The role of diet and supplementation in the prevention and treatment of autism spectrum disorders

MAZUREK, Aleksandra, MACHAJ, Damian, POLAK, Jakub, GROBECKI, Daniel, LIS, Jakub, MACHAJ, Dominik, RACZKIEWICZ, Przemysław & ADAMIK, Weronika. The role of diet and supplementation in the prevention and treatment of autism spectrum disorders. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. 2023;26(1):11-16. eISSN 2391-8306. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2023.26.01.001

https://apcz.umk.pl/JEHS/article/view/43509

https://zenodo.org/record/7890684

The journal has had 40 points in Ministry of Education and Science of Poland parametric evaluation. Annex to the announcement of the Minister of Education and Science of December 21, 2021. No. 32343.

Has a Journal's Unique Identifier: 201159. Scientific disciplines assigned: Physical Culture Sciences (Field of Medical sciences and health sciences); Health Sciences (Field of Medical Sciences and Health Sciences).

Punkty Ministerialne z 2019 - aktualny rok 40 punktów. Załącznik do komunikatu Ministra Edukacji i Nauki z dnia 21 grudnia 2021 r. Lp. 32343. Posiada Unikatowy Identyfikator Czasopisma: 201159.

Przypisane dyscypliny naukowe: Nauki o kulturze fizycznej (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu); Nauki o zdrowiu (Dziedzina nauk medycznych i nauk o zdrowiu).

© The Authors 2023;

This article is published with open access at Licensee Open Journal Systems of Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun, Poland

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The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.

Received: 09.04.2023. Revised: 20.04.2023. Accepted: 03.05.2023. Published: 03.05.2023.

The role of diet and supplementation in the prevention and treatment of autism spectrum disorders

Aleksandra Mazurek Uniwersytet Medyczny im. Karola Marcinkowskiego w Poznaniu aleksandramazurek7@gmail.com

Damian Machaj Uniwersytet Medyczny im. Piastów Śląskich we Wrocławiu damian10b10@o2.pl 

Jakub Polak Śląski Uniwersytet Medyczny, Wydział Nauk Medycznych w Zabrzu kubap99@op.pl

Daniel Grobecki Uniwersytet Medyczny im. Piastów Śląskich we Wrocławiu danielgrobecki00@gmail.com  

Jakub Lis Uniwersytet Opolski  jlis2607@gmail.com

Dominik Machaj Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lublinie dominik5a4@tlen.pl

Przemysław Raczkiewicz Uniwersytet Medyczny w Lublinie  600700200x@gmail.com  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4986-4833 

Weronika Adamik  Uniwersytet Opolski weronika.adamik@onet.pl

Summary

The role of diet and supplementation in the prevention and treatment of autism spectrum disorders There is evidence indicating the positive effects of dietary intervention in the prevention and treatment of autism spectrum disorders. There are studies linking maternal vitamin D deficiency with ASD in offspring. Children and adolescents on the autism spectrum are also supposed to have significantly lower concentrations of vitamin D than healthy children and adolescents. This indicates the role of vitamin D supplementation in the prevention and treatment of ASD(5). Diets most commonly used in the therapy of autism spectrum disorders are: dairy-free and gluten-free, specific carbohydrate diet, low phenol, low oxalate and ketogenic diet(4). The most popular of them are dairy-free and gluten-free. However, studies conducted by Dr. James Adams attribute the highest effectiveness to a diet of specific carbohydrates(7). After applying the ketogenic diet, improvements in concentration, learning ability and social behavior were observed(1,26). However, it should be remembered that the scientific literature contains a small number of reliably conducted studies confirming the effectiveness of individual diets and supplementation in the prevention and treatment of ASD. Therefore, the positive impact of dietary intervention is still referred to as "potential". In addition, the use of certain diets may be associated with side effects, such as vomiting and hypoglycemia in the case of a ketogenic diet(1,28) and underweight in the case of elimination diets(16). Therefore, the introduction of dietary changes for therapeutic purposes should be carried out under the constant supervision of doctors and dieticians.

Key words: Diet, autism, supplementation, ASD, nutrition