Ross Walter Nutritionist and Naturopath health articles and blog

Heavy metals like copper, mercury, lead, and aluminium found to be linked to autism

13/10/2020

Autism and autism disorders are beyond an epidemic. But because they are not caused by an infection they cannot be classified as such. But autism disorders ARE at severe epidemic levels, and next to nothing is being done by the medical authorities to address this. Yet we are all suffering the effects of a questionable virus at the moment which only affects 0.3% of people, mostly the elderly with pre-existing chronic conditions.

In 2003, 30,400 Australians had autism.

In 2009, 64,600 Australians had autism.

In 2012, 115,400 Australians had autism.

In just 9 years, the incidence rate has almost quadrupled. Some official US statistics say autism disorders now affect 1 in 27 children (Australian Autism and ADHD Foundation, 2014), and some much worse than that. Some sources even claim about 1 in 10 boys are affected (AMA, 2016).

The sheer number of incidences or diagnoses of autism disorders is not possible to have been caused through genetic inheritance alone. Genetically inherited health issues are usually only found in 5-10% of cases in many health conditions. That means 90-95% of the causes are environmental - factors in your environment that have an interaction with or impact on your body (Australian Autism and ADHD Foundation, 2014). The same with autism disorders.

There are many factors known to cause autism, such as nutrient deficiencies in the mother during pregnancy or in childhood, a reduced ability to detoxify environmental toxins, maternal exposure to toxins when pregnant, infections during pregnancy, gut infections in childhood, dysbiosis, vaccinations, and more.

A new meta-analysis study (a published study which looks at the results of other studies as a whole) was published in September 2020 (Jafari Mohammadabadi, Rahmatian, Sayehmiri & Rafiei, 2020), found high levels of minerals and heavy metals in the blood, hair and nails of those with autism, especially of copper, lead, and mercury. Lead and mercury are particularly dangerous heavy metals as they are neurotoxic - they damage the nerves, nervous system and brain, to affect brain and body functions. The study found associations with copper and autism, and significant associations of lead and mercury in the development of autism.

In a major study published in 2017 (which I wrote about at the time), aluminium was also found in the brains of up to 67% of those with severe autism disorders. Aluminium is also a neurotoxin.

You have to wonder where all these heavy metals are coming from...

If your child has autism or shows symptoms of similar conditions, you can investigate whether these heavy metals are causing or contributing to their developmental issues, mood issues, or other symptoms with a simple and non-invasive hair test.

A Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis, or HTMA, test can give you a detailed report on the nutrients found in the body through the hair, as a picture of nutritional status, as well as the toxic heavy metals such as mercury, lead, arsenic, aluminium and others. If these are found on the HTMA test, a treatment plan can be started, to help slowly remove these toxic heavy metals, which will help to reduce symptoms.

If you would like to find out more, please contact me, and I have the HTMA test kits available to send to you.

References:
Australian Autism and ADHD Foundation. (2020). Why the increase in Autism (ASD), ADHD and Neurodevelopmental Disorders? Retrieved 12th October 2020 from https://aaaf.wildapricot.org/autism_prevalence/

Australian Medical Association (AMA). (2016). Autism Spectrum Disorder - 2016. Retrieved 12th October 2020 from https://ama.com.au/position-statement/autism-spectrum-disorder-2016

Jafari Mohammadabadi, H., Rahmatian, A., Sayehmiri, F., & Rafiei, M. (2020). The Relationship Between the Level of Copper, Lead, Mercury and Autism Disorders: A Meta-Analysis. Pediatric Health, Medicine and Therapeutics, 11, 369—378. DOI: 10.2147/PHMT.S210042

Mold, M., Umar, D., King, A., & Exley, C. (2017). Aluminium in brain tissue in autism. Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology, 46, 76-82. DOI: 10.1016/j.jtemb.2017.11.012

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"The Magic Pill" documentary review

8/6/2020

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On Monday 31st July 2017, I was invited to attend a private screening of the new food and nutrition documentary "The Magic Pill", and be an expert on the panel afterwards to answer health and nutrition questions from the attendees. Perhaps the title is a little vague at first, but the message becomes clearer as you progress through the film, produced by Rob Tate and Pete Evans (Australian celebrity chef and Paleo nutrition advocate).

