When we first started trying to get to the bottom of my son’s health issues, one of the things we were told by his specialist is that he had a “leaky gut”. Wikipedia describes a leaky gut as “intestinal or bowel hyperpermeability”.

That just sounds painful, doesn’t it?

As I understand it, when the gastrointestinal tract becomes overridden with bad bacteria, yeast and other fungal overgrowths, these little critters can actually burrow into the lining of the stomach and intestines, damaging the surface microvilli and creating dangerous gaps in the protective lining of the digestive tract. These gaps allow food and nutrients to pass through undigested into the blood stream, which can cause all kinds of problems for the child, including allergies, headaches, mood and behavior problems, just to name a few.

Since the child is not absorbing and processing food properly anymore, there is often a failure to thrive because the body is no longer getting the adequate nutrients it needs to grow. This could explain why a lot of our kids on the spectrum are pale, weak and malnourished. So now that we know what a leaky gut is, the next question has to be – how do we fix it?

If you suspect your child may have a leaky gut, you should definitely have that suspicion confirmed by your pediatrician. After that, you might want to try the following five things:

1. Pathogens generally thrive in an acidic environment, so try to cut back on sugar and carbohydrates. Feed your child more alkalizing foods like organic fruits, vegetables, nuts and lean meat. Work with a nutritionist to create the right kind of diet for your child.

2. With your physician’s help, make sure you kill off whatever pathogens are causing the problem. There are many medications like Nystatin or Diflucan that can do this, but there are also many alternative products that might help like extra-virgin coconut oil, grapeseed extract, oil of oregano, etc.

3. Determine what your child is allergic to and remove that from the diet. This can be done with allergy testing or a simple rotation diet.

4. Once the pathogens are eliminated, make sure you add in some good probiotics to keep the bad guys from growing back again.

5. Finally, think about adding digestive enzymes to your child’s diet to help break down food. If food is no longer sitting in the digestive tract (undigested), it will be much harder for the pathogens to get out of control again.

To learn more about digestive enzymes and how they can help your child with autism, be sure to watch this week’s episode of The Mother Cub Show – All About Autism on WorldTalk Radio. This will be a special encore presentation with Dr. Devin Houston, airing live on Wednesday, January 19th @ 8am Pacific / 10am Central / 11am Eastern. Click here to go directly to my host page on WorldTalk Radio for more information:
http://www.voiceamerica.com/worldtalkradio/vshow.aspx?sid=1830

Author's Bio: 

Susan Lynn Perry is the weekly radio show host of The Mother Cub Show, All About Autism on WorldTalk Radio. She is also an accomplished freelance writer and best-selling author of fiction, nonfiction, short stories and inspirational articles. Her latest novel, Hindsight, is what she likes to describe as “fiction inspired by true events”. As the mother of a young son currently emerging from autism, she’s had the distinct honor of becoming an expert in the field of natural, biomedical and dietary interventions that have had a profound effect on her son’s health. Please visit her website, www.mothercub.com for additional information, and remember…it is possible to help your children get better – you just need to take one step, and then another, and then another……