A Healthy Diet
Dietary changes and special diets, like the GFCF Diet, are a valuable part of a program of biomedical treatments for autistic children.
Many autistic children have gastrointestinal (GI) disorders which mean that they have problems digesting food properly, or are “allergic” to certain foods. “Elimination” type diets can work wonders at improving GI problems and other autism symptoms. Examples of elimination diets are the GFCF Diet and the SCD, which both remove gluten and casein from a child’s diet.
However, there are simple dietary changes which can be made before following a strict diet program. Little changes that can have a big impact on your child’s health and behavior.
Think about your child’s diet. Is your child eating a healthy, well-balanced diet which is rich in essential nutrients? Be honest.
The Modern Diet
Many children in these modern times are well fed, but actually malnourished. They are eating plenty of food, but much of it is junk food. This type of food is bad for their bodies, has empty calories and has no nutritional value at all.
Even if you are avoiding giving your child the obvious junk food, you may not realize what artificial colors, preservatives, flavors and fillers are in the everyday foods that they are consuming.
It’s not your fault – good marketing by food companies, combined with our busy lifestyles, mean that many of us are relying on prepared foods or ready meals.
Many studies have shown that the “Standard American Diet” is too high in fat, sugars and salt, and too low in vitamins, minerals and fiber. This is not only causing obesity, it is also putting us and our children at risk of cancer, heart disease and disorders like autism.
A Healthy Diet
No-one is intending to malnourish their children on purpose, we’ve just lost sight of what a healthy diet is. Here are some tips to help you make your child’s diet healthier:-
- Get back to basics – Make your own pasta sauces, pizzas, soups etc. It’s easier than you think and you can make batches at weekends, which can then be frozen and used in the week.
- Fruit and vegetables – Aim to give your child 1-2 servings of fruit per day and 3-4 of vegetables. Use fruit pieces or vegetable sticks as snacks, mix fruit with cereal, hide vegetables in pasta sauces, make fruit smoothies, add more vegetables to casseroles etc.
- Reduce sugar – Cut down on sugary foods, but don’t replace with chemical sweeteners which can cause even more problems. 48% of parents in a survey (Autism Research Institute) found that reducing sugar helped improve autism symptoms.
- Protein – Ensure that your child is eating 1-2 servings of protein per day. Protein foods are dairy products, eggs, nuts, beans, meat and poultry. Amino acids in protein are vital for many functions in the body.
- Avoid junk food – Avoid obvious junk and read labels of prepared foods so that you can reduce your child’s intake of artificial colors, preservatives and flavors.
- Increase intake of organic foods – Organic foods are grown or produced without the use of pesticides and other nasty chemicals. Toxins, such as pesticides, have been linked to autism and other neurological disorders.
Putting these tips and ideas into action may take some effort and time on your part, but your child’s health and well-being makes it well worth it.
Tags: gastrintestinal, GFCF Diet, gut, healthy diet, junk food, SCD
July 17th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
interesting material, where such topics do you find? I will often go
July 17th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I am glad you like it. You could also click on the tag on the left hand side calle ‘Diet’ for all the blogs that I have written on GFCF diet, SCD, junk food, and I/m sure you could also google them if you want some general ideas of those diets. Why not try out the DAN website?