Gut and Psychology Syndrome: Natural Treatment for Autism,ADD/ADHD,Dyslexia,Dyspraxia,Depression,Schizophrenia by Natasha Campbell-McBride (2004) Paperback

This is definitely one of my favorite books. I read it all in one day... I couldn't put it down! All I did that day was feed my 3 children meals and read. It was so worth it. I have had eczema all my life, as my mother and grandmother had, and my daughter also got about 6 weeks after she was born. I tried a number of natural remedies to help my daughter's eczema (which covered her legs and itched), including a gluten-free diet, oils, creams, and digestive enzymes, but at 18 months her eczema had still not cleared. This book explained why. It's an inability to digest, caused by a lack of good bacteria, which babies are supposed to get from their mothers while going through the birth canal and through breast milk in the first 2 months of life. Though I had given birth vaginally and breastfed, I didn't have enough good bacteria to pass along to her sterile newborn body (since my mother didn't have enough to pass along to me) and so the good bacteria didn't cultivate and left her vulnerable to bad bacteria and yeast, causing her eczema to appear at 6 weeks. Eventually she developed other symptoms like poor sleep and constipation, also signs of an inability to digest and an overload of toxins from the bad bacteria and a plugged-up colon. For quite a while I have been feeding her a similar diet to the one recommended in the book, but when I added the probiotics that Dr. Campbell-Mcbride helped to develop my daughter's constipation disappeared within a few days and her skin cleared up within a week. I'm amazed! Her skin hasn't looked this good since she was a newborn! She is also much happier and sleeping better. She is finally digesting her food! I have also begun taking the probiotics for my similar problems. I can tell I'm finally digesting my food also. What a relief! I am passing the book around to about 10 people that I know it would help. It's not just for parents of autistic children. It's for all the people (which is half of the population) who are constipated and irritable. It's definitely worth the read! I should add that I am not new to nutrition. I have been studying nutrition for 12 years (it was part of my major in college) but until this book I never really understood the digestive system. It is well-explained and thorough, but easy enough for someone who doesn't have much nutritional knowledge to understand.Another thing that I love about this book is that it gives me hope of eating gluten again. I have been gluten-free for several years because my skin was clearer and I felt better, and I assumed that I would have to be gluten-free for life. However, according to the book, after the diet is maintained for 6 months-2 years (depending on the severity of your condition) the microvilli in the intestine heal and the intestines are able to digest gluten again. That's so exciting!UPDATE: After writing the above review I put my two sons on the diet also, and my children and I have since completed the GAPS diet. We stayed on it for 8 months. My daughter no longer has eczema and has regular, easy bowel movements (before GAPS she only eliminated about every 4 days, and it was extremely difficult and painful). My oldest son (8) was lactose intollerant before the diet and is now able to digest milk. My middle son wet the bed until he was almost 5. He had no other signs of digestive distress or gut dysbiosis. I figured out the bacterial connection, which Dr. Campbell-Mcbride doesn't specifically address in the book. After putting him on the diet and giving him a probiotic dose of 130 billion/day, he was dry within a month and hasn't wet the bed since (a year later). The behavior of all three children has markedly improved, and they are much happier overall. And why wouldn't they be? I'm cranky myself if I don't feel well! I continue to take probiotics and give them to my children to maintain the gut health we have achieved. I also continue to feed them a healthy diet from scratch, free of as much junk food as possible (although we certainly aren't perfect). Other than that the children have returned to a normal diet. I continue to be careful, as I have been dealing with this a lot longer than they have and adults don't recover as quickly as children do.If you are hesitating to take the plunge because the diet is completely overwhelming, take heart. Once you get started it isn't so bad. And the benefits FAR outweigh the temporary inconvenience. You can do it!

