Plain answers to real questions — from families, professionals, and supporters worldwide. If you do not find what you need here, write to us at contact.nnmccd@gmail.com.
NNMCCD stands for Nordic Nutrition and Metabolic Center for Child Development. It is a Norwegian non-profit membership organisation (a forening) based in Bærum, near Oslo.
We bring together families of neurodiverse children, clinical dietitians, and researchers who are interested in the role of nutrition, gut health, and metabolic function in child development — particularly in conditions like autism (ASD) and ADHD. Our goal is to build the structure that allows this area to be studied, documented, and supported properly.
A forening is a Norwegian membership association — similar to a charity, non-profit society, or voluntary organisation in other countries. It is owned by its members, governed by an elected board, and must operate in accordance with its registered purpose and bylaws (vedtekter).
In Norway, registered voluntary organisations with at least 500 members may apply for state support (statsstøtte) from the government. This means that each new member does not just support us — they increase our eligibility for public funding.
NNMCCD is registered in the Brønnøysundregistrene (Norway's central business register) under organisation number 937 889 151.
NNMCCD was founded by Paulina Borkowska, a clinical dietitian practising in Oslo with over 12 years of experience working with neurodiverse children and their families.
The organisation grew out of a pattern Paulina observed repeatedly in clinical practice: families arriving with a recent autism or ADHD diagnosis, accompanied by symptoms — chronic constipation, sleep problems, food selectivity, inflammatory markers — that were not being addressed as part of the diagnostic process. These are functional issues with evidence-based nutritional and metabolic approaches, but no structure existed to study or share them systematically.
NNMCCD was built to create that structure.
PureNordic AS is a Norwegian supplement company also founded by Paulina Borkowska. It is a separate legal entity — a private limited company — and is not the same as NNMCCD.
PureNordic AS is a founding sponsor of NNMCCD, contributing a percentage of its revenue to support the organisation's operational costs in its early years. This relationship is disclosed publicly on both websites.
NNMCCD does not receive commission on supplement sales. In the first phase of the organisation, NNMCCD does not purchase supplements from PureNordic AS, in order to protect the independence and credibility of any future grant applications and research collaborations.
NNMCCD is an independent non-profit membership organisation. It is not part of the Norwegian public health system (Helse Norge), and it is not medically approved or regulated as a healthcare provider.
Clinical dietitians working with NNMCCD hold professional authorisation (autorisasjon) under Norwegian law. Clinical services are provided on an individual, consent-based basis. The planned pilot programme will be submitted for ethical review (REK — Regionale komiteer for medisinsk og helsefaglig forskningsetikk) before any research data is collected.
Nothing on this website or from NNMCCD should be interpreted as a substitute for your child's individual medical or clinical care.
NNMCCD is based in Bærum municipality, near Oslo, Norway. Our registered address is Evjeveien 29, 1338 Sandvika.
Yes — families and professionals from outside Norway are welcome to join as members. The organisation is Norwegian and operates under Norwegian law, but membership is open internationally. Members outside Norway may have limited access to some locally delivered activities, but will receive all digital content and communications.
Note: the clinical pilot programme, when it begins, will initially prioritise families who can attend in-person sessions in the Oslo/Bærum area.
Founding Members (200 NOK / year) receive:
Organisation partners (2,000 NOK / year) receive additional recognition and partner communications.
All memberships are annual and renew automatically via Vipps Recurring.
Membership fees are paid through Vipps — Norway's most widely used mobile payment app. It is available for free on iOS and Android, and is linked to your Norwegian bank account or card.
We use Vipps Recurring, which means your membership renews automatically once a year on your joining date. You will receive a notification in Vipps before each renewal charge.
NNMCCD does not store your card or bank details. All payment data is handled by Vipps AS under their own privacy policy.
Yes, at any time. You can cancel through the Vipps app:
Cancellation takes effect immediately. No further payments will be collected. Your membership benefits continue until the end of the period already paid for.
You also have a 14-day right of withdrawal (angrerett) from the date you joined, under Norwegian consumer law. Contact us within 14 days and we will cancel and refund in full.
You can also cancel by emailing contact.nnmccd@gmail.com — we will handle it within 2 business days.
