Trudy Scott Anxiety Nutrition Solutions & Every Woman Over 29

The healing properties of camel’s milk for autism (and anxiety)

July 16, 2018 By Trudy Scott 8 Comments

Kaalya Daniel, PhD covers the very interesting topic of camel milk in her interview on The Nourishing Hope for Autism Summit

How You Can Use the Healing Properties of Camel’s Milk for Autism

Camel’s milk is like no other milk. You’ll learn the unique and powerful immune system properties and nutrient benefits of this milk, from an animal known to endure extreme conditions. And how it helps with autism, even when you can’t tolerate other milk.

I don’t have access to the interview transcript yet but since this is a new topic I haven’t yet blogged about I’ve decided to highlight this interview as one I’m really interested in exploring for mom’s in my community with children on the spectrum, with ADHD or other developmental disorders.

In case you’re new to camel’s milk, a paper published in 2015 – Nutritional and Therapeutic Characteristics of Camel Milk in Children: A Systematic Review, shares the following:

Camel milk is the closest to a human mother’s milk. Camel milk is different from other milks, however, having low sugar and cholesterol, high minerals (sodium, potassium, iron, copper, zinc and magnesium, and vitamin C). The milk is considered have medicinal characteristics as well.

The study concludes that there is evidence denoting the importance, usability and benefits of camel’s milk:

Camel milk as a supplemental treatment seems less invasive and costly than specialist care, medications, alternative treatments, and behavioral interventions. Based on our findings, camel milk is safer for children, effective in the treatment of autism, improves general well-being, promotes body natural defenses, is a good nutritional source, and can helps the daily nutritional needs of humans.

Given the many overlaps we see with autism/ASD and anxiety/depression, it’s clear that camel milk has wide applications given the benefits we see has for immunity, the gut and inflammation, as well as providing nourishment when dairy cannot be tolerated. As you can see in the above study below camel milk consumption has been shown to improve general well-being.

I’m not sure if anxiety and GABA is covered in the interview but I did find some interesting research reporting that both camel and goat milk have significantly more bioavailable GABA than cow and human milk – which may be another beneficial mechanism.

Here are just a few of the other speakers and topics I’m really looking forward to hearing:

James Adams, PhD: The Scientific Evidence Linking Nutrition and Autism Improvement
Dietrich Klinghardt: Understanding Lyme, Infections, Mold, and Heavy Metals and the Effects on Autism
Chef Pete Evans: Food is Medicine, Inspiration from a chef
Dominic D’Agostino, PhD: Is the Ketogenic Diet Right for an Autistic Child?
Susan Owens, MS: The Inflammasome, Oxalates, Autoimmunity and Autism
And of course, Julie Matthews, CNC: When GFCF Diets Don’t Work – BioIndividual Nutrition for Autism (I’m actually going to interview Julie on this topic)

In my interview we go into anxiety, OCD and aggression in great detail, discussing the amino acids GABA and tryptophan, plus gluten issues and when and how to use inositol.

This summit provides you with information and tools that address the root causes of autism, ADHD and many other conditions including anxiety.

The Summit runs July 30 to August 3 and is hosted by my dear friend and colleague Julie Matthews, whose work you’re probably very familiar with. In case Julie’s work is new to you, in my eyes, she is THE autism nutrition expert. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing her a number of times on the Anxiety Summit, I endorse her Bioindividual Nutrition training (special diets) for practitioners, I highly respect the work she does and I adore her!

Register here for The Nourishing Hope for Autism Summit to learn more! It airs online from July 30 to August 3, 2018. Hope to see you online!

I’d love to hear your camel’s milk experiences. If you have questions please post them in the comments below.

Thailand cave rescue: yes to calming meditation and GABA, no to antianxiety medication

July 13, 2018 By Trudy Scott 3 Comments

The cave rescue of 12 teens and their soccer coach in Thailand is such a beautiful story of hope, courage, resilience, volunteerism and the whole world coming together! I’ve been following the news about this from day 1 (as I’m sure you were) and felt such relief and joy on hearing they had all been safely rescued and appear to be physically and mentally fine.

