Comments on: Autism and Your Gut

By: Shannon

Shannon — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:20:11 +0000

Watched an interesting show last night on the Nature of Things (in Canada) and they talked exclusively about gut flora and austism. The numbers are staggering now, at 1 in 90 children will have autism. They compared Somali immigrants coming to Canada, and how some of them have two of four children with austim. They come from a very underdeveloped country to one that is very high in pollutants, including all the poison that we dump on our food to keep it safe. There has to be a correlation here. Keep up the good work! Love your site!

By: Jessica

Jessica — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 12:41:38 +0000

I would add to the list of primary causes of bad gut bacteria…Cesarean Section. It now accounts for 37% of births in the US and all those babies are being born without catching the bacteria from their moms as they normally would. With C-sections skyrocketing, this will surely have consequences in the coming years.

By: Stacy@Delighting in the Days

Stacy@Delighting in the Days — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:45:20 +0000

Thanks so much for offering your opinion about testing. I really appreciate it.

I watched all of the videos by Dr. Natasha Campbell McBride and Donna Gates. They were very interesting and informative. I am really looking forward to reading the Gut and Psychology Syndrome.

Thanks again!
Stacy

By: cathy

cathy — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:46:36 +0000

Morta you would know if your flora was damaged. If you feel great physically and mentally and enjoy a good shit most days then you’ve probably got healthy gut flora.
I’ve read Natasha’s book GAPS and its amazing. It put another huge peice of the puzzle together for me, together with WAPF ( http://www.westonaprice.org ).
For mothers who truly can’t breastfeed (and most women can) there are real whole food formula recipes at WAPF. No baby should ever be fed a conventional baby formula.

By: Morta Di Fame

Morta Di Fame — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:20:20 +0000

wow, this is unbelievable and so scary! 1 in 150 is such a staggering number. how would you know whether you have bad gut flora? would you have problems going to the bathroom or indigestion? yeast infections? is there a way to test for this? my mom did not breast feed me, but ALOT of mothers didn’t when i was younger. what if you cannot breast feed, is there any way to build that flora in the baby? so many questions. i will visit all the links. great info to pass on! thanks!

Morta Di Fame

By: Earth Friendly Goodies

Earth Friendly Goodies — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:05:51 +0000

That is a fascinating theory, and overall makes sense as a contributing factor. If the body can’t process the many toxins most of us consume it all builds up – along with the mercury and heavy metals in vaccines. I wish I could remember more details about what was said at a recent seminar on toxins, but there was a story about a family who had themselves tested for various toxins and they were surprised to see that among the four of them (2 adults, one 7 year old and an 18 month old) the 18 month old far surpassed them all in the amount of toxins built up in the body. The reason was in part because mother’s pass on any toxins in their system directly to the fetus. Plus the toxins in the environment are exponentially growing so more is being passed on. Very scary stuff – especially hearing about heavy metal exposure from vaccines and amalgam fillings. It is no wonder there are an increasing amount of health problems in children.

Earth Friendly Goodies

By: KristenM

KristenM — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:07:13 +0000

Edd — I can’t imagine anyone flaming you for asking for proof. I’d recommend you read Dr. Campbell-McBride’s book (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) for her treatment of the evidence. Also, why not watch the other videos in this series and see if her surface level treatment of the material makes sense?

By: Edd

Edd — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:32:51 +0000

I’ve seen many children with Autism who have digestive trouble. However, I have never seen any research that has pointed to these problems as the CAUSE for Autism as Dr. Campbell-McBride has claimed in this video. I would be VERY interested to see research that makes the causative connection. I am sure that her diet plan could help many symptoms experienced by individuals with Autism. I have difficulty believing that it can CURE autism.

I would also like to see verifiable, reproducible research that implicates vaccinations in CAUSING Autism. As far as I know the evidence for these claims is coincidental in nature, i.e. there is not enough information to determine whether vaccines are the CAUSE of Autism.

For those who would flame me, please know that I want a cure as badly as anyone else. I’m just not willing to drink every bottle of snake oil I come across until I find it.

By: KristenM

KristenM — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 23:56:00 +0000

Stacy — If budgetary constraints are an issue, I’d say there’s no need to test. The GAPS diet (and the BEDROC diet) will not harm you or your child at all. Since there’s no risk involved and a LOT to gain (health & mental stability!), I’d simply try it on for a month or two and then re-evaluate things from there. Obviously, that’s not enough time to heal you or your daughter, but it is certainly enough time to decide if the diet is making a difference. If you’re worried about the stress of keeping such a restrictive diet (particularly in its early stages), then perhaps start doing the “normal” go-to things like eliminating sugar & starches, introducing a lot more fermented foods, switching to fermented beverages (particularly coconut kefir and kombucha), and taking probiotic supplements. You should immediately notice your bodies detoxing (with cold-like symptoms, etc.), and then you should start to feel a bit better. If after a couple of months of this you’re not seeing the improvement you were hoping for, consider going full-blown GAPS.

By: Stacy@Delighting in the Days

Stacy@Delighting in the Days — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:55:36 +0000

I find this very interesting. I am so happy that Dr. Campbell-McBride made these videos. It will help tide me over while I wait for her book to arrive.

May I ask your opinion? How important do you feel getting tested for things like yeast overgrowth are before starting something like the GAPS diet?

I have a daughter with some difficulties. I’m not sure exactly what they are, but she definitely has many struggles (including sensory issues) and could fit into the ADD or Aspergers categories. We also have a nephew with autism.

I’d like to get her tested, but can’t find a doctor who will listen to me I’ve also seen a place where you can do the Organic Acid Test (the one for yeast overgrowth) online. It is just so expensive.

I don’t imagine it would hurt to do probiotics and some dietary changes without testing. However, I know the GAPS diet is a huge undertaking and one that I might not feel so confident in if I didn’t know for sure there was a digestive problem.

Sorry to come out of the blue with a big comment! I’ve been reading here for the past 2 months and have learned a lot! We are making a lot of changes, including adding raw milk, pastured eggs, real butter and grass-fed beef. Thanks for the work you put into this blog.

Sincerely,
Stacy

Stacy@Delighting in the Days