The film introduces us to several people of differing ethnicity and their families, and a warts and all look at their health issues, medications, and their concerns about their health. We looked at Caucasian Americans, African Americans, Native Americans, and a large community of Indigenous Australian Aborigines in Arnhem Land. All had many chronic diseases, including many "20th Century conditions" of over-consumption, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, liver and kidney disease, asthma, and cancer. We also followed the stories of a young girl and boy with severe ADHD and intellectual development issues who were non-verbal and showed a lot of typical behaviours of being on the autism spectrum, which was very stressful for their families.

The Yolgnu people in Arnhem Land were particularly interesting, as they recalled their parents and grandparents all being very fit, strong, having great teeth and in excellent health while living their traditional ways and foods. Then white man came with their western/modern foods. They were now living on "modern" foods of breakfast cereals, breads, damper, jam, orange juice and coca cola... As a result, their health was very poor, life expenctancy very low, and they couldn't see how they could change this.

But along came a charity called "Hope for Health" with selfless health professionals with a program which incoprorates their traditional medicine and diet, exercise, detox retreats, nutrition and cooking workshops and support. In a few short weeks, they turned their health around and this gave them hope! You could see the relief and improvements in their eyes and faces again, and it was beautiful to see! For more information on this charity and their work, please visit https://www.hopeforhealth.com.au/ and consider a donation to help these wonderful people.

A brief section of the film showed similar health issues with Native Americans eating the same modern foods introduced by white man.

It was obvious that the "modern" food pyramid and government food guidelines does not work for everyone (or "anyone", it could be argued), especially indigenous populations. One reason that the guidelines are not working is due to the huge amount of influence the food industry companies have in these guidelines, through "sponsorships" of various health advisory groups, and their deliberate funding of biased "research" simply confuses the public and maintains the current situation. These sponsorships are openly listed on their respective websites.

From my experience in clinical practice (as a Nutritionist and Naturopath), people from non-Western ethnic backgrounds improve their health so much by returning to their traditional diets, which typically includes plenty of seasonal vegetables, some fruits, organ meats, grass-fed/wild caught meats and healthy fats - eggs, nuts and seeds, and the occasional fast. This became the theme and purpose of the film - to educate and empower people to return to health using traditional nutritional medicine and cooking techniques, while avoiding the health dangers in processed foods.

Various scientific, medical and nutritional experts were interviewed and contributed to the film, including Dr David Perlmutter ("we should eat natural foods, not scientised foods"), Dr Rangan Chatterjee ("the question that all doctors should ask patients is 'what are you eating?'"), farmer Joel Salatin ("90% of cattle in the USA are fattened up in feedlots, being fed GRAINS" - yet they are supposedly healthy for us?!, and "a sick environment causes sick crops, which causes sick animals, which causes sick humans who eat them"), South African scientist Professor Tim Noakes (the South African dietetics association filed a complaint against him for giving Low Carb High Fat diet advice, but he won, due to the amount of scientific evidence supporting the LCHF model ), and more.

There was a short section of the documentary showing charts and statistics of the benefits of a LCHF or ketogenic type diets to reduce weight, and reverse many of the modern diseases mentioned earlier. The weight of scientific evidence shows that the current food guidelines is contributing to the chronic disease epidemic we have now, and perhaps the food pyramid model should be turned upside down, so that meats and healthy fats are the main part of our diets, instead of grains.

I do not agree with the current food guidelines (which is quite disappointing as a Nutritionist, but it is a decision based on evidence), and I recommend a similar food model for my clients, being a "low inflammation" nutrition program, which is a slight variation of the LCHF/ketogenic/Paleo model. I don't believe, however, that a high intake of meat/protein or healthy fats should be the most consumed food group. Vegetables should be - preferably raw, fresh, seasonal and organic as much as possible for their wide nutrient content. Grass-fed meats and "healthy fats" (not so much "High Fat", which is open to abuse or extreme diets) should come next, with processed or refined carbohydrates such as sugar, grains and grain products coming a distant last in quantity, or even avoided (as there's no nutrients in grains which can't be obtained from other food groups!).

