A Theory for the Cause of Autism

(I sent this theory to doctors across the nation. Citric Acid was mentioned on CNN the very next day.)

Citric Baby – A Theory for the Cause of Autism
By Katharina M. Jaggi ©2008

According to scientists, the cause of autism involves missing proteins usually found in the intestinal lining, in the brain and other places in the body. Has our polluted planet caught up with us, or are we eating a combination of foods that are detrimental to our bodies?

Ceviche is a dish made up of raw chopped fish meat that changes protein composition just by soaking in lime juice. Imagine meat tissue being “cooked” just by marinating it in citric acid. According to a famous chef’s recipe, on the Food Network’s web site, it takes just 3 hours to marinate the raw fish before tossing in the other ingredients and BAM, serving it.

Autism is on the rise, it’s most likely not genetic since now 1 in 150 children are expected to get it. If it’s not genetic then something in our environment is also on the rise. I propose that a huge factor could be excessive abuse of Citric Acid in our diets, especially in our children’s drinks. Citric Acid is a widely used additive and considered safe. I’m questioning if small children should even have it during their important developmental years, which happen to coincide with vaccinations.

What happens when you combine Citric Acid and Aluminum? The Natural Homemaker says it makes a great scouring powder for her dishwasher. Actually in our bodies it combines and turns into a soluble salt and gets flushed from the system. Before it gets flushed however it chelates and is easily transmitted across the intestinal lining and past the blood brain barrier into the brain. Usually the foods we eat have nutrients in them that help expel aluminum, but what if we are ingesting too much to process? Autism sites are promoting Vitamin C in massive doses before vaccines. What would happen if you unwittingly chose Vitamin C in a weak form heavily laced with Citric Acid, instead of pure Ascorbic Acid and then added Fluoride to the mix?  It’s really bad news if Richard Dabrowski’s quote on Hints-n-Tips.com is accurate. There is a natural blood brain barrier in our system that prevents aluminum from entering the brain; it’s a membrane that serves to protect the brain from chemicals in the blood.  Fluoride allows aluminum to pass through the blood brain barrier into the brain and Citric Acid can increase the amount deposited by over 100 times.

Given that this information was gleaned from Google and still needs to be verified I still have valid reasons to accept the knowledge that absolutely NO Citric Acid should be in my baby’s diet and especially not around shot time. Excess abuse of Citric Acid in our foods and medications combined with Fluoride, soy based Manganese, and or Aluminum might be wrecking havoc in our systems.

Imagine a baby’s small intestine made of delicate tissue coated with the mucus that helps aid digestion, now add citric acid on a daily basis; the baby has to work to regenerate “cooked” cells while it’s trying to develop. The first thing that dissolves in the intestine would be the mucus and then the walls of the intestine would weaken. The body is an amazing organic regenerating machine but some small systems just aren’t up to the task. If the baby was exposed to high levels of citric acid combined with Fluoride and Aluminum while in the uterus then he most certainly was exposed to cell damage before birth.  At birth, he’s already been hard at work and it’s only his first day out. Citric Acid, Fluoride and Aluminum combined might pass through the placenta and through Breast Milk. If that’s the case he will have signs of a weak digestive tract at birth and not be able to tolerate cow’s milk formula which naturally contains citric acid. The answer is to put him on a soy based formula which in itself is questionable due to the excessively high levels of manganese present in the soy, another toxin if overused.

Is Autism the result of Aluminum and or Manganese poisoning caused by excessive overuse of Citric Acid in food products, which when combined with Fluoride allows Aluminum to cross over the intestinal wall into tissue and into the brain? And does a menu disastrously low in Sulfur-rich foods mean that our children are no longer expelling Aluminum naturally? Or is the weakened digestive tract the issue, causing nutrients not to be well absorbed? How about a diet lacking in calcium, magnesium and iron which blocks Aluminum uptake? Would our children be included in the “subset of children” mentioned by Julie Gerberding on CNN who are at risk for developing Autism after vaccination? Given that Citric Acid is added to our supposed “healthy” food products then that “subset of children” would include nearly all American children, even the Amish. In fact I think it affects us all, even the health food gurus, and it explains many other ailments.

