FOOD INTOLERANCE NETWORK FACTSHEET
Autism, ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders)
Is autism (ASD) increasing?
The gluten free casein free diet doesn’t work, says study
There is an effective science-based diet for autism
Effects of smelly chemicals (VOCs)
The use of perfumes and scented products
Reader stories
Scientific references
Further information
Keywords: autism, ASD, asperger, spectrum, volatile organic compounds, VOC, gluten free casein free, GFCF
According to statistics from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are increasing dramatically. One of every 110 children will receive an ASD diagnosis by the time they are 8 - a rate 10 times higher than it was in the 1980s.
The gluten-free casein-free diet doesn’t work, says study
According to a small, tightly controlled study at the University of Rochester in New York using the gluten-free, casein-free (GFCF) diet often recommended for autism, there were no benefits for sleep, attention and quality of bowel function in 14 preschoolers with diagnosed ASD.
Of the 7000+ families in the Food Intolerance Network who are using diet usually for their children, many have autistic children who previously used the GFCF diet and found it didn’t work, or didn’t work well enough. In our experience, the GFCF diet works less well now than previously. Fifteen years ago, children on a GFCF diet had to avoid all processed foods. Now there are many GFCF food products – often containing nasty additives or extra salicylates – that can cause problems (see study below). As well, smelly chemicals (VOCs) such as fragrances that have been proliferating in our society must be avoided by many of these children. The University of Rochester study is a case of too little, too late.
Reference: Hyman SL and others, Dietary Treatment of Young Children with Autism: Behavioral Effects of the Gluten Free and Casein Free Diet. Presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research, Philadelphia, May 22, 2010. http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/index.cfm?id=2860
There is an effective science-based diet for autism
In a trial with 140 behaviourally disturbed children, of the 86 who improved on an elimination diet, double-blind placebo-controlled challenges showed approximately:
- 75% reacted to dietary salicylates
- 60-70% reacted to preservatives including benzoates, propionates, nitrates and sulphites 55% reacted to artificial colours and
- 40% reacted to MSG, synthetic antioxidants such as E320, natural glutamates and biogenic amines.
Although a smaller percentage reacted to dairy foods and gluten, subsequent guidelines recommended avoidance of these items for severe symptoms such as ASD.
Most children reacted to between 2 and 5 challenge compounds. As in the study below, perfumed products and other smelly chemicals were also avoided.
This is the diet used by Food Intolerance Network members (currently over 17,000 families), see Reader Stories below.
Here is a 22min summary of latest research in this area - see references
References:
Swain A, Soutter V, Loblay R, Truswell AS. Salicylates, oligoantigenic diets, and behaviour. Lancet. 1985;2(8445):41-2 (there are more details in the report below).
Loblay RH, Swain AR. Food Intolerance. In: Wahlqvist ML and Truswell AS, editors. Recent Advances in Clinical Nutrition: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Clinical Nutrition; 1985 Sept29-Oct 2; Sydney, Australia. London: John Libbey; 1986. p. 169-177.
Effects of smelly chemicals (VOCs)
In the US, 49 children aged 2-17 with diagnoses ranging from severe autism to PDD were put on an effective restricted diet (unusual tropical root crops and other unusual foods) to eliminate diet-related symptoms while environmental exposures were investigated.
- In Group I (14 subjects) there was no initial environmental avoidance
- In Group II (27 subjects) there was moderate initial environmental avoidance
- In Group III (8 subjects) there was complete environmental avoidance using a clean room.
Children were studied for periods ranging from 3-12 months. As the study progressed, it became obvious that exposure to VOCs were more important to the children than anticipated - children became obsessed with smelly objects and were observed hoarding or attempting to hide scented items.
Among the conclusions of this study:
There appeared to be nothing inherently wrong with autistic children studied. The children in the program (universal diet and clean room) returned to normal physically, in temperament, in awareness of surroundings and others, in emotions and empathy, and in ability to learn. The children were, however, initially deficit in learned behaviours and skills that must be taught; apparently in these areas they had remained at the level present at the time of initial diagnosis of autism. In the present program, the autistic children demonstrated ability to rapidly and enthusiastically learn and begin catching up. Children began progressing through the normal stages of learning and social development in their clean rooms.
- Based on the results of the present study, a broad spectrum of severe and chronic autistic symptoms appear to be environmentally based, apparently caused by chronic exposure to volatile organic compounds, and appear to be fully reversible in the proper environment.
