Gut and Psychology Syndrome

Natural Treatment For: Autism, ADD, ADHD, Depression, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Schizophrenia

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Read more at: http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/walshMP.htm

"Most OCD patients (both obsessive thoughts AND compulsive actions) exhibit undermethylation and associated low levels of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Choline is anti-dopaminergic and often makes OCD patients worse. Generally OCD patients respond nicely to methionine, SAMe, calcium, magnesium, B-6, inositol, TMG, and zinc. Most OCD patients get worse if given supplements of DMAE, choline, copper, or folic acid. 500 to 1000 mg/day of inositol will probably be needed to provide good response. (9 Jan, 2003)

We have corrected the disordered chemistry of hundreds of conduct disorder & ODD children & teens. We've learned that the older patients have a rotten self-image and terrible social habits, even if the original cause of the behavior disorder is eliminated. They usually profit greatly from quality counseling, once the chemistry is fixed. (1 Jan, 2003)

In my experience, counseling is often unsuccessful until the "edge" of the OCD tendency is overcome with methylation therapy..... but thereafter quality counseling can be helpful. (21 Dec, 2002)

My clinic has used inositol with thousands of patients & learned the following:

A) Inositol is usually very helpful for UNDERMETHYLATED, HIGH HISTAMINE patients. This includes nearly every OCD patient we have seen. Inositol usually provides calming throughout the day and ability to settle down to sleep at night, for these patients.

B) On the other hand, OVERMETHYLATED patients usually derive little or no benefit from Inositol, and may experience very nasty side effects from it.

C) Although a couple thousand milligrams may be needed to do the job & the tablets are often quite large, Inositol has the great advantage of being palatable..... Many of our patients chew it before swallowing, and report it "doesn't taste bad at all".

I'm quite surprised that Inositol isn't more popular due to its effectiveness and its role as a major "second messinger" in neurotransmission."

Also OCD and Nutrition

Nutrient Therapy and Mental Illness

http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/walshMP.htm

"Most mentally ill patients have a lousy diet, and aren't functional enough to achieve a major life-style change, such as fixing their diet. We've learned that the recipe for success is to first correct the primary chemical imbalance, and then fix the diet.

We've also learned to never attempt to take away their cigarettes, until AFTER they begin to respond to treatment..... for the same reason. Sometimes medical care (like politics) is the art of the possible.

We have major compliance problems with mentally-ill patients who hate medications. They become revulsed with swallowing capsules of all kinds, and it's hard to convince a paranoid patient that there really are nutrients inside.

Very few of our SZ or bipolar patients have any money or any insurance other than medicare. At present, about 65% of patients with private insurance receive coverage for our fees. PPO's pay about 20% of the time, but HMO's almost never cover our services. As a public charity, we provide financial assistance for most of our seriously mentally ill clients.

Compliance with nutrient therapy is a big problem even in cases of 100% recovery. Eventually a patient will wonder if they really need to continue swallowing those capsules daily, and may stop for a few days. They don't realize that it may take several weeks/months for their brain chemistry to revert to the original condition..... Often they are ok for about a month and then relapse. Nutrient therapy is much slower in response than medications.

We learned that best results are achieved if the patient continues their medication(s), if any, during the first few months of treatment. After the patient is significantly improved, we suggest that the medication be slowly reduced "to determine the optimum dosage of the medication". Many psychiatrists will agree to this..... but often are astonished to discover that the patient is just fine with zero medication.

Medications can usually take away a patient's psychosis, but the resulting over-sedation and "zombie-like" condition is repulsive to many. (March 18, 2003)"

The Chemistry of Mental Illness

http://www.yeast-candida-infections-uk.co.uk/node/58

"At the very basic level, our body is all about chemistry. Digestion, respiration, central and peripheral nervous system and the endocrine system all function based on chemistry. In order to function properly, the body requires a huge variety of molecules and trace elements. With the exception of Oxygen, all other chemicals are provided by the food that we eat. Our digestive system is responsible for converting that food into forms the body can utilize, while ridding the body of metabolic waste products and harmful toxins.

