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Nutritional Supplements:
The following products are our top favorites out of the numerous supplements that we have tried over the years. I am usually skeptical of buying products from people claiming to distribute the next “miracle supplement”, but in my quest for healing I must admit that I have tried many. Let me start by saying that the following supplements are utilized by our family not only for autism treatment, but also for our children with other neurological problems such as ADHD, OCD, and anxiety disorder. I believe they would be helpful in a variety of related neurological conditions as well. Of course I can’t prescribe a certain regime or coerce you to try anything since I am not a medical doctor, and that is there job! I CAN educate and enlighten you however, and you can decide for yourself what is worth trying…

1. Spirulina - Spirulina is the best natural source of iron. On our new protocol we are attempting to reduce manganese levels and replace the manganese with iron (they both take up the same receptor spot in the brain). You will need a large amount of spirulina to make a difference. My kids who are 80lbs and up take 8 capsules 2-3 times daily. My little ones take about 5 capsules twice a day. It tastes nasty in powder form so try to teach them to swallow pills as you will have a hard time disguising this. We are using Pure Planet Spirulina right now and their website is www.pureplanet.com.

2. 4 Life Transfer Factor Products - We have searched high and low for a product with good immune support. We have tried Moducare, Kirkman’s liquid colostrums, Symbiotics immune formulas, Larch arabinogalactan, and many other brands of colostrum with poor results. When I say poor results, I mean that our kiddos kept getting sick and staying sick on top of their other problems! I needed to find an answer, but really didn’t know what that answer was going to be. A few friends of mine began using the 4 Life brand of Transfer Factor, and I became mildly interested in trying it. It is a little pricey and that initially turned me off, but I decided to try it anyway. My first attempts were not great because I was only using 1 to 2 daily to save money, and the kids need a higher level of support. So I upped the dosage to 4 a day, and that’s when I started seeing results. Nicky had been sick with a respiratory infection for over three months, and nothing was getting him better. We even thought he may have Valley Fever because it kept hanging on despite our best efforts. After just a week and a half on the Tri-Factor formula Nicky was totally well. The cough was gone and so was the nasty green snot that had plagued him for so long. Victory at last!

   The Classic formula has had all of the casein molecules removed if this is important to you. The Tri-Factor Plus formula offers a higher level of immune support and it contains other immune supporters as well.

3. Probiotics - The gut is always at the root of autism! We have tried so many probiotics over the years, and right now our favorites are Kyo-dophilus and Primal Defense Plus. The Kyo-dophilus is white and tasteless so it is easily mixed into beverages for even your pickiest child. It is not very expensive, and is a nice compliment to rotate with other probiotics. It is important to begin replenishing the intestinal flora which has become damaged from antibiotics and other environmental toxins (like chlorine) in the water supply. Primal defense is a better  probiotic, but it is a little pricey and black in color since it contains soil enzymes. We mix it with Superfood for kids and the other morning supplements, and they just drink it down. We buy our probiotics from the Vitamin Shoppe.

4. Paranil Jr. - Parasite control is very important in our kiddos. Whenever you are dealing with intestinal permeability (leaky gut), then you are almost certainly dealing with parasites as well. We started giving the kids Paranil Jr. which is a liquid herbal extract that is an effective form of parasite control. After 2 to 3 weeks of daily use, Jacob began having solid bowel movements for the first time. We were inspired by this and chose to continue parasite support with our other down quite a bit telling us that good things are happening in his intestines! We purchase the Paranil Jr. from www.drnatura.com (BTW their bowel cleanse protocol is also very effective, but not appropriate for very young children). The Paranil liquid is not very tasty, and we had to force it in for the first few days. However, the kids are routine oriented and eventually get use to the yucky stuff that we give them. (As long as it’s not fermented vegetables…ha ha!)

5. Melatonin - Although I am not in favor of supplementing with hormones, this has been the only thing that has allowed us to sleep on a regular basis. On a good note, melatonin is a free radical scavenger so it is good for you. On the downside, if you supplement with it for too long then your body will stop making it naturally. We have used melatonin in a sublingual form for awhile now, and until we find something better, we choose to sleep! We use the Source Naturals brand from the Vitamin Shoppe (and other Health food stores) in a sublingual formula. The kids like the orange flavor, and they come in 1mg, 3mg or 5mg tablets. We give it about ½ to 1 hour before bedtime, and they DO fall asleep.

6. GABA - I like GABA because it is a relatively well tolerated supplement that has a calming effect. I like the plain formulas that don’t combine the GABA with other amino acids because the amount of GABA per serving is generally higher when it is alone. Right now we are using Ultimate Nutrition’s GABA which has 750mg of gamma amino butyric acid per capsule. It is fairly tasteless and blends well with most liquids so your child isn’t even aware of taking it! We use it once or twice daily depending on the child, and it helps to promote calmness and sleep (but our kids are so hyper that we never get the sleep effect and that is why we add the melatonin…)

7. 5HTP - Given twice daily, 5-Hydroxytryptophan is a calming neuro nutrient that helps to enhance moods and promote sleep. Again, we don’t see much of a sleep effect with our bunch and 5-HTP, but we do see some mood stabilization and that is why we keep it in our supplement regime.

