Causes / Treatment

Allergies, autism spectrum disorders, asthma, and ADHD all stem from common causes and those underlying causes are the key to healing and recovery.

In order to heal food allergies, the underlying causes must be addressed. That begs the question, "What actually causes food allergies and autism?" I will list here in summary form the causes and steps of healing and expand on them on the other pages or tabs on this site.There is hope! These disorders can often be greatly improved or even completely reversed!

I have found 4 causes of allergies: toxic overload, an improperly functioning immune system, the yeast factor and heavy metal toxicity. These causes are not necessarily totally separate, individual causes, but are linked and intertwined.

Toxicity. One main cause of allergies and these other disorders is an overload of toxicity in the body. The body gets so overloaded by toxins that it cannot function properly and cannot detoxify (eliminate the bad stuff from the body) faster than it is coming in to give the body a chance to maintain it's current level of health, let alone have time to heal, recover, and function normally. It becomes too bogged down or impaired by the toxins to operate effectively and this results in disorder and disease. The body, specifically the immune system, gets so overloaded that it can't deal with the normal everyday stuff that most people can deal with and reacts to normal substances as foreign invaders.

"Overload of toxins? What? Where would that come from, especially in a baby?" That is what I thought when I first read about this idea. I thought, "I'm not around toxic chemicals, I eat pretty healthy...I'm not sure this applies to us, but just in case, I'll look into toxicity." Whoa, I was not prepared for what I found. For more information look at my Toxicity page.

Improperly Functioning Immune System. This will get a tad technical, but stick with me. One portion of the immune system has two main division - Th1 and Th2 (or thymus-helper 1 & 2). They work closely together, yet have different jobs. It's imperative that they have balance. When Th2 becomes overactive while Th1 becomes under active, you have a situation where Th2 triggers production of antibodies for things it's not suppose to attack. Th2 is important, it's suppose to trigger attacks on bacteria, viruses and pathogens; but not your own body (autoimmune disorders) and not normal healthy foods like fruits and veggies. How does this reversal occur? There are a few possibilities, which include: yeast overgrowth, stress, toxins in the body including heavy metals, and a big one - vaccines. Kenneth Bock, author of Healing the New Childhood Epidemics (Autism, ADHD, Asthma, and Allergies) says, "This imbalance in the immune system...is the main reason that there is now an epidemic of asthma and allergies. We are a Th-2 skewed society. It's just one more result of too much toxicity."

The Yeast Factor. I call it a factor, because it plays into the first two causes I listed above. Everyone is suppose to have yeast in their digestive (GI) tract. However, sometimes a certain form, or strain, of it gets out of control and overgrows so that there is too much of it. It can get out of the digestive tract into the bloodstream and wreck havic in the body. Yeast put off a byproduct that, in large amounts, is toxic to the body as well. Sometimes yeast can change forms into a fungus that grows tentacles. These tentacles can grow into the wall lining of the intestinal tract. The wall lining is like a mesh, it is suppose to have teeny tiny holes so that nutrients your digestive tract pulls out of the food can transfer into the bloodstream and be transported throughout the body to where they are needed. However, when yeast overgrows and the tentacles grow into the intestinal wall lining, it puts large holes in it. Holes in the intestinal wall lining is called Leaky Gut Syndrome. This permeability allow foods that are not fully broken down to enter into the bloodstream as large particles. The immune system does not recognize these large particles as foods (and this particularly happens with proteins) since foods are suppose to be smaller, they actually look more like an invading bacteria or virus, so your Th2 immune system does what it is suppose to do and attacks it! It effectively takes care of it, ridding the body of it. And, just to be prepared for any future invaders, develops antibodies to it so it will recognize it and take care of it even quicker next time that pesky thing invades. Except that pesky thing is actually food, not a bacteria or virus. And your body has very effectively developed a food allergy. This is what happened with Jordan. When we started introducing him to solid food at 10 months old, the first time he'd try a food he'd be fine, but the 2nd time, watch out! This can also go full circle, where if the allergic food (or foods) is continually introduced into the body, it will continually activate the Th2 immune response and can actually cause the overreaction of Th2 and the suppression of Th1 on a more permanent basis. How does yeast overgrow? That goes back to a poor diet (sugar, refined white flour, etc), poor digestion, antibiotic use, use of birth control, an infant born to a mom with yeast problems, the presence of heavy metals in the body, and several other possibilities.

