{"id":11613,"date":"2009-09-22T01:00:27","date_gmt":"2009-09-22T06:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/?p=11613"},"modified":"2009-09-21T11:59:44","modified_gmt":"2009-09-21T16:59:44","slug":"the-feingold-diet-for-autism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/09\/the-feingold-diet-for-autism\/","title":{"rendered":"The Feingold Diet for Autism"},"content":{"rendered":"

The week of September 20 is Autism Awareness Week<\/a> at DietsInReview.com.
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Guest Blogger Karianna writes at The Karianna Spectrum<\/a>. Her oldest son was diagnosed with PDD-nos when he was in pre-school.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"picky<\/a>Food is sustenance, but it also has sensory and social components. All three of these come into play for individuals on the autistic spectrum.<\/p>\n

Many kids with autism are affected by food in ways that neurotypical children are not. My son is on the Feingold Program<\/a>, a diet that avoids certain salicylates and petroleum-based additives. Other children have found success with gluten-free\/ casein-free<\/a> diets, particularly when they also have celiac disease<\/a>. Some autistic kids might have lots of food sensitivities, while others may have none.<\/p>\n

Even without a specific food concern, kids on the spectrum typically have more pronounced reactions to food, so eating healthfully is even more crucial than for a typical kid who might be “off” after lots of junk food or without a well-rounded diet.<\/p>\n

Kids on the spectrum frequently have strong sensory reactions to food. Common concerns include taste, color, and texture. Something mildly seasoned may seem overwhelmingly spicy to someone on the spectrum. A few little lumps in food might be painful or uncomfortable. And then there is the classic preference for a certain color. While the “I’ll only eat white things” might be a common toddler stage, it is a more pervasive problem for autistic kids. Fear of the unknown definitely translates to food, so creating a well-rounded palate is a challenge. For those who use medication to control some of the impulsivity or aggression symptoms of autism, appetite can be a big concern. Drugs such as Risperdal can significantly increase appetite, causing obesity, whereas stimulant-based pharmaceuticals like Ritalin or Focalin can suppress appetite<\/a> dramatically.<\/p>\n

Eating is a social activity. Kids on the spectrum usually already have social challenges, but a picky palate, a special diet, or a depressed appetite can create major challenges for family gatherings, birthday parties, or at school. Situations that would already be stressful become doubly-so when these food-related issues are added. But, despite the hurdles, the behavioral benefits to eating well are profound, so addressing the food-related challenges for an individual on the spectrum is important.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The week of September 20 is Autism Awareness Week at DietsInReview.com. Guest Blogger Karianna writes at The Karianna Spectrum. Her oldest son was diagnosed with PDD-nos when he was in pre-school. Food is sustenance, but it also has sensory and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1367,3695],"tags":[1489,2428,7287,2339,2417,3245,23,29],"class_list":["post-11613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-childrens-health","category-diet-and-nutrition","tag-autism","tag-autism-awareness","tag-celiac-disease","tag-feingold-diet","tag-gfcf-diet","tag-gluten-free-diet","tag-guest-blog","tag-nutrition"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11613"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12286,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11613\/revisions\/12286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}