A LCHF/Ketogenic diet can reduce chronic disease symptoms by reducing inflammation, reducing cholesterol and blood sugars, and normalising blood lipid levels and the body's response to insulin. These changes can help to reduce weight, reverse type 2 diabetes, improve mental health, reduce autism symptoms (both children became vocal, more responsive and better behaved in a few short weeks!), greatly reduce or even eliminate the need for insulin for T2 diabetics, improve energy, improve brain function and cognition, and reduce many other chronic disease symptoms!

We saw all of these improvements start in a few days in the family members being followed in this documentary, and they kept on getting better at each checkup a few weeks and several months after incorporating the dietary changes. It was heartwarming and wonderful to watch the improvements, to see and hear their reactions, and their need for less medications which neither helped improve their health nor reduced their symptoms.

If you are interested in food, health, nutritional medicine, or wanting to reduce your chronic disease symptoms, please have a look at this film! I recommend watching for its emotive, educational and empowering message, that nutritional medicine can be "The Magic Pill" to many of our current health epidemics many people are dealing with personally. If the movie can inspire just one person that there is hope in having better health and a better quality of life, the film has achieved its purpose! Many thanks to all those involved in the film, for raising awareness and hope in many!

Once you are ready to make some changes yourself, please consult with an experienced Nutritionist or Naturopath to help personalise a plan for you, as your current health conditions, lifestyle, medications and other factors may need to be taken into account. I'd love to help you achieve your health goals!

"The Magic Pill" is available to watch on Netflix. Please look out for this, as I highly recommend watching it!

Good health to you!

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Zinc deficiency linked to autism

11/11/2018

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Autism is a a very prevalent and complex disorder of which the incidences are growing at a very disturbing rate - in just 9 years the official incidences of diagnosed autism has TRIPLED to one in 36 children, and one in 14 children with developmental delays. This huge increase cannot be explained just because of genetics. The more likely causative factors are environmental - how we interact with our environment, such as from nutrient deficiencies, chemical and toxin and radiation exposure, stress, and lifestyle factors.

In a 2015 study, it found that a high percentage of people with Autism Spectrum Disorders were deficient in zinc, a mineral that is needed for many metabolic and neurological processes, including the development and health of the nervous system and production of hormones and neurotransmitters for good mental health. Hence a deficiency of zinc can cause hormone and neurotransmitter imbalances and dysfunction seen in autism. The study also reported that the zinc deficiency was often accompanied by a copper overload or copper toxicity, which can result in impaired social behaviour, and impaired language and communication issues, common in autism disorders.

Zinc is also needed for good immune system function, for good functioning of the senses, for good digestive system function, and many more uses. Digestive issues are very common in those with autism disorders. And with gut issues being linked to brain conditions, this can explain part of the common digestive issues seen in autism, or in zinc deficiency. Such conditions include chronic constipation or diarrhoea, indigestion, reflux, heartburn, pains, bloating and gas, as well as digestive issues like Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, leaky gut and irritable bowel disease.

The same study found that incidences of autism can increase from pregnant women who are deficient in zinc, and women who are pregnant and breastfeeding need a higher intake of zinc-rich food or supplements, or this can result in deficiencies in the mother and baby to cause neurological and digestive conditions in both.

Zinc isn't the only answer to explaining or treating autism disorders, but it is one of many factors which can greatly help in a holistic treatment plan for sufferers. Zinc deficiency is also an issue in many other mental health issues such as depression and anxiety and others. Zinc deficiency is an issue I see a lot in my clinical practice, mainly from a poor intake of zinc-rich foods, and the increasing popularity of vegetarian and vegan diets which are generally low in zinc. Stress also depletes zinc, so a high-stress environment can lead to a deficiency even if your intake is good.

Your zinc and copper levels can be tested, as can other nutritional minerals and toxic metals, which are also common in autism disorders. If you have other mental health symptoms or digestive symptoms (mentioned above), I can help with nutritional advice and supplementation if needed, to help reduce your symptoms and improve your health! The right form of zinc is crucial, as some are much better than others.

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What is Pyrrole Disorder?

3/5/2018

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What is Pyrrole Disorder? It is a little known condition which can be initiated from severe or chronic stress or emotional trauma, which then triggers a genetic predisposition for excess production of a compound called HPL, which causes nutrient deficiencies. Because food nutrients are needed for a lot of functions and processes in your body, a deficiency in more than one nutrient will cause many seemingly separate symptoms. Specific nutrient deficiencies cause symptoms which result in Pyrrole Disorder (PD).

