Nourishing Hope for Autism & Giveaway
I cannot put into words how thrilled I am to be featuring my first guest post and honored to introduce Julie Matthews, an award-winning author and Certified Nutrition Consultant specializing in autism.
I am personally grateful for Julie's devotion to healing children through diet and nutrition. Not long ago I felt mired in clay. We had a sick little boy with undiagnosed neurological and inflammatory conditions. I didn't know how or where to find answers. Never in my life had I felt so helpless. Finally, after shedding buckets of tears, a raging mama bear broke forth. I went on a hunt for help and found a group of professionals like Julie who encouraged me to focus on diet (read our story here). All I can say is that going gluten and casein free (GFCF) has made all the difference. I am a believer in nutritional healing and Julie's message of hope.
This post is the first in a series of guest posts from Julie. In this first in the series, you and Julie will get acquainted and she will provide an overview of her autism diet and nutrition tools. In my opinion, they are must-haves for any caregiver of a child on the autistic spectrum. In posts to come, Julie will dive into the specifics of the different autism diets, food intolerances and more. Prepare to be enlightened!
So without further ado, please welcome Julie Matthews.
Julie Matthews
Guest Post I: Nourishing Hope for Autism
Hello everyone. I’m Julie Matthews, a Certified Nutrition Consultant specializing in autism for ten years. I’m delighted to be here to share my knowledge and experience with special diets for autism. These diets, such as gluten-free and casein-free, involve the removal of foods that are known (or suspected) to be problematic, and the addition of nutritious, readily digestible foods that help heal.
Lexie’s Kitchen and Nourishing Hope are aligned in purpose—we want to help you be able to sustainably follow a dietary strategy that nourishes and heals. I discovered Lexie’s Kitchen recently when one of my clients with a child with autism told me Lexie was a wonderful resource for allergen-free diet recipes! I enjoy sharing useful tools with other parents and am happy to support the health and healing of children with autism (and beyond).
At the end of this post you will have the opportunity to enter a giveaway for my autism diet and nutrition tools. This set includes:
• Nourishing Hope for Autism handbook
• Cooking To Heal cookbook
• Cooking To Heal DVD
Nourishing Hope for Autism explains the science of diet for autism: its underlying biochemistry and how food and nutrition affect health, healing, cognition, and behavior. I present a comprehensive holistic plan to determine and effectively implement a dietary strategy. Beyond autism, there are many neurological and inflammatory conditions that have similar underlying contributors and biochemistry that benefit from the approach I present in Nourishing Hope, namely ADHD, allergies, asthma, digestive disorders, mood imbalances, and autoimmune conditions.
I explore traditional healing foods, therapeutic nutrients, probiotics in fermented foods for gut health, and specialized healing diets to balance biochemistry and support digestion. I share practiced methods for “sneaking” in nutrient-dense foods the ways kids like it. I emphasize the myriad of ways that food is medicine or poison depending on; the quality, the way food is grown or raised, the manner in which food is prepared, processed, and cooked, and the compounds in food that can heal or aggravate systems.
Cooking To Heal is my "live" autism nutrition and cooking class. It is 4-hours of me explaining and demonstrating (cooking!) the aspects of effective healing diet implementation. It includes my autism diet cookbook, where every recipe is tagged for diet compliance and specific allergen-free information, and a 4-hour DVD of the live class. It’s the most “hands on” learning I provide anywhere.
Thank you Lexie for welcoming me to your kitchen—I hope that you and your readers enjoy my series of guest posts. As always, your comments and experiences are welcome.
Julie Matthews is a Certified Nutrition Consultant specializing in autism spectrum disorder for ten years. Her award winning book, Nourishing Hope for Autism, is based in scientific research and an understanding of the biochemistry of ASDs and the role of food, nutrition, and diet to aid digestive health, systemic healing, and relieve symptoms of autism. Julie presents at the leading biomedical autism conferences in the US and abroad, writes for autism publications, hosts a weekly radio program, and has private nutrition practice in San Francisco, California. Visit: NourishingHope.com.
