Episode 274 — It’s NEVER Too Late For BREAKTHROUGHS
Guest: Dr. Darin Ingels • Date: September 25, 2025
Episode Overview
Dr. Darin Ingels reveals how breakthroughs are possible even when progress feels stalled. He shares a powerful case study showing how targeted immunotherapy unlocked language and connection in a young adult with autism.
About Dr. Darin Ingels
Dr. Darin Ingels, ND, FAAEM, FMAPS is a licensed naturopathic doctor, author, and international speaker specializing in Lyme disease, autism, chronic illness, and immune dysfunction. A former Lyme patient himself, he overcame a three-year battle with the illness using diet, lifestyle, and natural therapies — an approach he has since applied in treating more than 8,000 patients, many of whom have gone on to live healthy, symptom-free lives. With over 30 years of clinical experience, Dr. Ingels has helped thousands restore health through immunotherapy and other natural approaches. He is the author of The Lyme Solution: A 5-Part Plan to Fight the Inflammatory Autoimmune Response and Beat Lyme Disease and works with families both in person and virtually worldwide.
You’ll Discover
Why IMMUNE Dysfunction Is Often the Hidden Blocker to Language (1:54)
How Low-Dose Immunotherapy (LDI) Can Unlock Neuroplasticity (4:54)
The Overlooked Role of Mast Cell Activation in Autism (9:28)
Why Sublingual Immunotherapy Is Safe, Proven, and Underutilized (15:55)
The Hopeful Truth: The Brain Can Change At Any Age (17:49)
Referenced in This Episode
Full Transcript
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:00:00]:
Every time he would get a dose, his language went up almost exponentially. And really, over the course of about nine months of doing these different therapies of LDIs, he literally picked up the phone, called up another friend with autism and invited him to go to the movies, to see a movie together. And he did this by on his own. And as far as parents are aware, how did he get his phone number? How did he know how? I mean, I guess they didn't give him credit that he was absorbing all these things. He knew how to do it and he did. So it was just such a wonderful moment for the family.
Len Arcuri [00:00:30]:
If you're a parent of a child with autism, autism, you are being called to rise with love, courage and clarity. This journey isn't easy and most parents aren't equipped, but you can be. This podcast is your invitation to rise higher because how you navigate matters. I'm Len, and this is Autism Parenting Secrets, where you become the parent your child needs now.
Len Arcuri [00:00:55]:
Hello and welcome to Autism Parenting Secrets.
Len Arcuri [00:00:57]:
It's Len.
Len Arcuri [00:00:58]:
I am at the MAPS 2025 Fall Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, and there are just so many outstanding credentialed practitioners who are giving presentations. And I'm with one of them today. Dr. Darren Engels is joining me. He was actually one of the first practitioners that my family worked with, and so we go way back. And I'm just so excited to hear how he's involved his way of serving families. And he gave an outstanding case study which he's going to touch on today and share with you as well. So just thank you so much for joining me.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:01:29]:
Dr. Anders, thanks for having me.
Len Arcuri [00:01:31]:
Fantastic. So lots of great energy here, lots of different practitioners, your unique way of helping families. I know there's a number of different interventions or ways that you serve them. The case study you featured yesterday, can you talk a little bit about that and some of the concepts in there, including ldi, which is something I think a lot of families don't know about.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:01:55]:
Sure. Well, we actually inherited a young man who was in his early 20s who had been working with a really good environmental medicine doctor. He was diagnosed with autism when he was three years old, and he had made a lot of gains in his health over the course of 17, 18 years. But by the time that, you know, this doctor retired and we took over the practice, he was, I think, was 21, 22 years old. He was, I won't say non verbal, but minimally verbal. And Maybe he had 20, 25 words and he could express very basic needs. But certainly there was Nothing that was conversational. And obviously that was very limiting in his life.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:02:30]:
You know, he's at a point now where he's aged out of school. You know, he's. There's really not a lot of programs accessible as a young adult living with autism, especially when you don't have a lot of language. So, you know, we started kind of going back and looking at, you know, what the previous doctor had done. We didn't really want to reinvent the wheel. But, you know, the one red line that runs through, I think, everybody dealing with autism is that there's this element of neural inflammation, and I think that often becomes that block, particularly for language. So if we can just kind of figure out what maybe that obstacle is and get that inflammation down, maybe we can start getting the parts of the brain to connect to start making, you know, more effective language. And essentially, we started off by, you know, testing him for food sensitivities and specifically phenolic sensitivities, which is something we do in our practice.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:03:14]:
And that started moving the needle just a little bit. You know, mom noticed that he's more aware, his eye contact is better. And we're starting to get just a little bit now we're getting two word sentences instead of just single word for needs.