I’m weighing in on the fact that meditation seems to have played a major role in keeping them calm, using GABA or theanine instead of antianxiety medications and B vitamins for ongoing psychological support.

Meditation seems to have played a role in keeping them calm

Meditation seems to have played a role in keeping them calm, according to this report from the UK

The 12 Thai boys and their football coach who were trapped in a cave in Thailand got through the ordeal by practicing meditation, family members have said.

According to a mother of one of the boys, the team were meditating in the widely shared video of their discovery by two British divers.

Look at how calm they were sitting there waiting. No one was crying or anything. It was astonishing.

The coach who was rescued from the cave on Tuesday, trained as a Buddhist monk for 12 years before he decided to coach the Wild Boars soccer team.

‘He could meditate up to an hour,’ said his aunt, Tham Chanthawong. ‘It has definitely helped him and probably helps the boys to stay calm.’

Here is the video of their lovely smiling calm faces when they were first found.

In this paper, Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-Being, they report that

Meditation programs, in particular mindfulness programs, reduce multiple negative dimensions of psychological stress [such as anxiety, depression, stress, distress, well-being, positive mood, attention]

Meditation has also been shown to improve dopamine and serotonin transporter binding, which appears to have reduced fatigue and improved mood in this study, likely because there are higher levels of these neurotransmitters available.

In a study done with young adults, Effects of mindfulness meditation on serum cortisol of medical students, meditation lowered cortisol levels, suggesting reduced feelings of stress.

Meditation and GABA/theanine instead of antianxiety medications

It was clearly an extremely difficult rescue and the Australian doctor, Adelaide anaesthetist Dr Richard Harris, risked his life to go into the cave and stayed with the boys and their coach for several days. He assessed their health and made sure they were ready for the rescue.

He used his medical expertise and rescue diving experience to decide to have each of them use antianxiety medication for the arduous 8-hour plus rescue (I suspect it was Dr. Harris’ decision). It was confirmed by Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha – to help calm their nerves – and it’s likely they were given a benzodiazepine, hopefully only the one time.

Even though very short term acute situations like this, is actually the intended use of benzodiazepines, it concerns me that these young boys were medicated, especially since adverse paradoxical reactions can be caused by benzodiazepines and are difficult to predict and diagnose.

The following adverse reactions can occur: “unanticipated restlessness and agitated episode,” sometimes aggression, hostility, and rage, as well as “an increased state of anxiety.” An adverse reaction during the actual rescue would have been very serious.

There were also reports of elevated white blood cells (WBC) and signs of a lung infection in some of the boys, and one boy had low blood pressure. These are all be side-effects of benzodiazepines. It’s difficult to know what caused any of this – was the medication, the rescue itself and the fact that were under water or spending all that time in the cave?

My intention is not to be critical of the medical decisions that were made in these very dire circumstances. I’ve done caving or spelunking as it was called in England and it’s pretty scary being underground and in the dark, wading through running water – and we were safely in control of things!

I’m sharing about benzodiazepines simply to raise awareness about other options and some of the many risks. And we haven’t even explored the fact that long-term use of benzodiazepines do more harm than good. More than a week to 2 weeks is considered too long, and for some this is even too long.

I really do look forward to the day when benzodiazepines are not the first approach but rather that:

meditation is recognized as being as effective, if not a more effective calming approach (I suspect the mediation benefits these boys had been experiencing would likely have carried them through the rescue)
the amino acids GABA or theanine are recognized for the calming benefits they offer (especially since the “mechanism of benzodiazepine action is through the gamma-aminobutyric acid [or GABA] receptors.”

B vitamins and other nutrition solutions after psychological stress

Thailand’s Department of Mental Health shared that

People who endure such an intense and dangerous event can go on to suffer lasting anxiety, depression and other symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

I was so pleased to hear that the boys and their coach are being given B vitamins. There is evidence-based research on the psychological benefits of B vitamins after a trauma (like an earthquake or flood), thanks to my colleagues Julia Rucklidge, PhD and Bonnie Kaplan PhD.

I do hope the B vitamins are continued and is offered to worried family members and all the wonderful rescuers who must be exhausted and stressed too.

