Who is an adult here & has a special diet for their auti

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Who is an adult here & has a special diet for their autism?

I'm wondering if it might improve some of my symptoms.

Adult (as much as I can be) but no special diet for any reasons.

No, but I might if you have any diet tips specifically for autism

I just bought some flax seed yesterday...have not started taking it yet and not sure if it will help my memory problems(which is why I plan on using it)

Adult. No special diet either for myself or my autistic kids. I tried gluten free with them, but it seemed to have no positive effects and just aggravated them because of its limitations.

No special diet for me or my children though I do have a gluten sensitivity/IBS and some issues with lactose that I'd likely benefit from the diet but too picky of an eater to follow it.

I've noticed I tend to feel better having added a lot of brown rice to my diet instead of the wheat noodles I used to make a lot of foods (I cook a lot because I have insulin resistance).

Brown rice is a non-gluten food. But it's hard to tell though because I still have gluten in my diet from other sources. Just not as much.

Am an adult (34), but my "special diet" is unintentional. My narrow taste, smell, and texture tolerances limit what I can stand to consume. So, my diet is an effect of my autism-I'm far too inflexible to modify anything voluntarily.
I'm kinda' like a koala that only lives eucalyptus or a panda that only eats bamboo. Wish I weren't this way, but an attitude of nonacceptance (being criticized my entire childhood for it) hasn't relieved me of my "picky" eating. No point in my pretending otherwise.

I don't handle simple carbs very well. I do better with diet of protein, fat and complex carbs.

If I eat simple carbs alone, I feel very ill.

I eat really poorly. Probably do better if
I ate something other than doggies and
burritos all the time.

Interesting a few people have mentioned carbs, I find I have to stay away from carbs too. I find caffeine makes me more chatty and social, but it can have a reverse effect if I have too much.

I seem to do somewhat better if I stay away from all the processed food and try to stick more to natural foods. I wish I could afford all organic, but that isn't currently possible..

Yes, and Yes. God, yes! A good diet is a godsend!! ! Trouble is what works for one may not work for another. The key is listening to your body, and using a bit of common sense.

I think people with ASDs are more senstive to diet, so they need first to get checked out for food allergies. Then they ought eliminate as much processed food as possible, in particular anything with:

1 - MSG, or monosodium glutamate, which may or may not be listed. It is only listed if it's been added in pure form. But it occurs in many additives as the result of industrial processing, which often employ high heat or enzymes that create MSG from the common amino acid L-glutamine. "Hidden" MSG comes in many forms, but mainly in forms of processed vegetable additives (mostly from soy or corn) or industrial byproducts (like hydrolyzed additives). If you see an ingredient listed that has been hydrolyzed, autolyzed, "malted," or "fermented" (which means treated with industrial enzymes, and not naturally fermented in most cases), it likey too is a source of hidden MSG.

2 - Processed sugars, like corn syrup, maltodextrin, dextrose, etc.

3 - Aritifical sweeteners, especially aspartamine, which like MSG, is an "excitotoxin" that can effect people with sensitive neuro-makeups more. I recently kicked my aspartamine habit, which wasn't easy, but worth it.

4 - Refined carbs, like white rice, processed potatos, and bleached flour. Because of the low fiber content of these carbs, these refined carbs can upset your blood sugar level and PH balance of your GI tract, making your metabolism more inefficiant and puts you at risk of many health problems. They are also very low in nutrition (even if "enriched") yet high in calories, so eating a lot of these carbs is like straving yourself while making yourself fat and unhealthy.

I am also of the opinion that people with ASDs should avoid soy (which contains hormones that mimic estrogen) and beef that comes from hormone-injected cattle, because the hormonal affect of these foods may be more severe in people who are more sensitive neurologically. However, I know this is a controversial viewpoint, especially with all the hype about soy and all the claims from the beef industry that these hormone injections are safe for humans. Whatever - my take is, these people aren't looking out for us ASD types. So consume at your own risk!

As for the much touted casein and gluten free diet, I honestly think avoiding what I list above should a proirity. If that doesn't work, then cut out gluten and casien. Honestly, I think people who do go casein/gluten free (as with many other diets) often end up cutting out so much proicecssed foods, that much of the benefits comes from that anyhow.


For myself, what I find I need is a diet that includes minimally processed meat and egg proteins (I'm allergic to certain vegetable proteins, like soy, corn and tree nuts), lots of whole fruits and veggies, varied sources of fats (oils, dairy, eggs, almonds, peanuts, meat), and occasional grains/legumes. I cook or prepare most of my food, so I know what I'm eating.

I eat about 6-8 serving of veggies daily, which is the "core" of my diet. I'll eat either raw or minimally cooked veggies with every meal. I find I function so much better if I get my veggies. One thing I have always struggled with is getting minerals I need - iron, calcium, potassium, etc. Supplements help but only so much. But eating leafy greens twice a day does the job (this includes kale, parsley, turnip greens, chicories, lettuces). I also find I need to eat at least one source of anthocyanins a day, the antioxidant found mostly in blue-red veggies and fruits like purple cabbage, radicchio (a personal favorite), red-leaf lettuces, blood oranges, blackberries, red grapes, and so forth.

Since veggies tend to be low in calories, I get most my calories from proteins, dairy, fats and fruits. On most days, I eat three small meals with three snacks inbetween, and a couple days a week, I limit my intake to under 1000 calories (I seem to respond well to occasional fasting/calorie restriction). If I eat any grains I try to eat whole grain and not very much at a time. If I snack on processed foods, I try to avoid eating too much at once or in a day (I seem to tolerate processed foods if I don't eat them regularly or gorge myself on them).

I have found that fats are very important to my diet. While saturated fats are said to be very bad and must be avoided, I find I need to eat some saturated fats along with other healthier fats. If not, I feel weird and get insane cravings butter. LOL. I usually eat a bit of cheese or have a pat butter with something, but not much more than that. That seems to be enough. I also take an Omega 3 supplement as well as cook with healthy oils like olive and canola oils.

Well I was put on a special diet for autistics by my doctor, but I quite following it. For one thing the specialized stuff is expensive and also the non-gluten stuff tastes bad. Rice breads, noodles and flours are also terribly constipating.

By if you want to know the specifics for yourself I was told to drop all gluten products and dairy. And stop everything I test positive to in an allergy test which was about 16 things. I was also told to drink UltraInflammX twice daily because autistics are suppose to have systemic inflamation issues. I did feel better on it, but a two week supply is $60. Also was told to get something called powder pig duodendum because it heals the brain or something nother. Sorry I forgot why the dr said she gave it to her autistic child.

It should be more healthy to stay away from food-coloring like what the manufactures puts in stuff like trix yogart, candy, and colored beverages with lots of sugar(pop).

Stay away from splenda. I don't really understand splenda other than its a hybrid sugar molecule with a chlorine atom holding the two sugar molecules together in one clump.

When you buy things, remember to read the lable of the ingredience. Usually that reduced calarie stuff is altered with these kinds of products.

Some supplements that may have mild nervous system calming properties are L-theanin (a vitamin water product called b-calmed has this ingredient) and Taurine which may be ordered online or bought from a health food store. (Taruine is found also combined with my guess is 80mg of caffeine in Red-bull energy drink)