Autism is a childhood brain development disorder that causes difficulties with social interaction and communication, as well as other normal behavior patterns. The current thought in the medical community is that Autism is very likely a genetic disorder, although environmental factors, such as
food allergies may be an influencing factor.
Many alternative medical practitioners such as Naturopaths have suggested that food allergies can play a significant role in causing or worsening Autism.
Gluten (a wheat protein), and
Casein (a milk protein) are believed to worsen or even cause the symptoms of Autism by the body improperly breaking down these proteins into smaller proteins called peptides, which then act like narcotics to children with Autism. All foods that have been indicated as worsening Autism, include:
gluten,
casein,
food dyes,
soy, eggs, corn, tomatoes, eggplant, avocado, and red peppers. MealMixer's
Food Allergy Diet Planner helps you avoid any or all of these allergens and customize an
GFCF Diet (Autism Diet).
Unlike typical anaphylactic (IgE) food allergies, children on the Autism spectrum may suffer from IgG sensitivities. To learn more about this, see our
food allergies article.
Diets free from the above foods, mostly gluten-free and casein-free diets, have been studied for children with Autism. A recently well-designed (but small) study showed some improvement in Autistic traits in the children receiving a
Gluten-free casein-free diet. Larger studies are underway to confirm the results of this study and investigate all foods in the diet.