Wellness Wednesday Activation Podcast

Autism and Activation: Understanding the Brain, the Gut and What's Actually Possible

• The Fab Collab • Season 1 • Episode 35

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One in every 31 children in the United States is now diagnosed with autism. That number was 1 in 10,000 in the 1980s. Something has changed — and according to Dr. Ron, a chiropractor and neurofeedback specialist with 28 years of clinical experience, the answer lies not in the behavior we can see, but in the cellular damage happening beneath the surface.

In this Wellness Wednesday conversation, Jenny sits down with Dr. Ron Nathanson, a chiropractor and neurofeedback practitioner who has spent over 15 years working with children and adults on the spectrum. Dr. Ron brings both clinical expertise and personal experience to this conversation, having helped his own daughter navigate OCD without medication and having witnessed firsthand how oxidative stress and cellular dysfunction drive the neurological, digestive and immune challenges that come with autism spectrum disorder.

This is not a conversation that stops at the diagnosis. It is a deep and hopeful look at what is actually happening in the brain and body — and what becomes possible when you start supporting health at the cellular level.

In This Episode We Discuss:

  • Why autism rates went from 1 in 10,000 in the 1980s to 1 in 31 children today and what is actually driving that change
  • How low glutathione, oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction create a cascade of neurological, digestive and immune challenges in children on the spectrum
  • The gut-brain connection and why 70% of the immune system is directly tied to gut health — and why this matters so much for children with autism
  • Why synthetic glutathione supplements are ineffective and what it means to actually activate the body's own glutathione production
  • How Protandim NRF2 increases glutathione by 300% and reduces oxidative stress by 40% and why this is significant for families navigating autism
  • The role of NRF1 in rebuilding mitochondria and why cellular energy is foundational to every process in the body
  • How NAD supports cellular metabolism, removes damaged cells and keeps communication between cells functioning properly
  • Why Axio is particularly powerful for brain health — and the story of children whose handwriting changed within 5 minutes of one packet
  • How P84 supports gut health, microbiome diversity and immune function for children who struggle with digestive issues
  • Dr. Ron's top product recommendation for families starting out and how to get supplements into children who struggle to swallow pills

Key Takeaways

  • Autism is not just a behavioral condition — it is a cellular health condition, and the research from the National Institutes of Health supports this
  • Low glutathione is found to be decreased by 37% in people on the spectrum, and this single deficiency drives a cascade of neurological, digestive and immune problems
  • 80% of people on the spectrum show signs of impaired cellular energy, elevated oxidative stress and chronic gastrointestinal issues
  • You cannot buy glutathione that works — the body must make it, and activating that pathway through NRF2 is the most effective approach
  • The Tri-Synergizer combined with P84 is Dr. Ron's recommended starting point for families navigating autism
  • Approaching these families with a heart of empathy, love and genuine care will always go further than a product pitch — and that is exactly the spirit of this community

Whether you have a child on the spectrum, know a family who does, or simply want to understand the science behind why LifeVantage products matter, this episode will change the way you see both autism and activation.

Thank you for joining us for another Wellness Wednesday discussion.

You can listen to all recordings via audio by visiting this link:

You can also find us on Apple Podcasts here:

And on Spotify here:

We release new episodes every week so there is always fresh content to guide you on your wellness journey. Tune in, get inspired and start supporting your body and mind from the inside out.

You can listen to all recordings via audio by visiting this link:

You can also find us on Apple Podcasts here:

And on Spotify here:

We release new episodes every week, so there is always fresh content to guide you on your wellness journey. Tune in, get inspired, and start supporting your body and mind from the inside out. 

