Tag Archives: nutrition

One mom’s journey with recovering her son’s autism

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As a person who took my health into my own hands and recovered from a chronic illness that doctors believed I would suffer with for the rest of my life (i.e., Fibromyalgia), I am always interested to hear about others who have done (or are trying to) do the same for themselves. Obviously what works for one person is not necessarily what will work for others. But if spreading the word about these recoveries helps even one person, then it’s worth taking the time to do so.
Please read below to learn more from Channa Brennon about her journey to help her son recover from autism. As always, the content included here is intended for informational purposes only. 
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The following was sent to us from our reader, Channa Brennon….
autism recovery“I am always so glad to share my story with others, as I wish I had someone tell me in the beginning how powerful and dangerous the foods we put in our mouth can be.  I learned the hard way as most of us do. My son at three and a half was like a ferrel wild animal. He was violent, couldn’t talk and would never sleep. He was in severe pain. He would wake up all night long screaming. He was diagnosed PPD NOS….which falls under the autism spectrum. This was not anything but relief for me as I knew something was wrong with my son and finally I had proof.
After I fed him anything his stomach would blow up like he had swallowed a basketball. His colon was paralyzed. It literally stopped working. He would only poop with enemas, and everything he pooped was the whole food pieces he had eaten. Nothing was digested.
Surprisingly, the doctors told me there was nothing to worry about. I knew better, and I searched and searched and prayed for answers. Finally I met a woman over the internet who told me about Andy Cutler chelation and diet. I leaned that my son’s gut was so inflammed that nothing could get digested. I learned about food allergies, and yes my son was allergic to almost every single food he ate, but I found out about a rotation diet and cutting out all the grains and any type of processed food. I also started chelation which I believe had a part in the autoimmune issues/food allergies my son had.
I got a delayed food allergy panel and tried to keep out the foods he was most allergic too. I also cut out all grains from his diet becuse grains are hard to digest . I found that in the begining, with so much damage in his gut, he did good on homemade veggie soups – this was all he ate for about a week until the inflammation went down. Some people might think it’s extreme, but if you think about the fact that my son was wasting away on all the high calorie food I was feeding him, I knew I had to try something different. I alternated this with bone broth soups. And, as he became better, I added in more variety of whole foods. His food was as “clean” as I could make it. That meant no flavoring and no processed foods of any kind. Just simple organic veggies and later on beans, fish, chicken and eggs.
My son has come so far from where we started. He can now eat grains. I buy North carolina rice and organic oats.  I am working on learning how to make my own cultured sourdough bread. I also subscribe to the Eat Right for Your Blood Type philosophy, as my son and I are both blood type A and we do better on vegetarian fare. So I make lots of bean soups. I soak and sprout before I cook. We eat tofu that is non-GMO certified, and some chicken, fish and eggs. My son’s gut has healed to the point that he can eat goat yogurt that I buy from the whole foods store. It is my one and only processed food I buy for him and that is because they are one of the few clean company’s. Otherwise, everything he eats is from scratch. I never give in to processed things as my son can’t tolerate it.  It seems in your mainstream grocery stores everything is made with GMO foods – corn syrup, sugar and soy.
Forward to today… my son is 75 percent recovered. With a clean diet as number one priority, I believe we will find complete recovery. If you would like to read more about my journey, my blog is http://www.healyourchild.wordpress.com/.  Thank you so much for reading my story! Please share with anyone who may find it useful.”

Food Matters (video)

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I hope you all take an hour to check out the documenatary FOOD MATTERS. Check out the preview below.

The film is available on Netflix and for DVD purchase online. Great information about how to prevent, arrest and/or reverse chronic conditions like cancer, heart disease, depression, etc.

My Health Journey

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In August of 2002, I developed a variety of mysterious symptoms for which doctors had no solutions. Nothing they did for me seemed to help. Five years later, I happened upon my own answers – answers that saved me from suffering the life of misery for which doctors had told me I was destined.

If you or anyone you know is experiencing symptoms for which no one has answers or solutions, I highly encourage you to read the information here! I have witnessed folks with a variety of ailments resolve their conditions using the very same solution that worked for me, and it is my pleasure to share my journey with you.  (Note: This is the brief version of my journey. To hear the full details, please click here instead!)

My Illness

I suffered from many different types of symptoms during the years that I was so sick. I was extremely weak and fatigued, and I was in so much pain that some days it was all I could do to get out of bed. Among other symptoms, I suffered from digestive distress, sleep disturbances, chest pain, and an intermittent racing heart beat. I was in constant pain – many days it was too painful even to hug my own husband. On good days, I felt like I was 90 years old. On bad days, I felt like I should be in the hospital.

