Low Carb Diet and Autism

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Has anyone ever tried a low carb diet for autism? I heard that some diets can help autism like a low carb diet can help prevent seziures as in how going gluten free is suppose to help autism? any thoughts?

Not "for autism" specifically, but it does help me to not be cranky because my blood sugar doesn't drop.

starcats--would you please elaborate on your low carb diet? I am hypoglycemic too but I have to distinguish between simple and complex carbs. Simple carbs that I avoid are sugar and white flour BUT complex carbs, like brown rice, beans, whole wheat flour, I strive to get plenty of those as they help maintain a blood sugar. So if you are cutting out all carbs, how are you keeping your blood sugar level up? Thanks.

I've been doing keto for the last month and a half or so. I eat under 20 grams carbs per day, none of them sugars. I eat bacon and eggs for breakfast with an avocado, tuna or egg salad or pulled pork, etc for lunch, and salmon or chicken wings with a big salad with a variety of vegetables and olive oil and vinegar for dinner.
I had read some research says it can help with Tourette's and other movement and seizure disorders. I haven't noticed much difference. I feel healthy though.

I'm on keto.

Carbs aren't bad, refined sugars are what's bad. I've been vegan for 7 years, and find I do best if I don't skimp on fruits and starches.

Your body doesn't care about blood sugar. It cares about energy. Blood sugar is just a means to an end. If you deprive your body of enough carbohydrates your body switches to a different mode of getting energy. Instead of using insulin to signal your body to take up glucose for energy, your liver converts fatty acids into ketones which it uses for energy.

Hi, seaweasel.

I have autism, along with a bunch of other chronic conditions - including insomnia with lack of dream recall, depression and anxiety, digestive distress and muscle spasm with muscle pain. I was taking four supplements, all of which seemed related to short chain fatty acids which should be produced by the gut from the food you eat.

It's taken me decades to find something that is really working for me, and that's a diet change.

First, on the advice of a doctor of mine, I went gluten free, and I felt some relief from my muscle pain. So I went on youtube and typed in, "gluten free, autism" and I got a whole bunch of videos by people with autism who weren't just gluten free, but grain free and dairy free, and they felt a lot better.

I decided to try grain free, and my pain went from a 6 or 7 every day down to about a 3.

At my follow up, I talked to the doctor, and mentioned I was thinking about going dairy free, but didn't understand the connection between grains and dairy, and he said the word was "exorphins". Exorphins are these substances that act like morphine when ingested, and some people are sensitive to them.

Exorphin containing foods that I know of are: Gluten containing grains, all dairy products, all soy products, and spinach.

I stopped eating all of that, along with foods that I seem to be sensitive to: most sugary fruit and juices, desserts, beans, and some foods which contain "salicylates", like cucumber, spearmint and rosemary.

I also increased my water intake, and I get more vitamin C from natural sources.

At this point, I think that my muscle pain is 90% better, (down to a 1) as long as I still take it easy, and I'm having slightly more dreams, and my sleep feels more restful, and I sleep later in the morning, even though my sleep is still fitful and I wake up multiple times a night. My digestive pain and distress has gone from happening three or four times a day, to zero times ever, unless I accidentally eat the wrong thing. I always thought it was normal to be in terrible pain after you eat!

I tried to cut out all simple sugars, but got really sick, and so now I want to ask a doctor about diabetes and low blood sugar and things like that. Seems like it could be a possibility, along with a sensitive digestive system for certain foods, maybe due to increased intestinal permeability, which seems to be common in autism.

Like some of the others have said in this thread, having cut out the grains and sugary foods, I have found that I need to eat a lot more protein with fat, and I need to eat more often. But I feel so much better, it's worth it!

And as a bonus, I don't have to take any of those four supplements anymore, and our grocery bill seems often to be cheaper.

Everybody's body is different, so the only way to figure out what you can and can't tolerate in your diet is to really simplify it, and then one by one try various foods, and pay attention to how you feel afterward.

take care.

* I forgot to say I added sources of fiber I wasn't getting before, too. Ground and whole flax seed, Guar, Psyllium Husks, Acacia sawdust/cellulose, and maple sawdust/cellulose.

Not for autism, but over this summer I shifted to a low grain diet, other than oatmeal for breakfast.

Lots of corn, beans, meat, more veggies than I was getting, fruit too (technically). Snacking largely on cheese or pickles. Immediately stopped having heartburn issues, except when I cheated or had alcohol at dinner or later. Has also helped keep my blood sugars feeling more consistent.

Combined with some extra exercise and a dramatic reduction in stress, I lost around 20lbs (not quite 10% of my body weight, still hoping to lose about that much again, after the holidays).

I'm on a paleo diet, it is effectively low carb and gluten and casein free. I'm on it to feel healthier, which it definitely does do, can't say it has any affect on symptoms of autism though.

Keto, eating very low carbs, low protein, and high (healthy) fat. That way your body uses fat/ketones for fuel. It's probably a good idea to read up on the keto calculator first, and track what you eat so you do it in a healthy way. Some people use it as an excuse to eat a ton of butter and hot dogs, that's not really the point. There are also a few days that your body takes to adjust that feel pretty bad. I do no dairy keto/low carb paleo. I eat a lot of green veggies, eggs, coconut and avocado, and 100% grass fed meat and save the fat to cook with. And a lot of water. I spend a little more on food, but I never get low blood sugar crashes anymore. I used to have to eat every 2 hours at least, now I can go all day and I have to remind myself to eat.

To the vegan, no carbs aren't bad. The are healthy and unhealthy carbs just like fat. My problem eating vegan, or even paleo with too many carby veggies, is that I get hypoglycemic very fast. My mom had a lot of food intolerance, as does my child, and I exercise a lot, so this might just be what works for my particular body.