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Dietary deficiencies and supplementation

Interesting. Some of the top researchers in the realm of autism are from the UK. I believe Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen is still at Cambridge. Perhaps someone at Cambridge would be able to point you in the right direction.
is there a way for me to ask a question so that someone would say I don't know !or no! or I know exactly what you want! ,I confuse people, would like to learn .
 
is there a way for me to ask a question so that someone would say I don't know !or no! or I know exactly what you want! ,I confuse people, would like to learn .
LOL! Seriously, though,...you are on a social media site. Two, decades of working within the medical field, it is very common to not have the answers,...but that does not stop anyone. Rather than shrugging our shoulders and being content with not knowing,...we spend a lot of time finding out those answers. The typical mindset of people in healthcare is, "Someone knows." The information may not be at your finger tips at the moment, but someone, somewhere has the information. Looking up scientific journals is actually the easy part,...the harder part is communicating with the researchers, themselves,...but many of us do. I have gotten calls in the middle of my shift from physicians thousands of miles away,...on research I did from years ago. Literally, the physician called me from the bedside,...put me right on the spot,...and I had to remember things from years ago because a life mattered right then and there. So, when I say contact one of the top researchers in the field,...because he is in your own "backyard",...that is not an unordinary thing I would do myself. Many people who are at the tops of their fields are often neuro-divergent themselves,...often on the spectrum,...and when they are speaking with someone also interested in their "special interest",...they will talk your ear off. :)
 
A lot of us have ARFID. You may have that, too. I know kids with feeding tubes, but you are right, adults are on their own.

Yes, we do eat peculiarly, indeed. I eat about 5 foods and yes, have to supplement. I saw a dietician who said the protein powders are perfectly ok. So I use them a lot. Food confuses me. I do take vitamins, too. I am sure I would be seriously deficient. I have had a lot of issues with blood counts, etc.

Can you do protein powder to make up for things? I know what you mean, though. Whole pack of rice meant for 4 or entire pack of rice cakes meant for 12 with 12 servings of arsenic! And nothing else!

Do you veer toward underweight, overweight, or normal? I veer toward under which is why I use the powder. I can't eat right without it.

I do fear how a lot of us will end up.......Till then, here's to 3 apples and maybe 4......

I started eating protein powder so I could eat less food. Just drink the powder with water and make eating as simple as possible. My wish is that I could not eat at all or just drink quickly what I need every day. I really wish I could. Eating always hurts my stomach and it's messy and expensive. I do not want to eat or drink anything but I have to.

I keep trying to find one thing I can eat which is why I had 100 cans of peas, then spinach, beans. I ate cereal every day for years until I had eaten nearly 500 boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats. I just want on thing I can get down and be done with.

For me, being autistic is so hard. I am so sensitive to everything and I am not interested in most things that are common or popular. I was always made fun of for how I ate. I was just trying to make it less unpleasant.

If anyone does know of a way to live on a liquid diet, please tell me. I don't care how it tastes I just want to drink it fast and get it down and be done with this annoying thing of eating.

It does make me feel less lonely finding out about other autistic people eating so differently too. I wish people would not make fun of us. We are just doing what we have to.
 
I started eating protein powder so I could eat less food. Just drink the powder with water and make eating as simple as possible. My wish is that I could not eat at all or just drink quickly what I need every day. I really wish I could. Eating always hurts my stomach and it's messy and expensive. I do not want to eat or drink anything but I have to.

I keep trying to find one thing I can eat which is why I had 100 cans of peas, then spinach, beans. I ate cereal every day for years until I had eaten nearly 500 boxes of Honey Bunches of Oats. I just want on thing I can get down and be done with.

For me, being autistic is so hard. I am so sensitive to everything and I am not interested in most things that are common or popular. I was always made fun of for how I ate. I was just trying to make it less unpleasant.

If anyone does know of a way to live on a liquid diet, please tell me. I don't care how it tastes I just want to drink it fast and get it down and be done with this annoying thing of eating.

It does make me feel less lonely finding out about other autistic people eating so differently too. I wish people would not make fun of us. We are just doing what we have to.

Wow! That is so much like me. The process of eating is horrible, food itself is toxic, repulsive, monstrous, ruinous! I have met people who get by with the food, but you really seem to get what I feel. Feel is a foreign horrifying enemy of catastrophic proportions and it has all but ruined my life. AND for the reasons you mentioned, not fear of fat or something banal and stupid. It is a MONSTER, that's why.
 
I actually love food, BUT, a lot of the time, I am finding that I am eating just because I have to, because bad things happen if I don't. I don't get any particular amount of pleasure out of eating lunch before work - I find something I can stuff my face with that will keep me from getting dizzy and shaky (I don't have blood sugar issues, but anyone who goes almost 24 hours without eating will have low blood sugar).

