Genetic and environmental factors play a role in the presence of autism in children. While research is constantly revealing more about how autism affects the body, current findings offer valuable insights.
If you are the parent of a child with autism, you strive to give them the best tools for a productive and fulfilling life.
Many health issues that affect humans originate in the gut or are somehow influenced by the digestive tract. Examining your child’s nutrition can offer valuable answers to your questions regarding how you can help them.
Is there a digestive component to autism? Are there tweaks you can make to your child’s diet that can provide life-changing results?
Improving your child’s gut health will act synergistically with the actions you are already taking.
Autism and Digestive Health
Solving digestive health issues has been linked to treating everything from mental health issues to viral diseases. Imagine how you feel when you have an inflamed bowel or are simply constipated.
Your psychology and physical performance are adversely affected. Now, consider the scientific fact that an inflamed bowel can cause ulcerative colitis, cancer and mental illness. You begin to see that there is a close bond between mental and physical health with digestion.
Gastrointestinal problems are common in children with autism. These digestive problems are more than mere symptoms of the condition.
There is a two-way connection between digestive health and autism. By improving your child’s bowel habits, you can alter their behavior and social functioning.
The Role of the Gut Microbiome in Autism
Research shows a demonstrable connection between autism spectrum disorder and the gut microbiome.
When harmful bacteria overwhelm the beneficial organisms in the intestines that protect from inflammation, the symptoms of autism are more pronounced.
Autistic kids have more pathogenic bacteria in their gut. Furthermore, a recent study showed that over half of the autistic participants had Sutrella, a rare bacterial genus, in their bowel. The children without autism did not have this harmful micro-organism.
There is a piece of information that may link the above findings with your child’s autism. Research shows that the microbiome-gut-brain connection is an essential modulating factor in children’s neuropsychiatric health.
In short, there is a good chance that altering your child’s microbiome through proper probiotic supplementation can improve behavior.
Autism and Diet
To improve your child’s microbiome, you need to help promote the presence of healthy microorganisms in their gut.
In animal studies, adding certain strains of probiotics was enough to correct anti-social behavior in the test subjects despite unhealthy, high-fat diets.
Your child’s diet influences more than just what micronutrients they have access to. A healthy diet allows the gut to play an active role in helping regulate hormones.
By reducing cortisol and modulating serotonin, a healthy diet will lead to a more calm and focused child.
Improve Your Child’s Microbiome
Supplementing your autistic child’s diet with healthy microorganisms can make a difference in how they feel and behave as studies suggest.
While future research will shed more light on the subject, probiotics for kids are a healthy addition to an autistic child’s diet.
A professional writer with over a decade of incessant writing skills. Her topics of interest and expertise range from health, nutrition and psychology.