Hopefully the boys will also continue to meditate with their soccer coach and share some of the benefits they experienced with family and friends.

How did you feel when you heard the rescue was over? Good news gives us such feel-good warm emotions doesn’t it!?

Do you meditate and have you used calming GABA or theanine?

Let us know if you have questions too.

Candida: anxiety and low serotonin, testing and parasites, sugar cravings, EMFs and your genes

July 8, 2018 By Trudy Scott 9 Comments

My interview on anxiety on The Candida Summit with host Evan Brand, addresses anxiety, the tie in to low serotonin and the sugar cravings aspect. I was so excited to find a connection between serotonin and candida and share this in our interview.

with low serotonin you’ve got the mental anxiety – the worry, the ruminating thoughts, the obsessive thinking, the reprocessing, insomnia, lying awake in bed, trying to shut down the busy mind. And the two amino acids I use for this is tryptophan; that’s my first choice. And my second choice is 5-HTP. That being said, some people do better on one versus the other.

The reason I like tryptophan is 5-HTP can raise cortisol and make people who are wired/tired feel a little bit more wired/tired. So until I’ve seen cortisol results in saliva, I like to use tryptophan first.

But let me share some of this interesting research that I’ve found. And why I’m so excited about it is because as I said earlier, I will use the amino acids first before I’m specifically addressing the candida. But it seems like using tryptophan first, as well as helping with the low serotonin, it’s starting to have an impact on the candida, which I didn’t know about, until I did the research for this. So thank you for inviting me to speak. It just reinforces what I know about the amino acids – that they are pretty powerful.

There was a study done in 2003, and the title is Antifungal Properties of Serotonin Against Candida species. And they looked at various different candida strains: albicans, glabrata, tropicalis, and a few others. And they exposed these candida strains to serotonin. The study concludes: “Serotonin showed antifungal activity towards all isolates of candida.”

What they didn’t know is what the mechanism of action was. They stated: “Identifying the mode of action would be of great help in developing and research new antifungal drugs.” I don’t agree with that. I’m just excited to see that there is this connection with serotonin, which reinforces how beneficial tryptophan is.

Of course, my solution is to provide serotonin support via diet, exercise and the use of the targeted individual amino acid tryptophan or 5-HTP.

You can read more about this serotonin-candida connection in my blog post: Symptoms, nutrient malabsorption, worsening psychiatric symptoms and the serotonin connection

In our interview I also discuss how I use the amino acids and how tryptophan/5-HTP as well as GABA, DPA, tyrosine and glutamine, can actually help with so much of the sugar craving we see in candida, PLUS how I use this approach to gauge when candida is really serious.

EMFs and the dangers of 5G – and candida

Dr. Schaffner talks about EMFs and the dangers of 5G and shares how they are protecting the Sophia Institute Clinic (which she shares with Dr. Dietrich Klinghardt):

What we have done at the clinic—and again, this is an evolving art—the two things that I think are going to make the most difference in what we can do right now is, first, of course we always say avoid exposure, try to distance yourself. Distance is your friend with any technology, when we’re looking at EMF.

But we actually shielded the clinic. We have a cell phone tower within a mile of the clinic. And so, we wanted to be mindful of that exposure. We ask everybody to turn off their cell phones when they come in to the clinic. And we don’t have Wi-Fi. So everything is ethernet corded. And then, we don’t have cell phone exposure while we’re practicing.

But we do two things that I think people should be aware of. And one is we use a type of graphite paint. It’s called YSHIELD. And that actually comes from Germany. And it has properties to, essentially, try to create a Faraday cage environment and block the incoming microwave radiation. And so, that has to be grounded, of course. And you want to always work with somebody who knows what they’re doing with this technology. Because if you don’t do it right, you can actually increase your exposures or create an unhealthy environment.

And then, Dr. Klinghardt works with the woman who creates these silver-lined curtains that actually help to block the microwave radiation coming in through the windows.

There’s a really great website—LessEMF has a lot of this technology. And then, YSHIELD, you can Google, I think it’s yshield.com. And then, the silver-lined curtains, I believe, is a fabric called, Swiss Shield. And so, you can either make them yourself or hire somebody to do that.