I've never been one for eating breakfast, no matter what I do, I just don't like it most of the time. I will eat breakfast if I'm travelling but breakfast isn't part of my normal routine. It never has been. My mom learned to make smoothies thinking she could coax me into eating something before school...I obliged for one school year at least. But my stomach has just never really been ready for food until almost lunch time. American "breakfast food" tends to be really heavy anyway. I only force the issue (of breakfast) if I have a big day ahead and need the energy.

Cereal is a good idea! I love the stuff, but (almost) never eat it for some reason.

I've tried protein powders, and some of them are really good, but being *just* protein they don't have any of the other nutrients I need so they're not good meal replacements. I used them a lot when I was lifting weights though. I also tried Soylent (a meal replacement drink) - it actually kind of upset my stomach and I never even finished the container that I bought. Threw it away. It was very much "liquid food" and was too heavy. There's another one (Huel) that I haven't tried yet. And maybe more, now (it's been a while since I looked).
 
I actually love food, BUT, a lot of the time, I am finding that I am eating just because I have to, because bad things happen if I don't. I don't get any particular amount of pleasure out of eating lunch before work - I find something I can stuff my face with that will keep me from getting dizzy and shaky (I don't have blood sugar issues, but anyone who goes almost 24 hours without eating will have low blood sugar).

I've never been one for eating breakfast, no matter what I do, I just don't like it most of the time. I will eat breakfast if I'm travelling but breakfast isn't part of my normal routine. It never has been. My mom learned to make smoothies thinking she could coax me into eating something before school...I obliged for one school year at least. But my stomach has just never really been ready for food until almost lunch time. American "breakfast food" tends to be really heavy anyway. I only force the issue (of breakfast) if I have a big day ahead and need the energy.

Cereal is a good idea! I love the stuff, but (almost) never eat it for some reason.

I've tried protein powders, and some of them are really good, but being *just* protein they don't have any of the other nutrients I need so they're not good meal replacements. I used them a lot when I was lifting weights though. I also tried Soylent (a meal replacement drink) - it actually kind of upset my stomach and I never even finished the container that I bought. Threw it away. It was very much "liquid food" and was too heavy. There's another one (Huel) that I haven't tried yet. And maybe more, now (it's been a while since I looked).
Try flavoured porridges(porages)Quaker make them in the UK ,or wheat cereals (in the UK :weetabix(ground down wheat, largish tablet shapes),readybrek(oat based),you add heated liquid to them, not a shock to your body temp.
 
Try flavoured porridges(porages)Quaker make them in the UK ,or wheat cereals (in the UK :weetabix(ground down wheat, largish tablet shapes),readybrek(oat based),you add heated liquid to them, not a shock to your body temp.

I'll check it out! Thanks! I have tried "instant oatmeal" before and found it seriously lacking - bit it's been a good few years and it's probably improved.
 
I'll check it out! Thanks! I have tried "instant oatmeal" before and found it seriously lacking - bit it's been a good few years and it's probably improved.
Bland commercially prepackaged foods are designed so a young baby could digest them,you need to change the recipe to your exact requirements add vanilla or fruit if you want it really sweet try coconut or rice milk !
 
Bland commercially prepackaged foods are designed so a young baby could digest them,you need to change the recipe to your exact requirements add vanilla or fruit if you want it really sweet try coconut or rice milk !

It's not that it's bland, it's that it's sickly sweet and slimy. Bland I could handle (or indeed, add things to) but the texture and weird chemical sweetness can't be fixed.
 
It's not that it's bland, it's that it's sickly sweet and slimy. Bland I could handle (or indeed, add things to) but the texture and weird chemical sweetness can't be fixed.
I forgot about America, readybrek is bland you would probably like porridge with salt .
 
Wow! That is so much like me. The process of eating is horrible, food itself is toxic, repulsive, monstrous, ruinous! I have met people who get by with the food, but you really seem to get what I feel. Feel is a foreign horrifying enemy of catastrophic proportions and it has all but ruined my life. AND for the reasons you mentioned, not fear of fat or something banal and stupid. It is a MONSTER, that's why.

Eating is awful. I mean for me. Lots of people seem to really like it but I wish I never had to eat a thing. /E
Wow! That is so much like me. The process of eating is horrible, food itself is toxic, repulsive, monstrous, ruinous! I have met people who get by with the food, but you really seem to get what I feel. Feel is a foreign horrifying enemy of catastrophic proportions and it has all but ruined my life. AND for the reasons you mentioned, not fear of fat or something banal and stupid. It is a MONSTER, that's why.

Food has always been my enemy.
 
I actually love food, BUT, a lot of the time, I am finding that I am eating just because I have to, because bad things happen if I don't. I don't get any particular amount of pleasure out of eating lunch before work - I find something I can stuff my face with that will keep me from getting dizzy and shaky (I don't have blood sugar issues, but anyone who goes almost 24 hours without eating will have low blood sugar).

