The Christian Nutritionist

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87: Nutritional Therapy for ADD/ADHD with Holly Carter, FNTP

Chelsea Blackbird

In this week’s podcast we’re talking with Holly Carter, FNTP, who went from a career in engineering to homeschooling her two young children with ADD and ADHD. After much trial and error and self-education, Holly eventually became a Functional Nutritional Therapist and now helps families navigate a holistic approach to brain health.

Listen in as Holly shares all the books, supplements, dietary and lifestyle changes she used with her own family and now in her nutritional therapy practice.

EPISODE 87: Nutritional Therapy for ADD/ADHD with Holly Carter, FNTP

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SHOW NOTES

(0:00) Intro

  • Welcome back to the club!

  • Today we are welcoming guest Holly Carter, FNTP to talk about Nutritional Therapy for ADD/ADHD

(2:39) Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you came to be an FNTP who specializes in brain health?

  • Background in engineering:

    • Worked for GE 17 years - loved problem solving and collecting data and finding solutions

    • Why Holly’s priorities shifted and she went part time at GE

(6:27) I'm interested to hear a bit more about why you left your engineering career to homeschool your kids. Can you tell us more about what happened?

  • Starting to understand WHY God had called me to homeschool...because my kids need my help to solve the brain-related health issues that we started to face.

  • Out of the blue felt like God was calling to homeschool

    • Heard a clear voice - ‘Why are you looking to serve me outside your home?’

  • 4 years later - started had inkling as to why: 

    • Daughter later diagnosed with ADD (inattentive type) high functioning

    • Holly discusses some of her daughter’s learning challenges, and how she came to thrive in school.

  • Her son really struggled  - hard to hold attentions, sensory processing disorder,  - got diagnoses of ADHD with hyperactivity component , also diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia  - “good, all in the brain” Holly figured she could resolve all 5 issues 

    • Pediatrician recommended ritalin  - said “can’t hurt”

    • After first time on the meds - He read 50 pages (used to read 4-5 pages)

      • Never saw an advancement like that again, but still an improvement

    • Tried for 1 year - didn’t gain weight, affected appetite, didn’t grow, wet the bed, irritable when it wore off, stomach aches 

    • Tried other meds  - in process weaning off of that

    • Developed seizures - on warning label of ADHD medication 

    • Seizure meds for 2 years

    • “I have to nourish his brain” - maybe will help with seizures

      • Diet - gluten and dairy (his 2 favorite things)

      • Enzymes

      • Gluten, dairy, corn, soy, and sugar do damage to the gut and digestive system.

(36:00) Since medications didn't seem to be the answer, can you tell us a little bit about what you were able to find or do from a nutrient or therapy standpoint that had a positive impact?

I'll then talk about the specific nutrients I used initially, how we integrated other therapies and lots of physical exercise into our healing plan and that the biggest impact was made when we healed his leaky gut (tripled his attention span).

  • Omega 3s,  - high doses had similar effect to ritalin

  • Multi-vitamin 

  • Vitamin B 6

  • Added zinc, magnesium, probiotics

  • Digestive enzymes in lieu of changing diet 

  • Stop inflaming gut

  • Heal gut

  • Really made progress with elimination diet - (candida, eliminating inflammatory foods)

    • Addressing Candida

    • His attention span tripled!

    • Bounded forwarded with learning

    • Big growth spurt 

    • Off seizure meds and haven’t had seizure in 11 years

    • Ritilan affects mineral levels in body - leads to seizures

  • Systemic Inflammation

  • Leaky gut and leaky brain

    • Leaky blood brain barrier

(59:48) Is there anything that you know now that you wish you'd known then?

  • Support digestion first

  • Eliminate inflammatory foods/substances

  • Supplementing wisely:

    • Mineral patterns

    • Side effects of medications

  • Sleep:

    • Glymph

  • Exercise

  • Various Therapies:

    • Amino acid therapy

  • Take advantage of school accommodations.

  • **For all supplement suggestions mentioned during this podcast, see Chelsea’s online dispensary at Fullscript. You can find the supplements according to category (ie: digestion, Omega-3s, vitamins & minerals)**

(115:05) How to contact Holly:

  • Website: Cornerstonenutritionllc.com

  • Email: holly@cornerstonenutritionllc.com

(117:02) Anchor Questions!

(1:21:04) Outro & Disclaimer

Resources Mentioned:

Books:

Books that weren’t mentioned but that are also very helpful:

Reading System for Dyslexics:

Therapies:

  • HANDLE – Holistic Approach to Neurodevelopment Learning Efficiencies 

  • Occupational Therapy

  • Energy Medicine

Connect with Cornerstone Nutrition and Wellness:

  • e: Holly@cornerstonenutritionllc.com

  • w: Cornerstonenutritionllc.com

Thanks for listening! Have a healthy and blessed week!


XOXO,

Chelsea