The UltraMind Solution (10 page)

Many years ago I treated a woman with a bacterial infection in her gut from a bug called Clostridia (which produces a molecule called DHPPA, which has neurochemical effects) with an antibiotic. Not only did her digestive symptoms clear up, but also her lifelong depression, which was resistant to treatment with medications like Prozac, lifted almost overnight.

Experiences like these as well as my own struggle with a chronic illness allowed the mysterious world of how the body influences the brain to open up to me.

Hence I became an “accidental psychiatrist.”

Since then I have found remarkable patterns and connections that link the body to the mind. The wonder of the body continues to delight and amaze me, as I understand more clearly how the entire body and the mind is one interacting, interlocking, networked system.

Nowhere is this truer than in how the brain is connected to the rest of the body.

Through the prism of one boy’s story told below, you will learn how powerful this approach can be for fixing your broken brain. This one story, and this boy’s two homework assignments done two months apart, will clarify the bidirectional communication between the brain and the body more than any complicated explanation of biochemical pathways.

While this is a story about one boy, the story of his imbalanced system and how it affected his brain is repeated millions of times over in America. Each story has its personal flavor, and each person may have different imbalances in physiology. But the overarching principle that ties together all brain disorders is simple.

Brain disorders resulting in altered mood, memory, behavior, and attention are a result of imbalances in the seven key systems of your body that determine whether you are well or ill, whether you are living a life of UltraWellness or a diminished life of poor mental and physical health.

Here is Clayton’s story...

An exasperated professional woman finally found her way to my office with her twelve-year-old son, Clayton. Clayton, labeled with a multitude of both psychological and physical diagnoses by a number of highly specialized physicians, seemed to be a walking embodiment of “bad luck—poor kid.”

In the realm of psychiatry Clayton was “diagnosed” with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a behavioral disorder. He could not focus in school, “zoned out,” and was disruptive. Like many other children labeled with ADHD or on the autism spectrum, Clayton’s writing was nearly illegible.
¹
On the other hand he excelled in math.

Physically, Clayton was diagnosed with asthma, suffered from “environmental” allergies, sinus congestion, postnasal drip, sore throats, eczema, nausea, stomach pains, diarrhea, headaches, anal itching, canker sores, muscle aches, muscle cramps, hypersensitivity to noises and smells, sneezing, hives, itchy skin with bumps, and frequent infections. He slept poorly and had trouble breathing when he did sleep. He also suffered from anxiety, fearfulness, and carbohydrate cravings.

All of his symptoms were being treated with seven different medications prescribed by five different doctors. These included Ritalin for ADHD, allergy medicine, and inhalers for his asthma and hives, acid-blocking medication for his stomach problems, and painkillers for his headaches.

This is quite a drug cocktail for a twelve-year-old. Yet he still didn’t experience much relief from his physical, mental, or behavioral symptoms. But this is how we approach things in medicine—divide it all up into parts, farm them out, and pile on the pills. What a life for both Clayton and his family!

Most psychiatrists not only lack the training to address any physical issues but also feel these are irrelevant to the mental “diagnosis” at hand. I, however, believe these physical ailments are the most important findings and these clues will provide the causes and appropriate treatment to repair disordered brain function.

Today the list of medications and the untested cocktails and combinations have grown to frightening proportions. Children who present with mental, behavioral, or emotional problems like the ones Clayton had now get antipsychotic medications, like Risperdal; antiseizure medications, like Trileptal; and antidepressants, like Prozac—all on top of stimulant medications, like Ritalin, Concerta, and Adderall.

I recently visited a local school nurse. After seeing a large box on the
floor filled with empty pill bottles, the nurse told me that 63 percent of the children were on some type of medication.

My challenge is to organize symptoms according to how they are influenced by the seven keys of UltraWellness, not by chopping them up into separate diagnoses. That is how I lead my patients to an UltraMind.

Clayton’s UltraMind Solution

As we dug below the surface we found and treated the causes of Clayton’s symptoms—imbalances in the seven keys to UltraWellness that form the basis of the UltraMind Solution. Here is what we found and what we did. Clayton’s story represents, to one degree or another, all of our stories. It illustrates both the despair and the delivery from our epidemic of broken brains.

Let’s look at some of the essential keys affected in Clayton’s case.

Nutritional Deficiencies

Like most kids, and especially those on the spectrum of ADHD and autism, Clayton lived on and craved junk food. His typical diet included trans fat, food additives,
²
and an overload of carbohydrates and refined sugar. This has been associated with ADHD.
³
Blood tests confirmed significant deficiencies in many important fats, vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. Clayton had no omega-3 fats and very low levels of tryptophan, vitamins B
₆
, A, and D, antioxidants (vitamin E and beta carotene), zinc, and magnesium.

Omega-3 fats,
eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and docosahexanenoic acid (DHA), are essential for brain function. In fact, 60 percent of the brain consists of DHA. A lack of these fats is strongly associated with ADHD,
⁴
as well as eczema and immune deficiency.

Tryptophan
is an amino acid (building block of protein) needed to make serotonin, the chemical in the brain for a relaxed and happy mood, and melatonin, the chemical for sleep.
Vitamin B
₆
is crucial to converting tryptophan into serotonin. Clayton’s unstable mood, sleep disturbance, and ADHD were clues to a B
₆
deficiency. Some of his prescription medications were actually further depleting his B
₆
supply.
⁵

A clear indication of low
vitamin A
and
omega-3 fat deficiency
were “bumps” on the back of his arms called hyperkeratosis pilaris.
⁶
His low level of
vitamin D
led to lowered immunity.
⁷
Deficiencies of other vitamins such as
vitamin E
and
beta carotene
indicated he ate a diet high in junk food and low in vegetables and whole grains.