SPEAKER_01

Thank you for being with us. We are so blessed and honored to have Dr. Ron with us tonight. Dr. Ron is a dear friend and business partner. We've known each other now for a few years. And I have to say, every time we get him on our webinar and our podcast, we have a great time, and he's got a lot of information to share. So Dr. Ron tonight is going to be covering the topic of autism and activation. And you are going to learn a lot tonight because Dr. Ron is the expert. Dr. Ron has been a chiropractor now for 28 years. He's practiced neurofeedback therapy now for over 15 years, and he works with children and adults with neurological issues. So all along the spectrum, autism, ADHD, anxiety, depression, OCD, insomnia, and various neurological issues. He's also a father of three, husband of 28 years, and a very passionate life vantage consultant. So thank you, Ron, for being with us. Will you just give us a background as to how you came into not just being a chiropractor, but why you're so passionate on supporting and working with kids and adults on the spectrum?

SPEAKER_00

Well, first of all, I had a daughter that had OCD back when she was 10 years old. And it started, that's how I started my trip into neurofeedback because I had to help a daughter. I didn't want to put her on medications. And when I started to see the results of people's lives changing, I said, this is what I want to do. And in the world of neurofeedback, every seminar I would go to, they would talk about oxidative stress, but they never had an answer for oxidative stress. And they said, Well, if you get oxidative stress under control, you can help these patients even better. Well, then again, someone came to me four or five years ago, four years ago, and started talking to me about life vantage. And I was like, This company is so meant for me and what I do in practice, but it's also meant for any person on the spectrum. I'm going to give it out to you tonight, guys. When we start tonight this conversation, how many of you feel uncomfortable talking about life vantage to people on the spectrum? Put a one in the chat just so I can get an idea. Because my goal tonight is to make sure when you walk away from this that you're going to look at autism completely like it was made for life vantage. And it was because life vintage was made for people on cellular and how cellular damage is. Now, I'm going to pull up my slides and just get started with them. So here's my presentation. It's actually called Autism Through the Light Through the Lens of Cellular Health and Understanding Stress, mitochondria function, the gut brain access, and nutritional support. And our job here is to help families understand this emerging science. And I guess I hold the thing to get on this slide there. I'm not very good at making slides, but autism spectrum disorder. It's known as a lifelong neurodevelopment condition that affects persons' community, communication, interacts, and behavior. It's called the spectrum because the experience and symptoms vary widely. And so many different individuals have significantly different things going on and need different support. Now, according to the diagnostic guidelines, individuals with autism spectrum disorder variations in two main areas: social communication, interaction, and restrictive behaviors. Well, I'm here to tell you we need to look at this differently, okay? Because the future of autism care does not live in looking at symptoms or systems, but understanding how this whole connection of the brain, gut, immune system, and cellular health work together to support each unique individual. Now, do you have any questions for me, Jenny? Or do you and keep going?

SPEAKER_01

I how about we go through this and then I'll ask you questions at the end? Let's do it.