Learn more about candida, low serotonin, low melatonin, and your glymphatic system in the second half of Dr. Schaffner’s interview.

Candida, sugar cravings and COMT and MAOA genes

Evan Brand brings up the topic of sugar and carbs in the diet with Dr. Ben Lynch in the Candida, sugar cravings and COMT and MAOA genes interview: No one is discussing the influence of the whole epigenetic piece, and how people and their decision making with foods could be influenced by their genes?

Dr. Ben Lynch shares how he has a unique angle on this fascinating topic of our genes and sugar/carb cravings:

It’s one that always ties back to what came first—the chicken or the egg, right? So what came first, the genetic propensity towards carbohydrate binging or addictive personalities for high-caloric dense foods like ice cream and cakes, doughnuts, pastries, which then leads us to candida?

And then, they go on all these candida treatments. And they beat it. And they’re all happy again. But then their genetic propensity drives them yet again for the yeast overgrowth and the food binging.

He gives an example of how some people, when they’re down and out, may be drawn to sugar and carbs to self-medicate (this is something I see with my anxious clients all the time):

They’ll hit the chocolate. They’ll hit the doughnuts, the ice cream to make them feel good. And what these do is they spike your dopamine.

You’re not really aware of it, but you just do it. And you know you shouldn’t do it. But what happens here is, is some individuals, they have genes, which eliminate their dopamine out of their body pretty quickly. This gene is called COMT. And one of its jobs is to move dopamine out. You don’t want to always have neurotransmitters in your brain. That’s not good.

So some of these folks are born with a COMT gene that actually works faster, which is really good because they can calm down really quick in stressful environments. They can perform at a high level in stressful situations like surgeons, or EMT, or firefighters, or policemen, policewomen. They strive in these high-risk, highly-attentive situations.

But when they come home, everything’s a low normal. And they need that hit of dopamine. So they might come home and binge on sugars and carbs to drive their dopamine back up. And that’s a significant one.

Dr Lynch also shares about another gene, MAOA, which deals with our serotonin:

If you have a faster MAOA gene, which moves through your serotonin, then you are craving carbohydrates, and you’re craving pastas, and breads, and all the things that candida love, and beer. These things which increase your tryptophan levels, support your MAOA, and thus your serotonin. These are two major foods that our candida love. And these are two very, very common genes in the population which predispose us to having these issues

Candida testing, parasites and intractable yeast overgrowth

Evan Brand asks this question about candida testing in the Candida, Mitochondrial Dysfunction, and Meditation interview with Dr. Dan Kalish: I’m guessing your statistics are similar to mine, 9 out of every 10 organic acids I find Candida overgrowth. Stool test, the GI map is missing a lot of Candida. Maybe you could help me understand why that’s happening.

Dr. Dan Kalish shares why candida testing can be challenging:

Because Candida can be commensal where it’s growing within the digestive tract itself, or it can be invasive where it penetrates into the tissue of the gut. And then it’s not going to be found in any of the stool tests. So stool tests can miss it easily. And in fact, the more severe it gets, the harder it is to find on a test.

That’s what happens with the yeast when it gets bad. It gets invasive. It goes up into the actual lining of the gut. So if it penetrates there, it causes leaky gut. But then it’s invasive, so it’s penetrating into the tissues. And you’re not going to see it in the stool. And that’s when it gets worse. In fact, it’s going to cause more symptoms. But then it’s almost impossible to find on the stool test.

He also shares this gem about intractable yeast overgrowth that just won’t go away:

You can have a Candida overgrowth, treat it and feel better, but have there be another underlying cause for the Candida. So there’s a lot of patients that will come to me and be like, “I had this Candida overgrowth. As long as I eat this radical and extreme and ridiculous diet, and take all these herbs, I’m fine. But every time I stop, it just comes back.”

Then, that leads the person to assume that it’s this horrific Candida overgrowth that’s never going to go away. And in those patients, there’s almost always Giardia, or Crypto [Cryptosporidium], or E. histo [Entamoeba histolytica], or some other bug that’s screwing up the ecology of the gut that’s allowing the Candida to keep coming back. So that’s just something to be on the lookout for.