I've never been one for eating breakfast, no matter what I do, I just don't like it most of the time. I will eat breakfast if I'm travelling but breakfast isn't part of my normal routine. It never has been. My mom learned to make smoothies thinking she could coax me into eating something before school...I obliged for one school year at least. But my stomach has just never really been ready for food until almost lunch time. American "breakfast food" tends to be really heavy anyway. I only force the issue (of breakfast) if I have a big day ahead and need the energy.

Cereal is a good idea! I love the stuff, but (almost) never eat it for some reason.

I've tried protein powders, and some of them are really good, but being *just* protein they don't have any of the other nutrients I need so they're not good meal replacements. I used them a lot when I was lifting weights though. I also tried Soylent (a meal replacement drink) - it actually kind of upset my stomach and I never even finished the container that I bought. Threw it away. It was very much "liquid food" and was too heavy. There's another one (Huel) that I haven't tried yet. And maybe more, now (it's been a while since I looked).

I was very curious about Soylent. I hoped it would solve my problem but I have not tried it. That it made you feel bad is a warning to me. My stomach is already so sensitive. If you try Huel, which I have not heard of, I hope you will write about it.

The only thing that ever seemed to work for me was when for three or four months I ate nothing but cottage cheese and avocados. I loved not having a variation. Knowing what I would have made it so much easier. It took a while for me to stop liking having the avocado so much but my stomach did not hurt all those months and my digestion was much better. I hope I can try it again.
 
Try flavoured porridges(porages)Quaker make them in the UK ,or wheat cereals (in the UK :weetabix(ground down wheat, largish tablet shapes),readybrek(oat based),you add heated liquid to them, not a shock to your body temp.

I eat oatmeal every morning. At one time I had almost 50 pounds in boxes. When I eat something I usually eat it every day for a very long time.

When you talk about porridge I think what we have is something called Cream of Wheat. Very mild and very easy to cook. Maybe when I finish my oatmeal I will eat porridge instead. It has almost no flavor and the smell is okay for me. I would love it if I could eat that every day, drink protein powder and figure something else to add just for nutrition.
 
Bland commercially prepackaged foods are designed so a young baby could digest them,you need to change the recipe to your exact requirements add vanilla or fruit if you want it really sweet try coconut or rice milk !

I think baby food would be very expensive to eat in adult quantities otherwise I think it would be a very good idea. I do not like food but I also can't eat food that tastes really bad. I have tried some plain things like canned tomatoes and I could not eat them.
 
I was very curious about Soylent. I hoped it would solve my problem but I have not tried it. That it made you feel bad is a warning to me. My stomach is already so sensitive. If you try Huel, which I have not heard of, I hope you will write about it.

The only thing that ever seemed to work for me was when for three or four months I ate nothing but cottage cheese and avocados. I loved not having a variation. Knowing what I would have made it so much easier. It took a while for me to stop liking having the avocado so much but my stomach did not hurt all those months and my digestion was much better. I hope I can try it again.
I am going to try that. Right now I have a meal replacement (Tree of Life without Stevia). I can eat rice cakes and puffed rice. I do eat oatmeal, too. Nightmare all around. I am going to try avacados and cottage cheese. There is only one brand without all the gums. I think it is Daisy. I will report. Thank you!
 
I am going to try that. Right now I have a meal replacement (Tree of Life without Stevia). I can eat rice cakes and puffed rice. I do eat oatmeal, too. Nightmare all around. I am going to try avacados and cottage cheese. There is only one brand without all the gums. I think it is Daisy. I will report. Thank you!

I like Daisy sour cream but I have not tried their cottage cheese. The only one I liked was Knudsen low fat or whole fat. I want to eat it again, today I looked at it in the store but I was worried about the cholesterol. I once tested high and did not know why but I changed my diet and went down to a good level. I actually bought some avocados today. Maybe I will try the cottage cheese again. I was incredibly happy to have my stomach aches go away.

If you try it I hope it works well for you.
 
What has worked best for us (me and my kids) is a combination of b and d vitamins, liquid magnesium, and homemade breakfast bars that are a combination of dates, nuts, healthy fats, some dried berries, seeds, quinoa, oats, and cocoa. It takes a lot of planning to make, but the batch lasts a couple of weeks and it's a great combination of carbs, fat, and protein in the morning.

There are a lot of ingredients that go into those bars, but protein powders (the 5 or 6 kinds that I've tried) make me sick, so the bars are a replacement. I originally developed the recipe for a friend I had who would often forget to eat and get faint later in the day. He was vegan and I have Celiacs, so the quinoa is the key ingredient, as quinoa is a complete protein.