Autism Diet and Nutrition Tools Giveaway
Enter to win a set of Julie's autism diet and nutrition tools! This set includes:
• Nourishing Hope for Autism handbook
• Cooking To Heal cookbook
• Cooking To Heal DVD
To Enter:
• Leave one (1) comment at the end of this post. (FEB 5, 2011 I am reading some GREAT comments. So helpful. Please, if you feel comfortable and you have one, share your story or part of it)
• Double your chances by "friending" Julie Matthews Nourishing Hope on Facebook [click the +1 Add as Friend button] and telling me you did so in the comment you leave on this blog. If you already are her friend, just say that you are in your comment and that will qualify you for another entry : )
Deadline: To qualify, entries must be received by 5:00 p.m. (CST) Monday, February 28th.
Julie can also be found on YouTube!
All recipes from Lexie's Kitchen are gluten and casein free (and more). For more recipes that fit the GFCF guidelines (and more), visit my friend Kelly at The Spunky Coconut.
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Reader Comments (36)
Thank you so much for this post. It means a lot to know we're (and everyone else) aren't dealing with this alone. Would love to receive the gift set. Changing their diet has really changed our lives.
Awesome giveaway, Lexie! Thanks for this post and leading me to Julie! This is just we need for further healing!
I sent a friend request to Julie on FB!
So glad to see you here over at Lexie's Kitchen, Julie! I am such a firm believer in your entire belief in how food nourishes a child's brain. It is what I live by with my own family and also the entire reason i went back to school to get a Master's in Holistic Nutrition. I am so looking forward to this series that you will be doing here with Lexie!
And Lex, thanks for sharing Julie with us here!!
xo
kim
My daughter wasn't diagnosed with autism until she was 21. She is now 24 and gf/cf free for 1 1/2 years. She is doing much better as we continue to explore diet adjustments. Awesome giveaway! Friended Julie on fb.
What an illuminating post! I'm going to forward this on to a few friends who I know are battling autism through diet.
Oh my goodness, fantastic giveaway! This is exactly what I've been wanting to buy for a while now. I love everything Julie has to say!
Also, I'm already friends with Nourishing Hope on FB.
Thanks!!
What a wonderful treat to learn more.. my daughter has a rare and catastrophic seizure disorder, Autism is a side disease for her too. She and I are both GF, I'm vegan, she's a vegi when she's with me but her father won't adhere, says i'm crazy and food doesn't hurt her! I'd love to read your books and gain more knowledge.
also added you on FB!!
Hi Lexie - I'd love to win a set of Julie's tools! As someone who has had experience using music to improve the lives of children with Autism, I'm very interested to learn more about how diet can make a difference. I "liked" Julie on facebook, and I also posted a link to this blogpost on my facebook profile. Thanks for sharing info about Julie - she sounds like a fascinating person. As well, I have a friend who is a music therapist in San Francisco and has 50 young clients with Autism whom she works with every week. I'm going to let her know about Julie - she'll be thrilled to learn of Julie's work.
Lexie and Julie,
I look forward to hearing more. Although my son does not have autism, I still believe in healthy eating for him to just be a happier person. I made sure to change my entire way of eating during my pregnancy and by the time he was born so I could feed him without being hypocritical. I believe it has worked. I have one of the few 2.5 y.o. on the planet who doesn't like sugar and whose favorite food is broccoli. I believe food affects each of us, no matter what it is we eat. How can it not?
Thanks again.
What a great post - I am saving it for when I get questions about autism, I can forward them to this. Thanks to both of you for this valuable information and I look forward to more.