If you feel like you have this intractable yeast overgrowth that just won’t go away, you should find a functional medicine doctor and do all the stool testing. Because you’re almost guaranteed there will be some other infection.

Click here to register for The Candida Summit which runs online from July 9-15, 2018!

Do share if you’ve successfully addressed candida overgrowth and how your symptoms improved and how bad your sugar cravings were.

Let us know if you’re EMF-aware and how addressing low serotonin has helped you.

If you have questions post them below in the blog comments.

Melatonin improves sleep quality and reduces anxiety after a TBI (traumatic brain injury)

July 6, 2018 By Trudy Scott 11 Comments

New research shows that melatonin improves sleep quality and reduces anxiety after a TBI (traumatic brain injury). The study, Efficacy of melatonin for sleep disturbance following traumatic brain injury: a randomised controlled trial was completed in Australia and used a prolonged-release (also called timed-release) melatonin product.

The study participants, 67% of whom were male, had mild to severe TBI and sleep disturbances as a result of their injuries (most of which were from car accidents). There were 2 study groups, with one group given 2mg of prolonged-release melatonin for 4 weeks and then switched to a placebo for 4 weeks (with a 48-hour window in between). The other group did the opposite.

The prolonged-release melatonin was made by Sigma Pharmaceuticals Australia and called Circadin. Each night 2 hours before bedtime, 2mg of Circadin was taken by study participants. They received a reminder text message each night.

These are the study results for sleep:

Melatonin was associated with a significant and moderate reduction in PSQI [Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index] global scores, indicating improved sleep quality.

There was no significant reduction in sleep onset latency with melatonin compared to placebo.

What this means is that overall quality of sleep improved but there was no change in the time it takes to fall asleep (sleep onset latency). The latter is to be expected with prolonged-release or timed-release melatonin.

The study concluded that:

The present results, therefore, suggest that melatonin may be useful in treating sleep disturbances in patients with TBI.

With better sleep quality you would expect reduced fatigue and improved vitality – both were reported by study participants.

Melatonin associated with a small decrease in self-reported anxiety

What is interesting is that melatonin was also associated with a small decrease in self-reported anxiety (no differences in depression were reported.) The authors suggest that one possible mechanism of this may be that melatonin acts a muscle relaxant. In this commentary: Potential action of melatonin in insomnia, the authors equate the beneficial effects of melatonin to benzodiazepines:

many of the actions of melatonin on sleep propensity, anxiety, thermoregulation, and convulsions resemble those reported following administration of benzodiazepines. It is possible that some of these actions of melatonin may be mediated via peripheral benzodiazepine receptors

They are suggesting that with melatonin we get the sleep improvement (sleep propensity is the readiness to transit from wakefulness to sleep, or the ability to stay asleep if already sleeping), relaxation effects and antianxiety benefits of benzodiazepines.

But you get none of the side-effects, tolerance issues and withdrawal nightmares with a benzodiazepine which do more harm than good. On a side notes: this month World Benzodiazepine Day is celebrated to create awareness and offer support for benzo sufferers.

I would have picked something more inert for the placebo ingredients

I would have picked something more inert for the placebo ingredients: mannitol (106mg), acacia (11 mg) and pure icing sugar (106 mg). Mannitol, a sugar alcohol, can cause bloating and diarrhea in some individuals and although the amount is tiny (5g of sugar equals 1 teaspoon), sugar consumption is not ideal before bed. As I would expect adverse symptoms:

were more frequently reported during placebo treatment. The most commonly reported symptoms were neurological, followed by bodily pain, gastrointestinal and dermatologic.

In Australia, melatonin cannot be purchased over the counter (OTC) at health stores or via online retailers, unlike in the USA, and is only available by prescription. I’m all for melatonin being available OTC but the silver lining to this is that companies that make melatonin, such as Circadin, have a vested interest in the research. Research is expensive and time-consuming and we get to benefit too.

Keep in mind that this research is applicable to anyone with low melatonin, whether or not a prior TBI has occurred.

