Monthly Archives: June 2009
Using Nutrient Dense Food to Treat Autism
In the past I have mentioned how important a healthy diet is to all children, not just autistic children, but some parents jump in to using strict elimination diets without first making any simple changes to their child’s diet to make it more nutritious. You never know, a few simple changes to make your child’s diet more “nutrient dense” may lead to vast improvements without having to cut out gluten or casein.
Nutrient Dense Foods
As I have already said, the first thing to do before trying any special diet or eliminating any foods is to make sure that your child is having a nutritious diet and this means giving them nutrient dense foods. A nutrient dense food is a food that is rich in macronutrients, such as carbohydrates, fiber, fats, essential fatty acids, protein and amino acids, and water, and that is also rich in micronutrients like vitamins, minerals, trace minerals, antioxidants and phytonutrients.
According to Catherine Gavin RD, LDN, MPH of the Pfeiffer Treatment Center, a nutrient dense diet is essential because micro- and macronutrients are needed for “proper biochemical functioning of the body and brain”. She advises that parents should give their children organic foods, where possible, and foods that are whole and unprocessed because they are much denser in these essential nutrients.
Antioxidants
Everyone has seen vitamins and supplements that are labeled “antioxidant” but what does this actually mean and why are they essential in our diet?
Antioxidants are substances that protect the cells of our bodies from damage by free radicals which come from pollution, pesticides, artificial colors and flavors, heavy metals, trans fats and hydrogenated fats. Our children’s gastrointestinal tracts and brains are particularly susceptible to damage from these free radicals, which cause “oxidative stress”, and Austim experts like Dan Rossignol believe that oxidative…
The Dangers of Toxic Cleaning Products
I’ve blogged before about reducing your child’s toxic load to help alleviate symptoms of autism, to cut the risk of autism in subsequent children and to have a healthier home, and today I’m going to talk about one particular chemical and toxin, phenol.
What is phenol?
Phenol, or carbolic acid, is a chemical that both occurs naturally and that can be manufactured. It ranges from being a colorless liquid to being a white crystalline solid and has a distinct sickly sweet or “tarry” smell which is often associated with the smell of hospitals.
Phenol is used in many different products. It is used to make phenolic resins which are used in industries like the automotive, plywood, appliance, nylon and construction industries, and it is also an ingredient in disinfectants like Lysol, antiseptics, cleaning products, medicines, mouthwashes, lozenges and ear and nose drops.
Phenol can also be found in food, as gallic acid and malvin.
Dangers associated with Phenol exposure
There are many dangers associated with dermal (skin) or oral (ingesting it) exposure to phenol, and also breathing it in. These dangers and health risks include skin irritation, poisoning resulting in muscle weakness, tremors, paralysis and even respiratory arrest, liver and kidney damage, cardiac toxicity (damage to the heart) and lung damage.
But what has all this got to do with autism?
Hyposensitivity and Autism
As I explained last week, sensory problems are very common in autistic children and so are something we really need to get to grips with and try hard to understand.
Hyposensitivity is when a child is “under-sensitive” to stimuli and has trouble processing information through their senses. This type of sensory problem can lead to common autistic symptoms like stimming, when a child repeats movements like rocking or waving their hands around to try and stimulate their “underactive” senses. But stimming is not the only behavior or symptom linked to hyposensitivity, this type of sensory problem can affect children in many ways:-
- Hypotactility – Hypotactility or “hypotouch” means that a child’s sense of touch is diminished and they will not be able to feel light touches or even pain and temperature extremes. A child with hypotactility may look for opportunities to experience “touch” by banging their head against the wall, biting themselves, playing roughly with other children or toys, hugging tightly and wearing tight clothes. They may also love having lots of blankets on their bed, to give them a feeling of weight, and also love chewing or sucking on things. Parents and carers will need to be aware that such a child may hurt themselves, even breaking a bone, without feeling it.
- Hypovision – This is when a child’s vision can be affected to such an extent that they can only see outlines of objects. Symptoms and behaviour of this type of sensory problem include a child repeatedly moving their hands over objects, exploring everything in an unfamiliar place by touching it, repeatedly moving their hands and toys in front of their eyes, a love for bright lights, sunlight, bright colors and reflections, and an inability or difficulty to control their eye movements and to track moving objects.
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Hypersensitivity and Autism
Many autistic children suffer with sensory problems as part of their autism spectrum disorder. These sensory problems can be divided into two main groups:-
- Hyposensitivity – When a child is “under-sensitive” to stimuli and has trouble processing information through their senses.
- Hypersensitivity – When a child’s sensory awareness is too acute.
Hypersensitivity
Hypersensitivity is very common in autism spectrum disorders and can be the basis or cause of many “problem” behaviors that autistic children exhibit. Let’s look at how hypersensitivity can affect autistic children:-
- Hypertaste and smell – When their olfactory senses (taste and smell) are heightened, a child may have real trouble eating and may follow a very rigid diet which consists of just a few bland foods that they can tolerate. At meal times, a child with hypertaste and smell may gag on foods, vomit if they are forced to eat and not be able to sit at the dinner table when certain foods are being eaten by members of their family. This “fussy” eating and behavior can be very frustrating for the parents but you need to put yourself into your child’s shoes – what if everything you ate or tasted had an incredibly strong smell and taste? Wouldn’t it effect your enjoyment of food and meals?
Hypersmell can also be a problem in that a child may shy away from certain people who smell quite strong to them or dislike certain places, other people’s home and shops where they are bombarded with the smell of foods and products. They may also want to wear the same clothes all the time and not like the smell of washing detergent. - Hypertactility – This is when the child’s sense of touch is heightened. It is often characterized by a child hating to be touched or
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Autism, Vitamin A and Vaccinations
A few weeks ago, I blogged about Vitamin D and how the rise in Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to the rise in autism, but vitamin D is not the only deficiency that has been linked to autism and some people are suggesting that a deficiency in vitamin A may be responsible.
As I have said before, the Standard American Diet is not healthy and, although we may be eating a lot and filling ourselves up, many of us are actually malnourished because our diet does not contain enough of the essential nutrients that our bodies need to function properly and for our children to develop and grow correctly. Instead our diets are high in sugar, fats, salt and empty calories. However, low fat diets can also be bad for us because by not eating an adequate amount of fat we may actually be causing our bodies to be deficient in vitamin A, which is found in foods like full fat dairy foods, liver and cod liver oil.
Autism and Vaccines
In a study entitled “Is Autism a G-Alpha Protein Defect Reversible with Natural Vitamin A?”, Mary Megson, MD, a developmental pediatrician, argues that “Autism may be a disorder linked to the disruption of the G-alpha protein, affecting retinoid receptors in the brain” and that some cases of autism may be caused by “inserting a G-alpha protein defect, the pertussis toxin found in the D.P.T. vaccine, into genetically at-risk children”. This study also argues that the live viral measles vaccine (MMR) depletes a child’s existing supply of vitamin A and so has a negative impact on the retinoid receptors in the brain.
Megson, in an article entitled “Autism and Vaccinations”, reports that this G-Alpha protein defect causes:-
- Night blindness
- Problems seeing light-to-dark shading
- Problems perceiving what they are
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