In Norway, registered voluntary organisations with at least 500 members can apply for annual state support (statsstøtte) from the government. Each member counted in our annual report makes us more eligible — and the support we receive per member increases with the size of our membership.
This is not a small thing. State support could fund the staffing, events, and infrastructure that make everything else possible, independent of grant cycles.
Beyond that: a visible membership base demonstrates to grant bodies, researchers, and health authorities that there is genuine community demand for this work. That is a form of evidence in itself.
Ready to join? Membership takes about two minutes.
See membership options →The member profile questionnaire is included with every Founding Membership (200 NOK / year). It takes approximately 60 minutes and covers developmental history, gastrointestinal health, diet, sleep, behaviour and sensory profile — using seven internationally validated tools (ATEC, GSRS, CSHQ, Bristol Stool Scale, Sensory Profile, BAMBI, SNAP-IV). Responses are reviewed individually by our clinical team. The questionnaire helps us understand the families we work with, tailor our resources and guides, and inform the direction of our programme.
The clinical pilot is a future goal — a planned structured intervention programme for a small group of children with ASD and/or ADHD, built around a gut-brain axis protocol. It requires grant funding and ethical approval (REK) before it can launch. Member profile data helps us understand the population and build the case for that programme.
The programme will include:
Data collected through the member profile questionnaire is used for internal programme development: to understand the families we work with, improve our recommendations, and help define research questions for future grant applications. It is not transferred to any external research study without a separate, specific consent process.
The pilot is planned to begin in 2027. The exact date depends on two things: having enough pre-qualified families enrolled and having sufficient funding confirmed — either from accumulated membership contributions or a grant award.
We are currently applying for grants from Norwegian foundations including Dam-stiftelsen, Extrastiftelsen, and Bærum municipality. The more members we have — and the more completed intake questionnaires we hold — the stronger our applications become.
After joining, you will receive the member profile questionnaire by email. It takes approximately 60 minutes to complete at your own pace.
The questionnaire covers your child's:
Our team reviews each questionnaire individually. This information helps us understand your child's situation and contributes to our programme development. It is a real step — not just registration paperwork.
The pilot is designed for children with a confirmed diagnosis of ASD (autism spectrum disorder) and/or ADHD, between the ages of approximately 3 and 16. Specific eligibility criteria will be confirmed once the programme design is finalised and ethical approval is obtained.
In the first round, the pilot will prioritise families based in the Oslo/Bærum area who can attend in-person sessions. We hope to expand to remote participation in later rounds.
Children with certain medical conditions requiring active pharmaceutical management may not be eligible for all components of the protocol. The intake questionnaire is part of how we assess this.
The pilot is planned to be fully funded for participants — meaning families will not pay for the clinical consultations, protocol design, or monitoring included in the programme. The diagnostic panel (laboratory tests) may require a co-payment depending on how funding is structured at the time.
This is one of the key reasons we are applying for grants: to make the programme genuinely accessible. Membership contributions are part of building that funding base — not a down-payment on participation.
Yes — but only in the context of a future formal research pilot, not the current registry. The pilot (when launched, subject to REK approval and grant funding) is designed to generate structured research data under proper ethical oversight. All participation in research components will require separate, explicit consent — independent of registry membership.
All data use will be governed by a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) and will comply with GDPR and Norwegian personal data law (personopplysningsloven). The pilot protocol will be submitted for ethical review by REK (Regionale komiteer for medisinsk og helsefaglig forskningsetikk) before data collection begins.
Participation in research components will always be optional and separate from clinical care.
The gut-brain axis is the name for the two-way communication network between the digestive system and the brain. This connection works through nerves, hormones, and the immune system — and it means that what happens in the gut can influence how the brain functions, and vice versa.
The gut contains approximately 100 trillion microorganisms (the gut microbiome). These microorganisms produce neurotransmitters (including serotonin and GABA), influence inflammation, and affect how nutrients are absorbed and used. Disruptions in the microbiome — caused by diet, antibiotics, early infections, or other factors — can have effects that reach far beyond digestion.
In children with ASD and ADHD, gut symptoms (constipation, diarrhoea, food selectivity, bloating) are significantly more common than in the general population. Research is ongoing on whether these gut issues are a cause, a consequence, or a co-occurring feature of neurodevelopmental conditions. NNMCCD's clinical approach addresses both sides simultaneously.
