Studies show that the food we eat affects the chemical composition of our brain and alters our mood. Our diet affects our cognitive capabilities, including alertness and the release of neurotransmitters. We can change our mood by changing our diets.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is defined as a complex neuro- developmental syndrome, and food may be one of the biggest contributing factors for causing and improving autism symptoms through its direct impact on a person’s microbiome, brain and gastrointestinal tract. Scientific research is clearly demonstrating that how food today is grown, processed, stored, cooked, and ultimately consumed is dictating a wide range of positive and negative effects when it comes to autism.
An increasing number of scientists are now recognizing the enormous beneficial effects of “food as medicine” as a stand-alone remedy. This year alone I have already addressed this topic in previous blog posts you can find here:
What we are more frequently seeing in clinical practice is not overt disease, but complex, chronic syndromes. Autism is just that— a syndrome. Children with autism are not “diseased”; they just share a collection of similar “disorders” which determine the severity of where they land on the autism spectrum. Because pharmaceuticals are not the best solution for effectively addressing this growing epidemic, different dietary interventions have been well studied to address how to make the most meaningful impact. Some of these diets include the ketogenic diet and the gluten- and casein-free diet:
In order to tease out which dietary intervention, if any, is more effective in children diagnosed with ASD, El-Rashidy and colleagues (2017) compared the effects of these two different approaches versus a standard American control diet in 45 autistic children. The children were randomly assigned to three groups:
The results of this simple 6 month study were profound. Both group 1 and 2 showed significant improvements in:
Specifically, the ketogenic diet group had statistically significant improvements in speech, sociability, and cognitive awareness with some decrease in behavioral problems. The dairy-free and gluten-free diet group had statistically significant improvements in speech and behavior only with some improvements in sensory/cognitive awareness.
No significant improvements in autism symptoms were seen in the control group — the children consuming the standard American diet. This meant they were unlikely to experience any benefit in their overall development and autism symptoms if they chose to not change their diet.
The above mentioned study was a very simple intervention. Imagine the additional benefits of the child undergoing a full workup not limited to more extensive food sensitivity testing, heavy metal and industrial toxin detection, mold and microbiome analysis to gain insight on how the whole body and mind are functioning and leading to diseases like autism. The immense value of these additional diagnostic tests can give a great deal of insight on what exactly is going wrong inside our body and how best to personalize a patient’s treatment plan.
Even if one does not have access to additional workup, using “food as medicine” can be the simplest, cheapest, and most effective way to help lessen autism symptoms. As the results clearly demonstrated in this study, removing excess sugar, wheat, dairy and dramatically lessening saturated fat from animal protein along with incorporating nightly fasting of 14 to 16 hours can make a world of difference.
Fortunately, as science continues to prove the importance of “food as medicine”, more healthcare providers are starting to understand that diet plays an enormous role in human health and disease. The hope is that we will all begin to recognize the benefit of “food as medicine” and care for patients and ourselves more holistically.
Dr. Bhandari and the Advanced Health Team Are Here to Support Your Health
Our expert team of integrative holistic practitioners work with patients suffering from chronic health concerns. We help our patients reverse disease by better understanding how the body optimally functions and providing personalized treatment plans. To learn more and book an appointment, contact Advanced Health or call 1-415-506-9393.
References
Bjørklund, G., Saad, K., Chirumbolo, S., Kern, J. K., Geier, D. A., Geier, M. R., & Urbina, M. A. (2016). Immune dysfunction and neuroinflammation in autism spectrum disorder. Acta neurobiologiae experimentalis.
El-Rashidy, O., El-Baz, F., El-Gendy, Y., Khalaf, R., Reda, D., & Saad, K. (2017). Ketogenic diet versus gluten free casein free diet in autistic children: a case-control study. Metabolic brain disease, 32(6), 1935-1941.
Hyman, S. L., Stewart, P. A., Foley, J., Peck, R., Morris, D. D., Wang, H., & Smith, T. (2016). The gluten-free/casein-free diet: a double-blind challenge trial in children with autism. Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 46(1), 205-220.
Neal, E. G., Chaffe, H., Schwartz, R. H., Lawson, M. S., Edwards, N., Fitzsimmons, G., ... & Cross, J. H. (2008). The ketogenic diet for the treatment of childhood epilepsy: a randomised controlled trial. The Lancet Neurology, 7(6), 500-506.
San Mauro Martin, I., & JA, B. O. (2019). Impulsiveness in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder after an 8-week intervention with the Mediterranean diet and/or omega-3 fatty acids: A randomised clinical trial. Neurologia (Barcelona, Spain).
Whiteley, P., Shattock, P., Knivsberg, A. M., Seim, A., Reichelt, K. L., Todd, L., ... & Hooper, M. (2013). Gluten-and casein-free dietary intervention for autism spectrum conditions. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 6, 344.
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