NeuroDiversity Consulting LLC
  • Home
    • Our Mission
    • Events
    • Contact Us
  • Autism Attitude
  • Community
    • Stronger Together
    • Race and Disability

Dietary Interventions

8/2/2017

0 Comments

 
Gluten free diets, casein free diets, elimination diets, supplements, or any combination thereof. Are they any good for people on the autism spectrum? Research still says, no doesn’t really look like it.

Over a decade ago when my children were first diagnosed with autism gluten free and casein free diets were the thing to do to treat autism. I did some digging to find the scientific basis for the belief in this special diet. What I found were studies with small sample sizes, no control groups or poorly matched control groups, no blinded or doubled trials (researchers and participants often knew what they were getting), subjective measurements of outcomes, and no clear mechanism for how the diet was supposed to work or what is was supposed to improve.

I tried a gluten free diet anyway because, hey it was only food. After a year my children were still their autistic selves. I left behind the expensive food and dubious claims about special diets.
​
Fast forward to today and there have been some high-quality studies done on not only gluten free and casein diets but also the various restriction/elimination diets that parents try as well as the supplements they are often encouraged to use as treatment for their children’s autism. The results are still underwhelming.
Systematic reviews (researchers read lots of papers on a topic to find commonalities, differences, and trends that may otherwise be missed) of various dietary intervention studies indicate little to no benefit from them. They further indicate that it remains unclear what aspects of autism dietary intervention is supposed to improve.

Attention has shifted to how diet can impact epigenetics, the way an individual’s DNA responds to their environment. That research is still based on the premise that dietary interventions must have some impact on autism. Research so far doesn’t support that assumption.

Some researchers have suggested that what are considered positive outcomes of dietary interventions may in fact result from the increased parent/caregiver involvement in a child’s life necessary to maintain dietary interventions. Getting to know your child, monitoring their behavior, and being responsive to their needs is on balance good for the parent and the child.

I find it telling that the research and the push for dietary interventions is focused on young children. None of the papers I read for background research, including the systematic reviews which account for dozens of papers each, mentioned young adults or mature adults with autism. There is a prevailing attitude in many circles that interventions related to autism are only effective when the autistic individual is young. The younger the better.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what, if anything, dietary interventions did for autistic people when they have the freedom to choose them form themselves? Do parents/caregivers maintain dietary interventions into the teen and young adult years? Do adult autistics who received dietary interventions as children continue with them in adulthood? These are the kinds of questions you can ask when you look at the full lifespan of autistic people.
​
Essential point, save the money you might spend on pricey foods and special supplements for something fun that you child likes. Give them a great memory from their childhood. Save it for college or trade school. Help them furnish their first apartment with the money you save. Or treat the family to some ice cream.

  • Gluten- and casein-free diet and autism spectrum disorders in children: a systematic review.
    • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28612113
  • Nutritional and Dietary Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.
    • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28562286
  • Elimination diets' efficacy and mechanisms in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder.
    • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28190137
  • Metabolic Dysfunction Underlying Autism Spectrum Disorder and Potential Treatment Approaches
    • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28270747
  • Early-Life Nutritional Programming of Cognition-The Fundamental Role of Epigenetic Mechanisms in Mediating the Relation between Early-Life Environment and Learning and Memory Process.
    • https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5318388/

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    504 Plan
    ABLE 2.0
    ABLE Act 2014
    ACE
    Aspergers
    Autism
    Autism Acceptance
    Autism Advisory Board
    Autism Awareness
    Autism Spectrum Disorder
    Autistic Adults
    Autistic Children
    Behavior Intervention Plan
    BIP
    Church
    Cure
    Diagnosis
    Diet
    Disability
    Discipline
    Diy
    Dsm
    Education
    Education Law
    Encouragement
    Epidemic
    Estate Planning
    Faith
    FBA
    Functional Behavioral Assessment
    Homeschooling
    IDEA
    IEP
    Incidence
    Inclusion
    Laws
    Long Term Care
    Mental Health
    Neurodevelopmental Disorder
    Neurodiversity
    New York
    Nha
    Nurtured Heart Approach
    Parenting
    PDD NOS
    PDD-NOS
    Person/people First Language
    Policy
    Prevalence
    Prevention
    Relativism
    Research
    Resilience
    School
    Science
    Sex
    Social Isolation
    Special Education Law
    Special Needs
    Suspension
    Trauma
    Treatment

    Archives

    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    May 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    December 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    August 2015
    June 2015
    February 2015
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    November 2012
    July 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    November 2011
    October 2011
    August 2011

      RSS Feed

    NeuroDiversity Consulting LLC
    [email protected]

    (315) 760-4358
     Privacy Policy
    Business Credit
    Business Credit by Nav
    Photo from Hayzphotos
    • Home
      • Our Mission
      • Events
      • Contact Us
    • Autism Attitude
    • Community
      • Stronger Together
      • Race and Disability