Theories, Based in Science to Support Whole Food Therapy for Autism, Apraxia, Traumatic Brain Injury, Seizure Disorders

By Lisa Geng

There are many possible theories as to why we are seeing the sudden and in most cases dramatic surges in individuals of all ages with autism, apraxia and other speech and language delays or impairments, seizures, TBI and global delays within, sometimes, just days of starting NutriiVeda. Is it one of the nutrients, a combination, or perhaps the synergistic blend of whole food nutrition which is in essence ayurveda?

Below are some of the original thoughts I have had together now with input from others in our nonprofit. Clearly this is a therapeutic method that should be researched and validated as it can help so many as it’s benign, simple, and inexpensive.

My theories started with nutrition. In the CHERAB Foundation we’ve known for over a decade now the importance of PUFAs (the fish oils) to help many with communication delays and disorders. Due to it being a nutritional supplement being suggested to help a neurological condition, in the early days there was much skepticism, even criticism and ridicule as to how could fish oil help a child with apraxia or autism?! This reaction of course is normal and due to ignorance.

I like to refer to the ignorance that surrounds nutrition’s importance on health, including neurological function, as the “magic orange” reaction. I’m referring to scurvy and the impact a simple orange had on sailors years ago. Of course the orange wasn’t “magic” but if one is ignorant in the aspect of or importance of the vitamin C in the orange they could look at the orange as magically keeping a sailor alive.

Today we have much more knowledge about the importance of nutrition on health, including the importance of the PUFAs on neurological function, as well as more research pointing towards the importance of whole food nutrition. Our nonprofit is currently in the process of raising monies to validate the therapeutic effect of PUFAs on speech which is why we originally got involved with the company Zrii. As a fundraiser.

Unbeknownst to me or any of us we had no idea that one of the products that Zrii was going to launch just 2 days later, NutriiVeda, was going to be another “magic orange” for us!

After seeing almost immediate remarkable life changing surges in multiple areas in my own son Tanner, noticed by all around him including professionals at his school, I shared NutriiVeda with a parent of an adult child who had a history of diagnosis of mental retardation and autism but had also been diagnosed with apraxia.  Like my son Tanner, this adult too had remarkable and unexplainable surges within days after almost 25 years of no progress no matter what had been tried. It was a few weeks later until I shared NutriiVeda with our nonprofit group.

Others started trying the NutriiVeda after sharing it with their child’s doctor and one after another the same dramatic surges were reported.

This is unexplainable and just incredible. I clearly could understand any and all skepticism from those that didn’t try it as nothing could possibly have a therapeutic effect on ‘every’ one. But that is what it appeared like as reports came in from parents of children of all ages from 2 to 26, with various conditions, autism, PDD, apraxia as well as undiagnosed speech delays, TBI and global delays as well as ADHD. The skepticism started to fade as the list of testimonies grew, and in addition to the testimonies,  the curiosity continued to grow within our own nonprofit….what can be creating the surges in our children with this product the NutriiVeda?

I say this with all my heart that I believe it will be validated that something in the NutriiVeda will be found to be some sort of cure for what we are seeing today in these children with multifaceted neurologically based communication impairments. To me it’s clear there is some sort of neurological repair that is happening. But how is it happening so quickly?  There are a few theories below.   Why is it so dosage dependent? Why is hydration so important for this therapy to work?

And also why does the NutriiVeda appear to support the metabolism of the PUFAs? I have never been able to lower Tanner’s fish oils prior without a regression but since on NutriiVeda I’ve experimented and cut his dosage in half and have witnessed the most incredible surges. I would not look to stop essential fatty acid supplementation as they too are essential and lacking greatly from our diets today, but it is possible by supporting the metabolic system we are able to consume less and digest and utilize them more.

I started to explore possible reasons based on the ingredients and shared some of them with our group, and others in the group have shared some theories as well.  In short Nutriiveda is a 100 percent natural, 100 percent whole food source for ALL of the essential amino acids, and nutrients per serving.  Nutriiveda is gluten, casein, fat, sodium and caffeine free and tested free of any  heavy metals, herbicides, or pesticides.  The fact that all the nutrients are from whole foods which is the purest, most balanced and easily digestible form of supplementation and 100 percent water soluble makes this an easy way to get all of the daily essential nutrients into our children and ourselves.  The fact we are seeing therapeutic results is  the over the moon cherry on top.

