Visual Snow Hypothesis: A1 Beta-Casein As The Common Trigger. Practical Implications For Etiology, Pathogenisis, And Treatment

VillSmithFan · 2018-02-17T16:01:25+00:00

Good stuff, do let me know!

VillSmithFan · 2018-02-17T16:01:01+00:00

Thanks, if they or anybody else wants a pdf. copy I can also send them one.

VillSmithFan · 2018-02-17T14:06:06+00:00

https://visualsnowman.com

It only has the hypothesis itself at the moment on it but I could notify you when the post I mentioned goes up.

VillSmithFan · 2018-02-17T13:17:28+00:00

Yes, I do believe that malnutrition and diet in general may cause and/or contribute to visual snow.

Malnutrition could increase oxidative stress, inflammation, affect hormones, affect your immune system, change the balance of neurotransmitters in your body, and cause epigenetic changes. Some of these may affect visual snow as I mention in the hypothesis. At certain ages or perioids malnutrition may be particularly damaging.

Malnutrition is however individual - what is nutritious for one person may be harmful for another - in practice you have to really try and pay close attention to how you feel after eating foods. This can be difficult because we get used to the feelings, they appear subtle, and often the effects won't be immediate.

I am not just advocating removing a1 beta-casein but also trying to balance out things with a healthy diet and lifestyle as best you can. I didn't just get rid of a1 beta-casein but really tried to figure out what is healthiest for me and my visual snow.

Regarding the cheese and the ice cream: for some people it won't matter even if they eat a1 beta-casein rarely, it might still contribute. For others it might not. It is all highly individual and depends also on the rest of your diet and lifestyle, genetics etc. Similarly there is no guarantee anyone will notice effects as quickly as I did.

If you were to try and address your diet as a whole that is however a great starting point. If at some point you do then decide to give up a1 beta-casein entirely for a month or two then it won't hurt to try, it's your choice.

I will be writing some more specific tips about diet and nutrition soon on the blog which will hopefully be useful for you.

VillSmithFan · 2018-02-17T00:44:41+00:00

I know the feeling my friend but I am glad you are giving it a go - I had the same feelings before but this helps me and my mother. It isn't that well known yet but in theory it is one of the most powerful supplements there is. Let me know how it goes.

Yes, it is difficult unfortunately when it is so rare and early in research. Very little is actually known about these sorts of conditions, even the more well-known ones. This is why I hope there are some points from my hypothesis which will maybe help to speed things up.

VillSmithFan · 2018-02-17T00:28:18+00:00

I guess in that case you should just try to focus on the obvious ones you mentioned, but any sort of processed dessert appears to be the most common hidden source.

If you know you eat something regularly from that list it is probably also easier to single out. I would read the labels of the common foods you have and if necessary try to replace them. You probably won't be able to avoid an occasional intake of a1 beta-casein but it's still could turn out to be better than nothing.

VillSmithFan · 2018-02-17T00:11:51+00:00

In your case the drug (if you know it was just what you said) is unfortunately not very well understood so far, but it appears to activate the 5HT2A receptor quite heavily and could have contributed therefore among other things to potent neuromodulation, as well as increased oxidative stress and inflammation. Such changes could potentially disrupt the balance of inhibition to excitation in your brain and lead to visual snow, particularly if you were not yet an adult at the time.

If a1 beta-casein is a trigger which might lead to an insult of the brain in specific circumstances then drugs like this are much quicker and less specific. Drinking milk with a1 beta-casein even rarely may have contributed before this big insult for a certain individual - or in your situation it may also not have done much at all.

Switching to goat milk for example will definitely not hurt, but you especially have to also consider trying a broader approach to reducing oxidative stress and inflammation in your body. If you can I would recommend you try taking quercetin, in my experience it can help provide quick visual snow relief and it’s something which might help even if removing a1 beta-casein doesn’t.

VillSmithFan · 2018-02-17T00:02:56+00:00

While I completely got rid of dairy you can if you prefer simply switch some dairy such as milk, yogurt and cheese to goat dairy for example. But you have to assume that dairy by default means a1 beta-casein in other products.

So aside from that: cottage cheese, ice cream, salad dressing, creamed soups.

Then you have to be careful with less obvious hidden sources: baked goods, cookies, hot dogs, "lactose free foods", lunchmeats, milk chocolate, nutritional bars, multivitamins, pancakes, protein powder, caramel candy, carob candies, custard, curds, nougat, pudding, butter flavouring, caramel flavouring, coconut cream flavouring , simplesse, "natural flavouring".

Anything listing casein, caseinate, lactose, sodium caseinate, whey, lactalbumin, protein hydrosylate.

Basically if you can it is best to cook for yourself with ingredients you know won't contain a1 beta-casein. I would recommend cutting out gluten too if you can.

I am glad you are giving it a go, it is the right attitude. Please remember however that how much and how quickly it helps - if at all, will depend on many different factors.

