Do Certain Foods Exacerbate Our Symptoms?

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Aside from the obvious things (caffeine, alcohol). The reason I ask is yesterday I went out to a BBQ joint and had a large meal that included chicken and pork (more meat than I usually eat) and an order of onion rings. Not healthy, I know, but once in a while I get the craving.

Anyhow, for the entire afternoon I felt rather full (expected), but noted that my AS symptoms went through the roof .... anxiety, blossoming of negative thoughts, etc. Even the moderate amount of red wine I drink in the evening didn't help, and I needed more melatonin than usual to sleep.

Any thoughts? Is it just fullness, or do the food ingredients play a part?

No idea. I dislike pork chops. It makes me sick.

Should take notes on changes in behavior to see if food does play a role.

There are some categories of food which may not provoke a "true" allergic reaction (i.e. anaphylactic shock). But if you eat them in large quantities over a prolonged period, they can cause higher-than-usual levels of various chemicals in your body. This causes adverse reactions in some people. The culprits are often foods rich in salicylates and amines, naturally-occurring substances which cause no trouble for most of the people, most of the time.

But let's say your threshold of tolerance to amines - for example - is on the low side. And over the last few days you've eaten some Christmas chocolates, several mandarin oranges, one or two plates of cheesy snacks, maybe a bowl of spaghetti bolognaise: nothing too radical, and you feel more or less okay. Then you go out and eat a big takeaway meal, and suddenly you're over the top, feeling terrible, and blaming the takeaway meal.

As a general rule, the more tasty a food is, the more likely it is to be rich in natural food chemicals. If you are sensitive to any of these, eating a bland diet for a few days may help you level off.

And another way to find out if there is a single offending food is to eat them in isolation. I have particular food combinations that produce dynamite in my stomach. Chocolate and spinach is the worst. Or too much milk or any amount of whole milk.

Interesting the spinach one; i read that it is the only food apart from glutenous cereals and dairy which contains a food opioid.

To the OP, YES, definitely notice big difference if eating wheat etc ( gluten) and dairy ( casein), and sometimes wonder about the onion family.
And yesterday after eating bacon /pork for first time in at least 10 days noticed def reaction, spacey feeling etc. Had already in past referred to my "toasted bacon sandwich self", because i kind of thought there was something. And apparently pork is one of those foods, along with wheat, corn, dairy, eggs, oranges, and something else, which most commonly cause food allergies/intolerances.
Symptoms of food and chemical intolerance can include " brain fag/fog", exhaustion, depression, irritability, hypo mania, headaches, intolerance of noise, smells, etc, violent emotional outbursts, suicidal feelings, spaced-out feelings, etc etc. The list is very long because any organ can be effected, depending on someones constitutional/genetic weaknesses, and the stress caused will gradually effect everything. The brain last of all, after years of catarrh, sinusitis, colds, sorethroats, etc, and/or headaches and bloated tummy and "sore" guts", and/or skin irritations, or whatever, the bucket overflows and the brain gets it.
If it hasn't already.
Wheat and dairy contain three of the four food opioids. If are lacking in the appropriate enzymes to break down the proteins in the gut they may go straight to brain and in children actually alter the structure of the growing brain.( See Dr. Karl Reichelt paper at Awares Conference for references ) and they they may have an opiate-similar effect at any age. The first time i went on an exclusion diet, 15 years ago, i discovered that the world was outside my head, really "felt" that, for possibly the first time in my life. It was extraordinary. I also suddenly experienced peace from constant jabbering buzz in my head for the first time in years.

Answer definitely yes!!

So many additives provoke reactions in children (and adults, usually but not always to a lesser extent - possibly because adults tend to have more self-control) that it's ridiculous. ADHD is known to go through the roof when children with it eat certain foods, so why should autism/ASDs be any different?

Some of the most common culprits:

- Aspartame
- High-fructose corn syrup
- Other artificial sweeteners
- Sugars (obviously)
- MSG (Monosodium Glutamate) and other glutamates
- Food flavourings of various descriptions
- Food colourings, especially red/orange ones - avoid those 'cheesy corn snacks' like the plague as they have MSG in large amounts, plus colourings, plus flavourings, plus trans-fats!!
- Milk (or lactose or casein) - yoghurt generally isn't counted though
- Gluten
- Wheat (but not gluten)
- Peanuts or peanut butter (I know one boy not allergic to peanuts, but peanut butter sends him through the roof)



Obviously you won't be sensitive to all of them, but the first ones up to and including MSG are the worst, plus food colourings. Milk/gluten/wheat are generally ones that will be a full-on sensitivity or allergy so aren't so easy to miss in terms of behaviour as you'll have other problems to point to it anyway!

The easiest way to find out if you don't want to do an allergy test is to just do an elimination diet. Cut them out completely for a few weeks (you'll become an avid label-reader!) and then after a period re-introduce them slowly and see what happens. You'll soon get some idea.