Heavy Metal Toxicity. Metals get into the body, into the cells and interrupt the very ability of the cell, and therefore the body to function. It can also play a role in the presence of yeast in the body. If you have metals, you will have yeast. And, until you get rid of the metals, you will not be able to eradicate the yeast overgrowth no matter how many yeast treatments and diets you do.

Where do metals come from? All over - the air, water, food (especially high fructose corn syrup), food packaging, vaccines, pots and pans for cooking, medications (both prescription and over the counter such as antacids), etc. We all know the dangers of lead and mercury, but aluminum, arsenic, tin, etc can be just as damaging and their dangers and sources are not as widely publicized. In fact, much cookware is made from aluminum, we grill on aluminum foil, etc. Be aware - it's a significant health hazard!

So, what do you do? Lighten your body's load! Give it time, opportunity, and the tools it needs to clean house and heal. The more toxic you are or the older you are, the longer that can take.

Healing Allergies, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Asthma, and ADHD

• First, stop putting bad stuff in!
• Second, only put good stuff in!
• Third, get the old toxic build-up out! 

Stop Putting Bad Stuff In. Things like processed foods, sugars (especially faux sugars - Splenda, Nutrasweet), chlorinated water, foods the child is allergic or sensitive to, cleaners used in the house, soaps and lotions loaded with chemicals, air fresheners and perfumes, be wise and educated about vaccines - what is in them, if you give them and on what schedule, etc.

Only Put In Good Stuff. Feed the best, purest nutrition possible, especially good fats! Use supplements like probiotics, digestive enzymes, coconut oil and coconut milk, flaxseeds, multivitamin/multimineral (a good one based on whole foods, such as spirulina, dulse, or kelp, not one from the grocery store). Use only non-toxic cleaners, soaps, detergents, insect control, etc.

Get the Toxins Out. Clear out the detox/elimination pathways, kill the yeast, pull out heavy metal, etc! Most of this can be done with natural methods such as herbs, foods, supplements, clays, etc.

An Outline of the Process: 

Remove Food Allergens from the Diet. This is called an elimination diet and includes the mother's diet if a child is breastfeeding. Check out the "Food Allergies" page to learn more.

Remove Chemicals (toxins) from your Immediate Food and Environment. This includes: water, air, cleaners, toiletries, lotions, soaps, detergents, pharmaceuticals, cooking equipment, electromagnetic fields (EMF's), pesticides, fire retardants, etc. Check out the Toxicity page for more information.

Vaccines. Don't forget to look into vaccines and make an educated decision. Educated from all perspectives, not just from the literature put out by vaccine companies, or your doctor - because your doctor most likely only has the information put out by vaccine companies too.

Give the Best Nutrition Possible. Organic whole foods as much as possible and lots of pure water. Also, nutritional supplements to help detox and rebuild are crucial, needs vary by the individual though. Check out the Nutrition page to learn more. Add fermented or cultured foods.

Detoxify the Body and Address Deficiencies, Yeast, or Heavy Metals.  For allergies, this may start with NAET or BioSET. For autism, other professional help such as a doctor, naturopath, homeopath or herbalist specializing in this area of detoxification and neurotoxic conditions; as well as and chiropractic neurology.  DAN (Defeat Autism Now) doctors are medical doctor who treat Autism from the biomedical approach. See Professsional Help for more information.

Therapy. Therapies such as speech, occupational, ABA, etc. These are certainly helpful, but notice where they place on the order of doing things. Cleaning up the inner environment and giving the support it needs through nutrition, detox, and supplementation is crucial. To skip right to this one would be like putting a roof on a house, but neglecting to lay the foundation and build the walls first...you just have a pyramid on the ground. Would it be better than no shelter? Yes. But is it a fully functional house? No, far from it.

Future Kids. Moms and Dads, if you have young kids struggling with these issues; and you want to have more kids, you need to work on this too. Although I don't agree that it's mainly genetic, toxicity can be "inherited" by passing it on during conception and pregnancy. So check out the Prevention post in addition to this other information.

**Note that I am NOT a doctor and this in no way constitutes medical advice. I'm simply relaying the research I've found in recovering my son from multiple food allergies, developmental delay, and behavioral problems (autism) when all medical doctors failed me. (I must say I'm thankful that all the doctors I checked with failed me and were bold enough to not give me answers when they didn't have them, rather than to give Jordan pharmaceutical drugs. If that had been the case, he may never have recovered or at least not to the extent that he has.) This research comes from books written by various doctors, experts in the field of interest, empirical research studies that have been conducted, reputable online resources such as the Environmental Working Group, and from our journey through it.