Anxiety & the Gut-Brain Axis in Autism with Julie Matthews: The Anxiety Summit 5

Julie Matthews, CNC, is one my guest experts on The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis and our topic is: Anxiety & the Gut-Brain Axis in Autism. In this interview you’ll learn:

• Nutritional and dietary intervention in autism (and the new study Julie contributed to)
• Gut-immune-brain axis, mTOR and amino acids (we talk about tryptophan at length)
• Significance of fecal microbiota transplants (and significance and future of this approach)

We start with a discussion about how common anxiety disorders are in autism, and how psychiatric medications are frequently prescribed.

This is why I’m so thrilled about the study Julie was part of: Comprehensive Nutritional and Dietary Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder-A Randomized, Controlled 12-Month Trial.

• study participants had a significant improvement in anxiety from a special diet and various nutritional supplements
• study participants saw improved communication skills as well as improved daily living skills and social skills – all of which can lead to reduced anxiety and social anxiety, and improved overall happiness
• there were also improvements in happiness, focus, IQ and language, as well as symptoms of autism

We talk about some of this in the in-person interview we did recently in San Diego.

(I also blogged about this study last year, shortly after the paper was published. You can read about it here so you’re familiar with all the details when you listen to our summit interview.)

Julie and I are both research geeks and in our full interview on the summit we get geeky and talk about new research on:

• The Gut-Immune-Brain Axis in Autism Spectrum Disorders A Focus on Amino Acids (we discuss mTOR and have a good discussion on the use of tryptophan vs 5-HTP)
• Fecal transplants in autism (the outcomes are incredibly promising! I’ve since heard that another bigger study is being planned by the same researchers)

You’re likely familiar with Julie’s autism nutrition work and practitioner training on special diets which I wholeheartedly endorse. In case you’re new to her work, Julie is a Certified Nutrition Consultant and published researcher specializing in complex neurological, digestive, and immune conditions, most notably autism. She is the author of the award-winning book, Nourishing Hope for Autism, and co-author of a study proving the efficacy of nutrition and dietary intervention for autism published in the peer-reviewed journal, Nutrients (the study I mention above).

If you’re looking for autism/anxiety and autism/gut solutions you won’t want to miss this interview.

If you are looking for anxiety nutritional and gut solutions but don’t have an autism spectrum disorder/ASD or family member with ASD I encourage you to listen in anyway.  Julie’s approach is based on the BioIndividual Nutrition® needs of each person and stems from her 18 years of work with autism. Using autism as a model for complex chronic disease, her approach and methodology helps practitioners specializing in varied disorders improve the health and healing of their clients through her BioIndividual Nutrition Training for practitioners.

The above statement – using autism as a model for complex chronic disease – is an important one. In the short video clip above I mention how those with ASD are like the canaries in the coal mine. And we talk about many of the overlapping root causes we see in both anxiety disorders and ASD – such as methylation, nutritional deficiencies, gut issues and food sensitivities, heavy metals and so much more.  Julie and I have been highlighting these overlaps for years. Much of what we cover in the interview has wide-reaching implications for anxiety and other chronic health conditions.

I am so appreciative to Julie for helping me figure out my own dietary oxalate issues which were causing excruciating hot-coals/shards-of-glass type foot pain. I’ve learned so much from Julie on this topic and you’ll hear me bring up oxalates in a number of interviews.

 

We also happen to be really good friends and love to laugh together (as you can tell!). These two pictures were taken in San Diego at the Mindshare conference (left) and Integrative Medicine for Mental Health conference (right), where we both presented.

You can listen to each of the interviews (and get transcripts) by purchasing The Anxiety Summit 5: Gut-Brain Axis.

If you’d like to give feedback or ask a question, please post in the comments section. I’d love to hear from you once you’ve listened in.

If you’d like to give feedback or ask a question, please post in the comments section at the bottom.

I’d love to hear from you once you’ve listened in to this interview and the others.