Dietary Changes Improve Autistic Symptoms in Some Patients
I firmly believe that there is a large percentage of autistic patients that can be cured or at least reduced in severity of the condition. These patients are the ones that have had their mental condition affected by dairy, food allergies, refined carbs, food preservatives or even food coloring’s. It may turn out to be only a small percentage of the autistic population (which I do not believe) but what harm would a trial of dietary changes cause? None. The parents of autistic patients have nothing to lose by trying some of these methods.
12th International Conference on Autism Elimination of dairy, gluten and other food components dramatically improves the symptoms of children and adults with autism, according to preliminary results presented Thursday at the 12th International Conference on Autism, held at Durham University in the UK. Previous studies suggest that more than 50% of autistic children show significant improvements when dairy products and gluten are eliminated from their diet, explained Dr. Ted Kniker from the San Antonio Autistic Treatment Center in Texas. “The theory is that poorly-degraded food proteins leak from the gut into the blood, and peptides with opioid activity adversely affect brain function,” he said. At the Durham meeting, Dr. Kniker reported findings from the first phase of a two-part case-control study of 28 individuals with autism, living in full-time residential homes. The study team collected baseline data in January this year, and assessed dietary and medical histories, urine peptide profiles, Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist, and behavioral information. During the first phase of the 3-month intervention, milk and dairy products, food colorings, grains, caffeine, and other food components were eliminated from the diet, and the same data were collected again. Dr. Kniker explained that 10 of 28 participants changed dramatically. “Five of these ten improved in many of the parameters examined, but to our surprise, the other five deteriorated.” He added that “the deterioration experienced by the five individuals may be explained if the removal of these foods unmasked negative effects of other foods that they may not ordinarily consume.”