This is the beginning of a new era for parents of children with autism, Asperger’s syndrome and PDD. Our research* clearly shows that autistic symptoms and behaviors, even in severe cases, are not inherent characteristics of autistic children; instead autistic symptoms and behaviors are caused by the neurological effects of severe reactions to chemicals in food and the environment. Our research also shows that the child can be protected from these substances so that no exposure occurs, and the reactions stop. Finally our research shows that as soon as the reactions stop there are no symptoms left.

• Haloform comounds, including chloroform (present always in tap water) – strong narcotic.
• Formaldehyde (polyurethane resins, foam cushions, permanent press fabrics): mucous membrane irritation, upper respiratory tract irritation, eye irritation, skin rashes, itching, nausea, stuffy nose, headaches, dizziness, and general fatigue.
• Vinyl chloride: damage to the liver and nervous system.
• Ethyl hexyl phthalates (plastics, scotch tape): Endocrine disruptors that interfere with production, release, transport, metabolism, binding, action, or elimination of hormones responsible for homeostasis and essential for normal growth and development, this substance also interferes with FSH action on the Sertoli cell.
• Perchloroethylene (dry cleaning fluid): adverse health effects on the nervous system that range from dizziness, fatigue, headaches, memory loss and confusion, sweating, incoordination, irritation of the skin and mucous membranes, liver and kidney damage.
• Isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol): central nervous system depression, headache, decreased blood rate, nausea, intoxication, and irritation of the skin, mucous membranes, and respiratory system.
• Petroleum ether (paint thinner): symptoms of peripheral nerve disorders and central nervous system depression, loss of appetite, muscle weakness, impairment of motor action, dizziness and drowsiness, irritation of the skin, mucous membranes, and respiratory system, blurred vision, and diarrhea.
• Benzene (gasoline, magic markers): excretion of ascorbate (vitamin C), production of oxygen radicals, depletion of glutathione (GSH), oxidative stress, DNA damage, activation of protein kinase c, central nervous system depression, irritation of the skin, mucous membranes.

50 Years Ago	Now
Children played with balls of leather; wore cotton clothes; washed clothes, face, hands with real soap; played with wooden and metal trucks; played with dolls stuffed with cotton; used virtually nothing scented, and never wore anything that was dry cleaned	Children play with plastic and synthetic balls; wear polyester and acrylic fabrics; wash their face and hands with soaps that are petroleum based scented detergents; play with plastic trucks and action figures; play with plastic dolls stuffed with polyester and dressed with polyester and plastics; virtually everything is scented.
TV's and radios had wooden cabinets.	TV'S, radios and telephones, computers and games are plastic.
Playing almost always took place outside.	Playing now often means huddling around the computer or other indoor activities.
Fifty years ago children slept in beds that were solid wood; the mattress was all cotton and was supported with metal springs and cross pieces; the sheets and blankets were cotton.	Children sleep in beds made of resin based composite wood look alikes; the mattress is vinyl plastic covered foam; the mattress is supported by chip board; the sheets and blankets are cotton polyester blends or polyester.
Dressers and furniture were solid wood.	The dressers, chests and bookcases are made of resin based composite wood look alikes.
In the bathroom, the tubs, sinks and toilet were porcelain; the floor and walls were tile.	In the bathroom, the tubs and sinks are fiberglass or faux marble
In the classroom they sat at wood and metal desks; wrote with pencils; used paste from animal glue and metal scissors; copied things from the blackboard.	In the classroom they sit at desks made of resinbased composite wood look alikes; write with felt tip pens, magic markers, scented pens, and plastic pencils; Use glue sticks and plastic scissors; Much of their work is working on hand out sheets copied from a copier, printer, or ditto machine.
The children ate on glass or china; drank from glasses; and their food was cooked in metal pots and pans.	The children eat on plastic plates, drink from plastic cups, and food is microwaved in plastic, or cooked in Teflon coated pans.
The meat was grown nearby, and wrapped in paper; there were relatively few processed foods.	The meat is precut at centralized processing plants where all is wrapped in plastic.
	Learning and free time includes time with computers that heat so hot internally that fans are needed to blow the hot fume-laden air from the overheated plastic boards, wires and connectors, through the vents and out onto the students.