The evidence base in this area is growing — but it is not yet at the level where any dietary intervention can be described as a proven, universally effective treatment for autism.
What the research does show:
The diagnostic panel used in the clinical protocol covers seven functional systems: digestion, nutritional status, energy production, electrolytes, inflammation, hormones, and detoxification. Tests include:
Not all tests are available in Norway's public health system. Some are performed through specialist laboratories in Poland and the UK. The cost and availability of each test will be discussed individually with participating families.
The core of the NNMCCD protocol is food — an anti-inflammatory diet adapted for the individual child. Dietary adjustments under clinical supervision are generally low-risk.
Supplementation is individually prescribed based on identified deficiencies — not a one-size-fits-all approach. All supplements recommended through NNMCCD are within established safety ranges for the paediatric population.
The pilot programme will be supervised by a qualified clinical dietitian and submitted for ethical review before it begins. Any specific medical concerns (e.g. interactions with medications, underlying conditions) are assessed individually at intake.
Leucovorin (also called folinic acid) is a form of vitamin B9 (folate). Unlike regular folic acid, leucovorin can bypass the folate receptor on the blood-brain barrier and deliver folate directly to the brain.
Cerebral Folate Deficiency (CFD) is a condition in which folate transport to the brain is partially blocked — often due to the presence of folate receptor autoantibodies (detected by the FRAT test). CFD has been documented in a subset of children with autism spectrum presentations and some neurological conditions.
Several published studies and case series report clinical improvements in children with confirmed CFD who were treated with leucovorin. It is used by paediatric neurologists in the US, UK, and parts of Europe.
In Norway, leucovorin is registered and approved only for oncological (cancer-related) use. It has not gone through the approval and reimbursement evaluation process for the indication of Cerebral Folate Deficiency.
This does not mean it is unsafe or that Norwegian authorities have ruled it out — it means the formal evaluation process has not yet taken place for this indication. The process requires submitted evidence, and NNMCCD believes part of our role is to help build and document that evidence in the Norwegian context.
Families who want their child tested for CFD and treated with leucovorin must currently do this privately and at their own cost, often through private practitioners or abroad. We consider this a gap worth addressing through the proper channels.
We are asking Norwegian health authorities — specifically Statens legemiddelverk (Norwegian Medicines Agency) and Helsedirektoratet (Directorate of Health) — to:
This is not a demand to bypass the approval system. It is a request to begin the process — and a demonstration that there is a community of families for whom this matters.
Leucovorin has a well-established safety profile in children in the oncological context, where it is used routinely. Published studies of its use in children with CFD and ASD report it to be well tolerated, with no serious adverse effects documented in the literature reviewed to date.
You can add your support at nnmccd.org/petition. The form asks for your name, country, and optional personal statement. Your email is stored privately and will not be shared publicly or with third parties.
You can withdraw your support at any time by contacting contact.nnmccd@gmail.com.
Our website and member communications are currently in English. Norwegian will be added progressively as the organisation grows. Key documents (including the membership terms and privacy policy) are in English.
The clinical pilot programme and Norwegian-language activities will primarily be conducted in Norwegian. Families who are comfortable in English but not yet in Norwegian are welcome to contact us — we can communicate in both.
Polish is also spoken by the founder and some team members.
NNMCCD processes personal data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Norwegian personal data law (personopplysningsloven). You can read our full privacy policy at nnmccd.org/privacy.
Key points:
Contact us at contact.nnmccd@gmail.com for any data requests.
Email: contact.nnmccd@gmail.com
Registered address: Evjeveien 29, 1338 Sandvika, Norway
Organisation number: 937 889 151
We aim to respond to all enquiries within 5 business days.
We are building a network of professionals — clinical dietitians, paediatric specialists, researchers, and therapists — who share an interest in the gut-brain connection in neurodiverse children.
At this stage, the best first step is to become an Individual Partner member (from 200 NOK / year) and introduce yourself by email. We are not yet running formal professional partnerships, but we are building the relationships that will make those possible.
If you are interested in research collaboration — including co-authorship on pilot data publications — please write to us directly.
Write to us at contact.nnmccd@gmail.com. We read every message and try to respond within 5 business days.
If your question is something others might also have, we will add it to this page.
Still have questions? We are here. Or — if you are ready —
Become a member →