The digestive system is based on a series of chemical compounds and enzymes (proteins) that break down the chemical bonds in food so that the more basic building blocks of carbohydrates, fats, amino acids, vitamins and minerals can be absorbed and utilized by our metabolism to provide energy, build new proteins, repair cells etc. Certain vitamins and trace elements present in food cannot be absorbed directly and need to be converted into other forms before they can pass through the intestinal walls. This conversion is most commonly carried out by bacteria in the gut. The various bacteria’s' own metabolism acts on the vitamins and minerals, appending organic molecules which changes the solubility of the compounds and allows them to pass through the intestine and into the blood stream. These symbiotic bacteria have a further function of protecting the intestine from pathogenic bacteria and yeast

When a pathological state exists, this finely balanced symbiosis may be damaged and cease to function normally. Several different states in the gut may exist. Symbiotic bacteria may be damaged, causing the malabsorbtion of critical vitamins and minerals. If the damage is extensive and/or long lasting, pathogenic yeast and gram-negative bacilli will begin to fill the vacuum left by the healthy bacteria.

The metabolism of these pathogens is different and foods are no longer broken down in the same way. Proteins that previously would be broken down to their constituent amino acids are only partially digested, leaving long chains of amino acids called peptides. Our entire body is built from proteins, which are themselves built from chains of peptides. Certain peptides are extremely bioactive i.e they interact strongly with other proteins in the body. Another side effects of dysbiosis (inappropriate gut micro-organisms) is that the gut becomes leaky i.e it passes larger molecules than would normally be the case. Thus peptides, which should normally be broken down to amino acids, leave the gut and enter the blood stream intact, where they are delivered to other organs. Casein and Gluten, a protein and mixture of proteins common in many foods break down to form very potent opio-peptides when acted on by certain pathogenic bacteria. As the name suggests, these peptides have a narcotic action and act on opiate receptors in the brain, triggering major changes in brain function.

These are only 2 examples and very little work has been done on identifying the structure and function of peptides created by dysbiosis.
The above example is a nice illustration of how the presence of gut dysbiosis can directly effect brain function. Given that depression has its roots in biochemistry, its not too wildly imaginative to suppose that mental heath problems and depression in particular are indeed related to gut dysbiosis.

Detoxification is hugely impacted by dysbiosis.

In simple terms metabolic pathways are decommissioned by pathogenic flora ..The long held belief that spillage if you like, from mercury in amalgam teeth fillings is the cause of accumulated mercury in the body is completely wrong. It's the bodies inability to metabolise and excrete mercury

Detoxification is, to a large extent carried out by the Liver. Toxic compounds are first oxidized or hydroxylated (Stage I), while Stage II reactions prepare the Stage I metabolites for biliary excretion by covalently conjugating them with highly polar ligands like glucuronic acid or glutathione. These detoxification reactions require vitamin and trace elemental co-factors to provide electrons for chemical bonding. In cases of Dysbiosis, these co-factors may be missing, due to malabsorbtion in the intestine. In addition, the pathogenic bacteria in the gut may metabolize the conjugated toxins, changing their form and allowing them to be reabsorbed into the blood stream.

Mercury is usually excreted via the gut in its divalent elemental form. In Dysbiosis it is thought that certain pathogenic bacteria have the ability to methylate [see below] the metallic Mercury to its organic form, which would be reabsorbed into the blood stream and carried to target organs like the kidneys and brain."

Top Probiotic Foods You Are Not Eating

http://theconsciouslife.com/top-probiotic-foods.htm
Please read full article for more info. on how to use each.

  1. Natto is a type of fermented soybeans that has been enjoyed by the Japanese for a long time. It contains the bacterial strain bacillus subtilis (used to be known as bacillus antto) which gives natto its characteristic stringy consistency.
  2. Another one of my favorite probiotic foods, kimchi is a well-known Korean pickled dish that has seen wide acceptance by many cultures outside of Korea. It is created by mixing a main ingredient such as cabbage with a host of other seasonings and ingredients, like hot pepper flakes, radish, carrot, garlic, ginger, onion, salt and fish sauce. The mixture is then left aside to ferment from a few days to a couple of weeks.
  3. Miso is an indispensable seasoning found in almost all Japanese kitchens. It’s made popular by Japanese restaurants which often serve miso soup alongside bento.
  4. Originated from Indonesia, tempeh is another probiotic food derived from fermented soybeans. Tempeh is produced by adding a tempeh starter containing the fungus rhizopus oligosporus to partially cooked soybeans and allowing the dehulled beans to ferment for about a day or two. When it matures, all the gaps in between the beans will be filled completely with a thin layer of white fungi which binds the soybeans tightly together into a compact piece of cake.
  5. Sauerkraut is the western counterpart of kimchi, except that it doesn’t contain as much seasonings and ingredients the way kimchi does. Popular in the Europe and America, sauerkraut usually only has shredded cabbage and salt as the main ingredients. It’s produced by allowing salted cabbage to ferment on its own without the addition of any starter or vinegar for two weeks or more.
  6. Kefir is a popular health drink in many European countries including Finland, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Sweden and Ukraine. It is produced by adding kefir grains to cow, goat or sheep’s milk and letting the mixture ferment for a day. The fermentation of milk by the bacteria and yeasts in kefir starter breaks down lactose in the milk. That’s why kefir is suitable for those who are otherwise lactose intolerant. Kefir is tart and tastes thicker than milk with a slight hint of alcohol. You can also find non-dairy kefir made from sugary water, coconut water and fruit juice. To distinguish between different types of kefir, dairy kefir is also called milk kefir, while non-dairy ones are generally known as water kefir.

