Discussing Autism

I mentioned last week that a large part of the Feingold diet is the removal of Salicylates. But what exactly are salicylates?

Salicylates are chemicals found in plants but are also found in foods, medications, and cosmetics. Salicylates, when intolerable, can cause immediate effects such as headaches, nasal congestion, flushed cheeks, rashes, stomach pain, and trouble breathing.

But, for some children, like AJ, salicylates have a different reaction. AJ reacts by getting hyper, by stimming, and making odd noises. The problem is that he just can not control it.

I have been doing a lot of research lately on diet and behaviors (have you noticed) because I feel that a lot of his behaviors are related to diet. I was not this type of person before we had children, mainly because I never bought into any of the biomedical stuff but when I saw the effect of the GFCF diet with AJ I was sold.

I know that when we first started to eliminate salicylates he did great and I can see when I give him certain foods he reacts. Tonight I gave him two pieces of pineapple because he requested it when we were shopping for Kosher meats at Trader Joes. Within 30 minutes he was unable to listen to me, was throwing items behind the couch, and was barking at the dog. All of this is not unusual after eating something like this.

One of the foods AJ loves most is potatoes but they are low in salicylates and high in copper. They are also high in carbohydrates, thus should be treated as a “sugar”. Potatoes actually make AJ react the same way a pineapple would.

My favorite site for determining salicylate contents is the Allergy Dietician.

It states at the bottom of the chart that when eating a diet low in salicylates to stick to the left hand side of the chart, choose ripe fruit, peel all fruits and vegetables (and remove outer leaves). Additionally, I have heard to cook vegetables to reduce salicylate content.

Treatment for salicylate intolerance is basically the removal of salicylates…but it is very difficult. One has to not only remove all of the foods but also the medications and cosmetics. It took us a long time to determine the shampoos and soaps that AJ could use. But, sunscreen was the most difficult, as we had to find a GFCF and salicylate free sunscreen. We finally found Banana Boat Kids UVA & UVB Sunblock Lotion SPF 30 Waterproof and use Soap Bar-Pure Olive Oil - 4 oz. - Bar Soap (but I just found that Olive Oil is VERY HIGH).

Back to the drawing board…

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