecule that’s required for the production of melanin, for example, known as pro-opiomelanocortin belongs to a neuronal system that either blocks or sensitizes the body to pain. This precursor molecule is also used in the production of cortisol, a hormone that is most vital to our ability to cope with stress and be able to stay present in time and space. Melanin configurations and thus, skin coloration of the body, actually change how people experience pain.
Like melatonin, Melanin Concentration Hormone (MCH), follows a diurnal rhythm that’s highest at the onset of sleep. When MCH is at high levels, a persons’ pain threshold is also at its highest. Of course, the opposite is also true. When a person has very low levels of MCH, their body will experience pain more acutely. This diurnal rhythm is governed by the pineal gland which means that it can be disrupted by a deficiency of vitamins like vitamin K2, which prevent the calcification of soft tissue structures in the body. Vitamin K2, also known as Menaquinone-7, is one of the nutrients that is no longer produced by GMO foods.
Summary
Pale skin and autism are related. Issues with skin pigmentation in autism are extremely common. Hearing impairments in autism are also common along with peripheral hearing loss or alterations in the way children perceive sound. Sensory intolerance in autism is a neurological issue that is nearly synonymous with ASD. The skin, ears, and the brain all contain a high concentration of melanin, but the production of melanin in autism is disrupted.Mercury can, in fact impact pigmentation and melanin production. Melanin binds with transition metals like mercury and though this binding with transition metals can be regarded as negative, melanin can also play a role in removing toxic transition metals like mercury from the body.
Though doctors often recommend that parents use phototherapy for seasonal depression in autism, sunlight exposure is a better choice. Phototherapy that lacks certain wavelengths of light is less likely to have positive effects than the administration of full-spectrum light to detoxify the body while also energizing cells through the semiconductor capabilities of natural melanin in the skin and eyes. Sensory intolerance in autism that does not involve an intolerance to sunlight specifically should not be treated by avoiding the sun. Rather, sunlight as well as moonlight exposure may help children with ASD orient to time and space. Avoiding GMO foods and supplementing with the nutrients that are lacking in these foods is also beneficial for children with ASD.
Resources:
• Bakare, M. O. et al. (2011). Association of hypomelanotic skin disorders with autism: links to possible etiologic role of vitamin D-levels in autism? Retrieved June 9, 2024 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3177756/
• Hughes, V. (2014). The Roots of Autism Are in the…Skin? Retrieved June 9, 2024 from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/the-roots-of-autism-are-in-the-skin
• Conrick, T. (2011). Autism, Mercury, and Melanin: Can You Hear Me Now? Retrieved June 9, 2024 from https://www.ageofautism.com/2011/01/autism-mercury-and-melanin-can-you-hear-me-now.html
• Cohmer, S. (2014). Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact. Retrieved June 9, 2024 from https://embryo.asu.edu/pages/autistic-disturbances-affective-contact-1943-leo-kanner
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• Van Beelen, E. S. A. et al. (2020). Migration and fate of vestibular melanocytes during the development of the inner ear. Retrieved June 9, 2024 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7894185/
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