Dietary Management of Autism Spectrum Disorder

This executive summary is a public service of The British Dietetic Association intended for information only. It is not a substitute for proper medical diagnosis or dietary advice given by a Registered Dietitian (RD). To check that your dietitian is registered, go to www.hpc-uk.org.

Executive Summary

Professional Consensus Statement: Dietary Management of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Produced by Dietitians working in the Dietitian’s Autism Special Interest Group (DASIG), sSupported by the British Dietetic Association Specialist Mental Health Group.

Principal authors: Elaine Isherwood BSc SRD and Katie Thomas Dip D SRD
Date of Issue: January 2008
Date of review: January 2013

This document has been developed for dietitians who are involved with the dietary management of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) also referred to as Pervasive Development Disorder (PDD).

Many children with ASD have selective eating and therefore self-limiting diets as a direct result of their disorder (Cornish 1998, Cornish 2002). We have therefore included a section on the management of restrictive/ obsessive diets prior to any interventions, as this is a very significant feature of the disorder of the dietary.

A number of dietary interventions have been cited for the treatment of ASD and for each of these an explanation is given followed by management and suggested good practice. Details of the evidence examined are tabulated and full appraisal sheets included in appendices.

The document has been divided into 13 sections, one for each dietary intervention. Each section will be reviewed independently.

Part 1 Restrictive/Obsessive diets
Part 2 Gluten/Casein free diets (GF/CF)
Part 3 Use of pre and probotics
Part 4 Sulphation (Rosemary Waring, Birmingham)
Part 5 Dimethyl Glycine (DMG)
Part 6 Vitamin B6 and Magnesium
Part 7 Vitamin C
Part 8 Low Sugar
Part 9 Yeast Free (with antifungal medication)
Part 10 Zinc/Manganese supplements
Part 11 Essential Fatty Acids/ Evening Primrose Oil
Part 12 'Hunter gatherer diet'.

Resources index.