When I pondered how my dear friend who loves health food could possibly have had a son diagnosed with Autism the story unfolded in my mind. It started with a memory of my mother’s Aluminum potato pot.  I played with it in the sandbox after Mom was advised to stop cooking in Aluminum. That pot must have left traces of Aluminum in my system. If the aluminum pot had to be discarded, then why do I still see huge amounts of aluminum in our foodstuff?  How much Aluminum is safe? What has changed?

It’s been noted that Alzheimer’s patients have high levels of aluminum in their systems, and children diagnosed with ADHD have high levels of Aluminum in their hair. The principal symptom of aluminum poisoning is the loss of intellectual function and heightened sensitivity. Perhaps babies never attain full intellectual function and can’t bear to be touched or make eye contact for the same reason.

Aluminum is everywhere; it’s the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust. Exposure to limited amounts of aluminum is not thought to be harmful, but exposure to high levels can cause serious health problems. The symptoms of Alzheimer’s, Aluminum Poisoning, and Autism have correlations such as, hypersensitivity, irritability, loss of verbal skills, inability to mentally focus and, short-term memory loss. Aluminum may not be found in the body if it has chelated into a Lewis Acid which can become undetectable in water. That’s why hair studies are important.

What has changed between 1970 and now? I believe it has to do with advice my Dutch grandmother gave me as a young girl when I was pouring a drink for my baby brother back in 1974. “No, no, no Karen, you don’t give orange juice to a baby, the acid in it is much too strong and their little systems are much too delicate. They are small and still developing, better to give him watered down apple juice.” She worked in a medical children’s camp in Holland coaxing babies and small city children back to good health with sunshine, the outdoors, and a good diet. Is her knowledge lost? Children currently are consuming massively high quantities of Citric Acid in processed juices with trusted names, in attractive fruit chews, in athletic drinks and sodas and in the form of candy, vitamins and medications.

It made me wonder what exactly is Vitamin C? It’s L-ascorbate to be precise and it’s an essential nutrient for humans, primates and bats. Eskimos had to be meat eaters because they got their necessary Vitamin C from animal liver. Without it we get Scurvy the dreaded disease of sailors of old who ate very poor unbalanced diets. Not all Vitamins C is equal and I didn’t realize a huge debate was flying across the internet when I went to do my humble try-to-get-it-right research. In my personal opinion I would rather feed a small child the purest Ascorbic Acid I could find, as opposed to the weaker formulas being made that are laced with citric acid.

As a Mom I want to know what my Vitamin C Is made out of. Apparently it’s not always from oranges. I asked a dozen people, to include firefighters and teachers, “Where does Vitamin C come from?” They all consistently said citrus fruit. Why is that? Probably because TV taught us that orange juice is a good source of Vitamin C. Oranges are quite high in calcium but not really that high on the Vitamin C content list compared to Elderberries and Red Peppers which contain much higher levels.

Vitamin C added to food products invariably includes Citric Acid for taste and is produced in mass quantities in China by a process which involves the fermentation of glucose with the aid of the mold Aspergillus niger. It can also be obtained synthetically from acetone or glycerol. Walk down the aisles of our grocery stores and recognize that we’re pumping our kids full of a weak formula of synthetically produced Vitamin C laced with Citric Acid. In my mind it's become poison.

This brings to mind another self-named poison. A red dye called FD&C Red No. 40 – Allura Red AC, and E129. most people falsely believe this dye to be derived from the Cochineal bug. No, this dye does not come from an insect, it’s made from coal tar and is banned in Denmark, Belgium, France, Switzerland and Germany. Now there’s a possible Control! How are those countries doing in comparison to the US? Denmark currently has the lowest rate of autism. They don’t add Fluoride to their water but they purchase bottled water with hidden fluoride. Water companies are not required to list Fluoride on the label. Do their foods contain Aluminum and high levels of Citric Acid? Not until recently. What do their kids eat on a daily basis? I can tell you from personal experience far more fish and vegetables than our US kids.

In Europe where I grew up yogurts were all white even the flavored ones and kids slurped them down with gusto. Fruit drinks were gentle transparent colors of amber and amethyst and sometimes my Oma poured a touch of grenadine in them to make a magical pinkish layer.  I was attracted to an athletic drink recently that had the beautiful watered down appearance of the drinks of my past. I snapped out of it when my mind registered dye not beet juice. This lovely appearing drink is heavily consumed by children although it was originally developed for adult athletes. It contains Citric Acid. Dentists are advising to “stop drinking so much soda” on TV but not such a big focus on athletic drinks to my knowledge, after all they hydrate.