Below we will include some of the research I have found that may answer some questions as to what we are seeing, as well as some theories from others in our group. If you would like to submit a theory or research that you believe may help answer questions please email them to research@pursuitofresearch.org

Whey isolate protein:

There is a recent study that linked a protein malfunction to autism and retardation (1)  Of course the studies will only mention those conditions that funded them- so let’s also look to see if this research can answer questions for other conditions that may have the monies for research as of yet.   Do essential amino acids play a role in autism and other conditions as they do for colon cancer? (2)

Essential amino acids:  “Humans can produce 10 of the 20 amino acids. The others must be supplied in the food. Failure to obtain enough of even 1 of the 10 essential amino acids, those that we cannot make, results in degradation of the body’s proteins—muscle and so forth—to obtain the one amino acid that is needed. Unlike fat and starch, the human body does not store excess amino acids for later use—the amino acids must be in the food every day.

The essential amino acids (all found in NutriiVeda per serving from whole food sources) are arginine (required for the young, but not for adults), histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine. These amino acids are required in the diet. Plants, of course, must be able to make all the amino acids. Humans, on the other hand, do not have all the the enzymes required for the biosynthesis of all of the amino acids.”

(3) Based on research of the APC protein and colon cancer (2) where if the what if there is either an issue with some today digesting and utilizing one or more of the essential amino acids daily so the body is replacing what is needed with another amino acid, and that is leading to neuro damage?  This would explain why whole food sources may be a solution as they are balanced and easier to digest then just supplementing so the body through NutriiVeda is now able to digest and utilize all of the essential amino acids daily. All of the essential amino acids in NutriiVeda are from the whey isolate protein.

All of the essential amino acids in NutriiVeda are from the whey isolate protein.  The whey isolate protein in the NutriiVeda unlike the majority you would buy from the store it is gluten and casein free and is made in a 100 % natural and gentle way to protect the precious proteins and essential amino acids and virtually 100% whey.

Whey isolate product in addition to it being the most easily digestible protein by the body contains all the essential amino acids which is just one of the ingredients in NutriiVeda linked in clinical research to neurological repair and support.

For example, neurology researchers have shown that feeding amino acids to brain-injured animals restores their cognitive abilities and may set the stage for the first effective treatment for cognitive impairments suffered by people with traumatic brain injuries. (1)

In addition the whey isolate protein plays a very important role of dramatically raising the antioxidant glutathione. “The antioxidant glutathione—critical for the body to excrete metals—typically works by binding to heavy metals, which the body then knows to eliminate. In 2004, researcher Jill James, Ph.D., of the Arkansas School of Medicine, led a pioneering study that showed autistic kids had significantly less glutathione than typical kids—which put their bodies in a state of “constant oxidative stress.” In other words, autistic kids were genetically predisposed to have low glutathione levels, making them particularly susceptible to heavy metal toxicity.”  (2)

Neurogenesis; Does Mother Nature Know Best?

Two new studies…choice is diet or drugs to help TBI/traumatic brain injury (research amino acids)

Added protein/amino acids and or enzymes help those with autism?

Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Autism and Other Disorders, Can Diet Help?

Autism, Antivirals, Drugs or Food?

As there is more and more knowledge learned from Proteomics (3), and the starting point for novel pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and biomedical applications of for example whey, perhaps more light will be shed on the importance of balance in regards to proteins and essential amino acids combined with other nutrients and from whole food sources.  “The Human Proteome Project will not only expand our understanding of the universe of cellular function and disease but also identify the foods that rebuild and regenerate the body.” (4)

In regards to reduction and even elimination of seizures one study found Tryptophan (Trp) an essential amino acid found naturally in nutriiveda from a whole food source through the whey protein to be helpful as an antiepileptic therapy of drug-resistant epileptic patients. (5)

Outside of the essential amino acids and protein, there is the ayurvedic component; rich in 5000 years of medicinal and healing usage, brought to NutriiVeda by leading medical and ayurvedic doctors including the Chopra Center for Wellbeing who formulated and endorse the NutriiVeda.

What is of great interest to me is that the whole food nutrients from the ayurvedic vegetations in nutriiveda are all slow growing.  This is intriguing due to the 2004 published study done by Donald Davis, a biochemist at the University of Texas, who found 13 major nutrients in fruits and vegetables tracked by the Agriculture Department from 1950 to 1999, showed noticeable declines in nutritional value.  Davis said “faster-growing plants aren’t able to acquire the nutrients that their slower-growing cousins can, either by synthesis or from the soil.” (6)  Even though dramatically reduced nutrients protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin and vitamin C are familiar to all; what if there are also unknown trace but essential elements that are missing in today’s fruits and vegetables that are still found in slow growing vegetations?

I like to refer to this as a possible “vitamin X” that may be present in slow growing vegetations that is today missing from depleted soils. This leads to research into the “world’s so-called blue zones — places where residents have unusually long life spans.” (10)  These are areas where the soils are dense with nutrients and people live off the land.  What is interesting to note is that in these blue zones “they have about 20 percent lower rates of cancer, 50 percent lower rates of heart disease and almost no dementia.”  In addition to exercise, is there something in the soils in the Blue Zones that is missing in other parts of the world where soils are over farmed and depleted of nutrients as Dr. Davis has found?  Is there a vitamin X?