- There was a strong, predictable correlation between symptom levels and environmental exposures (P<.000).
- The results suggest strongly that the autistic condition of the children studied, was the result of chronic exposure to volatile organic compounds.
Although the details of the unusual diet are not given, it would appear that this diet is similar to the one above but goes into far more detail with VOC avoidance. Mothers who hear about this study often say “but we can’t lock up our kids in a clean room for the rest of their lives”. No you can’t, but you can change their diet, and you can remove a lot of VOC exposure from their lives, especially at home and in the classroom where they spend most of their time, see next item and Reader Stories below.
Reference:
Slimak, K. 2003. Reduction of autistic traits following dietary intervention and elimination of exposure to environmental substances. In Proceedings of 2003 International Symposium on Indoor Air Quality and Health Hazards, National Institute of Environmental Health Science, USA, and Architectural Institute of Japan, January 8-11, 2003, Tokyo, Japan, vol 2, pp 206-216. http://www.immuneweb.org/articles/slimak.html
The use of perfumes and scented products
Given that ASD is increasing, and that chemicals in perfumes and scented products appear to be associated not only with ASD but also with certain cancers and other conditions (see the effects of phthalates in Slow Poison by Rubber Duck, reference below), wouldn’t it make sense for those in authority to help the mothers of ASD children by limiting the use of these chemicals – especially in schools and hospitals. Fortunately, this is actually happening in some places, particularly in Canada. For example, see the University of Toronto Guidelines below for the use of perfumes and scented products; see my book Fed Up or our Shopping List for fragrance-free alternatives.
See Sue's blog post on managing smells and perfumes
References:
Farrow A and others, Symptoms of mothers and infants related to total volatile organic compounds in household products, Arch Environ Health. 2003;58(10):633-41. (A large study of VOCs in household cleaners showed that infant and maternal health problems such as diarrhoea, earache, vomiting, headache and depression were associated with higher use of air fresheners and aerosols in the home.)
University of Toronto Environmental Health and Safety: Guidelines for the use of perfumes and scented products. http://www.ehs.utoronto.ca/resources/HSGuide/Scent.htm
Rick Smith & Bruce Lourie, Slow Death by Rubber Duck: how the toxic chemistry of everyday life affects our health. UQP, 2009. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/08/AR2010010801303.html
See a 52 page collection of stories about autism, spectrum, ASD and Aspergers (January 2021)
[1594] Teenager with autism and depression (March 2021) COURAGE AWARD
I am 18, turning 19 in March … I’m currently in university, studying on campus. I have ASD (Autism), GAD (Generalised Anxiety Disorder), ADHD and Depression… I have struggled all my life with food intolerances, in fact my mum tells me I almost died when I was a baby because of them. I was failsafe until I was 5 and then mum eased off a bit. And I recently went back on because my symptoms were getting out of hand. I have found massive improvements - Jemma WATCH VIDEO
From [574] One-liners (August 2007)
My autistic son has gone without Gatorade, PowerAde and coloured drinks for just three days, and already his behaviour is improving - such a small thing to do for such a great result.
[357] 282: A typical email about the effects of the bread preservative (December 2004)
I have taken my 3yo son off all commercial bread products (it's become quite a crusade for me!) with marvellous results. He was going to be assessed for autistic disorders in a few weeks, but since taking him off 282 he has changed (he talks now! and his behaviour is so much better) and I know that his paediatrician will be amazed at his progress. At 18 months my son was only just babbling, and was considered to have the language skills of a 9 month old. After 6 months of speech therapy he was starting to mimic animal noises with prompting. By 27 months he had he had just two words - mummy and no. At 30 months I took him off commercial bread and at 34 months, he just started talking one day. At 36 months (last week) he now has the normal vocabulary of a 3 - 3.5 year old, and the understanding of language of a 4 year old. He is still having problems with actual speech, he only uses 2 word phrases most of the time and stutters occasionally, but the change in him in 4 months was amazing. He also has less tantrums, sleeps better and is generally easier to get along with. - by email
From [356] One-liners (Nov 2004)
- First let me tell you how impressed and grateful I am: I work with children with autism, ADD and learning difficulties and the best way to tell people about the effects of what their children eat is to lend them one of your books. – WA
- Our three and a half year old son is a lovely child with a few difficulties when on failsafe food but before diet, he had enough symptoms to class him as autistic: little or no eye contact, spent hours alone fixated with various objects ie string, sand, wouldn't accept hugs or show affection, constant tantrums, his development regressed a lot from about 18 months or 2 years with regard to loss of speech, and for quite a while he said only one word repetitively, as well as severe reflux, diarrhoea, eczema and sleep disturbance. - Qld
- My four year old autistic son’s pain threshold seems to have decreased on the diet – he used to be barely aware of pain if he injured himself, but now responds as any "normal" child would. - NSW
[540] Heading towards a diagnosis of autism before - the difference in him is so dramatic the paediatrician was in shock (January 2007)
When I originally wrote to you, my three-year-old son had a severe speech delay, many behavioural problems, refused toilet training, was having upwards of 6 dirty nappies a day and the paediatrician was heading towards a diagnosis of autism.