Low levels of
zinc
are associated with lowered immunity, poor heavy metal detoxification, and ADHD. This was consistent with Clayton’s frequent infections, eczema, and allergies
⁸
as well as the hyperactivity symptoms. Low-
magnesium
levels lead to headaches; anxiety; insomnia, muscle spasms, cramps, and aches; and hypersensitivity to noises.
⁹

Nutrients have a multifactorial effect and work in synergy. It is important to attempt to correct all the deficiencies; as you can see, they all interact and overlap.

Immune and Inflammatory Imbalances

Clayton had asthma, allergies, hives, sinusitis, itchy skin, canker sores, a history of intolerance to baby formula, diaper rash, and frequent ear infections. These are all clear evidence of
immune
and
inflammatory imbalances.

These should not be thought of as separate conditions but rather
one
immune system highly annoyed by one or more triggers such as food or environmental allergens, molds, toxins, chronic low-grade infections, or perhaps a combination of these factors.

Special testing for delayed, low-grade food allergies (IgG food sensitivity) showed Clayton’s immune system (and likely his brain
^10
;
11
) was reacting to eighteen foods, including dairy, peanuts, yeast, citrus, and especially gluten, all of which created more inflammation.
¹²

Gluten
can trigger a low-grade, chronic immune response that inflames the brain and many other systems. Canker sores were just another clue pointing to celiac disease or gluten intolerance.
¹³
Indeed, his IgG antigliadin antibodies were elevated (indicating an autoimmune reaction to gluten found in wheat, rye, barley, spelt, oats, and tritacle). In a later chapter, you will learn more about why gluten was a major clue in Clayton’s healing process.

Digestive Imbalances

Nausea, diarrhea, stomachaches, anal itching, and sensitive stomach were clear symptoms of Clayton’s
digestive imbalances.
The use of frequent antibiotics for the many infections led to a yeast overgrowth and abnormal gut flora. This resulted in a
leaky gut
(also called intestinal permeability). This condition gives way to the above-mentioned food allergies, systemic allergies, and inflammation.
¹⁴
So we can see why his immune system was so angry.

Detoxification Imbalance

Metal toxicity indicates poor detoxification. Tests showed that Clayton had high levels of
mercury
and
lead
. His exposure was probably similar to other children of his age; however, he nutritionally and/or genetically could not eliminate the metals from his body and stored them in his tissues.

Mercury has been associated with myriad gastrointestinal as well as autoimmune and cognitive problems.
¹⁵
Children born between 1989 and 2001 were all exposed to mercury in the form of thimerosal in the multitude of vaccines they were given at a very early age (this mercury preservative was removed from the vaccines in 2001). As you will learn, other sources of mercury include coal-burning industrial plants, many large predatory ocean fish, river fish, and even “silver” dental fillings.

Lead toxicity has been associated with cognitive and behavioral problems in children.
¹⁶
In a recent groundbreaking study, lead toxicity and environmental toxins were clearly linked to ADHD.
¹⁷
By living in a polluted world, playing with toys made in China and coated with lead paint, and crawling around on the floor where shoes drag in the lead pollution from the outside, Clayton was exposed to the dangers of the industrial revolution.

He may also have suffered from other environmental toxins like mold toxins from the black mold in his house and food additives we could not measure.

Clearly, Clayton’s problem was not a Ritalin deficiency or bad parenting! The cause of all these problems lay in the dietary and environmental pollutants that throw the seven underlying systems in our body out of balance.

The Simplicity of Treatment

It is not any
one
thing that caused Clayton’s ADHD, abnormal handwriting, hives, asthma, or stomachaches. It was the total load of all the stresses on his system interacting with his unique genetic susceptibilities, which thus led to his abnormal brain function and health problems.

Clayton’s treatment was disarmingly simple.

By deliberately and carefully working to find the cause or
source of the irritation to his system
(nutritional deficiencies, toxic foods, food allergies, gluten, environmental toxins, food additives, yeast overgrowth) and identifying
the missing ingredients
needed to restore normal physiological function (a multivitamin, omega-3 fats, vitamin B
₆
, zinc, magnesium, vitamin D,
healthy gut bacteria, and 5-hydroxytryptophan for sleep and anxiety), Clayton’s health and brain function could finally start to normalize.

I recommended a whole-foods diet free of additives, sugar, trans fats, processed foods, and his particular allergic foods—gluten, dairy, citrus, peanuts, and yeast. This is the diet on which the UltraMind Solution is founded.

Then we got rid of the low-grade yeast problem he developed after years of taking antibiotics (it showed up as anal itching) with an antifungal medication.

Lead and mercury toxicity was addressed using DMSA, dimercaptosuccinic acid, an FDA-approved medication to remove lead from children. This part of the treatment was postponed until his gastrointestinal health was restored. This was important so Clayton could properly eliminate the metals as they were chelated (pulled out) of his tissues.

My approach is simple: the first step is to
take out the bad stuff;
remove what’s irritating you. You need to find all the tacks under your feet to be pain free; removing only one tack will not make you 50 percent better. The second step is to
add the good stuff;
add the specific vitamins, nutrients, and other “ingredients” you need to thrive. These differ from person to person.