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From Lisa Geng:

There are many possible scientific 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 a whole food called NutriiVeda or NV as we refer to in our nonprofit. Each serving of NV contains all of the essential amino acids and nutrients again all from whole food sources.  Is it one of the nutrients or a combination?  Is it easier for the body to digest?  Is it because it’s an isolate or because it’s 100 percent water soluble?  Is it because all the daily essential nutrients are from whole foods?  Or perhaps it is the synergistic blend of whole food nutrition which is in essence the ancient thousands of years old wisdom of eastern science; ayurveda? 

Western science as well has known for years that environment, including balanced nutrition, holds much of the future answers as do genetics.  For example in the book The Genius In All Of Us: Why Everything You've Been Told About Genetics, Talent, And IQ Is Wrong By David Shenk, he writes: “Height can provide a terrific insight into the gene-environment dynamic.  Most of us think of height as being more or less directly genetically determined.  The reality is so much more interesting.  One of the most striking early hints of the new understanding of development as a dynamic process emerged in 1957 when Stanford School of Medicine researcher William Walter Grulich measured the heights of Japanese children raised in California and compared them to the heights of Japanese children raised in Japan dring the same time period.  The California-raised kids, with significantly better nourishment and medical care, grew and astonishing five inches taller on average.” (1)

So if nutrition can be linked to changes in growth in the body, can it be lined to changes in the brain as well?  Below are some of the original thoughts I have had together with some of the current research which may validate some of what we are seeing. Clearly the use of whole food NV and the dramatic improvements reported in various ages and conditions such as autism, PDD, seizures, chromosomal abnormalities, apraxia, traumatic brain injury, undiagnosed speech delays, MR, global delays, genetic disorders ADHD, etc is a therapeutic method that should be researched and validated as soon as possible to help the many that need it, especially considering unlike many other strategies, NV  is benign, simple, and inexpensive.

My theory, from when I first started my son on whole food NV during the Fall of 2009, began with nutrition. In recent years we have seen increasing research linking the importance of good nutrition to improvements in various conditions.  Just as the use of whole foods and food supplements for good health is accepted by science, it’s also been accepted by our nonprofit.  Within the CHERAB Foundation we’ve known for over a decade now the importance of PUFAs (essential fatty acids/EFAs, Omega 3 and Omega 6, or fish oils) for healthy brain function, and have both parental and professional anecdotal reports for it’s benefits for communication delays and disorders. Since fish oils, simply a nutritional supplement, were 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?! Today we know there are many theories as to why the fish oils or “essential fatty acids” are critical for healthy for many functions in the body, including healthy brain function.    (2)

In spite of existing and new research linking the importance of good nutrition to good health, I like to refer to the ignorance that still 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.

With the increased 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 the EFAs 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, whole food 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, including speech, language, multitasking, and many of the areas mentioned here noticed by all around him including various professionals at his school, I shared NutriiVeda with a parent of an adult child who had a history of diagnoses including mental retardation, autism, seizures, and 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.  This, once again, was back in the Fall of 2009, what started with just my son, since them there have been literally hundreds of families from all over the world who have children ranging in ages of just over a year to adult with again various diagnosis who started their child on NV.  Again the success rate is so high it appears not possible.  Almost all have first sought approval from a pediatrician or other medical professional; almost all approve the use, and soon after time after time now dramatic surges were reported.     

In addition to parental anecdotes, most of these children are not only getting positive feedback from the shocked professionals that work with them. We also have speech professionals from various states who may each have five or seven clients that recommend NutriiVeda and from them we are hearing about a 100 % success rate, and typically within days of starting the client on NV.  In a few cases now the surges have been so dramatic and sudden that a few school aged children with IEPs no longer qualify for services as NutriiVeda appears to have created a paradigm shift. 

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 NV and whatever is in it working I believe will be validated and found to be some sort of treatment and/or cure for what we are seeing today in these children with multifaceted neurologically based communication impairments. Based on the numerous testimonies, including reports of children being taken off medications for seizures, it appears to me that there is some sort of neurological repair that is happening. But how is it happening so quickly?  Why is it so dosage dependent? Why is hydration so important for this therapy to work?

And also why does NV appear to support metabolizing the essential fats? I have never been able to lower Tanner's fish oils prior without a regression but since on NV 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 would be able to consume less and still digest and utilize them more. 

Of course we won’t have the answer until there is research, but for now we have extremely compelling parental and professional anecdotal reports. 

So, “what is NutriiVeda?”  NutriiVeda is 100%natural, 100% whole food source for ALL of the essential amino acids, and nutrients per serving.  NutriiVeda is gluten, casein, fat, sodium and caffeine free with only 2 grams of organic sugar per scoop.   Each ingredient again is certified as a foods, and all are tested free of any heavy metals, herbicides, or pesticides.    All the nutrients are from whole foods which are the purest, most balanced and easily digestible form of supplementation and NV is 100%water soluble.  There are no added drugs or synthetics to NV.  It was launched by Zrii as a “weight management product” to support the metabolic system which would help one gain or lose weight as needed.  The discovery of it’s use in neurological disorders is again an accidental discovery by me, a mom who has two children that were both special needs.  What I discovered by accident I’m confident will be validated.  But in general –think of NV as an all-natural version of Carnation Instant Breakfast you’d buy at a health food store.  Again it’s just whole food.  Together all these positives about NV make this an easy way to get all of the daily essential nutrients into our children and us.  In light of recent research that the average American child’s diet is 40 percent junk food (3) finding an easy way to get good nutrition in is most important.  The fact we are seeing therapeutic results is the over the moon cherry on top.