My 16-year-old forgets to eat, too, and recently fainted in the hallway. We're tracking their food intake and planning some eating times with more nutrient-dense foods, with some success so far.

We like to cook in our family, but we hate to come up with meals. For a while this year, we did the Blue Apron meal service for part of our cooking, which gave us ingredients and recipes. Me and Mx. 16 love sameness, my youngest needs variety, so it was a good enough compromise.

Now we source ingredients from the recipe cards and have cancelled the service. The ingredients list helps keep me organized when I plan a shopping trip, and the recipe itself is a fairly balanced meal.

What I wouldn't give for a nice, thick slice of sourdough bread, though...

I sort of feel like the original intent of the post was lost for a bit there. Vitamins b, d, and magnesium. Homemade breakfast bars. Keep forgetting to add more greens into my diet. Hope you find something that works.
 
What has worked best for us (me and my kids) is a combination of b and d vitamins, liquid magnesium, and homemade breakfast bars that are a combination of dates, nuts, healthy fats, some dried berries, seeds, quinoa, oats, and cocoa. It takes a lot of planning to make, but the batch lasts a couple of weeks and it's a great combination of carbs, fat, and protein in the morning.

There are a lot of ingredients that go into those bars, but protein powders (the 5 or 6 kinds that I've tried) make me sick, so the bars are a replacement. I originally developed the recipe for a friend I had who would often forget to eat and get faint later in the day. He was vegan and I have Celiacs, so the quinoa is the key ingredient, as quinoa is a complete protein.

My 16-year-old forgets to eat, too, and recently fainted in the hallway. We're tracking their food intake and planning some eating times with more nutrient-dense foods, with some success so far.

We like to cook in our family, but we hate to come up with meals. For a while this year, we did the Blue Apron meal service for part of our cooking, which gave us ingredients and recipes. Me and Mx. 16 love sameness, my youngest needs variety, so it was a good enough compromise.

Now we source ingredients from the recipe cards and have cancelled the service. The ingredients list helps keep me organized when I plan a shopping trip, and the recipe itself is a fairly balanced meal.

What I wouldn't give for a nice, thick slice of sourdough bread, though...

I sort of feel like the original intent of the post was lost for a bit there. Vitamins b, d, and magnesium. Homemade breakfast bars. Keep forgetting to add more greens into my diet. Hope you find something that works.

It's great you found something that works. I think you are lucky. I think it took a lot of hard work but luck is a thing we can't make happen with hard work alone. I have worked so hard for so long and I haven't gotten lucky yet unless it turns out the avocados and cottage cheese is something I could do every few months for a while.

Tomorrow I am mostly giving up on food and plan to eat peas and protein powder. If I can, I will go to the store and get the cottage cheese and some ripe avocados and try that again.

Being autistic is so hard. I've always thought people thought I was being picky or immature. They have no idea that I am just trying to not be miserable because something makes me feel so awful. Autistic people don't prefer a fabric or a texture for silly reasons, it so they can find something they can stand. I am sorry for saying it again but it is so hard being autistic.

I love the good parts, how I can enjoy things so deeply. But that sensitivity also means something I can't tolerate makes me suffer. I know other autistic people understand but normal people do not.

I do not like eating peas for breakfast or the other silly things I do. It's how I manage in the sensory world. I am soul tired of the struggle but it is how it is.

Thank you for listening.
 
I was very curious about Soylent. I hoped it would solve my problem but I have not tried it. That it made you feel bad is a warning to me. My stomach is already so sensitive. If you try Huel, which I have not heard of, I hope you will write about it.

The only thing that ever seemed to work for me was when for three or four months I ate nothing but cottage cheese and avocados. I loved not having a variation. Knowing what I would have made it so much easier. It took a while for me to stop liking having the avocado so much but my stomach did not hurt all those months and my digestion was much better. I hope I can try it again.

I actually ordered some Huel powder today, it should be here next week or the week after. I will let you know!
 
I'll check it out! Thanks! I have tried "instant oatmeal" before and found it seriously lacking - bit it's been a good few years and it's probably improved.
I think baby food would be very expensive to eat in adult quantities otherwise I think it would be a very good idea. I do not like food but I also can't eat food that tastes really bad. I have tried some plain things like canned tomatoes and I could not eat them.
What I meant was anybody any age can eat these foods! but! they(manufacturers specifically Heinz in the uk) keep in mind a young baby might eat them\ be fed them ,porridge is porridge oats ,your cream of wheat sounds like readybrek but with wheat instead of oats.do you have high cholesterol? it can make you nauseous,try English cucumber it's very bland,courgettes(zucchini)are also bland ,crackers we call them cream crackers(manufactured by Jacobs ,supermarkets also manufacture them in the uk) ,matza(Jewish foods section) crackers are also very bland and dry and low fat.
Apparently soda crackers are very similar.
 

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