This is truly one of the best and balanced health books out there today. Dr. Campbell-McBride has seem to target a real pivotal health issue in our culture today. On top of being very informative, her writing style makes is very easy to understand and grasp the concepts. Even though this book focuses on certain illnesses, it's really a health book for all. It seems to really target the central cause of many illness that for the most part have remained a mystery and it not only provides help for these illnesses but is filled with a wealth of information for people who just want to be healthy. The Gut has been a crucial aspect of health that has not been well understood nor well approached. Dr. Campbell-McBride does an excellent job not only giving an overall understanding of how it works, its importance but an appreciation of some of the specific players in maintaining and rebuilding your gut health. It's just an excellent book that I recommend highly to everyone!

The author gives an easy to read and understand explanation, with pictures of gut health and its connection to our behavior and psychology. The incidents of hyperactivity and behavior problems began to appear in the 1960's. Cases of allergy and asthma increased dramatically in the 60's as well. Antibiotics were put in oral form (the pink medication) in 1959-1960. Oral antibiotics dramatically affect intestinal flora and the health of the digestive system. The author gives an excellent and practical explanation of the new research that shows that what goes on in the intestinal system deeply affects the brain and nervous system. She also gives practical information and steps to take to regain intestinal/mental health. Generations since 1960 have been raised on the "pink medication". This information is important for everyone and essential for anyone who has a child who is labeled ADD, ADHD, Autism Spectrum etc.

A must read book! The link between the gut and autism is too strong to ignore. We bought this book 5 weeks ago and followed the diet advice for our ASD son who is 4 years old. He has always got by with requesting things with 1-4 words "more orange juice"He is now starting to speak in whole sentences "mummy can I have more orange juice please" and for the first time ever got on his bike and rode it steering and braking (with stabilizers of course!) which made both myself and my wife cry as before he couldnt even figure out what to do with the pedals!!We are very pleased with the progress we have made in such a short space of time but obviously still a long way to go. Its hard stopping the naughty foods ie chocolate, cakes etc especially when other children in the family ask for them...luckily their starting to eat fruit and veg instead of craving sweet things now.This book has made me realise what junk we pile into our kids and ourselves and yet we expect to remain healthy. The chemicals in cleaning solutions and every day products are staggering. With autism cases rising fast, along with mental health problems not all these can be genetic.

I found this book to be an easy read, one which continued to provoke serious thought about our health generally and possibly why health is going so wrong. Whether others agree with this or not, there are some valuable view points covered here and it should not stop you considering the arguments she puts forward if you don't agree with them at this time. The intrinsic value of properly grown and prepared foods and the over use of medicine to suppress our own ability to cope and take charge of our own selves is likely to be our own downfall. This is self explanatory, it should be on everyone's book shelf in my opinion, you don't have to be the one with the conditions outlined in the book, but it makes you think why possibly your health isn't all it should be.

This book really is the best on the subject. She writes clearly about the science behind the role of nutritional intervention and her suggestions even though seen as barmy by some (no to rice, potatoes, and yes to meats with fat) makes a lot of sense when she explains the reasons. There are loads of magic remedies being peddled by snake oil merchants (just have a look at the American yahoo websites for GF/CF) enough to make any parent of an autistic child feel hopelessly inadequate. Ms. McBride, a doctor herself argues that the SCD diet combined with ABA intensive early intervention is probably the most sensible option. The most lucidly argued book on autism treatments (and I have read quite a few!!)

My bible! Bought this book ages ago.....my boy has autism and he's been on Gaps for 2 years and the results are beyond my expectations.He's doing so well I count my blessings now! It has been a very bumpy ride but we are nearly there! I recommend this book to everyone I meet but is so disappointing to hear from the parents the usual excuses "I don't think I could do this" or " my child will starve...he only eats toast and nuggets" etc.This book will change your life as a family ,will challenge you so much but you will rip the rewards and you will be so happy that you listen to your gut and gave it a go!!

Bought this as found a link between my son being autistic and having gastrointestinal problems. Something that my Pediatrician was not even aware of. So the writer has explained why and what I need to do. Brilliant read!