Research summaries for autism therapy: diet

definition of diet: Diet is the use of food and drink to nourish and heal the body. Nutrients that are only obtained from the diet are called, essential nutrients.
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What is the Current Status of Research Concerning Use of Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet for Children Diagnosed with Autism?, Summarized Apr 29, 2009

Food and nutrition professionals can help parents of children with autism by making sure that children on special diets get important nutrients.

This short article was written as a response to a question of the month. The author notes that some parents use diet therapies such as yeast-free diet, gluten free diet, and casein free diet as treatments for autism. The gluten free, casein free diet is known as GFCF diet and is one of the most common autism interventions. The diet can be hard for parents to follow and the food may cost more than the common American diet. Two studies are now being done in Norway and in the United States to see if this diet helps children with autism. Read more...

Treatment Controversies in Autism, Summarized Mar 17, 2009

Research suggests that behavioral autism therapies (discrete trial training and naturalistic strategies) may be most helpful for children with autism.

This review article describes autism therapies and the research behind the therapies. The author calls on parents to avoid sensory integration therapy, diet therapy, and vitamin therapy. She notes that applied behavior analysis (ABA therapy) can improve autism symptoms and some children can make large gains with early ABA intervention. Above all, the therapy should be tailored to the child and the family. She calls for more research and careful thinking in order to find new treatments and test whether or not new treatments work. Read more...

The Ketogenic Diet: Uses in Epilepsy and Other Neurologic Illnesses, Summarized Mar 16, 2009

A high fat, low carbohydrate diet may improve behavior, especially in children with severe autism.

This review article describes the role of the high fat, low carbohydrate (ketogenic) diet as a treatment for many brain problems such as epilepsy, Alzheimer disease, and autism. There has been only one study on the use of the ketogenic diet as a treatment for children with autism. The children were in the study for 6 months, during which they had 4 weeks on the diet followed by two weeks off diet, followed by 4 weeks on diet, etc. The 18 children in the study lived on the island of Crete. Behavior was rated by a psychiatrist using a test known as the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS). Read more...

The Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet in Autism: An Overview with Clinical Implications, Summarized Feb 5, 2009

Parents of children with autism may be helped if nutritionists are prepared to discuss the pros and cons of the gluten-free, casein-free (GFCF) diet with them.

This review article describes the GFCF diet and the research that has been done to look at the effects of this diet on the symptoms of autism. The author notes that while there is not much research on the topic, parents feel an urgent need to make changes to help their child with autism. The author highlights questions that the parents and nutritionists can ask when deciding whether or not to try the GFCF diet. Does the family have enough money to purchase GFCF foods? Does the family have time to prepare GFCF foods? Read more...

Showing 17-20 of 68 results

Synonyms for diet include: autism diet, autistic diet, diet therapy, diets, essential nutrients, nutrients
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