Many parents, and more than a couple doctors have reported good success in improving the lives of children with autism thru careful regulation of their diet, specifically eliminating gluten and casein (and sometimes soy as well) from their food intake. See www.gfcfdiet.com for more information.
Similarly, a number of parents have seen reduction of the symptoms of ADD/ADHD by following the Feingold diet. See www.feingold.org for more information.
Critics of these dietary imterventions (usually doctors or psychologists who cannot think outside of the box they have been programmed inside or else perhaps wishing to protect their professional necessity) shake their heads and cluck their tongues, arguing that mere dietary intervention cannot possibly have an effect upon mental processing.
Well, there is a slowly growing body of evidence that certain metabolisms cannot tolerate all the foods or additives that a more typical metabolism can. For instance…
“Sodium lactate, a substance added to many meat products,
precipitates panic attacks in susceptible individuals. When sodium lactate is given intravenously, adrenal hormone levels are
increased. Whether or not these high cortisone levels induce the
panic attacks in unknown.
In a study patients who were diagnosed with multiple chemical
sensitivity syndrome (symptoms typical of panic disorders, chest
tightness, shortness of breath, palpitations, paresthesias [abnormal touch sensation in the absence of touch, such as tingling or burning], light-headedness, and mental confusion) were given either a normal saline solution placebo or an infusion of sodium lactate, which is know to produce symptoms of panic disorders. Every patient who received the sodium lactate infusion experienced a panic attack.
Only the chemists at Oscar Mayer know how much sodium lactate is in a box of Lunchables or other processed foods. Amounts of additives are not listed on the label, so it is difficult to determine if the children or adults experiencing recurring panic attacks are actually responding to levels of sodium lactate in the food.”
(“The Crazy Makers: How the Food Industry is Destroying Our Brains and Harming Our Children”, by Carol Simontacchi, pg. 119)
This is not to say that the use of dietary interventions is a miracle cure that will “fix” all persons with autism, ADD/ADHD or other neurological problems. But it may just help a portion of these children, and do so without the need for powerful medications which have not had long terms impact studies completed and peer reviewed. The worst thing that may happen by trying the Diet is it does work for your child. But for the apparent 25-40% of autistic children who do benefit from it (I do not know the estimated figures for ADD)it can mean helping a low functioning child improve in ability to live life as a high functioning child.
We underestimate the effect food & exercise have on body and mind. It’s so easy to hit that vending machine, order up teh whatever. It’s worth seeing what happens when you consciously think abotu what you ingest in your body and what you do to work it off!