Food Is Medicine

When children show signs of chronic illness such as autism, ADHD, asthma, allergies, autoimmune disorders and more, it is critical that we begin to see that food is medicine. As Martha Herbert PhD MD, pediatric neurologist from Harvard Medical School, said, “If you are already sick or if your child is already sick, it is all the more important that every single calorie have the highest possible range of nutrients associated with it”.

Our sick children cannot afford to eat food that isn’t helping them heal, and they certainly can’t afford to eat food that is harmful to them. On this page, you can learn about food as medicine.

Why Is Food Medicine?

To begin to think about what constitutes a healthy diet, we need to move beyond the basic understanding of diet in terms of macronutrients (fat, carbohydrate, protein) that we were all brought up on. We were told that a “square diet” was healthy and it consisted of the following food groups: Fruits and vegetables, grains, dairy, and meat. While this covers some of the things we need to know about food, it leaves much out.

We also need to think about what the foods we eat offer us in terms of nutrients and micronutrients such as magnesium, selenium, B vitamins, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, chromium, iodine, zinc and many other vital nutrients that bodies need.

Additionally, we need think think about the quality of the food that we eat. If it is conventionally grown, is it going to be as nutritious as something that was grown biodynamically in a home garden? If it is conventionally grown does it contain residues of toxic pesticides or herbicides?

Is the meat that we buy at a supermarket from a factory farm, where the animal was pumped full of antibiotics, steroids or genetically modified growth hormone? Or was the animal allowed free access to pasture and food that is natural for that animal to eat?

All of these factors determine whether a food is good for your body or bad, and ought to be taken into consideration.

What Is Not Healthy Eating?

Unfortunately, what has become a cultural norm, the Standard American Diet, is generally not very good for our health. The Standard American Diet tends to be too high in refined carbohydrates and sugars and poor quality protein, and low in fresh vegetables and good quality protein sources. We tend too eat too many processed foods (often high simple carbohydrate) that have been stripped of essential nutrients, and not enough whole plant-based foods.

The vital nutrients that our cells need to function properly can be found in whole foods, and when we rely too heavily on processed foods, we deprive our cells of what they need to function. Processed foods can also contain ingredients that are harmful to our bodies such as:

• Genetically modified organisms
• Trans fats
• Inflammatory vegetable oils
• High fructose corn syrup
• Aspartame
• MSG
• Artificial colorings and dyes
• Artificial preservatives such as:
  • Sodium benzoate
  • BHA
  • BHT

What Are Some Healthy Eating Guidelines?

We are all unique individuals and diet should be tailored to each person’s nutritional needs (moment to moment) but there are some nutrition fundamentals that can apply to most people.

• Eat organic whole foods rather than processed foods whenever possible
• Eat plenty of organic vegetables
• Focus vegetable intake on those plants that are nutrient dense and contain high amounts of antioxidants
• Include good fats, such as those found in coconut oil, flaxseed oil, olive oil and grassfed butter (if dairy tolerant)
• Include fresh, clean water
• Eat pastured, grass-fed protein sources to ensure that they are the highest quality available
• Fermented foods such as kimchi, raw sauerkraut, miso, cultured vegetables are great for gut health
• Be mindful of possible food sensitivities as consistent consumption of foods that are inflammatory can lead to health problems (wheat, soy and dairy are common found food sensitivities, especially in the current generation of children)

Children with chronic illnesses often need individualized diet programs because they can have a number of food sensitivities that can exacerbate symptoms, and they also tend to have specific nutrient deficiencies (e.g. iron, magnesium or calcium).

An integrative or functional nutritionist can help create tailored diets and approaches to healing through food.

Therapeutic Diets

In general, most healing diets consist of nutrient-dense whole foods (unprocessed). Each diet takes a different approach to healing, but almost all successful diets recommend eliminating junk (sugars, processed foods, additives, etc.) and adding in home-made nutritious foods.

Additionally, most diets recommend that you first isolate and then remove any potential allergens from the diet. Probable allergens can be determined through using the elimination diet.

• Body Ecology Diet
• Elimination diet
• Specific Carbohydrate Diet
• The Feingold diet
• GAPS diet (Gut And Psychology Syndrome)
• Gluten-free/casein-free diet
• Low Oxalate Diet
• The Weston A. Price Foundation
• Paleolithic Diet

Eat a Clean Diet

Eating a “clean diet” means removing all processed foods, artificial colors, artificial and even some natural flavors, preservatives, inflammatory oils and artificial sweeteners from the diet. Much of this diet is encompassed by the Feingold diet.

A clean diet should be the basis of your family’s nutrition going forward, regardless of any special diet that you choose for further healing. You can learn more about that here.

About Teresa Badillo

She won a court case in 1995 against the Rockland County School District in New York to enable ARC Prime Time for Kids to be the first school using Applied Behavioral Analysis teaching method for autism that was paid for by the Rockland County School District. The following year she was instrumental in getting the New York Minister of Education to approve an extension of the ARC license from 5 to 21 years.

She has worked over the years in a number of alternative medical practices with doctors and practitioners organizing various biomedical intervention options for children with autism. Since the mid 1990s, Teresa has served on several boards:

• Foundation for Children with Developmental Disabilities
• The Autoimmunity Project
• Developmental Delayed Resources
• Epidemic Answers

She continues to consult and advise parents on all different areas of autism especially nutritional protocols. Since 2006 she has worked with NutraOrgana, LLC and BioCellular Analysis Testing. She currently researches, writes the newsletter and blogs Teresa’s Corner for The Autism Exchange (AEX). She also writes blog posts and pages for Documenting Hope.

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