Even without a vitamin X, on their own each ayurvedic botanical has found praise in both eastern as well as western medicine.

One ingredient for example to take notice of due to extensive clinical evidence of it’s great importance in neurological function and repair in the ayurvedic blend of NutriiVeda is turmeric which contains curcumin. There is a tremendous amount of research linking this ayurvedic botanical to the benefit and treatment of cognitive impairment, traumatic brain injury, cerebral ischemia, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, brain tumors, neuropathic pain, schizophrenia, depression, epilepsy, Parkinson disease and even autism. Probably today the most note worthy research is on turmeric/curcumin’s apparent ability to prevent, slow, even reverse, the build up of neural plaque which is implicated in Alzheimer’s Disease (7) But again that is but two of the ingredients in the synergistic blend of NutriiVeda.

I found that the haritaki (Terminalia chebula) is an antispasmodic phytochemicals

Anti-spasmodics have proved useful in treating spinal-cord injuries, multiple sclerosis and Tourette syndrome amongst other neuro conditions -so how may that help this group?

And on this same (one) ayurvedic element (Haritaki, Chebulic myrobalam):

“Terminalia chebula Retz. (Haritaki, Chebulic myrobalam) In Sanskrit, Haritaki means “carries away” (all diseases). Haritaki is a safe and effective purgative, expectorant and tonic. It is a component of the classic Ayurvedic combination called “Triphala” (three fruits). Tiphalpha is an important Ayurvedic medicine, which often promotes health through successive steps of purification and detoxification. It is known to have strong anti-mutagenic activity, because of its very rich content vitamin C” (8)

One question I have is why are doctors behind autism experimenting on real children with off label drugs with dangerous side effects (13), and why is electro shock therapy coming back into vogue for autism (14), while in the world of veterinary medicine whole food sources are being explored for health and wellness? (15)

What research and time will one day answer is how one element may be further helping another work. For now we know that we are seeing remarkable surges across the board and hearing tremendous testimonies for NutriiVeda. So I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank whomever is involved in the creation of NutriiVeda. It has been a life changing product for my own family due to my son Tanner and one that I can’t imagine life without now. Thank you!

Below are theories and explanations from members of the Cherab group that have come out since. If you have a theory or explanation about one or more of the ingredients in the NutriiVeda please do share!

Sincerely,

Lisa Geng
Founder, President Cherab Foundation
Co-Author “The Late Talker”, [St Martin's Press]

1. Researchers connect APC protein to autism and mental retardation http://scienceblog.com/37725/researchers-connect-apc-protein-to-autism-and-mental-retardation

2.  Genetics page about the APC gene http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/APC 3. The Chemistry of Amino Acids http://www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemistry/problem_sets/aa/aa.html

3. The Chemistry of Amino Acids http://www.biology.arizona.edu/biochemistry/problem_sets/aa/aa.html

4.  With Amino Acid Diet, Mice Improve After Brain Injury Monday, December 7, 2009 Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences http://www.sflorg.com/comm_center/medical/p974_99.html

5.  http://planetthrive.com/2010/01/unravelling-the-mystery-of-autism

6.  The effect of curcumin (turmeric) on Alzheimer’s disease: An overview Shrikant Mishra and Kalpana Palanivelu Department of Neurology, VA/USC 16111, Sepulveda, CA, USA Copyright © Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology Received November 4, 2007; Revised February 5, 2008; Accepted February 12, 2008.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781139

7.   http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2639691

8.  Potentiation of brain serotonin activity may inhibit seizures, especially in drug-resistant epilepsy http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/S0306-9877%2807%2900490-2/abstract

9.  http://www.drpasswater.com/nutrition_library/davis_1.html

10.  NPR The Island Where People Live Longer (Blue Zones) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103744881

11. The effect of curcumin (turmeric) on Alzheimer’s disease: An overview Shrikant Mishra and Kalpana Palanivelu Department of Neurology, VA/USC 16111, Sepulveda, CA, USA Copyright © Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology Received November 4, 2007; Revised February 5, 2008; Accepted February 12, 2008. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2781139

12.  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2639691

(13) Castration Drug Used As Autism Therapy  http://www.latimes.com/news/health/sns-health-autism-drug-treatment,0,2393220.story

(14) Maintenance electroconvulsive therapy in autistic catatonia http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20298732

(15) The benefits of whole food nutrients in veterinary medicine; Clinical use of whole food nutrients http://www.myhealthsolution.org/pdf/benefitsvetmed.pdf