The first two weeks on the elimination diet were "HELL". My son’s behaviour was so bad I was in tears when the day was over and he was in bed asleep. My husband and I were determined to give this a go and we stayed strong together to get him through the rough patch. Four weeks after starting, his behaviour improved each day, the tantrums decreased dramatically, he became calmer, his attention span increased, he was happy to try sitting on the toilet for me, the autistic traits stopped, he would sit and do activities with me and the most impressive of all in one week he said - "Dad", "Mum" and his own name "Sam". He has never called me mum & it brought tears to my eyes - he has since then said love you mum and tries hard to string words together.
The difference in him is so dramatic the paediatrician was in shock, he is a non-believer of diet having an effect on children, however, after seeing the difference in Sam he was blown away. He said he was pretty sure after the last visit he would end up making a diagnosis of autism for him, now after seeing him six months later he is thinking it is just speech delay and is not so worried about the minor autistic traits. We are focused on sticking to the diet especially with the progress Sam is now making. He does on occasions slip on behaviour - but he is only three. We feel we have our beautiful little man back. – by email, Qld
[539] Possible autistic spectrum if not failsafe (January 2007)
My husband and I have two lovely children. We have been through the whole thing of oppositional, erratic and violent behaviour and for us the worst part was insomnia and extreme restlessness at night. No-one ever got a rest. This all was cured with the invaluable assistance of your books, and a profound response to the elimination diet especially for our youngest child who is a 7 year old girl, Lily. She is extremely sensitive to everything – salicylates, amines, chemicals - you name it. Our son is affected, but not as badly.
At times I have wondered if Lily perhaps has Aspergers, or is somewhere on the autistic spectrum, but we had her assessed at age 4 (after being failsafe for three months) and were told that she is bright, possibly gifted, and that she can be extremely anxious because she is clever enough to be able to think about things and therefore worries about things. We prepared her very carefully for school and so far have had no problems - until this month.
Twice this month Lily has lashed out at school, due in part to chemicals. She started swimming lessons every day and the other thing was a class party with heaps of bad food which no-one helped her to avoid. Today she has been "red-booked "and placed on detention for the second time, for hurting someone. The school counsellor who was called in told me "there are NO studies that prove that food intolerances are in any way related to behavioural disturbances". She went on to tell me that it was all in my head, and that it is coincidence that withdrawing a food substance or chemical would have a positive effect on our daughter. She then proceeded to tell me that Lily probably has Aspergers and that the paediatrician probably didn't want to tell me that. I am feeling so enraged. She hasn't even met Lily.
We follow the failsafe lifestyle to the letter, and are eternally grateful to you and your family for sharing your stories, and for your tireless work. Our family wouldn't have survived without Fed Up and how some one can say the things that this counsellor said belies belief. Our son who is now 13 is easily able to make good food choices and knows only too well what bad choices do to him. He was shocked at the response of the school counsellor. My husband - who was a total sceptic 4 years ago - was absolutely livid with that school counsellor. He knows how bad it was here, and how much work I have put in to making our little family happy and calm. I guess we will just keep soldiering on and spreading the word, but this person nearly got the better of me. – by email, NSW (see comment on this story at [552])
[441] Tim's world (shadowings of Asperger's) (August 2006)
When we had our son Tim assessed for Asperger's, we found that his way of viewing the world was different from ours. The tests highlighted his strengths such as maths, eg he scored 17 out of a possible 19 for this area, comprehension and reading skills. They also highlighted his weaknesses in motor coordination and his differing ability in various social situations.
