Even in the past 3 years we have seen many scientific studies on the benefits of a healthy diet on behaviour and cognition in autism. Gluten-free, casein-free, and modified ketogenic are amongst the most recently studied. In clinical practice I use a specific autism diet that is a combination based on Derek McFabes research, the Nemechek protocol, GAPS, SCD, Paleo, modified keto….whatever you want to call all of these combined is essentially just feeding your child the most healthy, nutrient dense foods that you can get into them.
Many parents also have the huge hurdle of sensory issues and picky eating, this can make progress in making dietary changes very challenging, but I find that as the kids become healthier with their nutrient supplementation and ANY changes that you can make in their diet, they become more open to trying new foods and textures. This may even look like weaning from cow’s milk to a milk alternative. Start with giving them their normal milk and add a teaspoon of dairy alternative (I like almond, cashew or coconut the best), after a few days increase that teaspoon to a tablespoon and you find over time (slowly) that they have completely converted over to a dairy alternative.
A great way to start getting some healthier foods into their diet is using smoothies. The great thing about smoothies is that if you can find one or two that the kids like you can then start adding some veggies into them all blended up without them even knowing. Here are some great smoothies recipes for you to try in my 5-Day Smoothie Challenge for Autism, the ‘side effects’ include better digestion, increased cognition and understanding and better behaviour! Also great for the whole family, so while you’re getting your child healthy, you might as well also!
Take the 5-Day Smoothie Challenge for Autism here!
Dr. Danielle ND