SPEAKER_00

So, you know, these are some obvious stats for most people. If you're in the spectrum specs conversation, you'll know that over 8 million people in this country have autism. That the number has drastically changed over the past two decades. Back in the 1950s, autism is one in every 10,000. In the 60s, one in 10,000. In the 70s, one in 10,000. In the 80s, one in 10,000. And then something started to happen in the 90s. Then it went to one in 5,000. Then it went down to one in every 2,500, then into every 300. Down to one in every 31 children in the United States right now are diagnosed with autism. Some people like to say, well, we have better ways of looking at it. Well, I'm gonna hear to tell you that's not the case. There's more damage to people today. There's more, there's more hijacking of our health ever than before. It goes into things, but I'm not going to get into it, but plastics, foods, environmental toxins, and all this has a huge impact on people. And the autism spectrum disorder tremendously is variable from person to person. Okay? Now, autism is more than behavior. Many people just have to start to realize that these people on the spectrum, they have chronic inflammation, digestive issues, immune dysregulation, meaning weakered immune system. I'm going to explain all this in real detail in a few seconds. Sleeping problems, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, attention difficulties, and anxiety. Does anybody think that our products don't fit all those things that they struggle with? I think so. Now, I'm not here to say we can fix autism, but we could definitely help people with a lot less of the problems that they have. Now, autism rarely travels alone, right? So I got these stats and I kind of laugh at this guy make in the face because that's how I was looking at this and going, oh my God. 40 to 70% of all people on the spectrum have a digestive intestinal problem. 50 to 80% of them can't sleep at night. Anxiety disorders, 20 to 40% higher. ADHD, 30 to 60 percent, mitochondrial disease, 31%, and oxidative stress markers are elevated in all the research. Okay? Now I want to take you through the process. The process is really a complex one, but it starts off with low glutathione in the body. Now, low glutathione is decreased by 37% in people on the spectrum. They have not the ability to make glutathione, and that leads to mitochondria dysfunction. Like now, when you have less mitochondria, they you have less oxygen to the brain and you produce less ATP. Now, ATP is really important when we get to the leaky gut conversation, but less ATP also means higher amounts. I mean, less mitochondria means higher amounts of oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is going to damage the cells in the body and those fats and proteins that line the cells, and it's going to create all kinds of other problems, including problems around methylation in the brain. Now, then we get to that leaky gut conversation, right? Now you got smooth muscles that use ATP that can't utilize it. So what happens? Now you can't squeeze the bowel movement through the system. And now you're starting to see constipation where this sits in there, putrefies, starts to damage the walls of the intestines, creating all kinds of other problems, pain, stomach aches. And these toxins, they don't just live in the gut, they get into the bloodstream. And as eventually, with the more those toxins get into the bloodstream, they get around the blood-brain barrier and they impact the brain. Now, GABA is there to understand both serotonin and GABA. As you see, I'm still learning how to do these slides. GABA and serotonin help calm the brain for GABA, and serotonin helps reduce depression. So a lot of these people on the spectrum have anxiety because they don't make a hormone like called GABA, and they don't make serotonin, which creates depression. Now, this is understanding, you have to understand a little bit here. Glutathion is our master antioxidant. You cannot buy vitamins that do what your body's glutathione does. And if you hear anybody ever say, well, I supplement with glutathione, that's good. You might as well throw your money in the garbage because glutathione is made in the body. Synthetic glutathione is not going to be absorbed by the body. So when we make glutathione, it's the master or it's the master antioxidant in the body. It detoxifies the body, gets rid of heavy metals, environmental toxins, and metabolic waste so the body can excrete them safely. Oxidated oxidated damage reduction. Well, you've heard of this oxidative stress thing, right? This is the reason why we do life vantage. It's directly neutralized. I'm sorry, I get excited here. Uh it is directly neutralizing reactive oxygen species. That means oxidative stress is when cells turn to like brown apples. We don't want to see our cells be that way. We want to see healthy, vibrant cells. And our immune and brain health is directly related to oxidative stress and mitochondria function. This is all right out of the National Institute of Health. And so why do children have often have lower levels? Well, this is another thing. We have damage to the body. Something has done it. What is it? I'm not really going to sit here and argue with anybody. I'm not going to tell you my opinion, but there's damage done. And where that damage is done, it stops methylation. Methylation helps the brain function, right? It also the body becomes metabolically, can't break down things like glutathione is stops to be being made. The lower it gets, that's due to more chronic oxidative stress. So we're going to see this continue on, and it gets worse and worse in these kids. It doesn't get better. Now, states of mitochondria and gut brain access. 