Whey isolate protein:

There is a recent study that linked a protein malfunction to autism and retardation (4) 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.  

The body can make the non essential amino acids but not the essential amino acids- and it's vital for us to consume ALL of them.  In the world of special needs, special diets are very common and this includes restricted diets.  While some have children on these diets due to true allergies, some “try” them to see if they will help, and ironically some may be creating more of a problem in their child than the one that they were trying to solve. For example, children that are randomly pulled off of all milk and dairy without proper nutrition to replace what the child’s growing body needs are putting that child at risk for weak brittle bones, short stature, and obesity. (5)  Of course NV works even for those children who are on gluten casein free diets as it is 100 percent GFCF.  

Diet and nutrition are complex in that there is a great science to them -far deeper than what most of us know. If the body does not have or cannot utilize the amino acid needed it will create or replace it with another to fill in that blank -and as you'll read below that has been linked to health issues. Something that was previously unknown.

"One mutation in the APC gene is found in approximately 6 percent of people with Ashkenazi (eastern and central European) Jewish heritage. This mutation replaces the amino acid isoleucine with the amino acid lysine at position 1307 in the APC protein (written as Ile1307Lys or I1307K). This change was initially thought to be harmless, but has been shown to be associated with a 10 percent to 20 percent increased risk of colon cancer."  (6)

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 enzymes required for the biosynthesis of all of the amino acids.”  (7)

Based on research of the APC protein and colon cancer  (6) 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 with lone nutrients.  With consumption of whole food NutriiVeda perhaps now the body is able to digest and utilize all of the essential amino acids daily? All of the essential amino acids in NutriiVeda are from the 100 percent natural and 100 percent casein free whey isolate protein.  The whey isolate protein in NutriiVeda unlike what you would find in  a store is not easy to find.  Again NV is 100 percent gluten and casein free and is made in a 100 % natural and gentle way to protect the precious proteins and essential amino acids.

Because of the unique natural processing of NV, the whey isolate protein in addition to it being the most easily digestible protein, contains all the essential amino acids needed daily.  Again we all need to consume each of the essential amino acids daily and getting them all in one sitting is rare.  The essential amino acids found naturally in the casein free whey isolate protein is just one of the ingredients in NutriiVeda linked in clinical research to neurological repair and support.  There are two recent studies that validate initial and exciting exploration of the use of essential amino acids for traumatic brain injury.

For example from the University of Pittsburgh December of 2009, 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.   (8)  And then from late September 2010, researchers from the State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center found in an animal study that  "Drug therapy that combines a derivative of the antibiotic tetracycline and a synthetic derivative of an amino acid may help patients suffering from traumatic brain injury"  (9)

Both of course offer hope and promise to new treatments to TBI and open the door for other neurological conditions as well.  But the question is why use drugs and synthetic amino acids when a diet rich in essential amino acids is shown to work?  All of the essential amino acids used in the first study are found in NutriiVeda from whole food sources through the casein free whey isolate protein.

In addition to the research linking the essential amino acids in the whey isolate to neuro repair,  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."   (10)  

As there is more and more knowledge learned from Proteomics 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.  As a 2009 study uncovered“"Whereas comprehensive whey protein lists progressively increased in the last 6 years from 17 unique gene products to more than 100, our findings have considerably expanded this list to a total of 149 unique protein species, of which 100 were not described in previous proteomics studies" (11)   One project focused in this area is the Human Proteome Project.   “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.” (12) 

In regards to reduction and elimination of seizures, normal EEGs for the first time being reported as in the case studies of previously medication resistant epileptics, the answer once again may lie partly in a essential amino acid.  Again the issue isn’t just supplementing with lone nutrients as there appears to be a rise in metabolic disorders where more have trouble with digestion and utilization of that nutrient, but to consume the needed nutrients in whole foods which is the purest most easily digestible and balanced form of supplementation. 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.  (13)

Outside of the essential amino acids and protein, there is a wealth of ancient medical wisdom and thousands of years of experience in the the ayurvedic component of NutriiVeda.  NV was formulated and is now endorsed by leading medical and ayurvedic doctors including Dr. Deepak Chopa and Dr. David Simon of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing 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.”  (14)  Even though dramatically reduced nutrients protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin and vitamin C are familiar to all; just as the 2009 study showed new insights to previously unknown proteins in whey, 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.”  (15) 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 in NutriiVeda? 

Even without a vitamin X, on their own each ayurvedic botanical has found praise in both the ancient wisdom of the east as well as in validation through modern medical science from the west.