We could go on, and describe every facet of our lives, including use of plastics and styrofoam in packaging of the food we eat, use of plastics by the medical profession, synthetics in curtains and window treatments, changes in insulation, changes in heating and air conditioning systems, and tight environments.

Although to look at classrooms and homes then and now, much appears the same at first glance, from the standpoint of environmental chemicals it is very, very different. Every single new item now includes large numbers of substances released steadily and continually into the immediate surrounding air. There are thousands of new compounds now present in most rooms as a result.

Each one of these substances has properties similar to those described earlier, in page 6. Many substances are harmful to mucous membranes, specifically causing irritation and inflammation of mucous membranes; this contributes to malabsorption in the gastrointestinal tract, diarrhea, constipation, and digestive difficulties. Most of these substances also alter function of the nervous system, some causing confusion, some irritability, others excitability, many causing headaches, others causing impairment of neurological function. Many substances alter the functioning of hormones and enzymes. Addictive adaptation is possible for virtually every substance.

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III.
Levels have been increasing steadily,
especially over the past 20 years

The Environmental Protection Agency (Environmental Protection Agency) warns us that the indoor air quality epidemic is the nation's number one environmental health problem. Scientists estimate that fifty years ago indoor levels were about 50 percent higher than outdoor levels; levels of volatile organic compounds in indoor air are much higher now. A recent study by the EPA, found indoor levels up to ten times higher than those outdoors -- even in locations near petrochemical plants. This means that in the US in the last 50 years there has been an approximate 20-fold increase in indoor levels of volatile organic compounds. The levels of a few substances in homes now exceed the standards established to protect the health of industrial workers.

The energy crisis of the 1970’s brought a greater emphasis on tighter construction and retaining heat more efficiently. Accomplishing this caused reduced air exchange in the home and increased indoor levels of environmental compounds approximately 200 percent in many homes.

Figure 1 below shows how indoor air pollution levels have increased in the last 50 years. Now consider the rise in diagnoses of autism in the same time frame, Figure 2. New case data for Figure 2 was obtained from the California Health and Human Services Agency. These numbers may underreport the incidence of PDD and Asperger’s syndrome. In the time period in which indoor environmental chemicals increased 20 fold, the incidence of autism increased about 90 fold. The data suggests that a threshold level may have been reached about 1985. Children born then lived continually in environments containing ten times the level of volatile organic compounds that were present in 1950. Prolonged exposure to those levels and the increasingly higher levels that continue each year, suggest that we are likely to experience escalations in the incidence of autism, PDD, and Asperger’s syndrome for years to come.

We are convinced that these increased levels of environmental chemicals represent a serious health crisis, because we are able to eliminate the symptoms of autism merely by eliminating exposure to these same chemicals that have increased so many orders of magnitude over the last 50 years.

Figure 1

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Figure 2

Autistic children also suffer from wide variety of other chronic diseases and conditions; these include digestive difficulties, hyperactivity, eczema, and seizures. As a result in addition to new cases of autism increasing ten-fold in the last ten years, we were interested in knowing whether there were increases in other chronic conditions. If the substances causing autism, also caused the children’s other symptoms, which we have found to be true, then the substances causing autism should be the underlying cause of other conditions. If true, the substances causing the increase in autism should be causing increases in other conditions as well. As is shown in Figure 3, this is precisely what has been happening in the last decade.

During the same last decade when autism increased 10 fold, ADHD has increased 5 fold, and now includes more than 6 percent of all children (Figure 3). The number of individuals diagnosed with depression has increased 3.15 fold, and now includes approximately 3% of the entire population. The incidence of hay fever has doubled. The incidence of eczema has doubled; currently 15 million people are affected in the US. Asthma has increased 110%, and diabetes has increased 33% overall. The CDC warns of epidemic increases in each of these areas.

Figure 3:

In the past ten years, Table 2, the total number of individuals diagnosed with one of the chronic conditions listed below has increased by over 65,000,000; an overall increase of 123%. 47,000,000 of these individuals were diagnosed with a neurological disorder. This is very important when one considers that neurological effects are the primary effects of many environmental compounds.

