Diet for Autism, ADHD and Chronic Illness

This diet was designed by Stan Kurtz through a combination of research and experience. This diet connects the principles of the SCD (Specfiic Carbohydrate Diet), the removal of gluten and casien and what we have observed as commonly leaking through the gut and causing autoimmune issues based on IGG Food Allergy Tests (Great Plains Laboratories or others). This is the diet that helped recover his son Ethan and we receive notes on a daily basis about how it has helped many families around the world.

Many families find the diet below helpful, but every child is different. Mr Kurtz is not a doctor. Please see a Defeat Autism Now! or Naturapathic Practitioner for information about medical treatment.

You can view videos of recoveries based on this diet here.

The Caveman "Starter" Diet

Organic Meats and Fish (not fried)

1. Organic Green And White Vegetables
2. Organic Fruit – Melon and Pear, Apple (peel the apples and don't use many), Peaches
3. Water – “Purified” or “Drinking” or “Reverse Osmosis Filtered” + with added minerals is OK, NOT Spring
4. Buy a juicer and juice Pears, Apples and Spinach to start to get vegetables onboard.
5. After the IGG results come back you might typically add in some walnuts or almonds, beans, and tomato.

A popular muffin made for this diet includes:

• 4 - 4.5 cups roasted/baked pecans (grind in the food processor)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 bottle squash baby food
• 1 - 2 tablespoons water to make a little softer
• Mix together (after pecans are ground)
• Bake in muffin cups 350 for 20-25 min.

Common Mistakes

• Adding rice milk or soy milk to substitute for the feeling of getting milk. Rice can feed clostridia and other bacteria and soy is also a difficult protien that can feed fungus and has been found raise levels of estrogen.
  
  
• Adding too much meat to the diet can raise levels of ammonia. Do not over feed with meat products.

Typically Important Starter Vitamins and Supplements

The dosing for the vitamins below were for my particular child. Dosing for each individual child may vary.

• “Emergen C” 1000 mg of vitamin C  (available at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's) – take it WITH food.  – Whole Foods or Trader Joes   (take in the morning)
• Zinc 50 mg per day (100% zinc) – “Twin Labs” is an example  (take in the morning or at lunch) – (available at most vitamin shops). Zinc has been shown to heal the gut and to push out copper and other metals from the body.
• L-Carnitine - 500-1000mg per day. Carnitine helps fatty acid metabolism and seems to help process toxins assocated to an overgrowth of fungus.
• Niacin - Start with ultra-low doses and work up to 50mg. Carnitine helps fatty acid metabolism and seems to help process toxins assocated to an overgrowth of fungus.
• Probiotic Acidophilus (start taking once a night on an empty stomach). There are many studies that show that probiotics improve immune system function.
• Ethical Nutrients – Intestinal Care DF (Whole Foods)
              or
  Dual Action Ultra Duo Dophilus for adults (Great Earth)
              Or the liquid version at Whole Foods
• Cod Liver Oil – Once a day (not fish oil, but specifically cod liver oil).  You can use cod liver oil pills or the liquid.  If you use the liquid you can hide it in some meat and put whole foods natural catsup on it. In a western diet, espeically with concerns of mercury in fish, people tend to not get enough fatty acids in their diet. Additionally it seems that oily intestinal fungal toxins tend to block fatty acid metabolism. We see a significant number of reports that show that fatty acid supplementation helps heal the gut and improve cognition.

Other Suggestions

Families who can afford testing and do not mind doing a blood draw on their child might consider getting an "IGG Food Allergy Test" by blood from Great Plains Laboratories (or similar lab).

Philosophy of this Diet

Ultimately, the key to improving the gut is to use multiple disciplines.

Stan Kurtz's diet was designed through significant consideration of a combination of disciplines including:

1. Elaine Gottschall's work (The Specfic Carbohydrate Diet) which is excellent at reducing fungal levels in the body. You can also view a 12-minute video of Elaine's amazing work about food and fungus.
2. The removal of common foods that typically set off the immune system (observable more so on an IGG Food panel, not a scratch, RAST, or IGE test). Remember, if the immune system is commonly set off, it leaves less neurotransmission for the brain.
3. Removal of food additaves and preservatives that set off the immune system.
4. Removal of foods that have ingredients that can interfere with the metabolism.
5. Removal of water that typically has metals and toxins in it. This is a very common mistake that people make. Using only good water can be critical.
6. Adding (commonly) very important vitamins, supplements, and minerals that help repair the damage of fungus, bad bacteria, toxins, and related issues.

After watching our recovery videos and starting the diet it may be a good idea to join our parent / researcher / clinicians recovery group and share your story and get support from other families.

Join Stan's online recovery group