There are many root causes of insomnia – how I work with clients

In those with TBI, sleep disturbances are common, and the authors do report reduced evening and overnight melatonin production in this population. However, there are many root causes of insomnia, with low melatonin being one possible root cause – in TBI and in those who have not had a TBI.

One study limitation is that they didn’t measure melatonin levels or circadian rhythm (salivary cortisol) in all of the study participants so we can’t be sure everyone did have low melatonin.

And melatonin isn’t going to work in all instances of insomnia. It’s one root cause I look at.

This is how I work with clients who have insomnia:

I start with low serotonin and address this with tryptophan observing improvements in sleep and easing of worry and anxiety (on a side note, low serotonin is common after a TBI so this makes total sense)
Then I have my client use sublingual melatonin if they have issues falling asleep AND timed-release melatonin if they have issues staying asleep (you can see some of the melatonin products I recommend here)
When saliva results come back, we address the adrenals as needed, often adding Seriphos when cortisol is high
Other factors are addressed based on each person’s need: gluten issues, SIBO, parasites, candida, EMFs, sex hormone imbalances, medication side-effects, sleep habits

We’d love to hear if timed-release melatonin has helped you improve your sleep quality? And if it also helped with easing anxiety?

What about tryptophan or sublingual melatonin for helping you fall asleep? And the other root causes?

If you’re a practitioner, do you use tryptophan or sublingual or timed-release melatonin with your clients? And address the other root causes of insomnia?

Feel free to post your questions too.

Little evidence for SSRI use in anxiety and compulsions in ASD: my interview on Nourishing Hope for Autism Summit

July 2, 2018 By Trudy Scott 2 Comments

One of the reasons I’m so passionate about participating on summits like The Nourishing Hope for Autism Summit and sharing the powerful nutritional interventions is due to the fact that medications such as antidepressants and benzodiazepines are frequently prescribed in ASD – and the research and clinical evidence shows that children and adolescents with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) are more vulnerable to the side effects.

This paper, Psychopharmacological interventions in autism spectrum disorder, makes the following conclusion:

Psychopharmacological treatment of core and associated symptoms in ASD is challenging, in large part because ASD presents in many different ways. Furthermore, children and adolescents with ASD are more vulnerable to the side effects of psychopharmacological intervention than their age-matched, typically developing counterparts.

This paper, Pharmacotherapy of emotional and behavioral symptoms associated with autism spectrum disorder in children and adolescents, supports this, stating there is little evidence to support the use of SSRIs in ASD:

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are often used in clinical practice to target anxiety and compulsions; however, there is little evidence to support its use in this population. There is a great need for further research on the safety and efficacy of existing psychotropic medications in youth with ASD.

And this paper published a few months ago, An update on pharmacotherapy of autism spectrum disorder in children and adolescents, concludes that

Overall, the evidence is limited for pharmacotherapy in children with ASD, and side-effects with long-term use can be burdensome.

Much of this also applies to adults with ASD and in my interview I talk about the psychiatric medicine concerns within the ASD community and the high incidence of anxiety, aggression, irritability and OCD in this population.

We also discuss the following nutritional solutions in my interview (appropriately titled: How to calm anxiety, and eliminate aggression and OCD) –

the role low serotonin plays in anxiety, aggression and OCD/obsessions and the use of tryptophan and when to avoid 5-HTP
the low GABA type of physical anxiety and how to effectively use GABA for results
how to use inositol for OCD and some wonderful success stories
lead toxicity and increased anxiety and the protective role of tryptophan and ascorbic acid
phenols and oxalates other special diets (and my story with oxalate issues)

Our interviews are always fun, science based and practical – and in this one we even shared some of our personal results (both good and bad) with some of these nutrients.

Here are just a few of the speakers and topics I’m really looking forward to hearing:

James Adams, PhD: The Scientific Evidence Linking Nutrition and Autism Improvement
Dietrich Klinghardt: Understanding Lyme, Infections, Mold, and Heavy Metals and the Effects on Autism
Chef Pete Evans: Food is Medicine, Inspiration from a chef
Kaalya Daniel, PhD: How You Can Use the Healing Properties of Camel’s Milk for Autism
Dominic D’Agostino, PhD: Is the Ketogenic Diet Right for an Autistic Child?
Susan Owens, MS: The Inflammasome, Oxalates, Autoimmunity and Autism
And of course, Julie Matthews, CNC: When GFCF Diets Don’t Work – BioIndividual Nutrition for Autism

This summit provides you with information and tools that address the root causes so medications such as the above do not even have to come into the picture!