Table II.
Increases in chronic diseases and conditions during the 1990's

Condition	2000	1990
Autism	600,000	60,000
Diabetes	16,000,000	12,000,000
Asthma	21,000,000	10,000,000
Eczema	15,000,000	7,500,000
multiple sclerosis	200,000	200,000
depression and other mood disorders	17,000,000	5,400,000
ADHD	4,100,000	800,000
Schizophrenia	2,700,000	860,000
anxiety disorders	44,800,000	14,000,000
Seizures	2,300,000	2,300,000
TOTAL:	118,700,000	53,120,000

Source: data obtained from The Centers For Disease Control,
California State Department of Health, US Bureau of Census,and Report of
US Surgeon General, National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

It is no wonder that experts in many diseases are using the words out of control and epidemic. Sudden increases such as this with no known cause must be taken seriously. The other place in which the words out of control and epidemic are being used, is by the Environmental Protection Agency, as it refers to indoor air pollution as the nations number one environmental health problem.

The final, awful truth of these numbers is in the overall percentage. There are 287 million people in the US today. Table 2 shows that 118 million of these individuals suffer from one of the chronic diseases and disorders listed. That is 41% of the entire population of our country. Not included are migraine headaches, general allergies, irritable bowel disorders including all types of digestive difficulties, and a host of other chronic diseases and disorders. It is fairly certain that the incidence of these are increasing as well, and that the age of onset is becoming younger. A reasonable estimate that includes all of these, and avoids double counting is approximately 50%, and that there was an increase of approximately 25% in the past ten years. How can there suddenly be something wrong with 25% of the population? Could this be due to genetics? Defective enzymes? One half of our entire population cannot be suffering from genetic defects. Genetic defects do not suddenly increase 100 percent in ten years. Enzyme defects do not suddenly increase 100 percent in ten years throughout our entire population.

This strongly points to a wonderful possibility that nothing may be wrong with most of these individuals. Exposures to the increasingly high levels of substances in food, plastics, indoor air, resins and mold may account for the entire array of symptoms. The truth may be that there is nothing wrong. These individuals may be responding precisely as their bodies were designed to respond to situations such as these. The ‘something wrong’ may not the person, but the environment. When half or more of the population responds, that is the norm, the way the body was designed to respond. The emphasis may then need to turn from research on illnesses that have suddenly increased to a search for ways to clean up our environment, and return to the environment our bodies were designed for.

Children of today are not being raised in the same environment as their parents or grandparents were raised as infants and children. The immune systems of increasing numbers of children may be simply overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of chemicals and the increasingly higher concentrations in their bodies.

The dramatic increase in incidence of autism that has been happening for the past ten years is in itself a strong indicator that there is an environmental cause for autism. One way to be more certain that the association is correct is to reduce the ‘exposure’ and reduce the effect, autistic symptoms; to increase the ‘exposure’ and increase the effect, autistic symptoms. This is the reason we are so convinced that food and environmental compounds, plastics, resins and molds are the cause. In the SF Comprehensive Intervention Program the symptoms of autism can be manipulated. Eliminate the exposures and the symptoms disappear; return these exposures and the symptoms immediately return. The dramatic surge in environmental exposure levels in our country precedes the dramatic increase in numbers of autism cases by just a few years. It is this fact, combined with the dramatic way that autistic symptoms are eliminated when exposure to these substances is eliminated that is convincing.

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IV.
The role of vaccinations and mercury
exposure in autism and chronic diseases

Other researchers have been concerned that mercury, especially mercury in childhood immunizations could be responsible for the surge in autism. Autism is frequently appearing in children about 18 months of age; many parents describe the onset of autism following immunizations.

There has been a 14% increase, on average, in the number of children receiving MMR vaccines in the state of California. During the same time period in California, there was an approximate 1000% increase in diagnosed cases of autism.

Figure 3 and Table 2, above, show that along with autism, dramatic increases also occurred in many other chronic diseases in the past ten years. The increases in exposures to environmental substances in food, plastics, resins and mold is correlated with and accounts for dramatic increases in the chronic diseases described in Table 2. This is important because removal of environmental chemicals in food, plastics, resins and mold eliminated symptoms in individuals suffering from each of the chronic diseases we studied. Both populations, the autistic group and the group of individuals suffering from chronic diseases, responded equally quickly to removal of environmental substances.

