San Francisco-based biochemist Katherine Reid has discovered a remedy that in some cases can help minimize autism symptoms in children - a diet that eliminates monosodium glutamate, Fox News reported. Her findings are based on an analysis of neurobiological research and her own experience: her daughter was diagnosed with autism at the age of two; she is now seven years old, and, according to the scientist, the manifestations of the disease "have completely disappeared."
Since currently only one drug (risperidone and its analogues) is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of autism spectrum disorders, many parents of autistic children are turning to alternative medicine using homeopathic medicines, probiotics, various gluten-free diets (gluten), lactose and casein in the hope that this will have a positive effect on the condition of the child.
The diet that Dr. Reed is talking about is different from those that have been known until now. In her opinion, only one chemical compound should be excluded from the diet of an autistic child - a food additive, an enhancer of taste and aroma, sodium glutamate (other names are E 621, E 631, hydrolyzed vegetable protein).
“The body has receptors for glutamate, which stimulates nerve cells, and it is necessary, but only in a certain amount,” said Reed. "Many neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, have the potential to be associated with imbalances in glutamate intake."
95% of processed foods contain monosodium glutamate, she said, but manufacturers have the right not to indicate its presence if its content does not exceed a certain level.
While there is currently no data to scientifically support Reed's theory (the glutamate hypothesis of autism, however, already exists), the biochemist considers the return to normal state of his seven-year-old daughter Brooke as a clear indication of the loyalty of this idea. When the girl was two years old, Catherine and her husband, a cell biologist, began to notice signs of autism in her: wild tantrums that lasted for several hours in a row, stereotyped behavior, difficulties in communication and learning, and intestinal problems.
The survey showed that the child has a moderate degree of autism. “She lived in her own world,” Brooke's mother shared. "Her actions were repetitive, she showed signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and she started screaming hysterically if I took her home on a different path than usual."
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Reed quit her job and began to study various diets recommended for children with autism, first of all, she eliminated foods containing gluten and lactose from the child's diet, then began to add magnesium, vitamin D, fish oil and a complex of B vitamins to her diet., and all of these approaches helped, but not much.
Later she came across an article on the effects of glutamate on the human body, which noted that although this compound is necessary for the transmission of impulses between neurons and cells of other tissues and is involved in cognitive processes in the brain, its excess can cause various neurological disorders. So Reed eliminated monosodium glutamate foods from the girl's diet, and, she said, "her autism symptoms completely disappeared." Gradually, the child became more socially adapted, his stereotyped behavior completely disappeared and his coordination improved.
Sanford Newmark, a physician at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who specializes in treating children with autism, noted that there is no scientific evidence for this theory yet. However, he is ready to put it to the test, as he has seen the positive results of a gluten and casein free diet.
“There is a lot we don’t know about autism,” he said. - But the work of the intestines and the brain are closely related, and it often happens that by saving a child from gastrointestinal problems with the help of a diet, his general condition can also be improved. There is no harm in trying to switch to a monosodium glutamate-free diet - if you eat fruits, vegetables, meat, beans and whole grains and cut out processed foods, it will be a healthier diet.”
“We need to be open to new approaches to treating autism,” said Antonio Hardan, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist for autism at Stanford University Children's Hospital.
After seeing the results of her daughter's glutamate-free diet, Reed founded Unblind My Mind, a nonprofit that studies the effects of food on the brain. According to her, 74 out of 75 children with whom she worked in the framework of this organization showed a significant improvement in their condition.