One ingredient for example to take notice of due to extensive clinical evidence of its 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 buildup of neural plaque which is implicated in Alzheimer's Disease (16) 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 m 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”  (17)

One question I have is while we experiment on mice with the use of diets rich in essential amino acids, why are doctors behind autism experimenting on real children with off label drugs with dangerous side effects  (18)  and why is electroshock therapy coming back into vogue for autism  (19) while in the world of veterinary medicine whole food sources are being explored for health and wellness?  (20)

Try to find such an article about the importance of whole food diets for people.  There is a bit but even the most recently published research in this area which compares processed to whole foods admits that there is limited research. (21) My favorite quote from a recent study is this “Western medicine is struggling to keep up with the catastrophic effects of the western diet.” (22)

But while research has explored bits of the healing benefits of whole foods and good nutrition, there certainly isn’t a lack of research or public awareness into both OTC and prescription medications.  Of course medications are vital to preventing and treating various health issues, but if there is a whole food approach that is effective why is it only or mainly being explored in animals and not in humans?  For this question I especially want to direct those that can answer to why children who would I would believe be more vulnerable to side effects from medications, especially untested off label adult medications, and benefit more during periods of growth from diets rich in whole foods and all of the essential nutrients.  I believe that even in modern times the use of diet over medication whenever possible would fit directly into the Hippocratic Oath. (23)

In contrast to medications, the only side effects reported for Nutriiveda are temporary and from when first starting NV.   Similar to those reported when first starting essential fatty acid/fish oil supplementation, some report the child is more “hyper” or even “cranky”  This stage typically lasts about a week and then resolves.  For those with children with behavioral or attention issues we typically do not hear about this stage, and instead we are hearing of almost immediate improvements.  Also during the first few weeks another “side effect” appears to be an increase in “soft, very foul or unusual smelling poops” as reported by numerous parents.  The first few weeks is when the body would be going through the detox, and again this would be a temporary stage.  If however the dosage of NV is increased, it’s possible to go through further detox later on.  This again is a natural process from whole foods and no dramatic side effects have been reported.  Both diarrhea and constipation are possible during detox but both appear to be uncommon as far as feedback.

And while research on whole foods and good nutrition links to fighting or preventing disease appears to be limited, it does appear to be a growing area of exploration.  Research is also exploring the effects of poor diets, including the limitations in the diets of US children where again it was found about 40% of their daily diet consists of junk food.  (3) Mary Story, PhD, RD, of the University of Minnesota, who was not involved in the study, called it "alarming." "When you look at the finding that 40% of total calories consumed by kids were in the form of empty calories, that's cause for great concern,". (24)  Gerber’s 2010 commercial campaign "The nutrition children get in the first five years can affect their health forever.  Think about that” suddenly has more meaning than ever.

Again it appears there is an unending supply of theories as to the rise in autism and various other neurologically based disorders, including protozoan parasites in the gut as one study found that is published in ‎Research in 2011 Autism Spectrum Disorders (25).  But the link between all of these theories as diverse as they appear frequently links back to diet.

What research and time will one day answer is how one nutrient may be further helping another work. And perhaps we will learn which nutrients are lacking in our diets, or which our bodies are not able to utilize or digest without another.  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!

Sincerely,

Lisa Geng

Lisa Geng is the Founder and President of the grassroots support nonprofit Cherab Foundation which she has run for over a decade.  She is Co-Author of the book "The Late Talker; What To Do If Your Child Isn’t Talking Yet", [St Martin's Press 2003] and has two sons that were both “late talkers” due to two unique diagnosis, apraxia and ADHD, who are both doing great today.

1.      The Genius In All Of Us: Why Everything You've Been Told About Genetics, Talent, And IQ Is Wrong By David Shenk Random House, Inc., 2010

2.      DHA in Developing the Brain http://efaeducation.nih.gov/sig/brain2.html

3.       Study finds US children get 40% of their calories from junk food http://www.themoneytimes.com/featured/20101004/study-finds-us-children-get-40-their-calories-junk-food-id-10130575.html

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

5.      Children who avoid drinking cow milk have low dietary calcium intakes and poor bone health   http://www.ajcn.org/cgi/content/full/76/3/675

6.      Genetics page about the APC gene http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/APC

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

8.      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

9.       Drug Combo May Treat Brain Injury, Animal Study Suggests http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_103708.html

10.  Unravelling the Mystery of Autism http://planetthrive.com/2010/01/unravelling-the-mystery-of-autism

11.  In-depth exploration of cow's whey proteome via combinatorial peptide ligand libraries. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19499900

12.  The Proteome Project – Human Protein  http://www.askshelly.com/articles/print.php?s=the_proteome_project_%96_human_protein

13.   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

14.  Changes in USDA Food Composition Data for 43 Garden Crops, 1950 to 1999 http://www.jacn.org/cgi/content/abstract/23/6/669

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

16.   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

17.   A compilation of Bioactive Compounds from Ayurveda http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2639691

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

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

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

21.  Postprandial energy expenditure in whole-food and processed-food meals: implications for daily energy expenditure http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2897733

22.  Nutrition and Psychiatry http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/167/3/244

23.  The Hippocratic Oath http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/doctors/oath_modern.html

24.   Kids Have Taste for Fats and Sugars http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/DietNutrition/22525