Parents’ stories are compelling; many children do begin to exhibit signs of autism shortly after receiving an immunization. The explanation we feel that is the most plausible is the following: exposure to environmental substances, residues from plastic, mold and food begins in utero. After birth the exposure levels in food, bedding, clothing, diapers, lotions, soaps, toys, and so on raises exposure levels even higher. These levels are increased to 250 times higher when homes are renovated or are new. The immune systems of babies are stretched to its limits by about age 18 months, and the shot itself, whose sole purpose is to stimulate the immune system, simply overwhelms the child’s immune system. The child quickly becomes hypersensitive to foods and environmental chemicals and the reactions to these substances cause the immune system attack on the brain, causing the onset of autism. The shot for some is the final straw. This tragic consequence does not happen when children do not have the earlier, sustained exposures to environmental substances, plastics, resins and molds.

The greatest correlative factor we have found is in fact, home renovation. Many parents report onset of autism occurring within 6 months of moving to a new home, of a major home renovation project, or installing new carpet and painting a child’s bedroom. The things many do ‘to get the baby’s room ready’, and all the new things we buy and receive as gifts for a new baby mean that most infants begin their lives surrounded by products and materials that release especially high amounts of environmental substances and plastics to their immature immune systems.

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V.
Why Hasn’t Someone Already Figured Out The Connection Between Autism And Exposure To Environmental Substances, Plastics, Resins And Mold?

Evidence pointing to a serious problem associated with exposures to environmental substances, plastics, resins and molds has been accumulating for the past 50 years. Although evidence from animal studies showing serious adverse effects has been available for many years, scientists have been uncertain about how to correctly extrapolate from animal studies to humans. Direct studies with human subjects have verified that chemical exposures can cause a wide variety of serious neurological problems and other serious health problems, but until now no studies have been done with autistic children. This is probably because until recently autism affected too few children, and because of the widely held belief by professionals and researchers that autism was caused by an inherent neurological defect. The research conducted by Karen M. Slimak, founder of Applied Science and Technology International, Inc./Special Foods, is the first investigation of the effects of chemical exposures on autistic children, and the first to clearly show the role of chemical exposures in the disorder. However suspicion and concern about a possible link between chemical exposures and autism has been present in the scientific community for many years.

NIEHS Is Concerned That Substances In The Environment Are An Underlying Cause Of Autism

In October 2001, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Science (NIEHS) jointly announced the formation of four new children’s environmental health research centers that will focus research on childhood autism and other behavioral problems. Two of these centers will study environmental factors that may be related to autism. As stated by NIEHS Director Olden, ‘We want to see what other environmental substances might trigger developmental problems. – so that we can reduce the exposures and prevent the damage.” (NIEHS press release, 2001). This demonstrates the depth of the concern about a link between environmental (chemical) exposures and autism, and also describes the importance of avoidance as the way to eliminate the problem.

Our ASTi studies show that when exposures to chemicals in the environment of autistic children are reduced to very low levels, the children’s autistic behaviors are quickly eliminated. One mechanism that would explain this involves the immune system. Substances in the environment trigger an immune system response, and as a result the immune system attacks neurological tissue. When the triggers are removed, the immune system no longer attacks and the symptoms are eliminated. For autistic children, because triggering substances are constantly present, the immune system constantly reacts. This suggests that components of the immune system should be chronically altered in autistic children, and this is precisely what is being found.

The Immune Systems Of Autistic Children Are Elevated, And Continually Reactive

Singh et all have proposed that autism involves a neuroautoimmune response that occurs at the neuro-immune biology interface. Antigenic stimulation of Th-1 cells pathogenetically linked to autoimmunity in autism was described by Singh (1996) who studied immune activation in 20 autistic children and reported elevated plasma levels of interleukin-12 (IL-12) and interferon-gamma (IFN-?). Depressed lymphocytic proliferation to mitogens (Stubbs 1977), impaired immunity of macrophages and NK cells (Weizman et al, 1982), circulating autoantibodies to brain proteins (Singh et al, 1993), elevation of T-cell activation antigens (Singh et al, 1991), and increased levels of DR+ activated T cells (Warren 1995) among others have been reported in autistic children.

