We, at Aadvik foods, recently conducted a seminar with Christina Adams- She is an American award-winning journalist, writer, and speaker. She is a specialist and leader in Camel Milk and has done deep research on the benefits of camel milk, especially around autism. Her works have also been featured by various top newspapers like The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and the list goes on!
When she found out that her kid is autistic, she began her search for a cure, which marked the beginning of a journey with camels and their milk. This book is her expedition, her mission as a mother, who has traveled the globe for her child.
In this conversation, we talked about Christina’s journey, Autism- symptoms & cure, Camel milk, and how this helps people with autistic symptoms.
We received a few questions from the participants who attended the webinar and we’ve got them answered from none other than Christina herself. Please find the questions & answers below-
Questions asked by customers at the Webinar:
Q1. My son, Dhruv Mehta is 22 years and autistic. He is also epileptic, can I give him camel milk? Please provide your suggestions.
Answer: Yes. Just do not change anything else at this time, only add the milk. Also, if he is not already free of other milk products, you may wish to try that, so the camel milk can work better. And be sure that you start with a small amount and work up.
Q2. One of the pediatricians has suggested using wheat products for autistic children, please advise me on this as well.
Answer: Typically you should try avoiding wheat made with glyphosate or pesticides, or GMOs. So try organic wheat only at first. Then see how he does. Then remove all wheat including all products containing gluten--then see if he improves. These allergic/intolerant responses to food can be measured in bookwork if a doctor specializing in autism and allergic response is available. Do try to increase fiber in other foods if you remove wheat.
Q3. In Latin America, camel milk is a little expensive for certain people, for how long is it recommended to see the results?
Answer: It ranges from one day to weeks. Systemic healing takes a few months.
Q4. I would like to know, for how long should I use camel milk for my kid and since I travel a lot, is it possible to use camel milk powder without freezing?
Answer: Yes you can keep the powder in a refrigerator for best preservation. No need to freeze powder. And you can use it for as long as you can afford it as it is top-notch nutrition as well as potentially lessening autism symptoms and helping the body and gut healing.
Q5. With our autistic kid, we have seen much improvement from camel milk, but I wanted to ask how did you handle the problem related to socialization? Also, what did you do to improve socialization? My son is 3.7 years old and has socialization issues. It is very annoying, even though there is an improvement, it is not like other children. What would you suggest to reduce self-steaming?
Answer: Social skills therapy groups, speech therapy, and inclusion in preschools (often with an aide or in a school for disabled kids like the one in Jaipur) is needed for socialization. Also, therapy like RDI, ABA, or other types can help. Keep him busy and lower computer and screen access as this can worsen stims and isolation. Give him books, art lessons, music, crafts, sewing, etc--- help try to teach him sports, etc. Give him chores to do at home and help him learn to do them. None of this is easy but it helps.
Q6. What issues do you think will be the future of camel milk supply? For example, the Raikas are facing the issue of losing their pasture lands, the next generation is moving towards cities. Could you shed some light on that?
Answer: Camel Crazy features four chapters on the camel herders of India and the reasons why they are suffering. Lots have to do with a law preventing the sale of camels outside Rajasthan. Also, the milk market needs support by a ‘cold chain’ (refrigeration for storage and transportation) to deliver the milk from the country to cities. Many young Raika looking at living in cities are not happy about this and would prefer to work with camels and goats, sheep, etc on their lands and use local public grazing areas, which are increasingly banning them. I am told that my work has increased milk use by families of people with autism and that is keeping some Indian camel milk dairies alive. Please share the word of my book and the value of these amazing animals and the Raika, Rebari, etc people with your lawmakers. Thanks for the question.
Q7. Please suggest what type of medical tests should I get for my autistic child?
Answer: Food intolerance, viral, bacterial, parasitical, and mitochondrial testing, OAT testing, etc. Please get in touch with Dr. SK Meena in Jaipur and he can refer you to others if he cannot help.
Q8. I have read that raw milk is better than pasteurized milk, but there is a risk of MERS. What can you say about that?
Answer: In places with uncertain handling of milk, I suggest flash-pasteurizing the milk. MERS in the Middle East but India and any country can face challenges with TB, Brucellosis, etc in the animals. Many nomadic people are fine with raw milk but they are used to it. Testing can ensure cafe raw milk but few people have that ability. I include an easy home-pasteurization method in the back of CAMEL CRAZY.
Q9. Can adults who do not have any health issues, benefit from consuming camel milk on a regular basis? If so, then what are the health benefits, and what should be the dosage for an adult per day?
Answer: Yes they can. The suggested serving sizes and schedule are in the back of CAMEL CRAZY.
Q10. Do the qualities of camel milk also apply to the milk of camelids of South America like Alpacas, Llamas, Guanacos, and Vicunas?
Answer: It is possible but there is very little known info on those milk’s effects on humans. However, since the antibodies are similar and camelids are being used for COVID and other medical treatment development, it is somewhat likely and worth looking at.
Q11. My 20-year-old has autism, but now the doctors say that it is a schizo-affective disorder. So can autism turn into schizo-affective disorder?
Answer: It cannot “turn into it” but it can be comorbid (occur together). A certain percentage of people with ASD do develop other psychiatric conditions including these schizo disorders. Please use medication but also try a very organic diet and camel milk for it. Some patients with schizoaffective and schizophrenia report doing better on it.
Q12. What should be the maximum amount of camel milk for a 5-year-old kid? Is it okay to give him both cow and camel milk together?
Answer: All info on this in CAMEL CRAZY.
Q13. My son is 4 years old. I’m interested in your opinion on stem cells. Can you elaborate further based on your knowledge and experience of camel milk and stem cells have registered success stories?
Answer: I am not extremely knowledgeable about stem cells. There are many countries that do it, with widely varying costs and unpredictable success rates. Safety should be a priority with cleanliness and patient care at the very top. Some kids do great, some mixed, some regress at least temporarily. I do know of one young man who changed hugely from US stem cells and no longer presents as having any autism, although he did have significant autism for many years as he was diagnosed as a little child. He had had lots of other therapies but this made a marked change. However, there can be risks. I suggest trying less invasive and less risky things first, before medical interventions like this. Then see where you are. You can join Facebook groups devoted to this topic.
Q14. How should I thaw the frozen camel milk? How long can it be kept at room temperature? I feel the milk curdles after thawing. Just need to know if it is still okay to consume the curdled milk?
Answer: Curdled--if it simply separates after you thaw it, and does not smell bad or taste bad, then that can just be due to natural reasons (not homogenized or not totally freezing quickly after milking and is harmless. If you mean sour milk, then some people do drink that but those are the ones who are used to consuming it that way, like African herders. Ideally, it is fine to drink if it was kept cold all the time. If it has gotten warm for a length of time like may be several hours, then you can heat it and enjoy it that way.
Q15. It is said that there will be an improvement in autistic kids after consuming camel milk. What if we stop it after some time? Will he be normal? Or will we see any changes after stopping it?
Answer: Some kids need it for a long-term basis. Try and see.
Q16. My son is unable to go for therapies due to covid-19, if I give him camel milk, will it help his lifestyle?
Answer: It certainly can’t harm and may help, maybe a lot. You only will know when you try it.
To know more about the benefits of Camel milk in Autism, please click here
We hope to see you again on another informative webinar with Aadvik Foods.