Vegetarian notes on GAPS

Disclaimer: this blog is mainly to collect info. for clients, predominantly parents of children with Autism, but also for teens and adult clients with various conditions.

Personally, I am a vegetarian and have been for two years.  My husband happens to be the R&D chef for Tofurky/Turtle Island Foods. They make two categories of products: soy meat analogs and tempeh.

So I am wanting to post on the possibilities for vegetarians with the GAPS diets, as well as the challenges.

No Soy?

Gut and Psychology Syndrome book p. 113
"Soya is cheap to produce and, following some research suggesting that it may be beneficial for menopausal women, the whole market has exploded with soya products.  It can be found in many processed foods, margarines, salad dressings and sauces, breads, biscuits, pizza, baby food, children's snacks, sweets, cakes, vegetarian products, dairy replacements, infant milk formulas, etc...

  1. The perceived benefits to menopausal women, seen in Japan and other Eastern cultures are due to the form in which soy is traditionally used: as a whole bean or fermented as a soy sauces, natto, miso and tempeh.  The form in which soya is used in the West is called soy protein isolate."
So we see two forms of vegetarian protein: whole vs. processed.


What I don't understand is why she is not including the whole products on the list of what you can eat (on the GAPS diet)?


Gut and Psychology Syndrome book p. 156
"A few words about vegetarianism" section is very negative and cautionary about being vegetarian, esp. for a child with any of the is GAPS issues.


Gut and Psychology Syndrome
 book p. 233-4
"Vegetarian diets are largely based on carbohydrates, which require a lot of magnesium to be digested and metabolized, so deficiency in magnesium follows."

Monday, December 26, 2011

GAPS DIET: Gut & Psychology Syndrome

Natural Treatment For: Autism, ADD, ADHD, Depression, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Schizophrenia


"Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride set up The Cambridge Nutrition Clinic in 1998. As a parent of a child diagnosed with learning difficulties, she was acutely aware of the difficulties facing other parents like her, and she has devoted much of her time to helping these families. She realised that nutrition played a critical role in helping children and adults to overcome their disabilities, and has pioneered the use of probiotics in this field. Her willingness to share her knowledge has resulted in her contributing to many publications, as well as presenting at numerous seminars and conferences on the subjects of learning disabilities and digestive disorders. Her book “Gut and Psychology Syndrome” captures her experience and knowledge, incorporating her most recent work. She believes that the link between learning disabilities, the food and drink that we take, and the condition of our digestive system is absolute, and the results of her work have supported her position on this subject. The GAPS Diet is based on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, otherwise known as SCD (which was developed by Dr. Haas, and popularized by Elaine Gottshall ). In her clinic, parents discuss all aspects of their child’s condition, confident in the knowledge that they are not only talking to a professional but to a parent who has lived their experience. Her deep understanding of the challenges they face, puts her advice in a class of it’s own."

The overlapping picture


"Why are all these conditions related? What underlying problem are we missing in our children which makes them susceptible to asthma, eczema, allergies, dyspraxia, dyslexia, behavioural problems, ADHD and autism in different combinations? Why, when they become teenagers, do many of these children fall prey to substance abuse? Why do many of these children grow up to become diagnosed with schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder and other psychological and psychiatric problems?