Red Dye No 40 has been proven to give hives to some people. Our country adds it to our kid's medications. Related dyes include Sunset Yellow FCF, Scarlet GN, Tartrazine, and Orange B. If our children are being born with sensitivities to the environment it would be madness to encourage them to ingest a drink that causes hives and skin rash. Imagine what that’s doing to their intestines? Why do we need added coloring in our children’s foods and medications? Coloring should encourage us to examine the label carefully for Citric Acid additives.

Let’s begin by doing the math regarding excessive abuse of Citric Acid. Daily doses of Vitamin C are prominently advertised on aisles of Children’s foods, some containing 100% of the daily recommended dose in a single serving, it’s the weak stuff laced with citric acid for taste. Does that mean we give them water for the rest of the day instead of another daily recommended dose of juice? I would think so, but some parents don’t realize this. If the child’s had a box of juice can I still give him his bag of fruit chews? Well, some of them also contain 100% of the daily recommended dose. How much is too much and should kids even be getting this harsh type of Vitamin C with citric acid added? Many preschools and child cares services serve juice boxes, fruit chews and a finger-food style cracker at snack time. Translated into chemicals the kids have just been served 2 daily doses of citric acid,  a heavy dose of coal tar derivatives, and a source of aluminum. Now send them to the drinking fountain for their Flouride. To me it's a no-brainer, these kids are ingesting a poisonous cocktail.

In the US Aluminum can be found in ALL the processed foods that toddlers and teens love. When my Swiss niece came over to visit she commented that our cheese “tasted like chemicals.” She lives on a dairy farm and eats cheeses daily. She’s got great sensory perception, just one slice of individually wrapped processed cheese can contain up to 50 mg of aluminum. The cheeseburger may contain one of the highest aluminum contents of any food. Why do we need Aluminum in our food?

There are six aluminum salts that have been approved as food additives in the United States. The big news to me was the fact that these six sodium aluminum phosphates are sometimes listed simply as “salt” on the ingredients label. These salts are added to cake mixes, frozen dough, pancake mixes, self-rising flours, processed cheese and cheese foods. Maybe it’s not just the gluten in the flour causing sensitivities as some Autism experts are saying, maybe for some it’s the rising agent which contains Aluminum. Parents who have noted improved results from dietary changes tend to go all organic and not use the processed or self-rising flour products.

I called my friend who has an Autistic son and asked what his favorite drink was around 18 months. She said “I used to take two oranges, and pinapple, and some strawberries and blend them, he loved it.”  I called my other friend who has two autistic boys and asked her the same question. She said “they both love my homemade lemonade.” My grandmother would have cringed at this. My friend with the two autistic boys admitted to craving Alka Seltzer while she was pregnant. Aluminum.

We can garner some pretty extreme advice online. There are no controls, no fact checkers. Parents desperate to find answers and treatment need to use careful discernment when collecting information. Please get your information validated. I advised my friend to give her son a small amount of Bragg apple cider vinegar in his drink to help boost his Ph. and she said "Noooo, yeast thrives on vinegar!" I was shocked, “Where did you learn that?” I asked. She said off the internet. I went and checked. Apple Cider Vinegar is still a great home remedy for too much yeast but White Vinegar feeds yeast. You learn something new.

I asked a Chemist about Citric Acid and he said I shouldn’t’ make it out to be a villain. I’m not. I’m trying to point out excessive overuse. He reminded me that the body uses the amount of citric acid it needs and pees the rest out. My point is that it takes about 3 days to flush out citric acid from the system but it only takes 3 hours to marinate raw fish in lime juice to a cooked state. Any Mom worth her salt just knows there’s cell damage on contact. Over time the damage worsens because cell regeneration can’t catch up. Test it for yourself, pour citric acid juice over raw liver then feel the membrane with your fingers. Within minutes it gets softer and eventually shreds. That’s somewhat equivalent to a baby’s digestive tract wouldn’t you think?

