A Well-Fed Heart: Autistic to Artistic draws upon the experience of its author, Leah Follett, who learned from her own challenges in trying to maintain wellness, to find ways to work with-and not against-her own nature. She extends this approach for reflections on nurturing her own children. Parents and others who care for children with autism, attention deficit disorder, sensory processing disorder, food intolerances and allergies, skin conditions, and digestive issues will find in the pages of A Well-Fed Heart the hard-won insights that can help a family seek healing and wholeness. A Well-Fed Heart: Autistic to Artistic presents accessible, amply researched, and family-tested advice and counsel for families who desire to seek health for all of their members. "Leah's heartfelt account of hers and her family's incredible journey and the empowering way that they diligently navigated their family to thriving health, is a book that will inspire and enliven you to your core! Autistic to Artistic is an exceptional guidebook for any parent wishing to provide wholesome, nurturing care for their little ones and also for themselves!"- Pete Evans A Well-Fed Heart By Leah Follett Balboa Press Copyright © 2016 Leah Follett All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-5043-0132-9 Contents Chapter 1 When I was a kid, 1, Chapter 2 Puberty and Contraception, 5, Chapter 3 Endometriosis is an autoimmune disease, 11, Chapter 4 Living life according to education, 14, Chapter 5 Genetics, 18, Chapter 6 Overworked and under-nourished, 23, Chapter 7 Fat gain & weight loss, 29, Chapter 8 Conception, 38, Chapter 9 Pregnancy, 43, Chapter 10 Delivery of a new baby, 48, Chapter 11 Breastfeeding and first foods, 56, Chapter 12 Losing my baby weight, 62, Chapter 13 Vaccinations, 68, Chapter 14 The first 12 months, 73, Chapter 15 Toddler years and childcare, 80, Chapter 16 Preservative free cooking wasn't the whole picture, 85, Chapter 17 Miscarriage, 91, Chapter 18 Early school years and a new baby, 95, Chapter 19 Gluten free, 100, Chapter 20 Diagnosis, 105, Chapter 21 A quick word on marriage, 114, Chapter 22 Real food? What is that?, 116, Chapter 23 The Elimination Diet, 119, Chapter 24 Gluten and dairy free, 122, Chapter 25 Asthma, 127, Chapter 26 Speech, Occupational Therapy & Relationship Development Intervention (RDI), 132, Chapter 27 Lots of tests, 136, Chapter 28 Modified GAPS, 142, Chapter 29 Travelling and flexibility, 148, Chapter 30 Observation is Education, 153, Chapter 31 Holistic healing modalities, 158, Chapter 32 Health coaching, 166, Chapter 33 Paleo, 171, Chapter 34 Low carb High fat, 175, Chapter 35 Exercise, 180, Chapter 36 Family and community, 185, Chapter 37 Reflection, 190, Appendix 1 Recipes, 195, Appendix 2 Health Notes, 279, Appendix 3 Resources, Book List & Inspirational People, 303, CHAPTER 1 When I was a kid ... When I was 4 years old I remember vividly having to sit on my mother's pea-green velvet rocking chair that had wonderful rolled arms and rocked back and forth. I took great joy in spinning round and round in it until the spring was sure to break. I knew this chair well. I was breast fed in this chair and it later became my jail warden as I was forced to return to this chair every four hours to "sit quietly" and receive asthma treatment. From this chair I received my doses of Ventolin and whatever else was prescribed to go into the nebuliser. I started school and instead of playing with the other kids on my lunch break I would be sent out to the car park where my mum was waiting again with my nebuliser in tow. Through food journals, my parents discovered that the environment and food were the asthma triggers and as hard as they tried to control the food, they couldn't control the environment. If I had an asthma attack it would then inevitably result in a chest infection a few days later. That new chest infection required physio therapy or pummelling to break up the muck on my lungs and it was inevitable that I would require antibiotics after each episode. Never once did a doctor recommend that I needed probiotics to replace the beneficial bacteria that were lost when taking these antibiotics. This was my life until I was thirteen when I 'grew-out' of the asthma. Mark's childhood was very similar as he struggled with the same affliction that I did. His parents and grandparents were just as diligent as mine with the treatments that were available at that time in the early eighties. Mark suffered hay fever his entire life and was constantly blowing his nose due to the constant bombardment of his environmental allergy triggers. Lessons Learnt The microbiota is the name for all the living organisms that inhabit our bodies that are not formed by our DNA including bacteria, yeasts and fungi. This system of organisms can generally be categorised as beneficial or pathogenic bacteria, good or bad. I now know that some of these bacteria create en