Chronic exposure to environmental chemicals, plastics, and resins appears to be the cause of the elevated neuroautoimmune response found in autistic children.

Avoidance Studies With Human Subjects Show A Strong Link Between Chemical Sensitivities And Many Neurological Problems

Avoidance strategies, referred to in Director Olsen’s mention of ‘reducing the exposures’ have long been a method of choice for avoiding the adverse effects of exposure to hypersensitive agents. For example the JAMA Allergy Information Center among many others recommends allergy avoidance to the general public as an important preventive measure to reduce symptoms and to reduce the need for medication. The principle, ‘one cannot respond immunologically, i.e., experience allergic reactions, to substances to which exposure does not occur’, is obviously true, and is universally accepted.

In the third quarter of the last century a number of investigators began to use avoidance to study the effects of food and environmental substances, particularly environmental substances, plastics and resins, and pesticides, and their role in chronic disease. The studies were done using the principle of removal of exposures. Subjects in groups and individually were placed on a fast and placed in a clinical setting with greatly reduced levels of environmental substances.

These investigators published approximately 200 studies about the effects of foods and chemical exposures on humans. In these studies symptoms were eliminated and then caused to return by re-exposures to various foods and environmental chemicals. Researchers associated elimination of foods and chemical exposures with: irritability and associated behavioral problems, sensory sensitivities, disorders impairing interpersonal reactions, difficulties related to cognitive abilities, and acute psychotic episodes, and illnesses of many types, including seizures, headaches, gastrointestinal symptoms, muscular symptoms, eczema, bronchial asthma, diabetes, fatigue, myalgia, disorders of the endocrine system, and rheumatoid arthritis These studies were reviewed by Miller (1994). Although the studies associated many neurological effects with foods and environmental chemicals, no studies were done with autistic children.

Environmental Toxicologists Have Suspected Serious, Adverse, Long Term Effects Of Human Exposure To Environmental Chemicals But Lacked An Approach To Study The Problem Directly In Humans

A strong association between chronic disease and exposure to substances in the environment has long been suspected throughout the research community of environmental toxicology. In this field, the emphasis has been on environmental chemicals, not foods. The approach has been to understand the toxic effects of substances one chemical at a time in healthy animals. The approach for humans has been to conduct epidemiological studies of workers in industrial settings. There remains a serious gap in these studies, namely, the translation of animal data to humans, and an understanding of the response of humans over long periods of time of exposure to myriad numbers of substances in a complex and constantly changing milieu. The unfortunate truth is that no effective method has existed until now to study humans in a situation of this complexity, and the research, until now, has not been done. In the absence of a causative link, the levels of substances in our environment and the materials of daily life has increased steadily over the last 50 years, particularly the last 10 years, essentially without any attempts being made to understand the affects this would have on general health.

From animal studies and epidemiology studies in industrial settings we know that acute toxicity to single compounds is of concern, but is thought to occur at higher levels than daily exposures in most environments. Unfortunately, the additive and cumulative effects of exposure to thousands of substances, which are roughly equivalent to high doses of one or more substances, have not been evaluated. Ambient levels have increased steadily over the past 10 years, and even toxic effect levels are occurring. For example, plastic exposures to hospitalized newborns currently exceed levels for toxic effects.

The individual chemicals studied in animal models shows strong neurological effects in a majority of the substances studied.

The field of environmental toxicology has been studying volatile organic compounds, plastics and resins one at a time; however, the body sees them all at once, and responds in a cumulative way. The concentration of just one of these substances is not high enough for concern, but the concentration of them all is above toxic levels. Scientists in this field have not been able to develop the tools for studying the direct effects of exposure to complex arrays of organic compounds on humans.

In summary:

All of the parts are there, but they have not been pulled together. There is increasing evidence of neuroautoimmune impairment in autistic children. Human exposure studies show that neurological and physical effects occur following exposure to food, environmental substances, plastics, resins, and mold. Animal studies show that neurological and physical effects follow exposure to environmental substances, plastics, resins, and mold. The concentrations of environmental substances, plastics and resins have increased approximately 20 fold in indoor environments. The incidence of chronic disease appears to have doubled in the last 10-20 years, especially diseases and conditions involving neurological effects.