A parent knows in their gut when a child changes from being a healthy little bouncy baby to being a lethargic overly sensitive confused child. After shots what spikes the child’s fever and causes signs of Autism to later show up? My best guess is that the body is desperately trying to repair cells damaged by Citric Acid while battling against an invasive amount of Aluminum (or other metals) which has just been dumped into the brain compliments of the combination of Fluoride and Citric Acid that brought it there. Add a coal tar irritant to the mix in the form of colored medication or even just a juice box and that small system has to go into overdrive to start regenerating cells and repairing damage. Some children pull through with mild symptoms; and some, possibly those suffering from deficiencies and lacking in a sulfur-rich diet, just don’t have the nutrients in their systems to pull off a full recovery.

With compassion I propose we become proactive about this situation. We must accept the important obligation of shielding ourselves from the earth’s pollutants and metals which are also currently used in our vaccines as an important adjuvant, we must return to a healthy sulfur-rich diet that naturally expels aluminum from our body, we must ingest our daily dose of DHA which was given to our grandparents as children in the form of a spoonful of fish liver oil to coat those brain cells and keep them safe. We must filter our water ourselves to insure removal of Fluoride and scrutinize our bottled water, we must monitor our doses and types of Vitamin C, and most importantly we must take on the role of Informed Nutritionalist for our kids. Mom and Mr. Mom need to know best, they are their children’s first advocates. You don’t give citric acid to a baby. My grandmother said so. (She said you don’t introduce sugar to them either unless you want them to quit eating healthy, in this case lifesaving, foods.)

Points to Ponder:

·         Citric Acid is a powerful meat tenderizer.

·         The brain and small intestines of a developing human fetus are very delicate meat.

·         It takes 3 days for citric acid to leave the system.

·         It takes 3 hours to prepare a dish of raw fish cooked in lemon juice.

·         Citric Acid is highly available in most of our drinks, foods, supplements and medicines. It is a harsher form of Vitamin C than Ascorbic Acid and was as a rule not typically given to small developing children in my grandmother’s day.

·         Citric Acid mixed with Fluoride is an even more powerful meat tenderizer. It can pass through the placenta and carry aluminum with it. Does a developing fetus stand a chance?

·         Fluoride is available in tap water and some bottled waters. Water companies are not required to list Fluoride on the label.

·         Fluoride can carry Aluminum through the body past the Blood Brain Barrier into the brain

·         The diet that protects us from Aluminum is the Sulfur-rich menu including: garlic, onions, cabbage, lentils, beans, and egg yolk. How many kids like this stuff?

·         The majority of Children’s Menus in American restaurants consist of macaroni and cheese, cheese burgers, pizza and sweet white foods containing high levels of citric acid and aluminum, and virtually no system protecting sulfer.

·         Autism might be Aluminum poisoning. When tests show that no Aluminum is present in a child have they taken into consideration that a combination of Citric Acid and some undefined ingredient and Aluminum may form a Lewis Acid which is undetectable in water? That is why hair testing is important.

·         Fluoride began to be added to water in the US in 1940. The EPA is currently sending out a public message that you can review what’s in your tap water by location.

·         First case of Autism recorded in US 1943

·         Citric Acid production and usage in foods is on the rise. 1990’s

·         The popularity of Sulfer-rich foods are at an all time low

·         Vitamin C can be found in a cup of green peas (which if you recall in the movies kids were forced to sit at the table and eat.) Peas are a natural finger food and are gentle on the system.

Proposed immediate action if this theory proves to be accurate: A strict diet must be enforced before, during and after vaccinations involving absolutely NO intake of Citric Acid, including lower forms of Vitamin C tablets which are heavily laced with Citric Acid. (Exactly the opposite of what has been proposed by Autism sites online). Instead a high intake of sulfur-rich foods and fish oil is encouraged. Water for the child must be filtered. Idealy the child’s diet must be verified by a doctor’s questionnaire until the public is educated. Instructions to fast from Citric Acid in any form should be given in writing before vaccinations are administered along with a list of common products containing Citric Acid so that uneducated parents understand the requirements. Naturally a child needs Vitamin C and is encouraged to consume it in natural Ascorbic Acid form preferrably several days before and after the shots. Aluminum can be purged from the body by use of sulfur-rich foods and clay baths. It can be blocked by calcium magnesium and iron. It’s a balancing act. This proposal is nonintrusive and involves no medications.

Watch the giant food corporations quietly change their ingredient labels.

Watch what's in your food. http://foodfact.net/index.cfm