Len Arcuri [00:03:26]:
And that was because in your testing, you identified some sensitivities. Right. That the mom did not know before. Right.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:03:35]:
So he was tested for food allergies probably when he was three or four years old. This is now almost 20 years later. Obviously, your immune system's dynamic. It changes over time. So the things I think that we identified were different than what he had found earlier in life. But again, particularly with food, this is the one thing you do every day. Right. And if you're eating things, even if they're very healthy and nutritious, if it's becoming an immune aggravate, that can still be pro inflammatory.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:04:01]:
So in addition to that, we do a lot of immunotherapy in our office. So we're actually not just saying, hey, here are foods that are problematic. Don't eat these anymore. We can actually desensitize the person so that it down regulates that immune response, even if they do get in contact with the food. Because as much as people try to be diligent with their diet, inevitably things sneak in. So this is a way to help modulate that effect. And then over time, we kind of keep building the dose up so we get to a point where the immune system stops overreacting to that stimulus and people can start eating These foods again. So I think, because this is something, again, hadn't been done in a while, now we're pulling the foods out of his diet that are clearly creating some inflammation.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:04:41]:
We're modulating his immune system. And I think the net effect of that is that, okay, now the brain is starting to make some of these connections. And again, it wasn't like an overnight, wow. But over the course of six months, we start to see these little gains. And then around that time as well, we started looking at potentially different pathogens and their capacity to trigger, again, neural inflammation. A lot of us think about pans specifically, where it's the OCD and anxiety and behavior issues, but there are variants of that. And so the idea that microbes can become immune triggers. And the best way to think of it is if your immune system starts looking at the pathogen, but treats it like an allergen, it's engaging the wrong part of the immune system.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:05:24]:
It's not that innate part of your immune system that knows how to get rid of viruses and bacteria, but if it starts stimulating that part of the immune system that causes allergy and autoimmunity, that's what inevitably can affect the brain. So we had identified, we did a bunch of different testing, blood tests primarily found out he had been exposed to Lyme, he had strep, he had mycoplasma, he had Candida. And so we do this thing called LDI or low dose immunotherapy, which is a way to modulate the immune system against those different pathogens. And as we started implementing this therapy, I mean, that was the big boost that his brain clearly needed. Cause every time he would get a dose, his language went up almost exponentially. And really, over the course of about nine months of doing these different therapies of ldis, he literally picked up the phone, called up another friend with autism, and invited him to go to the movies, to see a movie together. And he did this on his own. And as far as parents are aware, how did he get his phone number? How did he know how to.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:06:24]:
I mean, I guess they didn't give him credit that he was absorbing all these things. He knew how to do it and he did. So it was just such a wonderful moment for the family. And again, I think it really speaks to the neuroplasticity of the brain that I know as parents, when your kids aren't speaking, especially when they get to be 6, 7, 8 years old, there's always that worry that it's just never going to happen. But I think it just speaks that there is that capacity that it can happen and that regardless of age. Here's a young man in his early 20s that really got language. And as he was 22, 23, 24, he's now 32, and he's doing really well. He's got a job and he's social, and he still has autism.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:07:04]:
And I don't know he'll ever be completely independent. But the quality of life for him and his world has opened up so much. And the relief for the family of him not just sitting at home all day being with them, that he can be social, he can go to a job, and people love him and that it's just been such a good reminder for me that there is no limit, really, to what the brain can do when you're able to get these obstacles out of the way.