Tim's world can be black and white. He doesn't cope well to change and is like a sponge soaking up written information. He was described as a little adult trapped inside a child's body. This can vary from day to day, depending whether Tim is in what I call 'child mode', happy to play with trucks and toys and his brother, or 'adult mode', needs specific jobs to do, be busy, needs to know and plan ahead.
Tim's overall score fell just a few points short of the criteria for diagnosis. When this happens, the person is described as having shadowings or ghostings of Asperger's, that is, enough of the traits to be a huge concern. This has helped us to find ideas and strategies to cope with his condition.
An occupational therapist with a special interest in sensory/tactile areas explained such things as why Tim likes to wear specific clothes, bounces up and down, spins (though this only happens every now and then) and why his hearing and sense of smell are so acute. These actions and sometime making noise help Tim balance himself. We were advised not to stop these actions, but find ways of directing them into a more socially acceptable form eg bouncing on a trampoline.
Overall, if we can improve his motor skills, his social skills and behaviour will improve.
Tim struggled socially at school last year, but this year things seem much better. We have had friends around to play, though I'm always on hand to help direct the play and social skills needed for a happy afternoon, and I can honestly say Tim is not the lonely little boy he was eight months ago.
My advice to other parents who feel there is something different about their beautiful child, but no one will seem to listen: don't give up. We were patted on the head by doctors for three and a half years ('he's just highly strung, he will grow into himself ' - what a great help that was!) and it was my own sister who suggested Asperger's due to an article she had read.
Having put a name to and found a reason for Tim's behaviour has empowered us to help our beautiful, bright and unique child to be happy. Tim seems sensitive to any artificial products, either additives or smells. We have seen him react to smells such as air fresheners and roadwork smells such as tar. We were also told to watch if his ears go red as this can often be a warning that something is not agreeing with him chemically and we have found this to be true. He can eat salicylates but is limited on amines. – Elaine.
From [325] Autism - on or off-diet during assessment? (April 2004)
My autistic son has been on the diet strictly now for nearly 2 years. He looks terrific and is very healthy with only a very mild sniffle since going failsafe.
He starts pre-primary school this year. It is the school where he went to kindy last year so they are very aware of his requirements such as: no hairspray, aerosol deodorants, perfume etc and are using enjo gloves in the classroom to avoid any chemical being used during the day. Big relief.
We have a five-month wait for the formal disability services assessment to obtain aids for school. I don't know whether to take him off the diet for the period of the assessment. On the diet, although excellent, autistic signs are still evident, for example: no eye contact, no imaginary play, everything is black or white, no flexibility etc. If we take him off the diet we get a severe reduction in speech, more tantrums, aggression, argumentative, rashes, red ears, hypersensitivity to noise, dislike of being touched and the list continues.
I am an avid failsafer and can't now imagine life without failsafe (my son has failed all challenges on a number of occasions and is also intolerant to airborne salicylates). Could I have input from other failsafe mothers on what they think would be best during the assessment? - reader, WA.
[324] Autism and diet at school (2) (April 2004)
About 18 months ago you helped us put our son Ryan (now nearly 5 years old) on the elimination diet, after we had been to RPA for Ryan's hyperactivity, ADHD and autism. Three months later you helped us find a problem with wholegrain wheat and antioxidants that had pulled us undone. Salicylates turned out to be our main problem although antioxidants are a close second, with amines and other additives a problem too.
Our son is now in his second year at special school, where he has made great leaps and bounds. When Ryan started school he was already on the diet. Months later when we'd allowed bananas to become more frequent than one half every second day, his teachers actually came to me and asked was Ryan eating something he shouldn't be. It took us three weeks to figure it out, and cut back on the bananas. Through this incident, they really came to see what we were talking about. Interestingly the school has strongly supported us, always keeping us up to date with what's coming up for 'tasting' in cooking classes, and seeking alternatives for Ryan. I'm very grateful for this! - reader, NSW
[300] Dramatic improvement in speech delay (December 2003)
Our nearly two year old twin girls are awaiting a psychology assessment to determine whether they have autism. They both have a few symptoms especially lack of language - only use the words Mum, Dad, Nan, Bub, no and hello. Their understanding is slow although we feel this is improving. Although both show a few signs they also have signs that keep us hopeful that the girls do not have autism. They have fairly good eye contact and are very affectionate little girls. After researching for hours on the internet, I started the girls on a gluten free and dairy free diet last week. By the end of the day, one of the twins (who would normally use maybe one word a month) had not stopped using her basic words and was making new sounds. Within days they had both improved very noticeably. At first I thought it couldn't work that fast but whilst reading your books I have a different view and realise it might be lack of the bread preservative. - Reader, Tas
[271] Autistic sound sensitivity improves on diet (June 2003)
We discovered failsafe over a year ago when my son Liam was four. Ironically, because of the failsafe internet support group he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome a while later.