To answer all these questions we have to look at one factor, which unites all these patients in a clinical setting. This factor is the state of their digestive system. I have yet to meet a child or an adult with autism, ADHD/ADD, asthma, eczema, allergies, dyspraxia or dyslexia, who has not got digestive abnormalities. In many cases they are severe enough for the patients or their parents to start talking about them first. In some cases the parents may not mention their child’s digestive system, yet when asked direct questions would describe a plethora of gut problems. But what have digestive abnormalities got to do with autism, hyperactivity, inability to learn, mood and behaviour problems? According to recent research and clinical experience – a lot! In fact it appears that the patient’s digestive system holds the key to the patient’s mental state.

Gut And Psychology Syndrome (GAP Syndrome) establishes the connection between the gut and the brain. Children and adults with GAP Syndrome often fall into the gap – the gap in our medical knowledge. As a result they do not receive appropriate treatment."

Conditions Addressed

The following are conditions that we have so far seen addressed via GAPS.
Please note: The speed at which a given issue is assisted or resolved is different for every person and every condition. For example, in some people, eczema is relieved within days; for others, it takes months to achieve the same healing. The latter person, however, might experience deep sleeps -for the first time in her life- after a single day! For brief but detailed quotes, please clickhere.
  • acid reflux
  • acne (typical and cystic)
  • adrenal burnout
  • allergies
  • anger, unfounded
  • anxiety
  • appetite issues (excessively small or large)
  • asthma
  • auditory hallucinations
  • autism spectrum disorder
  • attention deficit (with or without hyperactivity) disorder
  • bedwetting
  • behavioural problems
  • bloating
  • blood sugar issues (low and high)
  • candida overgrowth
  • celiac disease
  • chronic diarrhea
  • colic
  • colitis
  • constipation
  • cravings (sugar, starch, pica, etc)
  • crohn’s disease
  • cystic fibrosis
  • dental enamel defects
  • depression
  • diverticulitis
  • dysphoria
  • dyspraxia
  • eczema
  • eosinophilic esophagitis
  • fatigue
  • failure to thrive
  • feeding difficulties (including “picky eating”)
  • food phobias
  • gas
  • headaches
  • heartburn
  • histamine, excess levels
  • hyperactivity
  • hypoglycemia
  • incontinence (fecal and/or urinary)
  • indigestion
  • irritability
  • leaky gut
  • learning disabilities
  • libido, overactive
  • malnutrition
  • menstrual and pre-menstrual issues
  • migraines
  • mineral deficiencies
  • mood swings
  • muscle cramps
  • nail-biting
  • obsessiveness (over historical and current events)
  • obsessive-compulsive disorder
  • pain: muscle, foot
  • phobias (food, environment, social)
  • psoriasis
  • rheumatoid arthritis
  • reflux
  • rosacea
  • schizophrenia
  • seizures (possibly dependent on the cause, but including those in which dozens are occurring per day)
  • skin disorders
  • sleep issues (difficulty falling asleep; difficulty staying asleep, excessively brief sleep, excessively long sleep)
  • sound sensitivity
  • stool abnormalities
  • temper, short
  • thyroid, low functioning
  • tics
  • tooth decay
  • tummy pains
  • under-eye circles
  • urinary tract infections
  • violence (against self, against others)
  • vision challenges (though not blindness)
  • warts
  • weight issues (underweight and overweight)
  • white coating on tongue
  • and more

GAPS Diet Phases

Introduction Diet (Handout)

Most GAPS patients should follow the Introduction Diet before going into the Full GAPS Diet.

  • Six stages of introduction of foods from simple to more complex
The Full GAPS Diet (Handout)

  • Recommended Foods and Foods to Avoid (Handout)


