Diet ?

[ladydragon]

I was wondering if anyone who has autism/aspergers/adhd, ect.. If they have experience with changing their diet and did it help to make some of the less desirable symptoms of your condition better/ more managerable?

I have read online about parents who put their autistic kid on the dairy/ gluten free diet, they often say how great it helps with their kids moods. Being an aspie and the parent of an aspie, I would rather know what the experience is from other aspies perspectives. My son's doctor (who is also an aspie) said that there isn't any proven statistics on the helpfulness of that diet. If it would help myself and my son to do better or feel better that is one thing, but is it worth taking away the things that we enjoy for food?

Hope that makes sense, I am suffering from allergy season so am a bit foggy-brained:wacko:.

Thank you

 

[Arashi222]

My thought on it is that if you kids and you are sensitive to foods or allergic maybe switch to the diet but other wise I wouldn't. I mean I have removed a lot of stuff from my diet because of Food Allergies I have. But it might be good to see if you kids are allergic or food sensitive and see if it helps. Just my two cents. I feel a lot better physically now that I have removed my food allergies.

 

[Becky]

Because of my depression I've lost weight anyway.

I would like to know about a healthy aspergers diet though before I actually become an ana.

 

[Soup]

Hi Becky!

Arashi222's comment makes a lot of sense in that if you do have any food allergies & sensitivities they can affect you in a myriad of hard to predict ways. Eliminating food sensitivities as a problem will help you devise a sensible eating plan you feel comfortable with.

I've always been small & on the thin side verging on too thin if I'm not careful but I've never been Ana. What made a huge difference for me was working with nutritional supplementing to compensate for the shortcomings of my narrower than average diet.

- Adding 300mg of iron daily made a big difference in my energy levels. This meant being less tired, foggy headed & cranky & therefore better able to cope.

- Adding B100 1x/day really worked wonders for me. I found myself feeling less obsessed & more in control of any impulses I had. My unbearable cravings for sweet empty calories went away. It was GONE in 2 weeks flat & this was a problem I'd had since childhood! There are orthomolecular doctors treating serious mental illnesses using B vitamins & they're getting noteworthy results. I've suggested this to a few others & those who tried it are convinced. I feel more in control of myself & my mood.

- I drink 2L of water every day. Sometimes I add a little lemon & some stevia to make lemonade for a change. This benefits of this are hard to describe. My body feels more like a well-oiled machine. I digest food better, sleep better & feel more energized. Severe unbearable fatigue was a huge problem for me. Now, I become comfortably tired in a more normal way. My skin is much less dry & itchy.

- Another thing I did was to greatly increase my vitamin D intake. This made a difference in my skin too & I feel more mentally rested-if that makes sense. Being an Aspie is exhausting at times because of the pressure the world imposes on us. I cope better now.

- I take Omega 3 supplements. These helped with brain fog, makes the skin glow & has heart healthy benefits.

As far as diet goes, I've cut sweets (in my case certain candies & cakes) down to a bare minimum. Chips & other salty treats are a rarity I enjoy in extreme moderation.
I never have coffee > 1x/day & never after 15:00 or the caffeine can affect sleep. Processed foods are out as is MSG. I eat a lot of fruit of different types every day. Since I'm allergic to all seafood, the omega 3 gives me the missing nutrient.

Many of the most tempting foods can exacerbate feelings of anxiety. The can make us hyper & then send us crashing. They can make us jittery & moody. These small modifications make a world of difference.

 

[Jesse]

Hi, thanks for sharing your experience Soup. I'm glad that you have found some things that really seem to work for you.
My wife is keen for me to try a gluten free diet to see if it helps reduce the strength of my AS traits.

I don't have any food allergies that I am aware of and so I'm not confident that changing my diet will make any difference whatsoever. I am also concerned because we are on a very tight budget and I know that going green Gluten free would push up our food costs quite a bit.

Like ladydragon, before I agree to giving it a try I would love to hear what others have found out. Has going Gluten free helped anyone and how many of you have tried it and not seen any difference?