We live in a world of unfolding epidemics … So begins an article by neurologist and human nutrition expert Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. Campbell-McBride, whom some of have challenged for her unwavering attitude that good nutrition with special emphasis on re-establishing optimal gut flora should be considered as a primary means for treating myriad physical, emotional, neurological and immunological syndromes before pharmaceuticals, is a pioneering researcher and the author of Gut and Psychology Syndrome or GAPS. Campbell-McBride is also the mother of a son who, thanks to her relentless research on the connection between intestinal flora, nutrition and various disorders, has recovered from autism.
While the subject of autism recovery is sure to cause debate, there’s no doubting that many of Campbell-McBride’s conclusions may prove important not only in the treatment of autism, but also in the treatment of ADD/ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, allergies and asthma. Many families have been helped by following her nutritional recommendations which include avoidance of gluten and casein and heavy use of probiotics and probiotic foods to recolonize the intestinal tract with beneficial bacteria.
She writes:
[Gut flora] is a highly organized micro-world, where certain species of bacteria have to predominate to keep us healthy physically and mentally. Their role in our health is so monumental, that we simply cannot afford to ignore them.1
Children inherit the gut flora of their mothers at birth – first by passing through the birth canal and later at the breast. However, in a nation where c-section rates are skyrocketing and fewer than 15% of infants are still exclusively breastfed at 6 months2, that critical inheritance of health is missing. To add insult to injury, most mothers today were not breastfed and neither were their mothers so we’re looking at generations of ever-degrading intestinal flora. That lack of optimal flora, or gut dysbiosis, sets us up for improper immune, neurological and cognitive function.
In her explanation of just how beneficial bacteria affect our health and the health of our children, Campbell-McBride writes:
The first and very important function is appropriate digestion and absorption of food. If a child does not acquire normal balanced gut flora, then the child will not digest absorb foods properly, developing multiple nutritional deficiencies. And that is what we commonly see in children and adults with learning disabilities, psychiatric problems and allergies. Many of these patients are malnourished. Even in the cases where the child may grow well, testing reveals some typical nutritional deficiencies in many important minerals, vitamins, essential fats, many amino-acids and other nutrients.1
Get that? Eat all the food you want, but without an optimal balance of intestinal flora you may still suffer from nutritional deficiencies which are then linked to psychiatric, cognitive, neurological and immunological disorders.
Dr. Campbell-McBride is speaking at the upcoming Wise Traditions Conference hosted by the Weston A Price Foundation in Chicago this November. I’ll be in attendance along with Ann Marie of Cheese Slave, Kelly of Kelly the Kitchen Kop and Kimi of the Nourishing Gourmet. If you’re attending (there’s still plenty of time to book your trip), please stop by our booth or contact me to meet up.
If you cannot attend the conference, please consider supporting the foundation’s good work by becoming a member. You can also find Campbell-McBride’s book Gut and Psychology Syndrome and recommended therapeutic-grade probiotic supplements online (see sources).
1.Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAP Syndrome or GAPS). N. Campbell McBride.
2. Breastfeeding Report Card, United States: Outcome Indicators. Centers for Disease Control.
Hi Jenny!
Are you all going to have a blogger exhibit table together? My mother and I are going to the conference and we are very excited! (I live down in Durango). Looking forward to meeting you all there!
Excellent information. My son is on the PDDNOS scale of Autism, for all practical purposes he is very high-functioning Aspergers. He was born by c-section and given a 48-hour I.V. antibiotics trial for a newborn fever. There began a long road of problems for him. If I hadn’t breastfed him for 4 years (yes, 4!), I feel he would be much worse off than he is now as he had more signs of Autism when younger but is now just high-functioning PDDNOS as I stated. Also, thankfully I’ve discovered the Nourishing Traditions way of eating so that we’re building up our intestinal health with foods. I’m sure my intestinal flora was horrible when I carried and gave birth to my son, but I believe that in breastfeeding him I helped him out greatly. Wore myself out, but then there’s where nourishing myself better these days comes in. Generations of children not being breastfed, causing so many problems, that is quite a sad thing. I hope we are beginning to reverse the trend.
I am sure the GAPS diet could be helpful for many people. I have heard it can help with chronic candida and other gut-related conditions.
However, for me, though I have dealt with candida/thrush (sorry if it’s TMI but I have gotten thrush on my nipples while breastfeeding, multiple times, very uncomfortable) since the birth of my children, I already have numerous allergies/food sensitivities and many of these are to foods that are actually recomended on the GAPS diet. So I havent tried it.
Also, though I don’t only subscribe to the beliefs of modern/allopathic medicine, it is so confusing when you discuss how diet affects health conditions with even a middle-of-the-road doctor, as I have tried. They almost always dismiss that yeast could be improved or cured by any type of diet.
I am so bummed that I cannot make the conference this year. I have only just begun this journey of real food and feel blessed to have found your blog, and others such as Cheeseslave and Kelly the Kitchen Kop. Although I have been using NT for a few years, I just started with GAPS in the spring. I first heard about it from my sister, and then when I googled it, I found more information from Cheeseslave. I strongly believe in the GAPS diet and share it with everyone who will listen. I was diagnosed with a serious intestinal infection at about 6 weeks post partum and refused to take more antibiotics. I actually believe that it is chicken broth and saurkraut that has healed me the most. It is disturbing to me how many people dismiss the work or are unaware of Dr.Campbell McBride, including the few G.I. specialists I have seen. I have tried numerous times to tell people about it on the c.Diff support sites but it seems as though they are just interested in taking antibiotics, rounds and rounds. So thank you for this post and getting the word out. I really enjoy your blog!!
Yes, the gut is all important when in comes to overall health and wellness. This is a huge issue that many people are not aware of, and I am so glad that you posted about it. It is super important! Enjoy the conference, I would love to go…maybe next year.
Hi, I have a special needs child. Please can i have Dr. Natasha Campbell Mcbride ‘s email address and her phone no. I need to meet her. Anxiously waiting for a reply.
GAPS was an integral part of my recovery from the “incurable” Fibromyalgia after 16 years of suffering not only the symptoms, but the treatments as well. I appreciate her courage and her will to continue in the face of all the organizations, associations, experts and establishments that dispute her experience and research. I have just had my first taste of being told that what I did was not possible and does not align with the expert opinion.
I appreciate what you’ve shared here about your own experiences of healing through nutrition. It took me three years and hundreds of emails before I finally took the plunge and put myself out there with my story of recovery. It’s not an easy thing to do.
Especially when the “experts” start publicly dismissing you.