Scientist finds Autism caused by diet (and vaccines, again!)

Post Reply New Topic

This is something I found linked to in the Autism Daily. (For those who don't know, it's a virtual newspaper which consists of articles about autism that were most frequently linked to on Twitter the previous day. Go to paper.li and search for The #autism Daily - there's a few other papers about autism people have created but this is the most read one.) I can't link through to articles yet, but it's through the American "Natural Health" website Mercola, search for Autism and it should be the first result.

Anyway, it's an article from this health journal about this Russian doctor (Natasha Campbell-McBride) who alleges that not only has she identified what she thinks to be the cause of autism, but also a cure.

She believes that autistic children are born with normal brains and normal sensory organs, but the problems come from abnormal gut microbes - she thinks that toxins and microbes from the environment get absorbed into the baby's body through food and then these toxins spread into the brain, causing autism. She blames bottle-feeding, antibiotics and vaccines , contraceptive pills and junk food.

She is of the belief that autism can be cured or reduced through a change of diet, and the younger this happens the better. Thus she advocates lots of fresh meat and vegetables, but avoiding grains and vegetable oils as well as a few specialist treatments such as using various bath salts. She claims to have cured her own son of autism by switching him to this diet.

So, what are everyone's thoughts on this then? Personally I just think it's the usual BS that some of these American health studies and charities come out with, and I'm usually offended at the prospect of people trying to find a cure when attention should be spent on providing support services instead. But that's just my opinion, I'm curious as to what others may think?

I get the distinct feeling this is a load of bull designed only to increase popularity for the scientist. I personally think that support services for both the child and the family are the best way to go. I'm a sure a good many of the people on the moderate to higher functioning side of the Autism spectrum, I left out the lower functioning spectrum because fewer people with low functioning Autism post here and they're are more often nonverbal making it difficult to determine their opinions on things, are actively proud of the fact that they are Autistic and would like to stay themselves and not be forced to conform. I can however understand why they insist on trying to eradicate Autism. Are you really surprised that they all want to cure Autism? Finding a cure requires a fair sized bit of money, but after the cure has been found we no longer have to funnel money into support programs. Finding a cure means that all those silly little peoples who dislike the idea of being around "autistics", I've placed the word in quotes to imply the negative stereotypes that so many people harbor towards Autism, won't have to put up with them and feel uncomfortable when one enters the room. In America at least, a cure is more desirable because it implies that you're money is going to good use. No one wants to have their tax money spent helping those "slacker autists". I mean after all they're no better than poor people, always trying to leach off the government.

I think it is BS also,
I wonder how many people that have Autism were bottlefeed or breast feed. antibiotics and vaccines do more good then harm but there are rare cases of people being ellergic. before I get into this one I am a guy I had to google contraceptive pills"birth control" I think it is BS because then there would be a higher percentage then what is already out there. Junk food all I can say moderation and I think that is causeing autism, it causes Cancer think french fries lol jk.

She promotes lots of Fresh Mean and vegetables that is what you are suppost to do any way. Avoiding grains which means avoid Cereal, bread, spagatti, etc..she says to avoid vegetable oils that I think that is BS but easy to switch to Canola Oil.

Autism is just the way the Brain is wired from birth, there is ways to get it at a early age to help the new connections to wire right. There are still parents that have a child with Autism and iqunore the suggestion from family and friends to get a DX

Dear Natasha



Your faithful student
Twilight Sparkle.

I agree with Phonic.

And we should Highlight the "Opinion" part. From what I have read, whenever the "science" behind statements such as these are truely examined, they are found to be more the opinion of the person making them.

Phonic not helpful to say f them. Take the high ground point out their flaws in a calm level headed way. But yes that stuff reads like quackary 101 and 102. and even worse they offrer to sell you a kit to market the stuff. They have no shame. They appears not to be con artists even worse they write like deluded true belivers in the stuff.

Hi Buzza- Please put link in Guardian- I am doing some AS awareness with the guys in CIF - we have one guy there already
who is working on disability rights and Atos. They are getting really switched on to it and I've got them playing a bit more rather than shouting at each other . Most are really OK - some work in departments/jobs where it counts.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... f-comments

See you there.

More BS about diet and stuff btw.

Meme.

I'm skeptical that there's anything in this. I'm open to the possibility, but it seems that everybody who's said something similar has either been a fraud, a well-meaning muddle-head, or has some sort of personal agenda/world-view they're pushing into which they can happily drop vaccines as causing autism or whatever. Sorry to judge somebody by the company they keep, but in my case that's a prejudice somebody trying to prove something like this would have to overcome.

Also:

Has she submitted anything to peer-reviewed journals? I ask this because she apparently has some sort of certification you can earn, and be declared a Certified GAPS (TM) Practitioner (CGP) (LINK), for a mere $1,175. Training only open to medical practitioners of some sort or other (but, rather oddly,reserves the right to bar them from the classes as well, simply on her say so) so presumably she's proven the science, to her own satisfaction at least.

Lastly, If you go to the page here (link) for her book Gut and Psychology Syndrome the cover seemingly goes way beyond Autism, Depression or ADD/ADHD. All of which I guess I could sort of see my way to having a component based upon diet, but do continue to hold that no such link has been truly established.

But where my (or her, depending upon your perspective) trolley jumped the tracks is that one of the "signposts" on the cover has "dyslexia" on it, and one has "schizophrenia." She is making claims like this, in all seriousness? That an imbalance in your gut causes schizophrenia? And that the condition can be cured or perhaps controlled simply by dietary changes? At first glance (and second, and third...) this seems, well, preposterous. And raises my internal bullshit-o-meter regarding her from "iffy, and likely wrong" to "dwelling in cloud-cuckoo land."

I've read some stuff by Mercola in the past...I don't think he's entirely a quack, but he seems to get most of his profits from selling supplements, etc. so I'd take things published by him with a grain of salt. He's a big advocate of Wakefield, too.

This is ridiculous. I thought we all agreed that autism is caused by eating carrots on Sunday while juggling four cats.

I think the 'research' is nonsense and that it should be ignored.

I didn't realize the Campbell-McBride's had a clan in Moscow?

I cannot believe how incredibly stupid this is.

I feel sorry for her son whom she supposedly cured with these methods.

Here's a list of autistic (some undiagnosed) people in my family and their diets:

- Dad, mostly rice and overcooked vegetables, loves pork and chicken and tofu, doesn't eat bread or seafood
-Brother, mostly bread, eggs and fresh vegetables, doesn't eat rice or meat, will eat seafood
- Me, will eat anything, love fresh veggies, eggs, all kinds of meat and exotic food, do not eat rice or most junk food
- Mom, eats copious amount of fruit and veggies everyday (like 10+ servings), little grains, little meat or seafood, no junk food at all, would not eat chicken or beef.
- DS1, loves bread, rice, dairy, meat and fresh veggies, does not eat seafood and drinks only water and milk
- DS2, loves bread, tolerate some dairy and meat, eats little fresh stuff, likes candies and juice

So, I don't know about diet. If you put all of us together the only thing we'll all have might be plain water. And nobody smoke, drink or eats much junk food at all. The only thing I can agree with is improving nutrition usually does help with some symptoms. After all a healthy kids can tolerate more stress and less likely to have tantrums. I know my personality became a bit more mellow after I improved my diet and gained some weight. No way there's any cure, though. I'm Chinese, and Chinese people always say eating sesame seeds can darken your hair. But no amount of sesame seeds can turn a blonde person dark haired, because they're born with it and it's not due to a nutritional deficiency (a severely under-nourished Asian can have blonde hair).