autismdietuk

Marvellous red cabbage

autismdietuk — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:06:53 +0000

Despite being a Dietitian who also happens to have been a vegetarian for many years, I am rather embarrased to admit that I’ve only just discovered the true gorgeousness of red cabbage. I have had it in the past, braised with apples and spices when I was newly married and keen to impress with a five star Christmas dinner, but apart from that it has been overlooked in favour of , well pretty much every other vegetable. It always seemed a bit old fashioned, ugly and hard, but my goodness was I wrong. And goodness is the key really because it’s packed full of fibre and nutrients, especially calcium, potassium, folate and vitamin C. It’s also a true superfood as all that lovely purple colour is made by pigments called anthocyanins which have amazing antioxidant properties, even more so than blueberry juice.

But the best of all it has a lovely, slightly sweet taste, which helps when coaxing restrictive eaters, and costs around 40p.

This has spurred me on to discover other ‘neglected’ vegetables….watch this space !

Electro-acupuncture helps autism

autismdietuk — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:48:46 +0000

Electro-acupuncture has been shown to improve language comprehension and self-care ability in children with autism .

A small trial comparing electro-acupuncture on selected acupoints ( test group) with sham electro-acupuncture to sham acupoints ( control group) for a total of 12 sessions, improved a range of outcomes including language comprehension, self-care, social initiation, receptive language, motor skills, coordination and attention span.

Source: Wong et al, 2010 Alternative Medicine Review volume 15 number 2 p136-146 www.altmedrev.com

zinc deficiency, toxic metals and autism

autismdietuk — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:30:01 +0000

Japanese researchers have found a strong association with zinc deficiency and ASD in hair samples of children. High levels of toxic metals such as cadmiun, lead, arsenic and mercury have also been found in the samples.

These results are further evidence that an accumulation of toxic metals along with nutrient deficiencies could influence the pathogensis of autism. Exposure to toxic metals occurs from fish consumption ( mercury ), the environment ( lead paint, arsenic ) and vaccines ( thimerosol is a mercury-based vaccine preservative ).

To put it a more simple way, ” nature loads the gun, environment pulls the trigger “

For more advice on nutritional deficiencies and detoxification go to www.brainandbody.co.uk

high dose nutritional supplement improves autism

autismdietuk — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:13:52 +0000

American researchers ‘treated’ a group of autistic children with a vitamin and mineral supplement which not only improved their nutritional and metabolic status but also their behaviour and language.

High dose supplements can have serious side-effects so please consult a qualified practitioner such as the Biomedical Dietitian at Brain & Body Nutrition www.brainandbody.co.uk

Special ASD Dance DVD

autismdietuk — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:47:27 +0000

A dance DVD has been developed specifically for children and young people with autism. Follow the link below for more details and get dancing…..

www.nas.org.uk

Trouble finding gluten-free restaurants ?

autismdietuk — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:18:25 +0000

A great new app has been developed to help locate restaurants that cater for gluten-free diets and the even better news is that it’s FREE !

It covers the UK as well as America and parts of Europe so will be helpful for at home or when travelling abroad.

Go to www.GLUTOWN.com for more information and to sign up on their mailing list.