How to help this condition

“It isn’t hopeless, we’ve treated these children for years with good results.”
  1. Diet (specific carb diet) can greatly help these conditions (often misdiagnosed as gluten issues/celiac disease – only about 5% of these conditions qualify as true celiac disease – 17% of true celiacs don’t do well on gluten-free diet.)
  2. Effective probiotics are crucial. Regular fermented foods or probiotics are good, but a stronger probiotic with more organisms may be more helpful for more serious issues.  Be sure to use with care and read up on the right amounts.  (A “die-off” reaction is common.)  Later probiotic supplements can be gradually reduced and replaced by fermented foods.
  3. Address nutritional deficiencies – Dr. Campbell-McBride is not in favor of a lot of supplements – nutrition is always best from healthy food. The diet is so nutrient dense that it removes most nutritional deficiencies quickly. She doesn’t recommend a multi-vitamin, in late stages maybe, but not in initial stages. Fish oils are essential from the beginning – for fat soluble vitamins & omega 3′s – more here on why cod liver oil is so beneficial.
  4. Detoxification is an important part of the treatment process – “I believe innatural detoxification, in using our own digestive system. More than 80% of anything harmful in your blood is from your own digestive system. That’s why keeping it healthy is so vital to us.  In GAPS patients, nutrients don’t get absorbed. We all have our own detox system responsible for removing toxins that come from the outside or from the gut. The system can get overloaded, like a traffic jam. TWO METHODS: A. The liver gets clogged, so it is recommended that parents introduce juicing – a time proven method of removing all sorts of toxins from the body. Start gradually, 1/3 c. (kids 1 t.) a day to start, in case of a severe die off. This is very effective – juicing provides substances to pull toxins out of storage, but will also provide live enzymes and fatty acids. B. Baths with Epsom or Sea salt, and raw cider vinegar – alternate those two. This pulls toxins from the skin while the child is happily playing in the tub.”
  5. “Your toxic load needs to be reduced – your exposure to man-made chemicals. Re-think everything used in the home, or for personal care. All can be toxic and are absorbed through the skin and end up at the liver.”
  6. Supplementation – probiotics (see above for more info) & cod liver oil (for vitamin A, D, & fatty acids), digestive enzymes (not for everyone, these are not needed for children – they can restore them on their own easier.)

WHAT IS GAPS SYNDROME?