The Nourishing Hope for Autism Summit runs July 30 to August 3 and is hosted by my dear friend and colleague Julie Matthews, whose work you’re probably very familiar with. In case Julie’s work is new to you, in my eyes, she is THE autism nutrition expert. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing her a number of times on the Anxiety Summit, I endorse her Bioindividual Nutrition training (special diets) for practitioners, I highly respect the work she does and I adore her!

The focus of this summit is clearly autism and Julie is THE expert so you’ll learn a ton from the experts she has gathered.

But do keep in mind that those with autism or Asperger’s are often considered the canaries in the coalmine and even if you don’t have a loved one with ASD many of the interviews have wider applications for anxiety, ADHD and other developmental and learning disorders.

Nutritional and Dietary Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder – a new study

June 29, 2018 By Trudy Scott 3 Comments

The research confirms how effective nutritional psychiatry is for anxiety and depression (the SMILEs diet depression trial) so when a 12 month randomized trial reports the benefits of nutrition for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) we celebrate this too. Many of the same mechanisms that contribute to anxiety, can also play a role when it comes to ASD – such as food sensitivities, poor gut health, heavy metals, fatty acid imbalances and so on. Also, many children with ASD experience anxiety – 34 to 47% depending on whether you ask a parent of a teacher. Many adults with autism and Asperger’s syndrome also experience anxiety and overwhelm too. In one study 50% of adults with ASD experienced social anxiety.

This paper was published in March this year: Comprehensive Nutritional and Dietary Intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorder-A Randomized, Controlled 12-Month Trial and was

a randomized, controlled, single-blind 12-month treatment study of a comprehensive nutritional and dietary intervention.

Treatment began with a special vitamin/mineral supplement, and additional treatments were added sequentially, including essential fatty acids, Epsom salt baths, carnitine, digestive enzymes, and a healthy gluten-free, casein-free, soy-free (HGCSF) diet.

Here is the year-long protocol for the study participants:

Day 0: Vitamin/Mineral supplementation begins.
Day 30: Essential Fatty Acid supplementation begins.
Day 60: Epsom salt baths begin.
Day 90: Carnitine Supplementation begins.
Day 180: Digestive Enzyme supplementation begins.
Day 210: Healthy, casein-free, gluten-free diet begins.
Day 365: Final assessment of autism severity and overall functioning status. Final blood draw and urine collection.

And these are the guidelines for the dietary changes for the study participants:

Adequate intake of a variety of vegetables (including leafy greens) and fruit (preferably whole fruit).
Adequate protein quality and intake.
Adequate, but not excessive, caloric intake.
Minimal consumption of “junk” foods and replacement with healthy snacks.
Healthy, gluten-free, casein-free, and soy-free (HGCSF).
Avoidance of artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives.

Parents of participants reported that the vitamin/mineral supplements, essential fatty acids, and HGCSF diet were the most beneficial. And when asked at the end of the study which treatments they planned to continue at the conclusion of the study, over 85% of parents said the vitamin/mineral supplement and the essential fatty acids were the most likely to be continued, 70% planned to continue the Epsom salt baths, 63% planned to continue the healthy HGCSF diet, and 44% planned to continue using the carnitine and digestive enzymes.

I’m really pleased that they mentioned the following limitation because we really do need to address the nutritional needs of each person:

all participants received all treatments, whereas probably only a subset are likely to benefit from any single intervention (for example, only participants with low carnitine are likely to benefit from carnitine supplementation)…. future studies could try to determine which treatments were most beneficial, using the results of this study to guide those future studies.

Despite the above study limitation, the treatment group saw the following improvements:

Improved nonverbal intellectual ability
Significantly greater improvement in autismsymptoms and developmental age
Significantly greater increases in EPA, DHA, carnitine, and vitamins A, B2, B5, B6, B12, folic acid, and coenzyme Q10

Many of the 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.