He used to hate loud sounds and either shut down, cringing in a corner with his hands over his ears, or more often, he rose above it with the most aggressive behaviour and loudest noise he could muster. One time I had the blender on for one minute and he screamed and threw a chair across the room, quietening down as soon as I turned it off. This has dramatically reduced now. It was not instantaneous with the introduction of diet but somewhere in the course of last year it improved. I have found that this is the improvement which most intrigues other parents of autistic kids. Liam still doesn't like loud noises such as fire alarms but he is content to hold his hands over his ears.
For Liam, the diet has been like unfogging his brain and allowing him to catch up where he is delayed, mainly socially and in his emotions. But the most interesting thing was watching his drawing develop. When he first started Kindy, he drew like a two year, all scribbles. After he started the diet, his drawing just took off and in a matter of months we watched him improve to above his age level. Literally every week there were new dimensions. It was so exciting and a very visible reminder of how the diet now allowed him to develop.
Liam is gluten, dairy and egg free as well as failsafe and he has soy only once every four days. I could not say he is perfect, but he is light years ahead of where we were. - Caroline (finb and Failsafe group)
[215] Autism and diet (October 2002)
My son is 3 ½ and was diagnosed with Autism at 2½. He also presented with almost all of the criteria for the hyperactivity side of ADHD. The diagnosing doctor gave us very little information to go ahead with. By good fortune my husband picked up Sue Dengate's Failsafe Cookbook the weekend after our son was diagnosed, when I was still reeling and had no idea which direction to head in. We went looking for triggers for our sons hyperactive bouts, he was always active, preferring to permanently run rather than walk, and he had no attention span, but sometimes he would just go off, usually for about two days, where he would literally climb the furniture, sitting on top of the bookshelf, watching TV upside down, while lying on top of it, and he was causing his older sister, not to mention his parents, huge amounts of grief.
Early intervention has proved a godsend, but even so, we couldn't get him to sit still, or even sit down! and ADHD drug trialling was mentioned, if we couldn't improve his behaviour. This made me very nervous because previously any medication, bar panadol, for more than 3 days, sent him berserk. I now understand this to be the flavourings in all children's medication (I thought I was covering my bases buying colour-free!) Before I went to RPAH I had done quite a lot of work on his diet myself, and we had discovered a lot ourselves, but after I'd read Sue's book and been to RPAH I was able to make a real difference for our son. His biggest problem is salicylates and colourings - why didn't anyone know to tell me that bad nappy rash is always a sign of salicylate intolerance? That sign was present from when he was a baby. I always put it down to teething - how wrong I was! What a huge amount of grief we could have been saved if we'd known.
Our son is a typical limited Autistic eater. We were told that he was eating a good nutritious diet and we shouldn't interfere. After RPAH and Sue's book, we learned that almost everything our son was eating was bad for his intolerances. I'd tried Helgas Rye bread thinking I was avoiding bread preservative 282 - with no idea that vinegar was a problem! He drank lots of diluted apple juice - so I bought the one with no flavourings and thought he would pee out what he didn't need, which he did. I thought it was good that he drank between 2 and 3 litres a day - the chemist told me it wasn't a problem. RPAH told us he was consuming the equivalent of 10 - 12 apples a day and he is salicylate intolerant!!! Since we removed the fruit juice, he doesn't crave it any more and now drinks about 1 litre of water a day - and it was far easier than I could have imagined!
So even with lots of knowledge under my belt and advice from all the so called "experts" before I went to RPAH I still was far off base. Three days on the elimination diet and our son was a changed child. Preschool reports that he now walks instead of runs. As a result he has slowed down enough to take an interest in the activities around him. He has broken the diet a couple of times, so one week in we inadvertently challenged salicylates and colourings, both with obvious results.
