Nutrition Education Cuts Processed Food Intake in ADHD & Autism Kids

Parents who underwent nutritional epigenetics education experienced a noteworthy decrease in their children's consumption of ultra-processed foods, coupled with an increase in the intake of whole and/or organic foods. This resulted in a reduction of heavy metal exposure and organophosphate pesticide residues in children, consequently, diminishing symptoms associated with autism and ADHD. These findings were revealed by American scientist Dr. Dufault at the Food Ingredient and Health Research Institute and published in Pubmed (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Nutritional epigenetics education improves diet and attitude of parents of children with autism or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder

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Healthy Eating Reduces Autism and ADHD Symptoms

Consumption of ultra-processed foods leads to heavy metal exposures and dietary deficits that create mineral imbalances such as zinc and calcium losses. Inadequate zinc stores can disrupt the function of the metal transporter metallothionein (MT) gene preventing the elimination of heavy metals found in ultra-processed foods.

The bioaccumulation of mercury and/or lead is common in children with autism and ADHD who are often zinc deficient. Mercury, lead, and other heavy metals are known to suppress the paraoxonase (PON1) gene. Paraoxonase is required by the body to detoxify the neurotoxic organophosphate pesticide residues found routinely in the food supply by the United States Department of Agriculture. Children with autism and ADHD are more susceptible to the harmful effects of organophosphate pesticide exposures.

Parents who received nutritional epigenetics education learned how to reduce their children’s dietary exposures to heavy metal and organophosphate pesticide residues. The parents learned how to read food ingredient labels and changed their diet as they avoided buying foods with allowable heavy metals and pesticide residues.

In learning how specific food ingredients contribute to heavy metal exposures, impact nutrient status, and/or gene behavior, parents gained the knowledge they needed to feed themselves and their children a healthier diet. By the end of the education intervention, parents had changed their minds about their ability to control their child’s behavior through diet.

Children behave better when they feel better. Because the severity of symptoms in autism and ADHD correlate directly to the heavy metal levels in the blood, children with less heavy metal exposure show improvements in behavior and cognition.

In addition, because heavy metals, in single or multi-metallic combinations, create conditions for gut dysbiosis, improvements in diet can reduce inflammation and improve gut health. Reducing ultra-processed food consumption can alleviate symptoms associated with gut dysbiosis which is often a co-morbid condition found in children with autism and ADHD.

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Autism and ADHD are preventable, but the prevalence of these neurodevelopmental disorders will continue to increase in the United States until changes are made to reduce the allowable heavy metal residues in the ultra-processed food supply.

Reference:

1. Nutritional epigenetics education improves diet and attitude of parents of children with autism or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder - (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10845225/)

Source-Eurekalert