Until now there has not been a study that pulls this data together and demonstrates clearly that food, environmental substances, plastics, resins and mold exposure are the underlying cause of autism and many other diseases.

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VI.
20 Years Of Study Of The Effects Of
Food Sensitivities And Chemical
Sensitivities On Chronic Diseases

I am a scientist and researcher with expertise in analytical methods, environmental chemistry, biochemistry and physiology. I did not begin with an emphasis on autism; my work began over 20 years ago with an emphasis on severe food allergies and chemical sensitivities. My career interest is in understanding the interplay between environmental contaminants and human health. I have developed a methodology whereby the effects of chemical exposures on humans can be studied. My work in this area, over many years, has brought me increasingly into contact with the autistic community as I began working with increasingly more seriously affected individuals. I have found that autistic children as well as children suffering from severe seizure disorders are the most strongly affected groups to date.

As an environmental chemist, for over 30 years I have had a career goal of studying the effects on humans of years of exposure to the complex milieu of substances in our environment. Although I knew there would be effects, initially I expected that they would be mild and relatively inconsequential.

In the beginning it was impossible to directly study human subjects. Severe neurological and other physical effects of volatile organics and plastics have been documented for many years in animal subjects, but always at high levels, and only one chemical at a time. No one knew how to accurately extrapolate to human subjects other than to consider epidemiological studies of industrial exposure. No one could tell for sure that any group of individuals was experiencing severe neurological effects associated with any chronic exposure.

For the first 15 years I could only choose activities as closely related as possible to my career interest. These included: 1) serving as director of a trace organics analysis lab, 2) conducting an assessment of environment fate and effects for the National Research Council and Congress, 3) managing a study for the Environmental Protection Agency, in which over 100 volatile compounds were traced through their full cycles of production and use, and rates of release to air, water, soil and waste were estimated at all steps and in all materials.

Toward the end of this time, I faced a severe personal crisis with the near death of my infant son from extraordinarily severe and extensive food allergies and sensitivities and early onset autism. I was forced to find a way to save his life on my own, as he was severely allergic to virtually every food. As a result of the impressive recovery of my son due to the dietary intervention approach I developed, I began to receive referrals of severely allergic individuals from physicians.

I approached my work with each person with the scientific rigor I have always used. Each person I studied as a scientific experiment of one subject. Even though my emphasis was on foods, I wanted to be sure that my observations could only be related to foods, nothing else. To control for as many other variables as possible, each person was required to drink distilled water in glass, avoid plastics, avoid cooking with gas heat, avoid perfumes, and test organic foods only. When a set of well-tolerated foods was found, the dietary intervention was completed.

To maintain scientific credibility and what I would call idle scientific curiosity, I instructed the clients to add back the other variables one at a time. The clients and I were shocked to find an array of severe, completely unanticipated symptoms. One client wrapped her well-tolerated food in plastic wrap for 20 minutes, then unwrapped and ate it. She was bedridden for three days as a result. One young father, sat at his table, drank his first glass of tap water in 6 weeks and reported being overwhelmed with intense, barely controllable rage. He said, ‘I was just sitting there! I had no reason to be filled with rage; nothing had happened. All I did was drink the tap water. That’s when I realized the only time in my life I didn’t experience this barely controllable rage was when I was on your program!’ Person after person reported similar experiences; all were different reactions. There were different systems of the body affected, no two people reacted in the same way to anything, but the reported of effects of these materials were consistent and surprisingly severe.

I realized that I had stumbled on a way to pursue my life long goal: studying the effects on humans of long-term exposure to the complex milieu of substances in our environment. Instead of taking well people and trying to make them sick with one chemical at a time; I could study people who were ill, eliminate foods as a factor with my highly effective diets, and through a process of selective removal, see how various substances were effecting each person by observing which symptoms would disappear. I realized I could reasonably adopt the view that everybody was unintentionally playing a part in a grand experiment, since everyone was living in a world virtually swimming in a sea of new substances.

