Is There a Connection Between Autism and the Gut?

"By the time I graduated from medical school I had never seen an autistic individual," she says. "… To be honest, the first autistic child that I encountered was my own… Five years ago we were diagnosing one child in 150, which is almost a 40-fold increase in incidence. Now in Britain and some countries, we are diagnosing one child in 66." Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, a medical doctor with a postgraduate degree in neurology.

Dr. Campbell-McBride is convinced that autistic children are in fact born with perfectly normal brains and sensory organs. She has devised a treatment protocol that she has used to bring about a cure for her son. It is a nutritional program that focuses on the gut and emphasizes the benefits of probiotics and fermented foods.

At the core of her program is maintaining positive gut flora (bacteria), which is responsible for helping the food we consume become the nutrition we need. Imbalance allow formation of toxic substances that enter the circulation and harm numerous internal systems, including ones in the brain, causing us to be more sensitive to damage from foreign substances, such as vaccines.

In the families of autistic children, 100 percent of mothers of autistic children have abnormal gut flora and health problems related to that. Further, grandmothers on the mother’s side also have abnormal gut flora, but much milder. It would be foolish to ignore this finding.

Unfortunately, all the factors that create abnormal gut flora are becoming increasingly prevalent. This means that the next generation of young women will have even worse gut flora than their mothers, and the proportion of children being born predisposed to develop autism will be even higher. To combat the effects of poor gut flora, Dr. Campbell suggests parents begin supplementing as soon as possible; themselves, their children, and even the babies. How about supporting the family pets in the same manner?

1. Diet - consists of easily-digestible foods that are dense in nutrition, including fermented foods. On average, people adhere to the diet a couple of years. It takes two years to drive out the pathogenic flora, to reestablish normal flora in the gut, to heal and seal the damaged gut lining in these people and turn the gut back to being a major source of nourishment for the person instead of being a source of toxicity.
2. Food supplements, including: probiotics and vitamins D and A in the form of cod liver oil, although sun exposure is also an important part, for proper vitamin D production.
3. Detoxification—The nutritional protocol will naturally clear out most toxins. Dr. Campbell does not use any kind of drugs or chemicals to remove toxins as it can be too drastic for some, and can produce damaging side effects. Instead she recommends juicing as a gentle but effective way of removing toxic build-up, as well as baths with Epsom salt, sea salt, seaweed powder, apple cider vinegar, and baking soda.

Dr. Campbell describes the entire process in her book, Gut and Psychology Syndrome: Natural Treatment for Autism, Dyspraxia, A.D.D., Dyslexia, A.D.H.D., Depression, Schizophrenia.

I would add the following: Many people regularly take drugs that reduce stomach acid (Nexium, Prilosec, Protonix, etc.), referred to as Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs). Using them can damage the delicate balance in the gut. Simply, don’t use them. There are better, safer, ways to treat indigestion or gastric reflux.

Quality probiotics contain living colony forming units of good bacteria. When beginning, take them a couple of times each day, on an empty stomach, and be sure to drink a glass of clean water. After a week or so, cut back to one per day and continue for the rest of your life. We recommend Florajen4Kids, specifically formulated for children, and Florajen 3, which focuses more on the adult population.

Of course, you can easily open a capsule and divide up the powder into expressed breast milk or the baby’s formula, equivalent to a half capsule per day. While breast milk is a preferred nutritional source for babies, circumstances sometimes make that impossible or impractical. There are excellent formulas available, as long as they do not contain soy. But, that’s another story.

Finally, add a drop of vitamin D (400IU) to one feeding each day. As the child moves on to solid foods, consider adding small doses of fish oil or cod liver oil (half teaspoonful) to supply both vitamins A and D. Today’s fish oils are far better tasting than before and nobody should object.