Len Arcuri [00:07:31]:
I can't tell you how powerful that one story is. And I think unless you're a parent in that situation, you have no idea. That one event that he called a friend, that he had the awareness and the ability to do that, that is massive. That's not a minor thing in any way. And my guess is with the protocol that you were doing, probably safe to say. Right. There was nothing else that you could attribute it to. The parents weren't probably doing any other intervention.
Len Arcuri [00:08:01]:
It was really this one focus over days, weeks, months, and you saw undeniable changes in a positive direction.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:08:09]:
Yeah. And I mean, this was a family that they really did everything for. This young man, I mean, when he was younger, all the conventional biomedical things that you've ever heard about, he did methyl B12 injections, he did antifungal therapy, he did hyperbaric oxygen, he did different vitamins and supplements, and nothing was ever really a wow for him. I mean, the previous doctor did a really great job. He had a lot of gut issues when he was younger. The gut seemed to be cleaned up, and of course, the gut brain connection is so important. So I think that helped a lot. There was a lot of things that happened to him physically that had changed over time, but in terms of his language, his interaction in the world, that was just never kind of a wow for the family.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:08:51]:
And it wasn't really until we started kind of using these various types of immunotherapy that the needle really moved for him.
Len Arcuri [00:08:57]:
Well, I'd love to go deeper into immunotherapy, but just taking a step back, because I'm obsessed with root causes and the concept that for a parent, if they can identify and make really Good guesses. What's really at the root of what's holding my child back now and then they focus their effort. There's. Everything changes rapidly or has the potential to change rapidly. So in this case study with this young man, how would you characterize what was the root cause that then. Immunotherapy was a phenomenal way of addressing. I think it's twofold.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:09:28]:
I think in this case it was an element of immune dysfunction, that there was probably underlying persistent infection. But because he didn't get fever, he didn't get swollen lymph nodes, he didn't get all these things that you would typically associate with being sick, you wouldn't think that maybe there's an underlying infection. I think he had multiple persistent infections that were probably going on for many, many years. I think the second part of this is that there's this element of mast cell activation. And our friend, Dr. Thea Reedes, who's published extensively on this, we know that a lot of kids on the spectrum, or people on spectrum, have a lot of mast cells around their brain. So when they get mast cell activation and mast cells can be triggered by allergen, pathogen and toxin, primarily, those three big factors can create this perpetual cycle of mast cell activation, which ultimately leads to inflammation. So how do we control the mast cells to stop doing all that pro inflammatory work? But again, these underlying infections, I think can be so subtle that it just doesn't come on the parents or the doctor's radar that, oh, yeah, maybe there's an underlying infection that's driving this constant inflammation.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:10:39]:
So I think it's really important that, you know, for really anybody dealing with autism, that we really look at both of those pieces because the evidence is just so clear that these are big drivers of that neural inflammation.
Len Arcuri [00:10:51]:
Great.
Len Arcuri [00:10:51]:
And I appreciate that, that, that take. And there is an episode with Dr. Theo talking about mast cell activation. And I'll put that in the show notes because that's definitely worth a listen. Yeah. So now with the immunotherapy and how it works, can you just touch a little bit more on the assessment piece? Like, how do you even assess whether these sensitivities or allergies are there? Because I know our road we went down blood testing, skin prick testing. There's a lot of different ways that you can. And I know you had your own unique ways of energetically identifying what's compatible to the body and what isn't.
Len Arcuri [00:11:25]:
So can you talk a little bit about what that assessment piece looks like?
