Aspergers and eating healthy foods

Ruth Blameuser — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:26:48 +0000

A gluten-free, caseine-free doesn’t have to feel like restriction. We think of it as culinary exploration and adventure. Your brain needs quality food, and to stay away from anything that has a toxic affect. You also need lots of pure water. And it’s always best to keep a positive, open-minded attitute, so you can ENJOY your food, and the process of shopping and cooking. My 12-year old AS son has become quite a chef–tho he needs a lot of supervision to avoid stupid or dangerous mistakes in the kitchen. Here are our favorite GFCF snacks: home-popped popcorn with salt, spices, and/or flavored oils, Nut-Thins crackers (blue Diamond brand), natural blue corn tortillas with salsa or guacamole, roasted nuts and seeds (always read the label for wheat, many spiced varieties contain it), FRESH, raw fruits and vegetables–there are so many textures and flavors, one should never rule them out until you try it! Newmans Own Soy Crisps (salt or bbq flavor–not the cheese), Sesmark rice thins, dried fruits and/or raw or roasted nuts combined with dark chocolate chips. We also have fun with GFCF pancakes–trying various non-wheat flour combos (blends of 2 or 3: rice, tapioca, soy, almond, coconut, sorgum). To support the texture and make it rise, we add 1/4 tsp xanthan or guar gum/each cup of flour, along with baking soda or powder. Have fun exploring!

Aspergers and eating healthy foods

Ruth Blameuser — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:01:44 +0000

My son who is 12 decided not to eat any meat or cheese, for several years now. He just can’t stand the smell or taste or texture of it. He will eat boiled egg whites with hot sauce or soy sauce, and heavily spiced white chicken meat. He obsesses over nutrition food labels, analyzing the fat content and calories. He is a small, skinny kid, smaller than most of his peers. He thinks he is obese, and obsesses over losing weight. Fortunately, I can always find a variety of healthy food he will eat. He likes raw or half cooked fresh veggies, and very spicy Indian and Thai food. We are pretty much gluten free and caseine free, but we let exceptions slide when treats are offered at social events. Peter hates missing out on treats! and it is NOT worth the stress to be food Nazi’s, especially for social occasions.

Aspergers and eating healthy foods

Jonathan — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:29:14 +0000

I currently suffer from as. I read the article and it sounded just like someone was writing about me. I cannot stand vegetable’s because of the texture, same with fruits. i love milk, eggs, and cheese. I can eat a pound of cheese in a day easily. One of my most favorite dishes is a pound of ground turkey and shredded cheese. I live off of pizza’s and hot pockets as well as pizza rolls. I take a multivitamin just to make sure I get all of my vitamins I need. hope this helps any parents with their children so they do not have to live through what I went through. by the way I am 22 years of age.

Aspergers and eating healthy foods

Theres R Evola — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:07:18 +0000

The diet that is suggested is Gluten and Casisin Free products..That means not bread, pancakes, cereals or Milk products of any kind … This is very expensive and hard to find ps:rice checkes is ok!

Aspergers and eating healthy foods

Arrabella — Mon, 11 May 2009 00:03:00 +0000

Our adult ASP daughter has, in recent days, told us that her moods swing to depression and anxiety when she eats foods such as milk; ‘fizzy drink’ e.g. coca cola; red meat; pork; chocolate to name a few. However, she feels ‘terrific’ when she eats broccali, beans, potatoes, rice.
Any information would be appreciated.
Arrabella (Sydney-Australia)

Aspergers and eating healthy foods

Carol — Fri, 08 May 2009 13:43:42 +0000

This article is not written for the AS child. My AS son would gag when he had to taste any food he didn’t want to eat. Like the others in this blog said, they just won’t eat anything if they can’t eat the foods they want. Perhaps a neurotypical child would try other foods; but not necessarilly an AS child.

Aspergers and eating healthy foods

Mary — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:15:43 +0000

My son 13 1/2 is a very picky eater and is very skinny. He is more high-functioning autistic than AS even though that was his diagnosis at age 3. My other older son I think is AS & he has no eating problems. He was diagnosed as ADHD & Tourettes. AS really only became a diagnosis in the last 12 years so remember the diagnosis is not an exact science & is very subjective based on the info given. With that said, my 13 1/2 son is very high functioning & only likes to eat a few foods. He likes foods that are solid & are very spicy. If they are not spicy, then salty. He cooks his own “hot wings” every day at lunch. That allows him control & he actually trys to alter his recipe. He also eats baked chicken but I baste it & make the gravy with soy sauce, garlic & onion. He will also eat chips & salsa so we make fresh salsa with lots of fresh vegtables. With so few foods though you have to be prepared if that food becomes a dislike & replace it with a like item. My son used to eat pizza but he got sick one time & won’t eat it anymore. He will not eat any dairy but he will eat a “few” veggies at dinner. He is motivated to try other foods because he is very aware of how small he is to other kids his age. Some comfort – My husband was very much like my son & would sit at the table for hours as a child because he had “to finish his food”. He never would & his parents would give up after hours. My husband now eats almost everything & even mixes foods together now. I think he just desired to please me & would keep trying to eat the foods I would prepare. (His mom wonders where her picky son went). There is hope! Educate your children about nutrition, & have them help to select foods to try. We do require our son to try new foods & more than once. They need to know you love them & accept them regardless of their food choices. Home needs to be the safe place to explore new foods. We make sure our son eats before we go somewhere & we require he try something out to eat but that is all. Lately he just started eating french fries so that has really helped when we are out somewhere. Just like the other foods though, we taught him how to make them at home. It is important to keep them in the process. He still gets ketonic if he doesn’t eat like when he is sick. But I have not had him hospitalized again since he was 2 1/2 & I have no intention of ever experiencing that horror again. Happy eating guys & hang in there. They & you will get through this! Homeschooler for 12 yrs in AZ.

Aspergers and eating healthy foods

Maggie — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 04:43:12 +0000

I found a really helpful resource for diet and cooking ideas is the Cooking to Heal DVD put out by Julie Matthews. It gave me a lot of ideas for things to try out in order to get my picky eater eating different foods.

Aspergers and eating healthy foods

Angela Sward — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 12:17:26 +0000

I am so surprised with the number of Aspergers kids that have this limited diet problem. My daughters behavioual paed, said that it is very unusual to have an Aspie with limited food intake. My daughter is 11yrs old, will not eat meat (because you should not eat animals), is set on certain colours of food ie. pasta, chips plain, white yellow colours, her rules you shouldn’t mix two foods together, unless it is milk with akivate, that she lives on, it is virtually the only thing keeping her alive. Her blood results are terrible, absolutely refuses iron liquids because of smells, and is constantly hungry but cannot tell you want she wants. It is my biggest major problem, a living nightmare. Do they ever grow out of their rules for food??????? Regards, Angela

Aspergers and eating healthy foods

Helen Schwalme — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:10:49 +0000

I really enjoy the articles on your blog, but this one surprised and disappointed me a little Splenda is horrible and no-one should use it, let alone our ASD kids who are super sensitive to chemicals. My son is 7 1/2 and is super sensitive to any artificial colours, preservatives and additives. Most commercial cereals are preserved with BHA/BHT which send my son through the roof.