80% of people on the Earth spectrum show signs of impaired cellular energy, elevated oxidative stress, and higher chronic gastrointestinal issues. So, what are we going to give them? We're going to give them the greatest thing we can because the truth is Life Vantage makes products that change the world. And parents, they don't know about this. If you knew the economic cost of what it has to be have a child on the spectrum, it's around $1.4 to $1.8 million in a lifetime. Now, for a few bucks a month, we could help these people do all kinds of great things, right? Pratandem NRF2, supporting the body's natural antioxidant response. What does that do? It increases glutathione by 300%. It reduces oxidative stress by 40%. It increases catalase and superoxide dismutase, all enzymes that help turn bad stuff in the liver to good stuff, right? Turning into peroxide and water rather than toxicity in the body. Petandem NRF1 builds the mitochondria. The mitochondria are the powerhouse, they're the cellular energy, and they help the body move ATP, produce ATP, and cause smooth muscle function. Pratandum, also NAD, I'm going to show you something about NAD in a minute that'll blow your hair back. NAD supports cellular metabolism. And what they're doing right now, oh, did I miss this? Did I got to go back here? Did I miss something on one of my slides? Yeah, scientists are clinically, and I went to why do we have less glutathione? Scientists and clinicians are studying right now while their nutritional and interventions, such as oral glutathione supplements or precursors like NAC, can help correct the imbalance and reduce problematic behaviors in autistic children. So let's go back to this right here. NAD. If your body makes it, is it better than if you take it? You betcha. So, so trisynergizer. A lot of times people talk to me and they go, why do we need the NAD for the children when they really just need reduction of oxidative stress and for more mitochondria? And the answer to that is one, it actually helps build the glutathione. Two, it cleaves away all those dead cells that aren't working in the children and in anybody, right, for that matter. And also the NAD synergizer also keeps the communication between the cells much healthier. That's why. Now, let's talk about this P84 thing. Man, is this P84 thing so important? Right? Because when children have poor micro microbiome, then their body starts to tear away at that lining. And the bacteria that's in our gut, well, we need to feed that gut. We need to improve the digestion. We support our gut barrier, we calm the oxidative stress, and we support this brain gut area. And this matters. Here's the big thing here: 70% of the immune system is directly related to the gut and the gut microbiome, which plays the hugest role in our digestion, absorption of nutrients, immunization, regulation, and communication with the brain. So why is that important? That's important because if you have putrid stuff sitting inside you, you're dying slowly. These kids don't have strong immune systems because they have low glutathione. So if we create a healthier gut, what are we gonna do for them? We're gonna help boost their immune function. That's gonna clean out the body. What is that gonna do? That's gonna give the opportunity for the tricinergizer to work more effectively. Why? Because we get rid of waste that has less waste to clean out, the body starts to do better. That's an amazing thing. Now, let's take a look at the next slide here. Axio. Now, this guy, I'm running through this, but Axio is so important for the brain. Every patient who walks in my office, when I do a brain map on somebody, so when people hear about neurofeedback, the majority of people don't have a clue what I'm talking about. I map people's brains with a QEEG. I find that people have all kinds of issues. These issues are solved a lot of times with Axio, Tri-Synergizer, and also with the biome. And I also like the collagen, but I didn't talk about it much tonight. But what we want to talk about, why Axio? Axio is brain food, and I like the rocket ship in this thing because that's what I feel like it does. It turns the brain on, it allows the brain to be more alert. It calm and focuses the brain with L-theanine. Alpha lipoic acid is there for acetylcholine production and brain communication. All these people on the spectrum have low acetylcholine. They are much higher risk for Parkinson's and also Alzheimer's if they make it to that age, right? Their brains don't make acetylcholine. And this alpha lopoic acid helps build it in the body. L-tyrosine, dopamine and neuroepinephrine synthesis. More dopamine, more neuroepinephrine. The healthier the brain, the healthier the body. B complex vitamins give energy to the body. That's why I like the rocket chip. Energy to the body, but also brings blood flow into the brain. Very important. Now, acetyl L-carnitine, that's the brain's energy. This here gives more energy effectively for the brain. And then we get that pine bar extract, which helps protect the cells of the brain from oxidative stress. So, what does it support? Focus, mental energy, mood, attention. We we also see that it helps the brain cellular health. It brings better healthier mitochondria to the brain and better circulation. Now, I want to give you some final thoughts before we go to questions. Every kid is unique and there's no one size fits all approach, right? But light managed products help with the cellular health, help reduce the oxidative stress, help build mitochondria function, help the gut health and nutrition, and we can explore ways to see this thing in overall well health and well-being. Now, why do I do this? Now here's the answer to your question. I think that autism, unfortunately, is something that has been hijacked. We have kids all over the country right now who between what's put in their bodies at a very young age from the foods they eat, there's no food. I love this conversation very much. Go into your regular supermarket, you'll find the two aisles that are called health foods. You might find some organic produce, you might find some things that say they're not made with sugar or high fructose chlorine syrup. But the reality is you walk into that store, there's two aisles. The prices are four times the price. And then you look at the rest of the store, and what is that? Well, that's a chemical storm. And I'm not going to use the word that I usually put there, keep this PG tonight. But it's a storm and it's damaging and it creates this cascade of all the problems that these kids have. On top of that, what makes it other scary? Why I love to talk this conversation. Nobody's talking this way. Everybody thinks, well, you know, it just has something we have to deal with. We're just going to throw more money at this. This destroys families. This destroys a lot of moms can't work. They can't, they go to college, they get their education, they get a job, they have a child that gets on the spectrum, and now they're home because they can't take care of their kids. So that impacts, right? Now we have special schools, special needs things. This could have all been prevented. And there's a well, I'm not going to get into that.