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:11:28]:
Yeah, I mean, there are different ways you know, your immune system is very complex. And the reality is that there's no one test that's going to measure all those possible reactions. So it's a combination. I mean, sometimes we are doing blood testing, sometimes we are doing skin testing. In our office, we do something called electrodermal screening, which is more of an energetic way that is kind of hard to explain for people. But, you know, it's really looking at knowing that cells change electrically before they change chemically. If you understand that basic tenet of cell physiology, we can use the electrical patterns of the body to kind of predict what's going to happen chemically. And again, I think that's a very useful tool in trying to assess what's going to bother people, and particularly for these things that aren't really true allergies.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:12:13]:
True allergy, at least in the United States, is defined by a specific antibody called IgE, immunoglobulin E. And what they teach in conventional immunology is if you're allergic to pollen or dust or cat or dog, that there's an IGE reaction to the animal, dander, to the pollen, to whatever it is. And that's what causes the mast cells to release all their chemicals which create the symptoms. And that's true, but that's only one part of the greater whole of what we might consider allergy. And it's kind of interesting. If you read American journals on allergy, again, they talk about ige, and that's it. If you read European journals, they talk about this much broader definition of allergic illnesses, which are not just ige. And we know, like the T cells play a very important part in allergy, and T cell reactions are delayed.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:13:01]:
If everyone ever had a TB test, they don't do it anymore, really. But he used to poke in the forearm, and he would come back two days later to see if it was red or swollen. That's a T cell reaction. It's delayed. So any kind of delayed hypersensitivity, conventional allergy testing doesn't look at at all. And yet that's probably a big driver behind a lot of what bothers these kids. So again, we kind of use these different tools as a way to assess the totality of all the different kind of reactions so that we can really understand what's driving these factors. And then based on that, we can select, okay, if we know the certain foods, if it's certain environmental factors, certain chemicals.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:13:39]:
We've even found people can be reactive to their own chemistry. It's not uncommon for kids on the spectrum to be reactive to their own dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine, these neurotransmitters. And we hear about this too. Like if you give a supplement or a medication, for example, if someone gets like an ssri, it's designed to raise your serotonin level. And these kids have a complete opposite adverse reaction. That might be a clue that maybe they're actually sensitive to serotonin. Just a quick example unrelated to autism, but I had a patient I was working with in New York who had a 25 year history of depression, and every time he would go on an antidepressant, which are mostly SSRIs, he would get worse. And we tested him, we found out he was sensitive to serotonin.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:14:20]:
We desensitized them, and literally within a week, that 25 year history of depression completely went away.
Len Arcuri [00:14:25]:
Oh, that's incredible.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:14:27]:
So clearly there was something with his own immune system and his internal chemistry that were not meshing well. So again, it's kind of a. Sounds like a strange idea, but if you look at autoimmunity, it's your immune system attacking you. And whether it's your connective tissue or whether it's your own internal chemistry, like maybe a hormone or a neurotransmitter, it's just the nature of sometimes how the immune system reacts to.
Len Arcuri [00:14:50]:
Yep. Nope, that makes sense. And yeah, just allergies in general. There's no reason the body's attacking something it shouldn't. So it's about understanding what you're sensitive to, what you're allergic to. And your whole process, though, is it something that you work with families, you have to work with them in person, or do you see families initially and then things can be done remotely. So what does the road of going down this road look like if you're familiar with?
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:15:15]:
Yeah, fortunately for the type of work we do, we can work with people remotely. We've got families we work with all over the world. I mean, I always love to see people in person if we can. But the reality is getting a child with autism on a plane sometimes is very challenging.
Len Arcuri [00:15:28]:
My son can't go anywhere because of his life threatening allergies.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:15:31]:
Yeah. So in those cases, yeah, there are ways that we can work around it. And we have different ways to help assess people, even if they're not in the office with me, that we can still get the information we need. And sometimes we have to coordinate care with their local provider, but in most cases that's doable.
Len Arcuri [00:15:46]:
Okay. And then in terms of how you actually help modulate. I know homeopathic remedies. That concept is a big part of what you do, correct?
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:15:55]:
Well, I mean, we use homeopathy in our office as well. I mean, immunotherapy is not homeopathy. You know, technically, homeopathy, you dilute the substance out to a point where there's nothing left in it.