My approach was to directly study human exposure in the ‘negative’; that is by selective elimination of exposures and studying the improvements. By working with referred individuals who were already ill, I could study the role of removal of foods and environmental exposures and learn to what extent foods and environmental substances were contributing to their condition, and help my clients regain their health in the process.

My first step was to eliminate all of the food-related symptoms. If I could start people on a diet of only well-tolerated foods, food related symptoms would be eliminated immediately. This would make it much easier, essentially possible, to determine the causes of the remaining symptoms. I sought a starting diet that was essentially universally well-tolerated, which could be expanded later.

Over a ten year period, I observed the food choices of approximately 5,000 individuals with severe, extensive food allergies and sensitivities. These individuals chose from a wide array of unusual carbohydrate choices, and made their choices based on what worked best for them without direction and without discussion with each other. I observed their final choices after, by whatever method, they selected the carbohydrates that they tolerated best. Each person found the foods that they tolerated best independently, but each person ended up choosing essentially the same set of foods. Each individual independently chose tropical root crops, and essentially only tropical roots. This was not a previously predicted or intended outcome; however, I had to accept that just as there are the most poorly tolerated foods in the world, there are foods that are the most well tolerated. My data clearly showed that tropical root crops were the most well tolerated carbohydrates.

I developed the Special Foods Diet, which incorporates tropical root crops as the sole carbohydrate source into a well-balanced seven day rotation diet of unusual foods, as a result of these years of observation. In part, there was a second reason for this. If these were the foods that subjects were eventually going to need to eat, the whole process could be shortened by beginning with these foods.

The Special Foods Diet proved to be a highly effective diet, especially when combined with reduction of chemical exposures. One highly important benefit was that when combined with reduced chemical exposures, the problems encountered in other programs of developing sensitivities to new foods was found to not occur. Further the small number of foods each day, all extraordinarily well tolerated, each not repeated for a full week; made it possible to know for sure that each food was well tolerated and make any necessary adjustments. When all problem foods are not eliminated, no matter what else one does, increases in symptoms and severity, and worsening of condition will ultimately occur. With the Special Foods Diet it was possible to fully eliminate this problem.

In the past 20 years I have worked with over a thousand individuals. Because I have been able to reduce food-related symptoms of each individual I studied to ‘zero’, i.e., complete elimination, I have been able to clearly study causes and effects of exposures to foods and environmental chemicals, particularly volatile organics, plastics, and molds, and to detail and record the associated symptoms for each person.

a. Food: Experience With The Special Foods Diet:

Please see the Special Foods Diet booklet, page 6 for a discussion of experience with the Special Foods Diet.

b. Learning About The Symptoms Caused By Chemical Exposures (After Fully Eliminating Food-Related Symptoms):

The early years were ones of discovery. I carefully recorded each person’s reactions -- the foods and substances they reacted to and the symptoms that were associated with each exposure. Mostly what I learned was about tremendous, incredible variety. There was no pattern anywhere. No two individuals were alike. When I listed a particular food, and then the reaction of every person I studied to that food, no set of symptoms were identical. Similarly when I listed a particular chemical or a particular substance such as tap water or paint thinner, of the individuals reporting reactions, no two symptom patterns were alike.

To the same substance, whether it was a food or fumes from the news paper, some individuals reported rashes (no two were alike), others reported digestive problems, others reported headaches (no two in the same place or same severity or same duration), others reported rages, others reported confusion, others reported zoning out and becoming distant; others reported difficulties with balance; others became quiet and listless; others reported feeling very cold; others reported difficulty moving muscles; others reported joint aches and pains; others reported difficulties sleeping; others reported just wanting to be left alone.

So I tried looking at similar symptoms. This was a challenge because in 20 years I have never recorded two descriptions of symptoms that were identical. I grouped the symptoms into similar categories. For example, I looked at all the records of individuals reporting eczema and listed the foods and substances that caused the skin reaction. Again there was no pattern. I ended up with a list that said someone had reacted with eczema to every food and every environmental substance. The problem was that name beside each food and substance was different. There was no particular food that caused more eczema reactions; there was no particular environmental substance that was causing a particular eczema reaction. It was different for everyone.