SPEAKER_01

But you can just say it. You know who you're talking to over here.

SPEAKER_00

Well, the more vaccines we've seen, the higher the uh the the ratio uh or the lower the number of one and out of every got higher. So the more vaccines, the the higher you saw autism. And unfortunately, I don't need to hide it anymore. It's all over the place. And if you you know, after the pandemic, if you didn't wake up to what's going on in the world, it's time to pull your head out of the ground and realize that this is serious. And you show me anybody who's got better.

SPEAKER_01

It's been serious, it's been serious, Dr. Ron. We're just all of us crazies that have been talking about it for seven, eight years. I used to have a podcast on vaccines, just you know, raising the alarm. My son was vaccine injured when he was three by the MMR, and that was 17 years ago.

SPEAKER_00

So that's why I didn't vaccinate my kids. Same story. Good friend of mine, his brother had a child who got the MMR shot. We didn't know anything about it. We just thought he went for a regular wellness checkup. This is in 1994. Kid was genius at two years old. Knew all the players on the Mets. Kids speak about each player. I was sitting there going, This kid's too. A week later, the kid didn't speak another word. He started having seizures every day. When I went to chiropractic school, I heard this woman named Barbara Lo Fisher speak.

SPEAKER_01

She's awesome. I know her.

SPEAKER_00

And when Barbara spoke, I called my friend up and said, Hey, you better get down here and meet this woman. Now he works for the children's health defense. So this name's Kevin Barry. But anyway, that for another story, another time.

SPEAKER_01

Well, that's a great tip. You know, I mean, people can take it or leave it for how they want. I mean, the thing is that we're not making money off giving people advice. So, you know, I love it. I love that, you know, now is the time with the way that the world is going. That is why I love Life Manage. I love activation because we're empowering people to take back their health, educating them on a platform, bringing them into a community of people that are awake. And ultimately, when you understand these things and when you, you know, take your health into your hands, that's really where the amazing thing happens. So you've covered so much tonight. We've talked about products, diet, activation. What else can you leave us with as we're wrapping up the podcast tonight? I know we covered so much, but what what piece of advice could you give to, you know, a parent that might be struggling right now?