After more than 15 different prescription medications, countless appointments with various specialists and more than a handful of diagnostic procedures; I was eventually diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. For years, I lived in pure misery, suffering from a debilitating “invisible” illness for which doctors told me there was no treatment, no cure and no known cause. In 2005, after much consideration, I resigned – I resigned from my position as Executive Director of the afterschool program that I adored, and I resigned myself to the medical “fact” that I would suffer with chronic, untreatable pain for the rest of my life.

The Shocking Solution

MSG props
Foods like these contain MSG and other additives!

Fortunately, in 2007 I stumbled upon information that changed my life forever. I learned that there are ingredients in our food (e.g., high-fructose corn syrup, MSG, artificial colors/sweeteners) that are making us sick. I had always thought that calories, carbs and fat grams were the only bits of information that mattered on food labels. If I wasn’t overweight, then I assumed I had nothing to be worried about. Boy was I wrong! Suddenly I realized that what matters the most on any food label is the ingredients list!

I immersed myself in books about the food industry and holistic health, and I quickly learned that most of what I had always assumed about the safety and healthfulness of our food supply was completely wrong! When I read about the array of health problems that are associated with many of these food additives, I became very angry. It broke my heart to think about how many other folks were suffering needlessly because they would never suspect that food additives were causing or exacerbating their conditions.

MSG (“monosodium glutamate”) is one food additive that particularly caught my attention because it’s one of the most difficult additives for consumers to avoid. Food companies are legally allowed to hide MSG on food labels under dozens of innocent-sounding ingredient names like“natural flavor” and “yeast extract,” so we are often consuming it without even realizing it!

accent
“Accent” seasoning is pure MSG!

MSG is a highly–processed food additive that is added to foods as a flavor enhancer. By over-stimulating our taste buds, MSG tricks our brains into thinking that a food item tastes good. Unfortunately, MSG also over-stimulates and disrupts our nervous systems which causes and exacerbates an array of health conditions (Fibromyalgia, headaches/migraines, vision problems, digestive distress, heart attacks, hyperactivity, obesity, infertility, chronic pain and fatigue, anxiety, depression, etc.). This nervous system disruption is not an allergic reaction – MSG is a toxin, so all of us are sensitive to its effects to some degree, whether we realize it or not.

This information made such an impact on my husband and me that we immediately inspected the ingredients label on everything we were eating. We came to the harsh realization that much of what we had been putting into our bodies wasn’t really even food! Every ingredient label in our kitchen was filled with mysterious words and chemical names! Without hesitation, we completely purged our kitchen of processed foods and mysterious chemical ingredients – we threw food away, gave food away, and even sold some of it at our garage sale! We said good-bye forever to things like Lean Cuisine meals, Slim Fast bars, soda, chewing gum, ice cream and fast food.

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We began making all of our food at home…from scratch. We scrutinized the ingredients label on everything we purchased from that point on; and if it contained even one word that we didn’t fully recognize as having come from a plant or animal nature, we didn’t put it in our grocery cart. We also began to seek out local farmers and purchase as much food as we could directly from them. We wanted to fill our bodies with foods from the earth, not chemicals from a lab.

Within just a few months of these dietary changes, I realized that I was no longer in any pain; and my fatigue and all of my other symptoms had completely dissipated, as well. No longer were my arms so weak that I could barely drive. No longer was I too fatigued to get out of bed. Actually, I couldn’t remember the last time I had suffered an episode of the abdominal cramping, insomnia, chest pains or racing heart beat that had plagued me for the last 5 years, either. In fact, it seemed that I felt better and had more energy than most people I knew. And, all of these years later, this is still the case for both of us – as long as we eat a completely additive-free diet!

Discovering My Purpose

This may sound cliché, but I know that everything happens for a reason. While suffering with Fibromyalgia, it was really hard for me to see any purpose in the pain. Now, I realize that I suffered for those years so that I could educate and inspire others to take charge of their diets and their health. It sounds so silly, but I never realized before just how good we should all feel. We should sleep well, feel great and have all of the energy we need to do all of the things we want to do. Each of us deserves that!

lunch and learn
I love educating audiences about the dangers of food additives!

So many people are so apathetic about what goes into their bodies – I was, too! Eating really shouldn’t be this complicated, and it is unfortunate that things have gotten to this point. It isn’t fair that food companies are allowed to add harmful ingredients to food, and I am determined to do what I can to help people become more aware!

I truly hope that you will spend some time browsing the information here on our website and doing your own research, so you can make more conscious decisions about what goes into your body. Please know that there is hope! Food companies respond to consumer demand, so please share this information with anyone you can! The larger demand we create for additive-free products, the more food companies will change their formulas and provide us with better choices at the grocery store!

(Disclaimer: All information contained on this site is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a medical professional before making any changes to your medications or other treatment plans.)

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