Len Arcuri [00:16:04]:
Right.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:16:05]:
With immunotherapy, if you took it to a lab, they could tell you there's a certain amount of dust or ragweed. So it's dilute, but it's not really homeopathic. So it's a little bit closer to, like, if people get allergy shots, except that instead of injecting it, these are drops we put underneath the tongue and they taste like water. So they're very easy to administer. They're very safe. Sublingual immunotherapy, which is a type of immunotherapy we do, is very well researched. It's been around for over 100 years. There's over 1,000 studies, and interestingly, it's very widely used throughout Europe.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:16:35]:
You know, in Europe, since most of Europe is socialized medicine, they're all about saving money. And sublingual immunotherapy, when they've studied it, compared to allergy shots, it's a quarter of the cost. It's a lot less expensive. But allergists in the United States get reimbursed by giving you injections, so there's really no financial motivation for them to change because they would lose a lot of their income.
Len Arcuri [00:16:54]:
So it's like any other condition where there's no money in actually solving it.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:16:58]:
Yeah, yeah. But again, you know, sublingual immunotherapy, if you look it up on PubMed, you'll find thousands and thousands of studies. A lot of them are in children. Again, very, very safe, very clinically effective. And it's just easy, easier for people. You do it at home. You don't have to go every week to the allergist to get your shot. So it's safe, it's effective, it's easy.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:17:18]:
The downside, of course, is that insurance doesn't usually pay for it. But again, if it's something that's doable for people, I found it to be one of the most effective treatments out there to really, as a whole, get the immune system online.
Len Arcuri [00:17:31]:
Fantastic. And I know you have clients with a variety of ages, variety of conditions, but particularly because this podcast is more geared for parents of a child with autism, particularly with autism, though you've seen Lots of success with respect to kids improving, gaining function by going down this road.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:17:49]:
Absolutely. And, you know, we've got kids that have completely lost their diagnosis. Obviously, you know, the earlier we can start, the better. But again, I've got older kids and young adults and even older adults that, you know, they start later. But again, the capacity for the immune system to change, I think, again, the capacity for the brain to change is still there. And by and large, most people have a positive effect when we implement some type of immunotherapy. And the other nice thing, too, is that it doesn't take a year to figure it out. Usually within a matter of a few months, we'll have an idea about whether we're on the right track or not.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:18:25]:
I see sometimes people spend a lot of time trying to figure out, is this the right therapy, is it working? And the case of most immunotherapy, you should know, probably within two or three months.
Len Arcuri [00:18:34]:
Got it. But within that two and three months, there's a lot of course correction. Right. You're trying things, seeing what the reaction is.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:18:40]:
So there's like fine tuning, typically with ldi. With ldi, you know, because we're trying to figure out what's the right antigen, what's the right dilution. With subliminal immunotherapy, that's not as squirrely. That is pretty straightforward, where, again, I expect to see change within two months. With ldi, it might be a little bit longer because we might think, you know, we did a blood test and the child has a very high strep titer. We think strep is the bigger problem. And then we come to find out it's really not strep, it's Lyme or it's Candida. So there's a little bit more time necessary to try and isolate what the right antigen is for each person.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:19:14]:
And then ultimately, we have to find the right dilution. So that's a little bit different. But the other types of immunotherapy is a little bit more straightforward, and we usually see results within a few months.
Len Arcuri [00:19:23]:
Fantastic. Well, I really appreciate you going deep in this case study, because it really was jaw dropping. And I think the key, perhaps the title of this episode will be that it really is never too late in terms of improvements. Again, everyone's in a unique place. The key is figuring out what's keeping that person stuck or what's the blockage. And it sounds like LDI is absolutely a path that could be really effective for some individuals. And if people want to learn more and better understand what you do. I know you've written books.
Len Arcuri [00:19:53]:
Where can they go to find out more about you and your practice?
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:19:55]:
Yeah. Best place is just visit my website. It's just Darren Ingalls. ND N [email protected] and all of our information is fantastic.
Len Arcuri [00:20:03]:
It'll be in the show notes. Well Dr. Angles, thanks for coming by.
Dr. Darin Ingels [00:20:05]:
Great.
Len Arcuri [00:20:05]:
Thanks Len. Appreciate it.
Len Arcuri [00:20:07]:
Your child needs you running on all cylinders now and the fastest way to rise is with personalized one on one support. Get started today. Go to elevatehowynavigate.com.