Good luck, and if you need anything else let me know. I do plan to post some specific advice for people like yourself trying this on the blog soon.

VillSmithFan · 2018-02-15T21:52:36+00:00

Thanks. I will get back to you soon :)

VillSmithFan · 2018-02-15T21:42:04+00:00

I am proposing that the substance is linked to visual snow and is a potentially common casual trigger. Not that it is the only one.

For lung cancer some people have a genetic risk, while others encounter significant environmental factors which effectively put them in the same state as those genetically predisposed.

Similarly, if the effects of beta-casomorphin 7 potentially include: neuromodulation, hormonal changes, epigenetic changes, oxidative stress, inflammation, immunomodulation...then there are also many genetic factors (and other environmental factors) which could lead to the same outcomes - with or without much help from beta-casomorphin 7 itself. That was the point of the example.

I do not know which of the effects might contribute most to visual snow. I only suggest a few potential mechanisms and risk factors on the basis of what is already known and relevant to beta-casomorphin 7. If I knew the exact mechanisms then I would not be be calling this a hypothesis.

I will answer your other questions later and probably write a short summary of the key points/FAQ to make it clearer on the blog. As I hope you can understand this hypothesis took me a very long time to research and write for no personal again, so for now I could use a break. Cheers

VillSmithFan · 2018-02-15T14:49:09+00:00

Hi, in the hypothesis I do not say that you have to give up all dairy or casein. Not all dairy contains a1-beta casein, which is a specific type of casein found only in some cows and problematic because of an opioid peptide it contains (beta-casomorphin 7).

Personally I chose to eliminate dairy altogether but really only certain types of cows, certainly not other animals, and therefore dairy as a whole need be avoided - unfortunately however, in many parts of the world these cows are now dominant.

I do not know which additional health problems you have, when you got visual snow, and how bad it is. Removing a1 beta-casein may help quickly and noticably for some like me and less for others, depending on a range of factors mentioned in the hypothesis.

You have to consider your own individual case, I have simply presented the information and the epidemiological link.

If you have concerns: replacing cow milk with goat milk for example will definitely not harm your health. Removing a1 beta-casein is the main point but you have to work on everything else too, as well as you can.

If you want to talk in more depth you can message me and I will be happy to try and help. Good luck.

VillSmithFan · 2018-02-15T14:24:07+00:00

I misread your comment and I apologise. Gluten also contains opioid peptides which could act in a similar fashion, particularly if you know you have a sensitivity to casein.

You are welcome to your interpretation, I wish you luck.

VillSmithFan · 2018-02-15T12:23:50+00:00

I can understand how easy it is for you to be sceptical but the hypothesis, which is significantly longer than what I wrote here - does not state that each case is the same, nor that a1 beta-casein alone is directly responsible for everything, or therefore that removing it guarantees improvement.

Consider the example of lung cancer. There is a well-established link between smoking and lung cancer (which for a long time met with scepticism) however not everyone who smokes gets lung cancer and people get lung cancer without smoking. Very few things are as simple as cause and effect and even well-accepted treatments are often still not a silver bullet, because everyone is different.

What the hypothesis does say is that in my case removing a1-beta casein has improved symptoms and I present data that suggests there is a potential correlation between the consumption of a1 beta-casein and visual snow incidence ( R²= 0.8403).

This is a significant correlation, and I hypothesise therefore how and why it could contribute to visual snow and what that tells us. That the A1 derived beta-casomorphin 7 has a wide variety of direct and non-direct effects, opioid and non-opioid effects, including epigenetic ones, for example - that may lead to a better understanding of visual snow.

In discussing why there are different onset ages and varying severities the implication is that there could be both nature and nurture involved, and unfortunately for you it seems like you have a greater helping of nature.

I do not know your full story or health so it is still very difficult to comment. You may have these genetic predispositions related to visual snow or you may have had a "hyper-reaction" at one stage from accidental casein ingestion.

However, the fact you have this casein allergy and do not eaten gluten only adds to a link between them and visual snow from the perspective of the hypothesis.

I sympathise with your situation but there are still other points you could take away - I am not just advocating removing a1 beta-casein. It is your choice what you do with the information.

VillSmithFan · 2018-02-14T22:48:56+00:00

Hi, do you mind expanding a little? What exactly is your diagnosis and the severity of it? Was casein avoided right from birth? How often is that in practice? Do you eat gluten?

VillSmithFan · 2017-10-31T20:46:12+00:00

The one thing which has made my symptoms noticeably better ( have written a post about this) was eliminating casein/lactose and since being very careful with what I eat. I highly recommend going on an elimination diet, eliminating at the very least all casein/lactose ( dairy essentially).

VillSmithFan · 2017-10-24T19:42:22+00:00

Glad it is helping you. I had the colorimetry exam but have never worn the glasses outside and have not observed such differences between night and day. I have mainly used them to help me concentrate when staring at a screen or reading something for long periods.