Many GPs and doctors don't know about or recognise PD, as it just looks like you have a bunch of fairly common symptoms, including:

headaches and migraines
digestive complaints - constipation, reflux, bloating
poor tolerance to stress
depression and/or anxiety
sleep issues (can't get to sleep, or interrupted sleep)
poor immune system and lots of infections
allergies and intolerances to foods or environmental substances
sensitivity to light, sounds, tastes
and many more symptoms (as shown in the above picture).

You don't need to have all these symptoms, but having more increases the likelihood. When I see some or all of these symptoms together as I do in many clients, I look for the root causes for them all. I also use a screening questionnaire, analysis of pathology results, and specific pyrrole tests.

Pyrroles is nothing to be worried about! If anything it is great to have this diagnosis, as it is very easily treatable mainly with nutritional medicine! I've seen the condition in children as well as adults over 60 years of age, and it's always a relief to finally have an answer to their health issues!

Pyrroles causes nutritional deficiencies mainly in zinc and vitamin B6, but also of lesser deficiencies in other B-vitamins, magnesium, omega-6 fats and others. Multiple deficiencies lead to all of the symptoms above, and more.

Pyrroles is very frequently seen running in families across multiple generations. It is VERY common in those with Irish and Celtic family history, and the reasons for this are unknown.

Some research shows that PD itself is very commonly linked to, and probably even a cause of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, some autism disorders and other neurological and behavioural conditions.

If you recognise many of the above symptoms (in the picture) in yourself, your children, or other people you know, it would be a good idea to see if Pyrroles may be the cause! I have seen substantial reductions of symptoms with the nutritional medicine treatment for this condition! And those who have improved feel like they have their life (and health) back again!

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What is MTHFR?

19/1/2018

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What is MTHFR?! No, it isn't an acronym for something very rude, but for Methylene-TetraHydroFolate Reductase, which is a bit of a mouthful, so MTHFR is much easier!

MTHFR is a human gene, which codes for the production of an enzyme of the same name. The MTHFR enzyme is important for chemical reactions in the body involving vitamin B9 (also called "folate"). The enzyme converts the folate in your food (mainly in plant based foods) into the active form of folate which your body can then use.

Folate is important for many purposes - the synthesis of DNA and the production of new cells, for "methylation" reactions (such as turning on and off gene expression), for metabolising amino acids from proteins (for hormone and neurotransmitter production), for the production of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets, to turn off inflammation, for energy production, for critical detoxification functions, and many more functions.

The MTHFR gene and enzyme are especially important because mutations of this gene can have significant impacts on your health. Depending on which mutation of this gene you may have, of which there are 34 different ones, there are 2 main variants which can be tested for, because of their importance in your body.

Depending on the type of MTHFR mutation you may have, it can mean a 20% loss of function, or 40% or even up to a 70% loss of function to the MTHFR enzyme activity. This means that all of the uses of folate can be severely compromised. One of the biggest impacts of a MTHFR mutation is regarding detoxification of chemicals from the body. If your body cannot detoxify environmental toxins efficiently, this can cause a lot of chronic physical and mental health issues.

"Folic Acid", which is an artificially synthesised form of folate found in many vitamin and mineral supplements, is not the same thing as the natural folate. It doesn't have the same effects at all. But most importantly, IF you have the a MTHFR genetic mutation, you MUST NOT be taking any supplement with folic acid in it. Because your body cannot metabolise folic acid properly, folate levels in your blood and body can build up and reach toxic levels, and also inhibit the metabolism of natural folate. Some studies and researchers have suggested that even people without any MTHFR mutation should still avoid all supplements with folic acid in them. There are other forms of folate in supplements which are safer and more effective!

MTHFR mutations are common in people who have heart disease, glaucoma, many psychiatric or mental health conditions, some types of cancers, high levels of inflammation, infertility and recurrent miscarriages, autism spectrum disorders, and many other chronic health issues which don't seem to go away no matter what you do for them. If you suspect you may have a MTHFR mutation due to chronic health issues, you can get tested for this.