WHAT IS GAPS SYNDROME?  (My notes from the talk…) Kelly the Kitchen Cop
  • In children it can be diagnosed as: autism, ADHD/ADD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, and the largest group are those with these three: learning, behavior, & social problems.
  • Unless something drastic and serious is done to help the above children, they become adults with these problems: more prone to substance abuse (and higher chances of reacting adversely to drugs), depression, obsessive/ compulsive disorder, manic-depressive, and schizophrenia.
  • The numbers are growing, and it can maim the lives of not only these children and adults, but of whole families for the rest of their lives. The medical community doesn’t offer any cures; all that is offered is symptomatic treatments.
  • In a clinical setting, one feature unites all these problems: they all have digestive problems as well.
  • In chidren, digestive issues are usually the first symptom. Sometimes they are severe, but other times they’re not so severe and you only find out later, after talking more about their history, that they have these problems.
  • Sometimes GAPS patients have allergies, asthma & eczema (those two usually alternate), thrush, or chronic cystitis (bladder infection) – but have you ever heard of a doctor who would ask them about any digestive problems when they show up with these symptoms?
  • Chronic Cystitis: through the urine is how toxins are moved out of our body. If they build up in the blood instead, it causes chronic inflammation and symptoms of cystitis. They test the urine but don’t find an infection, so they don’t know how to help.
  • Thrush/yeast overgrowth in the vagina or any sweaty, warm places. A healthy body is populated by beneficial flora that live in harmony with us in the skin, mucus membranes, vagina, bladder, urethra, everywhere in the body. But if you’ve been on a lot of antibiotics, if there are environmental toxins, stress, a bad diet, or all these things, your body flora changesGood bacteria are gone and it opens the gate for pathogens. The first thing you might see is oftencandida and other yeasts that cause thrush.
  • If your body is well equipped, yeast can’t settle in your body and cause harm. If it has already settled and started causing problems, it is an alarm bell that yourimmune system is not working properly. This is the time to make drastic changes.
  • Some GAPS children suffer from malnutrition, but may look well nourished. When tested we find multiple nutritional deficiencies. Others look like African children: they are too skinny, with bulging tummies.
  • GAPS patients often have colic, bloating/gas (as a colicky baby grows it becomesindigestion and heartburn – in a baby it was called reflux), diarrhea, orconstipation – which is more severe than diarrhea because toxins sit inside there a long time and then get into the bloodstream.
  • Feeding difficulties are universally present in these patients. They are finicky eaters. (Siblings of autistic children are almost universally picky eaters, too.) Their bodies learn that food makes them ill so they limit the foods they’ll eat to the very foods that harm them most – sweet, starchy foods, sweet yogurts, bananas. When the toxins absorb they give the brain a pleasure signal, so the brain wants more and they become drug addicts in a way.
  • The trouble is that when you tell them about changing the diet, a lot of parents ask, “how do I change my child’s eating habits, they will gag and not eat any of this!” In my GAPS book there is a whole chapter, a structured approach, on how to change a finicky child’s diet gradually – you have to pull them out of the vicious cycle of cravings and dependency. They will fight you every step, but you have to help pull them out. One child lived on crackers and they took them to a dietician who said, “it’s ok, at least he’s eating.” He looked like he was from Ethiopia. After 2 months of following the GAPS diet he was eating everything, but the parents have to be determined and strong.
  • In some patients we’ll discover in an x-ray that there is a fecal compaction with over-spill and inflammation, similar to what you see with Crohns or Colitis, due to multiple nutritional deficiencies. This is when the digestive track is blocked with old compacted feces that are literally glued to the gut wall. It is not completely emptied when they go, so the passage is narrow, and then more gets compacted. It becomes so narrow, food can hardly seep through. When the child finally goes to the bathroom it is so painful, they are afraid to go again.
  • In our gut (our intestinal tract), there are many beneficial microbes; they have established a symbiotic relationship with our bodies. 90% of all cells in our body are gut flora – we are a shell to hold this massive amount of bacteria – our health depends hugely on the health and status of this mixture of bacteria.
  • The gut flora protects it from invaders, maintains the health and integrity of the gut, provides digestion and absorption, vitamin production, detoxification, and a healthy immune system.
  • GAPS patients have what’s called Gut Dysbiosis or “leaky gut”.  They have reduced or absent populations of normal gut flora, or healthy bacteria.
  • The digestive track all spread out would cover a tennis court, and it’s the perfect place for anything harmful in the environment to settle, yet the good bacteria there chelate (remove) chemicals and toxic metals – if they can’t destroy it, they grab and it take it from the body.
  • Two groups of rats were given organic mercury. One group were given a powerful antibiotic, the other group were not. The mercury got into the bloodstream of only about 1% of those without the antibiotic, and 90% of those with the antibiotic. Keep gut flora healthy and strong and it can protect you. (When antibiotics are taken they wipe out bad bacteria AND beneficial bacteria.)
  • The government says we should limit our fish consumption due to mercury in the ocean, but yet those who do NOT limit it are in better health (because it promotes healthy gut flora). If you have healthy solid gut flora, it will chelate the mercury and take it out.
  • Apart from insuring that food is digested properly, good gut flora also takes part in synthesizing B vitamins – our main source is our gut flora. If someone is pale and pasty it usually can be due to vitamin B deficiencies – no matter how many supplements they take, they are still deficient.
  • First thing that has to be done: detoxification. Digestion itself (environmental, etc.)produces dangerous chemicals, nitrates, etc. With beneficial gut flora, the toxins it can’t change are taken out.
  • Chemical Chelation can be dramatic and cause regression – it pulls mercury or lead out of storage cells (fatty tissue – the brain & nervous system are mostly fat) – she recommends no chelation because a healthy gut is the better way (chelation pulls out good stuff, too).
  • If gut flora is compromised, the body tries to compensate and this results inallergies, asthma, and inappropriate reaction to environmental toxins. Even if you were never allergic before, and then allergies begin, soon they’ll slide down to being allergic to everything.
  • 85% of the immune system is located in the gut wall.
  • GAPS Patients & Gut Dysbiosis: reduced/absent populations of normal flora,candida species overgrowth, clostridia species, sulphate reducing bacteria (most are deficient in sulfur as it’s necessary to detoxify), viruses (measles, herpes, cmv, etc.)
  • A study done in Britain shows clostridia in higher amounts in autistic childrenthan the rest of the population. Antibiotics work, but you can’t be on them forever. Only way to fight it is the natural way – with gut flora.
  • Birth Control Pill has a devastating effect on gut health, as well as overuse ofpersonal care products on skin & hair and in the mouth.
  • Almost 100% of Moms with GAPS children have abnormal gut flora.
  • Most autism begins when nursing stops.
  • Vaccinations were developed for healthy children with healthy immune systems, but most are not fit to be vaccinated. She doesn’t feel these are a direct cause with autism, but it seems to have become a “last straw” in these cases where the gut flora is on the tipping point.

GAPS Grain Free

The GAPS diet and grain-free living are becoming more and more popular as people realize how much these can improve their health!
Here, you'll find all my posts on the GAPS diet and being grain-free.  Don't forget to check the recipes section for GAPS-friendly recipes!
Why I Don't Like Gluten-Free (good reasons to just do GAPS!)