I seem to suffer from a lot of these, do you? Is this common in ASC?
I can't eat gluten, dairy, eggs, onions, anything spicey, mustard, and nuts & other fibre scratch my insides so it flares up inflammation in my intestine (IBD).
I was only diagnosed with ASC this year, but was curious if these issues with digestion I've had since 2012 were common for those on the spectrum?
I've never found help. But I have a regiment of supplements & I have stopped eating all brassicas, grains and legumes (basically modern agriculture). What doesn't cause problems is a 'diet' resembling Paleo, but I don't cut out whole organic milk/butter/yogurt or any fruits. I bought a book on the ancient diet to make sure I properly soak and dehydrate nuts/seeds
800 participants reported into this study https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10608557/#sec3-jpm-13-01448
I'm a fan of moderation, and have found Ape Nutrition vitamins amazing, some chlorella, functional mushrooms (though fresh fried in butter also excellent) and herbal hormone balancing supplements which work for me + added C helpful (I eat plenty of fresh fruit as well). Napier's makes a nice elderberry elixir.
The standing Idea out there is to slowly introduce a thing in small amounts, go from zero to build tolerance. But my experience has been the opposite direction. Slowly remove things I can no longer tolerate. Though I've had problems with grains since young. I did go off sugars for a while which helped but I like honey too much. One also has to make sure they move about and exercise a little every day even if it's a bit of stretching.
I’ve had a tough time with food sensitivities too, especially with dairy. I switched to organic milk powder, and it made a big difference for me. Regular milk was too harsh on my stomach, but this option is much gentler. It also mixes well into drinks and recipes, so I don’t feel like I'm missing out. It might be worth trying if dairy is a struggle but you still want an alternative.
Thanks all.
I think autism is just a new term for 'highly sensitive', and this runs the full holistic spectrum of body & mind?
When NT person may be in a state of heightened alert, an autistic person could well be in a state of inflammation in order to protect against whatever threat their is?
Same with garlic and onions, i have to substitute celery in recipes.
And stress is definitely an enigmatic player in all this too. Bodily inflammation seems independent of diet sometimes, or in collusion with it. Days where a rejaxed state and extremely disciplined diet are in perfect tandem are rare. It’s exhausting and upsetting that I’m in worse physical disrepair as a sensible eater who doesn’t smoke or drink than many people who do all those things. But the fight must go on, as to slide into eating any old rubbish will hit ten times as hard as it would most people.
Yes, I struggle a lot with digestion too- It is apparently very common in autistic people- I don't think anyone knows why this is though. I also cannot do garlic and onion at all. Wheat pasta is also not good for me, dairy is problematic too etc. I go through phases though where I can tolerate a bit more- I think stress makes it even worse for me. I have a tendency as well to eat the same thing over and over again.
I had no idea that soinach and wheat were ‘cousins’ - I do buy spinach so must watch out for whether those ‘how can I be bloated this time?’ Coincide at all.
potatoes is another one for me: instant nine month pregnancy with those. Not a great look on a male.
Interesting stuff here! I'm closer to a low FODMAP diet as a starting point, but I don't have too much of an issue with grass fed dairy, though small amounts, so long as I don't ingest high-fibre veg/legume (including the peanut, which is a pulse, not a nut).
I've started looking into the taxonomy of food groups, as after being off gluten and most grains (except white rice), I noticed a problem with spinach and found it's a relative of wheat, then a problem with all brassicas and pulses and a growing problem with all alliums, as well.
The inflammation seems to play a crucial part. Lemons and raw cranberry seem to help. But I am booking into a genetic clinic to try and figure this out.
Yeah I can't eat gluten, dairy, spicy foods, and certain nuts, because of bowel inflammation and other issues, but that's not to say that I don't like those foods, I do, but my body acts up, so I had to find alternatives or stop eating them. But if I had the choice I would just eat anything, if my body allowed me to.
Some fruits and dried fruit cause migraines, but I think that has something to do with what they spray onto the fruit. Sometimes I'm fine eating fruit, and at other times it'll cause a migraine.
Strawberries have caused a gluten-like reaction which confused me, so I looked it up, and I read that sometimes to protect the strawberries from frost, they'll use wheat straw or hay to protect the strawberries. No amount of washing or freezing I did changed anything. I like strawberries, but I avoid them now because I can't tell if they've been cross-contaminated with wheat or not.
I rarely drink coffee, and when I do it's in very small amounts, like a centimeter of coffee and the rest is almond milk and sugar, and for me, it can take the entire day to drink 1 cup of coffee. Otherwise it'll give me a migraine.
I drink wine on occassion, but I don't really like the taste of alcohol in general. I avoid beer because it uses barley (gluten), and whenever I have tried beer in the past I'd have digestive issues.
Hi, I get this and it's all Autism related for me. I'm hyper sensitive to taste, smell and texture and this gets triggered and intensified by nearly every food and drink. I try to just have the plain stuff and that makes it easier. My digestive system gets triggered a lot as well, usually end up feeling sick from food and drink. I just try to stick to the plain stuff and that doesn't affect me as much.
Hi, for me it’s not digesting food, it’s tolerating it in my mouth. It’s not so much the taste, it’s the texture. Baked beans, cottage cheese, cucumber and tomatoes are a few. Love tomato soup and ketchup, actual tomato’s are like having a slug in my mouth.
My digestive system can't handle dairy, eggs, anything raw (no salad or undercooked veg), leafy greens, peppers, anything containing even a trace of chili, very fatty meals, wholegrains, fruit, caffeine, alcohol, or -ol sweeteners.
It absolutely loves gluten. My safest diet is dry bread, plain pasta and seitan.
I've had ridiculously fast and oversensitive digestion since birth. I've had blood tests and my inflammation markers are absolute zero and no sign of celiac.