The authors do mention that the combination of all of the above treatments is feasible for most families and that there were minimal adverse effects. They conclude that:

The positive results of this study suggest that a comprehensive nutritional and dietary intervention is effective at improving nutritional status, non-verbal IQ, autism symptoms, and other symptoms in most individuals with ASD [both children and adults].

Julie Matthews, one of the nutritionists supporting the study

My good friend and colleague, Julie Matthews, was one of the nutritionists supporting the study and is one of the co-authors on the paper. I’m so proud of her contribution to this research which further supports prior studies and the work she does clinically.

Julie is the author of Nourishing Hope for Autism: Nutrition and Diet Guide for Healing Our Children and the founder of the Bioindividual Nutrition Institute. She is hosting the Nourishing Hope for Autism Summit running July 30 to August 30 and she interviews lead researcher, James Adams, PhD, Director of the Autism/Asperger’s Research Program at Arizona State University. The interview is titled “The Scientific Evidence Linking Nutrition and Autism Improvement” so be sure to tune in if you’d like more information on this study and other dietary and nutritional interventions for ASD. (You can register here).

Shamus diagnosed with moderate to severe autism at age 2

Julie shares Shamus’ success story on her Nourishing Hope blog. He was diagnosed with moderate to severe autism at age 2.

When they began him on nutritional and biomedical protocols, his parents had no expectation of improved speech or ever “mainstreaming” their son. They just wanted him to sleep so they could cope with him being autistic.

Within 3 days of starting a gluten and casein-free (GFCF) diet his projectile vomiting stopped and his meltdowns reduced from 20 per day to just 3. The next step was the GAPS diet (Gut and Psychology Syndrome) which included broths and fermented foods, and did lead to worsening symptoms for a short time. Later on overgrowth of the harmful bacteria Clostridium difficile was addressed and other biomedical/nutritional interventions were included.

Today at age 10, Shamus shows no signs of autism and has been classified as “fully recovered!” He’s in a mainstream classroom at school, his teachers love him and he has a great group of friends. Shamus is great at team sports, and exhibits no problems in the classroom whatsoever.

I’m horrified that the doctor told this mom that she was over-anxious, had post-natal depression and needed to take an antidepressant (but that’s another entire blog post).

Both children and adults benefit from dietary changes

I find it very encouraging that the study participants were both children and adults with autism spectrum disorder and their ages ranged from 3 years to 58 years. Julie shares this inspiring and hopeful comment in the press release:

The study also shows that no matter the age of the individual with autism, diet and nutrition intervention can help. It’s never too late to be nourishing hope!

I agree, it’s never too late to make changes. This wonderful success story about an older gentleman with autism is just one example. Carolyn Gammicchia, mom/wife/autism advocate/ disability activist, shared the following on Facebook shortly after the study was published:

I have spoken to many people across the country who implemented this in older individuals, one man was 51 from TX who had been institutionalized and had not spoken. He was in very poor health when a wonderful lady took him in and somehow got my number and called me. She had seen a presentation I had done about five years ago about this and she weaned him off multiple medications, cleaned up his diet (went GFCFSF i.e. gluten-free, casein-free and soy-free) and supplemented with vitamins and minerals, plus exercise. He started speaking, lost 50 lbs, and is able to work now. It works!

Diet reduces anxiety and depression and helps with bipolar and schizoaffective disorder too

I mentioned nutritional psychiatry at the start so here are a few blog posts that highlight how diet reduces anxiety and depression and helps with bipolar and schizoaffective disorder too.

Going back to the study limitation – what this all means is finding the right combination of dietary and nutritional interventions for each person. There is no one-size fits all and bioindividualized nutrition is key – for ASD, anxiety, depression and any other condition.

We’d love to hear what dietary interventions you’ve used with success with a loved one with autism or Asperger’s syndrome. Have these changes also reduced anxiety and improved other mood symptoms?

If you’re a practitioner, feel free to share a success story about one of your clients/patients with ASD.

Do also share some tips that you have found make this dietary transition easier and some challenges you have faced. Feel free to post your questions too.