Gut Health and Autism – Food and Supplements

*This post contains affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

 

“Nearly everything about our health — how we feel both physically and emotionally —  can hinge on the state of our microbiome. In fact, the connection between gut flora and the brain is so important that in 2014 the National Institute of Mental Health spent more than $1 million on a research program to study this relationship.” –Experiencelife.com

The connection between our children’s gut health (our gut health) and the brain is amazing. There is so much that goes on with our digestive health and the effects it has on our brain, mood, and behavior.

Last week I introduced to you what bad gut health looks like and why it’s so important. I’ve also written about how I changed my son’s diet by getting rid of artificial colors and flavors.

Today I want to tell you what you can do about it and how it will change your child’s health.

Food and Supplements for a Healthy Gut

The food you eat is important. The food your autistic child eats is important. foodrevolution.org  has a great list of recommended foods. I will just summarize and list some of the most popular and more known food.

Probiotic foods

• sauercraut
• pickles or pickled vegetables
• yogurt
• kefir
• kombucha

Prebiotic foods

• flaxseeds
• banana
• asparagus
• onion/garlic
• jerusalem artichoke

Fiber-rich foods

• fruits
• vegetables
• brown rice
• lentils
• beans

Anti-oxidant food

• blueberries
• grapes
• plum
• red berries
• red kidney bean

Supplements

• probiotics
• prebiotics

As for the supplements, please make an informed decision about which ones you buy. Talk to your doctor about them. Do your research. Read the reviews. There are so many great options to choose from.

Here are just a few from Amazons top rated:

 

I recommend Plexus. They have an amazing probiotic that I personally take and I give it to my son as well. They also have a variety of other plant-based gut healing products.

 

Now let’s get real…

Many of our autistic children will not eat! Or they have a very minimal variety of food they choose to eat. I get that!

I have that child!

 

Just do your best!

Start out small.

Change one thing at a time.

 

Trust me. From personal experience, I can tell you that you will start to see the difference in your children and yourself.

It won’t be overnight. It won’t be in a few days. It will take weeks and even months for your body to start healing and for you to see the result of healing your gut and taking care of yourself.

 

Personal journey

When I got rid of artificial colors and flavors, as well as preservatives from my son’s diet I noticed a reduction in hyperactivity, agitation, and aggression. It was incredible. We also chose to not give him certain fruit that caused agitation and aggression as well (check out Feingold Diet).

Once I introduced a probiotic he hasn’t had any digestive issues either.

And I hear other moms say the same thing about their kids!

 

For me personally, I’ve battled adult acne for … my entire adult life, never took a break from my teen acne! And after having three kids via c-section…well mama, you know how that can mess with your digestive health!

After cleaning up my diet, getting rid of sugar and gluten, as well as taking Plexus supplements my life and body have changed. I’ve benefited from some amazing side effects. Such as weight loss (yes!), and my acne has disappeared! I’ve also gotten rid of stomach issues I didn’t even realize I had!

We still have a way’s to go with how we eat together as a family. My goal is to go gluten free and perhaps dairy free with the whole family and see if those help my son as well.

But one thing at a time, right?

 

Start with one small change and go from there.

 

You got this mama!