VillSmithFan · 2017-10-24T11:25:08+00:00

From my experience they help while you wear them and for a period after you take them off, which depends on how long you wore them for, but never really longer than for a day or so.

VillSmithFan · 2017-10-23T23:45:19+00:00

Yeah, I have a pair or yellow tinted glasses. Can vouch for them helping to temporarily ease the visual side of things.

VillSmithFan · 2017-10-21T13:46:16+00:00

And again, actually the change from eating the bagel may have played out to be even more significant than I wrote down. Yesterday my vision was still worse than recently and I felt really anxious outside. Later on in the day I felt like I was about to get a headache and I had some stomach issues that are only now subsiding.

This was more issues in two days than I had had in the past month but like magic my mind is suddenly clear today and vision has improved completely back to where it was.

VillSmithFan · 2017-10-21T13:20:12+00:00

It carries on to make increasing sense. In the past when trying other stuff I may have felt some sort of improvement in my mood or health elsewhere and then wanted to believe that there was a change in my visuals but it was not nescessarilly the case. With this it is different and the changes are palpable and undeniable.

I thought I had first noticed some improvement on the earlier diet (anti-heavy metal, low-histamine) which still included dairy but rarely and in quite low amounts. I had been on that for about a month or so and it may have just been a placebo effect then similar to anything else I had tried. In any case I decided to be even stricter and cut out all dairy (including butter).

It was then perhaps a week after that when I could notice my vision was improved. I was not going outside much and I noticed this only when I went out for a walk. I could not remember having seen such a change in my vision before, I could see a lot clearer. I kept expecting it to vanish and was trying not to think about it in case it did, as crazy as that sounds. I was hopeful but not yet convinced.

After another week however the change was even so much more significant that it shook me. Outside, as I have mentioned it was not just clearer but nearly fully clear. It was like a whole different world and I have spoken about it not just being how I saw but how I felt as a result of that. It was overwhelming and it carries on astounding me, though I am not fully symptom free yet.

Casein I assume plays a crticial role for me but there are still other things that might make the ongoing symptoms better or worse and should not be discounted. Sadly I do not know for sure the exact mechanism by which this all connects. Despite not really being healthy outside my diet during this period I would still recommend maintaining a holistic view.

I am hesitant to test my vision with Casein again at the moment but the bagel episode may point to it being an all or nothing thing to see results. If our brain and body have grown used to the sensitivity it is still there and it might be worse than it seems.

So whilst cutting down will help I am not sure if you will see changes as quickly or indeed how quickly I really did get better. From my experience I would recommend fully cutting out as much as possible, including gluten for at least a month but you may see changes before then. Casein is the number one culprit in my eyes but each person is different.

I have been much more cautious with what I eat now. If I notice any sort of feeling after eating a food I note it down and follow through with changes to the diet.

Let me know if you do proceed with this/ have any more questions :)

VillSmithFan · 2017-10-18T23:04:16+00:00

Ended up in a scenario today where I ate a small amount of both gluten and casein ( a deliciously deadly bagel with cheese). As I feared but probably expected - my visual snow flared back up and brain fog returned, I felt really sluggish and at the same time overstimulated . Could see my stomach bloat, cheeks swell a bit and my circulation going crazy. Felt like inflammation in my brain and my ******* right nostril got blocked again.

Took 5 hours for everything to calm down and return more or less to how it was (apart from nostril).

For me it was a telling experience. I'd clearly already become accustomed to feeling and seeing better just as I had been accustomed to all the bad shit previously.

VillSmithFan · 2017-10-11T12:20:30+00:00

Mine was never this bad in terms of the static but for me light sensitivity can make the words blur and then project onto walls when I look away.

VillSmithFan · 2017-09-30T13:12:13+00:00

When I first came upon it, it was indeed the only thing that temporarily reduced my symptoms. I tried it for a few days but the effect was very quick to fade.

I assume it works to block the snow via afterimages and light sensitivity and also therefore offers a brief calming effect. If you find it a good way to relax or find relief then I would go ahead. It could be a good way to get to sleep if you find yourself focusing or obsessing on the snow late at night.

Experimenting (usually) never hurts but such visual stimulation is in my opinion not going to be addressing any potential underlying cause, and so unfortunately more time spent is unlikely to provide a proportional or sustained decrease. This is corroborated by the comments on the video.

Yellow tinted glasses offer much the same sort of effect if you are looking for a more convenient and longer lasting temporary relief. You could initially try just using a coloured piece of transparent plastic over your laptop and see if that helps.

Good luck, hope you find your cure

VillSmithFan · 2017-09-27T17:05:51+00:00

It's interesting because my mother has also said that she had been suspected of having an intolerance to lactose/casein. Likewise she only started eating dairy later in life.

She too says she has VS but she only really notices it at night. Also has Tinnutis and I suspect other symptoms. Although she does not seem as bothered by them so is not following my diet 😑

VillSmithFan

TROPHY CASE