Testing for the MTHFR mutation can easily be done with a simple blood test. This test costs just $90, but can be very useful in helping you to achieve your health goals! If you have (or someone you know has) health issues which don't seem to be improving, despite being on a good treatment plan, then a MTHFR genetic mutation can often be the cause of this. Testing for the mutation can give peace of mind and the effects of the mutation can be greatly reduced as there are additional steps in a treatment plan which you may need to include. Please contact me or the clinic to arrange a MTHFR test!

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A MAJOR CAUSE OF AUTISM FOUND

5/12/2017

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The incidences of autism spectrum disorders in children has grown massively only in a few decades. While statistics on incidences vary a lot due to a lack of accurate records, the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows the following increase over a few years:
In 2003, 30,400 Australians had autism.
In 2009, 64,600 Australians had autism.
In 2012, 115,400 Australians had autism.

In just 9 years, the incidence rate has tripled. Some official US statistics say autism disorders now affect 1 in 68 people, and some much worse than that. This is an epidemic, but little seems to have been done about the prevention or making the public aware of the causes of these conditions. (See the UPDATE at the end of this article - new statistics just in, showing incidences now at 1 in 40 children).

Autism is not a completely genetically inherited trait. The huge increase in incidences over 1-2 generations cannot be scientifically explained just due to genetics. The increased awareness, leading to more diagnosing of this is not the reason either, especially when there actually is no medical test for a diagnosis - as it's based on subjective observations. The science of epigenetics, however, can explain the increase in autism disorders, by showing how environmental toxins and other environmental factors change our genetic expression to cause autism.

A new study published a few days ago (November 2017) has confirmed a large piece of the puzzle on one of the causes of autism – neurotoxic and heavy metal poisoning of the brains in every autistic person tested. In particular, the neurotoxic element aluminium was mentioned in this study entitled “Aluminium in brain tissue in autism”.

Tests were performed on brains of 10 deceased people with autism, to investigate aluminium toxicity. They tested 5 different lobes or areas of the brain for aluminium levels. What they found was shocking – 40% of all tissue samples showed aluminium levels as high, and 67% as having extremely high levels, across all brain regions. This study showed that aluminium is extremely toxic to the brain, was able to cross the blood-brain-barrier, and actually get inside the neurons (brain cells) to cause damage (ie, inflammation) in the brain.

The aluminium levels seen in the study were amongst the highest EVER seen in brain tissue tests. In fact, some of the tissues from children were equivalent to elderly patients with severe Alzheimer’s disease (a chronic inflammatory and degenerative condition, mostly seen in elderly people, and also linked to being caused by aluminium exposure over their entire life).

There are other toxic chemicals linked to causing autism, and other factors too, such as a reduced ability to detoxify environmental toxins, maternal exposure to toxins when pregnant, infections during pregnancy, nutritional deficiencies, gut infections, dysbiosis, and more.

For these environmental causes of autism, there are many things which can be done to reduce the risk, or to detoxify the body of these environmental toxins, and to reduce symptoms. Some easy tests can be done to check for possible heavy metal toxicity, whether for autism or other conditions. This is often done with an inexpensive hair test and other tests, which we can arrange at the clinic. A detailed report will show the results of levels of good minerals, as well as many heavy metals or toxic ones, or how well their body can detoxify (or not).

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact me, or the clinic for details.

UPDATE: Interesting timing - the CDC (Centres of Disease Control in the US) released a paper just today showing statistics of the incidences of autism and developmental delays in US children. I've read the report - and it's much worse than the statistics in my article, showing a huge increase in autism and developmental delays in just 2 years since the previous report.
The previous official report said autism was seen in 1 in every 68 children in 2012 to 2014. However in this report from 2014 to 2016, the rate has nearly doubled to 1 in 36! This rate is only for Caucasian children which was the worst result. When all ethnicities are included it's 1 in 40 US children with autism, which is still absolutely shocking.
But what is worse, but not mentioned in the news articles on this were the rates of developmental delays, which is at 7% of all children - this is one child in every 14! Of course these are the "official" rates, with the real rates likely to be even worse.

Something seriously needs to be done to 1) investigate and 2) stop and reverse this.

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Heavy metals like copper, mercury, lead, and aluminium found to be linked to autism

"The Magic Pill" documentary review

Zinc deficiency linked to autism

What is Pyrrole Disorder?

What is MTHFR?

A MAJOR CAUSE OF AUTISM FOUND

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