SPEAKER_00

You know, okay, for parents struggling or anybody who's in this game, this happened for a reason. It's to expose the darkness of what goes on in our world. And God's here with us. And that's why life advantage exists, because that pandemic of autism jumped in the 90s and then again in the 2000s. And by 2010, you know what happened? This thing called the NRF 2 came around. And it was the beginning. And I really do believe that if you're gonna go out there and talk to people, you should have no fear, you should know exactly what your products do. You should know, you should be excited about what you do, you shouldn't be afraid because what are you doing? You're there to help people, and the greatest thing you can do for another human being is to care about them and share with them. If they say no, okay. At least you know you tried, right? And and here's the thing most of these people are struggling, and so a big heart and love is gonna go a lot further than me telling you, I know exactly what the new kid needs to do. No, be loving, be gentle, be kind, because these people have been through a lot. You ever see a kid who's on the spectrum who starts screaming in a restaurant and everybody starts looking around and they go like, Can't you shut your kid up? No, no, you can't shut the kid up. You have to have empathy and understanding. So this is a hard company. I never, I you know, I've been in a few other network marketing companies, never took it serious. This company has such amazing opportunities to help people. And products, you don't have to ever worry about your products, they're the best on the market. I wouldn't give these to my patients if it wasn't the case. And I have no qualms telling them the cost, and because the cost is costing them a lot more than if they don't take it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I always like to say your health is an investment, not an expense. We have to think about it differently. You know, I know you talked about the cost of suit, you know, items in the supermarket, but it costs more to be sick at the end of the day. So, you know, we have to balance what's important to us. One of the things I did want to mention because I saw the question come through, is how do you get a two-year-old to to swallow a pill of NRF2? So that's a good question. Yeah, you uh I don't know about your advice, but I would take a mortar and pestle.

SPEAKER_00

I'll take a mortar and pestle, break it down, make a smoothie, and have the kid drink it. All the nutrients are there.

SPEAKER_01

Or make gummies. There's you can make homemade gummy bears or that's you.

SPEAKER_00

I I had no time in the kitchen. Whatever. I love you, Jim. Um, you know, you're the type of loving mom that would make gummies, I gotta tell you.

SPEAKER_01

There's so many putting it in Axio, crushing it, putting it in Axio, put it in chocolate, like make a really healthy chocolate treat with it. So and you can do that with the NRF1 as well. And that's what I love about the P84 is that it's powder, and my my kids love the flavor of it. It it tastes more of a fruit. So I actually put the P84 in a protein shake or smoothie for my kids, and it's it's it's actually very easy to get down, and it has a very good taste.

SPEAKER_00

So I'll share with you this. A lot of these kids have major problems swallowing and taking things, and you'll hear parents say to you, Well, you know, my kids are allergic to everything. Well, try this before you tell me you're allergic. If you saw what's in our P84, there's nothing but fruits, vegetables. It is amazing what it does for the digestive tract, the binding of the locking up of this of the intestine tract. I know we got a minute left. I don't want to take more than 25 minutes.

SPEAKER_01

No, you're good. You're really good. Okay, so top two products if you had to do two to start with, because we had that question. Top two.

SPEAKER_00

You have to choose and dual synergizer. Yeah, it's gotta you have to do minimum dual synergizer and p84.

SPEAKER_01

That was three, but Dr. Ron doesn't really like following.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, the tri-synergizer, which comes in one box, that's one product.

SPEAKER_01

You're you're such a rebel, Dr. Ron. I just love you. Thank you so much. I loved your cellular health.

SPEAKER_00

Cellular health, I love you. I love you too, but cellular health is the most important thing here because if the cells are healthy, like your kid is gonna do a lot better. Axio, I've seen people's kids' handwriting change in five minutes from one packet of Axio. I've seen kids walk in my office, give them some strawberry axio, and they walk out smiling, and their mom's like the kid never smiles. Why is he smiling? I don't know.

SPEAKER_01

I love it.

SPEAKER_00

Maybe his brain's firing for the first time ever.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for being with us, Dr. Ron. Again, you'll find this on our podcast if you're listening to it on the recording. Thank you so much for your wisdom and your knowledge. And as always, join us every Wednesday for our new topic. And we will have you back on again. Thanks again. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you all very much. Love you very much. And if I see you in convention in Utah, come up and give me a hello. I'd love to say hello.

SPEAKER_01

Thanks again. Take care of it.

SPEAKER_00

Thanks for everybody.

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