Such amazing info here, Julie and Lexie--thank you! I'm especially intrigued by Julie's comments that her materials also address the more difficult cases that don't repond immediately to a change in diet, because I've heard that expressed by many. I know that this type of healing doesn't happen overnight though. Based on my own recovery from gluten issues and illnesses/symptoms caused by them, it was a very incremental healing for me. This giveaway is outstanding. The DVD especially would be such a help to many. I'm not going to enter the giveaway because I think others need this info far more than I, but I'm going to buy this myself for our support group. We have members with family members with autism and I know this info would help them greatly. Plus, it's good to get this kind of info out to all, so that they can continue to share it in our community. Thanks again, Julie and Lexie! It cannot be said enough, diet is HUGE.
Shirley
Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful info! I have a friend w/ a child with autism, as well as a sister-in-law and niece who teaches special ed so I am passing the info on to them. I also sent Julie a FB friend request! Thanks again so much!
I would love to win this gift set. Changing my son's diet has made him a different little boy.
Forgot to add....I friended Julie Matthews on FB.
Thank you so very much for posting this and introducing us to your friend. I've friended julie on GF/CF Type 1 diabetes. This is great stuff for both of us moms!
for some reason 1/2 my posting disappeared..... i meant to say i've sent your posting to my friend who has a son with austism and my son is GF/CF due to Type 1 diabetes.
What a great resource. Thanks for introducing me to Julie. I get questions about this and now I know where to get answers. Not entering the giveaway just thanks!
My 12 yo daughter has Asperger's and Sensory Processing Disorder. We are just beginning our journey into nutritional healing. Blogs like your are such a godsend. Thank you!
I added Julie as a friend on FB.
Julie - Thank you for being such an amazing activist and caring person! I look forward to reading more abou the work that you are doing!
We have been GF/CF for two years now and have really seen so much improvement in my Autistic son. Thank you so much for posting this information and I'll be sure to check into it.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to participate in this giveaway, I would love to win this gift set!
I liked you on facebook!
I friended you on facebook!
Have a neighbor who is autistic and I've been gf for about a year. Would love to read these books
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in your generous giveaway! I am an elementary teacher and have worked with ASD kids in my classroom. Rarely do I see a parent willing to commit to dietary change to help their child in my practice. What a wonderful resource to be able to share with parents and for consideration regarding school policies about food served at school too.
I just "friended" Julie on Facebook as well.
Thank you!
Wow you are doing amazing work. It's so nice to see great information getting out there. Keep up the great job.
Thank you so much for the opportunity to win these great resources. I am a school psychologist in a rural community in Colorado and do various trainings around autism. We have developed an parent group in order to bring common ground to students with autism between the home and school. I am excited to be able to share your work with this group of parents and other interested educators regarding the impact of diet and the symptoms associated with autism.
(I also "friended" you on fb)
My child is doing SO much better since being on a GFCF diet plus no corn soy or yeast. I also need to rotate his food. It's been a huge struggle for me since I literally burn water when I cook. I FB added Julie Matthews!
Thanks for this opportunity! My 9 yo daughter, after years of labels that didn't quite fit, has been diagnosed with Aspergers. I myself have just been diagnosed with a million food allergies and this site has been a real blessing! We are in the process of figuring out new ways of eating, and it's not been easy.
Oh, and I friended Julie on FB!
It is so refreshing to see more information on healing and treating autism in a natural way. My little 3 year old has diagnosed with autism last June and it was been a roller coaster of a ride. This giveaway is so great. I know who ever the lucky winner is will be truly blessed. Thanks!
Sarah
I added Julie as a friend on Facebook! =)
Sarah
Hi Lexie,
Thanks for raising awareness about this important issue. My son had severe anxiety before going on a gluten free, casein free diet. We were helped by a holistic M.D. who specializes in treating kids with autism. He, and people like Julie, are literally saving lives.
Julie is one of the professionals who conducts food sensitivity testing listed on my blog, www.foodsensitivityjournal.com.
I would love to find out more about this. I have a friend who has an autistic daughter and they are exploring diet and nutrition.
I friend requested Julie Matthews Nourishing Hope on Facebook.