8. Digestive Enzymes - Since most of our kids have problems with leaky gut syndrome and maldigestion, digestive enzymes are essential. You'll want to find a brand that doesn't have a lot of additives. Right now we are using a brand called Enzyme Complex which is made by the Assertive Wellness Center.

9. Flax Oil - Although not their favorite supplement by far, flax oil is chock full of essential fatty acids that are good for brain development and mood stabilization, plus it also has anti-inflammatory properties. We use the dosage of 1 Tbsp. per day. It can be drizzled over mashed potatoes or veggies as "butter", or just swallowed straight.

10. Passion Flower - I don’t give this one to the little kids, but for my two oldest it works quite nicely. It has a nasty taste outside the capsule, so they have to be able to swallow pills. It has a positive effect on their moods, especially the violent tendencies and depression. I give it to them 2 to 3 times daily, and I do notice when they are not taking it.

11. St. John’s Wort - Right now I am using a tincture of St. John’s Wort to help control depression and mood swings in my oldest kids. It works quite nicely, and has none of the side effects of a non-herbal prescription SSRI (which is a NO WAY for kids).

Topping the list of direct order products we have tried in the past are: NCD zeolite, LL’s Magnetic Clay Baths, Oxymune & Oxycleanse products, Kirkman Labs supplements, Body Ecology Diet products, Barleygreen, and the entire line of Yasko RNA supplements and other products. We tried many of these things for years with little or no results. I am not saying that these things will not be successful for everyone, but just that they were not very effective interventions for my family.
Here’s why:

1. Frequensea Whole Food Tonic - Although we previously recommended Frequensea we no longer take the product or give it to our children since beginning the Spectrum Balance Protocol. Frequensea is high in naturally occuring minerals, one of them being manganese. Since manganese is the main mineral that we are trying to reduce on the SBP diet then obviously Frequensea is out.

2. NCD zeolite – I was very excited about this product when it first came out. I read extensively about this product and had real hope that this would be the final detox we would ever need. I became a distributor and ordered enough for the whole family. For almost two years we all took the zeolite drops. We played with the dosage and upped it accordingly, at times using up to 40 drops daily per person. We experienced a lot of negative behavioral changes (which we welcomed because we believed they were just detox), and plenty of sleep disturbances as well. The most common noted were strange dreams, deeper sleep or lighter sleep and increased hyperactivity. Even though I know all about the cage like structure of the zeolite, I still can’t get past the fact that it contains aluminum and therefore we decided to stop using it. The long term results were just not good enough in our case to continue on.

3. LL’s Magnetic Clay Baths - These baths were not too expensive as far as chelation products go, and so we decided to give them a try. We purchased several types and began using them with the children. They were kind of messy to use, and the kids with sensory issues absolutely HATED bathing in the clay. We had to hold them in the tub and believe me it wasn’t pleasant. We never saw any results or reactions either way from them, and so now we have a few 5 gallon buckets full of leftover clay!

4. Oxy products - The Oxycleanse caused powerful diarrhea and most of the time the kids couldn’t make it to the bathroom. The Oxymune never did much either way, and eventually we discontinued the products opting for pure magnesium citrate whenever the need for a bowel cleanse came up.

5. Kirkman Labs - The supplements we tried from this company are too numerous to list. They have a sincere heart to help kids with autism, but some of the products fall short in my opinion. In our early years we relied heavily on Kirkman labs and there were very few changes in the children during that time. Many of their liquid formulas contain questionable ingredients, and some of them even have sucralose which is NOT something I want to put into my kids (see www.thetruthaboutsplenda.com).

6. Body Ecology Diet - They offer some nice products here IF you can get your children to eat them! I LOVE the idea of fermenting foods, but our attempts at making kefir and other fermented vegetables were met by picky autistic pallets with much disdain. NO WAY will my kids eat this stuff, and I am betting that most other kids on the spectrum wouldn’t either.(I do think that the program would be helpful if followed correctly, so I am not knocking it).

7. Barleygreen - We tried this mostly to alkalize their bodies, but we were never able to do it long enough to see results. The kids HATE the taste of Barleygreen and Barleymax, and many times they puked it up on the spot. I have loved it and used it myself for years but it's just not something that they will take willingly.

8. Yasko RNA supplements - We were big time into the Yasko protocol and we spent a small fortune on the testing and all of the recommended supplements. At one point, we were using up to 95 supplements a day per child including a variety of RNAs. This required many credit cards, and we racked up quite a few debts related to this program. The kids went absolutely WACKY on this protocol. I kept seeing it as a good sign (all detox usually requires some minor regression or behavioral changes as the toxins are coming out), but the kids just never leveled out. We were literally spending money that we didn’t have to maintain this protocol (as we have done quite often and still do out of desperation), but we just weren’t getting the expected results. We spent two years doing the program hardcore, and in my opinion we wasted a lot of our resources on this one.

If you have any questions regarding our supplement regime, please email me at: Jodi@autismhelp4u.com and I will try to answer your questions personally. We have significantly pared down our regime right now, and we are holding on to these core products while following Dr. Shauna's protocol.

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