Food sensitivity is a big problem for kids on the Autism spectrum. Now we see this problem in children of different ages, different types, different ethnicity so it is not specific to one group of kids. And we certainly see this in the adult population as well. People generally have an intolerance to certain foods. Many times it may be wheat, it may be dairy, it may be soy or other things can show up on the list. Now testing for it can be a little bit challenging.
Now not one test will always tell you all you need to know as far as food reactions. You can do an IgE test which is a true food allergy test and you may be able to isolate some specific allergies to foods but that doesn’t really tell you what other types of immune reactions may be happening to foods because the body also produces chemicals called IgG and this gives an indication of hypersensitivity to foods but its really unrelated to the IgE reactions. These IgE reactions tend to be more immediate these are the things that cause hives, itching, runny eyes, runny nose and in real severe cases anaphylactic reactions such as somebody reacting to peanuts for example and having a life threatening reaction. The IgG reactions are more delayed and can occur hours to over a few days after where you may get bloating gas or fatigue and sometimes those can be difficult to figure out.
There are other tests that look at just immune reactions in general. Things to give you an idea of what other types of foods and other types of chemicals may be reacting that’s apart from the IgG or even the IgE reactions. And with these kinds of tests you can actually evaluate for other types of chemicals, things called phenols, or salicylates, artificial flavors, or artificial colors, as opposed to some of the other tests which only look at certain proteins found in foods. These other types of immunological tests can look at a more wide range of not only food groups but chemicals within foods as well.
Recent studies have actually shown that kids on the spectrum are four times more likely to have food allergic reactions in the digestive tract than neurotypical kids of the same age. So it goes to show you that In an Autistic child their tendency to have bowel problems related to food sensitivities is quite high. As you move forward in your education you realize that inflammation in the digestive tract can also mean inflammation to the rest of the body and the area we are most concerned about it neurological inflammation with respects to kids on the spectrum. So foods play a big role so being able to understand the differences in some of the testing that is available is very important to help differentiate what kids of foods your child needs to avoid.
