Animal Nutrition And Autism: The Surprising Connection

[lynnmcdonald]

I had a non verbal 3.5 yo and I took him off carbs first 6 months - used CDO and at the end of the 6 months when I learned that CBD can be helpful (and I’m in the U.K. so our cbd has no thc) I added in cbd to his daily regime and after one week of that he was speaking in full sentences like he had NEVER had a problem with his speech. He also started socialising normally with the other children at his nursery school indeed became the life and soul of the nursery class. It was nothing short of a miracle. I don’t believe he was in ketosis during any of this and certainly had not been since then and is still absolutely fine - took out all grains, potatoes, rice, peas, beans, lentils, nuts and dairy at the time and after he started speaking I cautiously began reintroducing foods (butter was the first one I added back in). He kept eggs and meat and some fruit and veg. Knowing what I know now I would go more carnivore if I had known but in hindsight I think I did a great job given I was horrified how bad his symptoms were. Honestly do not know what he would be like now (he is nearly 10) if I had done nothing. Blessed to have found a way forward to have helped him. I might add I still keep all my kids away from nuts, peas, beans and lentils in particular and never force any of them to eat veg or fruit or what a standard diet is made of. They are mostly meat eaters my 5 children though none of them are strict carnivore like myself.

[luciavasile]

My son he is 30 years old with Autism non verbal. I start him on ketogenic/ fasting since 2022, and now he is finaly call me MOM. Also he is more alert, he looks at me when i talk to him, he does not bite or hit himself anymore. Thanks to you dr. Anthony Cahaffee and thanks to dr. Chris Palmer❤ God bless you 2🙏🤲🙏🤲🙏

[turc]

There was also a study showing improvement with a low dose of antibiotics in children with regressive autism, showing there might also be a microbiome component to this. Its actually an observation Dr. Wakefield saw in his patients (children) who had autism. They all had GI issues. This was before big pharma fought to discredit him and took away his medical license for saying M mR may have been a problem.

[ami]

As an autistic adult, I've tried going into deep ketosis after learning about it's alleged effects on autism just out of curiosity. I've done keto before but still kept around 40-50 grams of carbs, just a mild ketosis kind of thing.
What've discovered is that I wasn't any less "autistic" as some would claim, like I still processed the world in an autistic way, but I was not as perceptive. I wasn't as hypertuned to the fabrics on my body, every since sound it my environment, every food texture. I also have ADHD so unlike a regular autistic person I don't get overwhelmed, almost never did. But I think keto tuning the world down kind of gives these kids relief so they start speaking. You know how when you are mentally drained it makes it harder to form sentences? Maybe that's the reason these kids are non-verbal.

[bettypearson]

It may not be all carbs but this is a wonderful way to eliminate the foods with carbs that are the problem and later on if they improve you can try adding one thing back at a time.

But you need to remember that if you try a carb free diet you need to be prepared to restrict the diet for up to a year even if you don't immediately see a difference.

I have had some health issues that appear to have a neurological base which I have been diagnosed with multiple disorders that don't fully fit the disorder (lazy doctors) as well as being told I am on the spectrum.

Í decided to try a carb restricted diet and while a couple symptoms seemed to improve but not most. I decided to stick with it because even if only a small improvement that's better than nothing. Then rather abruptly around 9 months in there was a surprising rapid relief of symptoms with me feeling better than I have memory of feeling.

It may not help, but it can't hurt. If you have them on a diet limiting carbs for a year or more and there isn't a change you have lost nothing which is more than you can say for all the drugs doctors prescribe for these children.

[HeidyMurillo-rohi]

My child is living proof of this. Removing carbohydrates saved him from diving into self injury behavior, along with vancomycin and probiotics

[CamillaRichardson-of]

How do you suggest we get t them off carbs when they will literally starve themselves indefinitely if not given a “safe food”?

[thakraken]

I'm not nonverbal autistic but still autistic nonetheless. When I'm off carbs it feels like my brain is a lot more calm and manageable.

[pamelamalmgren]

it does the same for bipolar disorder too amazing the research on ketones that Dr Palmer has made the world know

[allywolf]

Hey....it does the same for people with schizophrenia too

[kelza]

My friends autistic son developed diabetes at age 12. My cousins son who is in the process of being diagnosed with autism became diabetic at 20 months. I wonder if it’s a correlation between pancreas function seeing as ketosis uses a different mechanism for mitochondrial energy ?

[dixonhouse]

For me- the everyday, usual things of life around me were so overwhelming. It felt like they were screaming right in my face .. a tag on my shirt, background noise, smells, too many people, bright lights, hair in my face etc .. these things made it hard for me to function and be myself because I was so distracted and agitated and then exhausted from trying to get along in the world and trying to not isolate .. ketosis soothed my brain.. the “carnivore zen” was so real- it made all those things feel “farther away” it’s like I could still see them but they were “way over there” and I couldn’t reach them anymore.

[emilyanne]

similar happened to me with bipolar with psychosis. after removing all processed food/seed oils as well I noticed every year i was able to tolerate certain non processed carbs and it was no longer reliant on ketosis to have a euthymic mood. it wasn't necessarily the carbs but low carb/keto was the triage I needed to start to repair. if I'm in a high stress point of life or during my period I require less carbs to keep a normal mood. I don't know that it is ketosis ultimately but damage done through processed food/oils/carbs that improves vert quickly while in ketosis

today I can eat fruit, starchy veg, homemade sourdough without issue but I cannot eat processed corn products especially in combination with seed oils.

for example deep fried chicken breast with a corn starch coating fried in canola oil will cause extreme symptoms within around 1 hour but it will be gone by the next morning. the symptom is most often extreme irrational anger, covering my ears and screaming when people talk, inability to tolerate sounds or situations, inability to speak or self harm.

to me it doesnt appear to be a carb problem but a lack of animal fat. the lower carb i eat the more resilient i am to lack of animal fat. my development revolved around almost exclusively margerine and very low animal fat.

[Nina-evxl]

I had my son on a casin free gluten free diet. He did great!

[Infrared]

I once covered a story about a 2 year old with severe epilepsy. A doctor fasted her off all food and her seizures stopped. He then reintroduced one food at a time to find out which ones she could tolerate.

[ednakravitz]

Wow, this is incredibly interesting
Gives a lot of hope for some of these parents whose kids are nonverbal

[terrybear]

I totally get it. My Granddaughter has autism. Dr. Chaffee may be a pointer, an option, an open door to a more optimal life. Thank you.

[nobelwarprize]

Were is the scientific evidence and data supporting this?

[laura]

Thank you for your work, Dr.Chaffee ❤

[faebalina]

It’s weird you don’t really hear people talk about having autistic grandparents or great aunts, uncles who are autistic.And it’s not observed nearly as much as much in developing countries.The rise in rates is alarming and it should be consider a national scandal.