After years of careful study, there is still no pattern of this type. No food or chemical causes a particular type of symptom. No symptom has a particular type of cause.

In the early years I realized that the complexity and uniqueness of the individual responses was primarily what characterized the reactions. What I was observing was a response of the immune system that was as individualized as fingerprints, facial features and hair color. I recognized that just as we all have major arteries and veins that are very similar but secondary and tertiary vessels that are in unique patterns; there is similar variation in the immune system. Each person may respond in similar ways to major challenges such as invading bacteria; however each person responds in unique ways to small quantities of many other substances. How does the very same substance cause diarrhea in one person, eczema in a second, overwhelming rage in a third, and stupor in a fourth?

My work with autistic children has helped the research progress and focus. About 4 years ago, parents heard about the successes of children entered into my program, and through their networks began to enter the program in much larger numbers. Autistic children quickly became about 40% of our subjects and a relatively large group of individuals of one diagnosis. The ability to study a relatively large group of subjects with the same diagnosis, albeit a broad one, was an important piece that had been missing.

In the next section you will read about the results of the work with autistic children, but here the importance of the research, is its help in simplifying the incredible complexity I had been documenting for 20 years. I had assumed that all of the people I had worked with over the years suffered from symptoms that mimicked severe, chronic disorders. In other words, there was a disease, for example eczema, that was caused by some inherent physical defect, that responded in conventional ways to conventional treatment, and then there was a second set of people who really didn’t have the inherent physical defect, but just experienced similar symptoms, and this small set of individuals would be cured just by changing their diet and environment.

Through my research with autistic children I realized this was wrong. When I began the work with autistic children I fully expected that 40-60% of the children would show no response at all. This was consistent with what other investigators were reporting. So I was very surprised when the first 5 children responded fully, then the second five, and so on and so on. When I had proceeded toward elimination of physical signs and symptoms with the first 20 children, I began to realize I would have to rethink my initial hypothesis. The odds that 40-60% no response could be true when I had just successfully worked with 20 in a row, did not favor this premise. Now that the number has increased to 45 in a row, the results strongly indicate that a very high percentage of autistic children suffer from autism because of foods and other environmental factors as the underlying cause.

I realized that I also had to rethink my belief about all of the other conditions I had worked with over the years. Was I working with individuals who experienced mild symptoms? No. I had worked with the most severe cases known, with individuals who had not responded to conventional treatment, and were otherwise beyond help. What were the chances that these severely ill individuals were really suffering from a phantom disorder that caused mimicking symptoms? In light of the results I was achieving with autistic children, I realized that this was not very likely.

I began to view my work of the past 20 years in a very different light. If I had not been working with a subset of individuals who just happened to mimic these diseases and disorders, then I had actually been working with the most intractable, difficult, resistant cases in each field and bringing the individuals to full reversal of their conditions and returning them to vibrant health. If that was true for these most difficult cases, then the same cause was very likely true for all of the less severe cases as well.

Sensitivities to foods, volatile organic compounds, plastics, resins and molds was the underlying cause of everything? Everything? EVERYTHING??? I turned this around in my mind, examined the data from the past cases every way I could, and I simply could come up with no other explanation that would explain the results of the last 20 years, the results from 1000 individuals.

Maybe it’s time to face the further truth: no one’s body was designed to handle the levels of environmental substances in foods, plastics, resins and molds that we are currently exposed to.

The protocol for the research study summarized below was based on the knowledge gained from many years of observations. I would like to thank each of the families who participated in this study. They had to trust logic, underlying principles, and reports of successes with non-autistic individuals. Without their willingness to participate in this ground breaking study, these results would not be available.

• Physical symptoms such as congestion, eczema, asthma were equally caused by food and environmental factors.
  
• Symptoms associated with the digestive system were associated with foods two thirds of the time, and associated with environmental factors one third of the time.
  
• Neurological symptoms were associated with environmental factors 84% of the time, and associated with foods 16% of the time. Included in this group of symptoms were head banging, seizures, cognitive abilities, withdrawal, depression, temperament, moodiness, OCD, violence, aggression sensory sensitivity, self stimulation, and social interaction, social awareness and abilities.