The good news is that he is allowed to still eat wheat, pears, and drink diluted pear syrup from tinned pears, and he has adapted beautifully - something I never thought possible.
Our son is still Autistic - it's not a cure - but it has certainly made a difference to his hyperactivity and therefore he is now far more teachable, with a wider interest base, and the ability to pay attention to things better than before. Grandparents who were sceptics of the diet have noticed that he is calmer, and can only attribute it to the diet. He has even started looking at his grandad, for the first time in two years!
We are only in the second month of the elimination diet, with several mishaps already under our belts, but I really wanted to encourage anyone who is thinking about the diet, dealing with Autism or ADHD - give it a go - you'll learn a lot. It has lowered the stress on our family, particularly his five year old sister, considerably, and has made our son far easier to deal with. Also, when he is not affected by a food infringement, his eye contact improves, he is coming out with new words every week, and is approaching other teachers, apart from his regular carer, something he's never done before.
Interestingly, before we went to RPAH, Sue Dengate told us the main problem would be salicylates but I couldn't face it, I thought it was too hard. It really wasn't that hard, and the fast results were well worth it. Sorry about the long email, but I hope I can encourage others out there to give it a go. - from failsafe2 group
[178] Ratty behaviour (September 2002)
My son aged 10 is autistic. Our speech pathologist suggested that a big part of the ratty behaviour he often exhibits could be from additives in our everyday food and said what you are saying about our daily bread containing more additives. I have eliminated soft drinks from his daily intake and what a remarkable difference I can see already. - email, Vic
[155] A Brush with Pizza Snack Biscuits (June 2002)
My sons are severely food and chemical intolerant. Their diets are severely restricted, just to enable them to cope with day to day life. Their adherence to the restricted diet literally enables them to survive. We avoid additives in food at all costs, and we avoid chemicals wherever possible as they affect the boys equally to the wrong food choices. They are aged 6 and 3 .... [a small amount of pizza flavoured biscuits led to] rocking, flapping and squealing behaviours (which are found on the Autism Spectrum along with face blindness and tactile defensivity – not wanting his personal space invaded, oversensitivity to touch, pushing me away despite wanting comfort). ...
See the full story and many others.
See more recent references in Sue's blog on autism
Hyman SL and others, Dietary Treatment of Young Children with Autism: Behavioral Effects of the Gluten Free and Casein Free Diet. Presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research, Philadelphia, May 22, 2010. http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/index.cfm?id=2860
Swain A, Soutter V, Loblay R, Truswell AS. Salicylates, oligoantigenic diets, and behaviour. Lancet. 1985;2(8445):41-2 and there are more details in the report below.
Loblay RH, Swain AR. Food Intolerance. In: Wahlqvist ML and Truswell AS, editors. Recent Advances in Clinical Nutrition: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Clinical Nutrition; 1985 Sept29-Oct 2; Sydney, Australia. London: John Libbey; 1986. p. 169-177.
Slimak, K. 2003. Reduction of autistic traits following dietary intervention and elimination of exposure to environmental substances. In Proceedings of 2003 International Symposium on Indoor Air Quality and Health Hazards, National Institute of Environmental Health Science, USA, and Architectural Institute of Japan, January 8-11, 2003, Tokyo, Japan, vol 2, pp 206-216. http://www.immuneweb.org/articles/slimak.html
Farrow A and others, Symptoms of mothers and infants related to total volatile organic compounds in household products, Arch Environ Health. 2003 Oct;58(10):633-41.
University of Toronto Environmental Health and Safety: Guidelines for the use of perfumes and scented products http://www.ehs.utoronto.ca/resources/HSGuide/Scent.htm
Rick Smith & Bruce Lourie, Slow Death by Rubber Duck: how the toxic chemistry of everyday life affects our health. UQP 2009. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/08/AR2010010801303.html
Introduction to food intolerance
Fed Up: Understanding how food affects your child and what to do about it by Sue Dengate, Random House 2008
Fed Up with Children’s Behaviour DVD by Sue Dengate
The RPAH Elimination Diet Handbook with food and shopping guide, 2009
Our frequently updated “Salicylate Mistakes Information sheet” is available on request from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Our symptom discussion paper: Pervasive Development Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS)
The information given is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with your doctor for underlying illness. Before beginning dietary investigation, consult a dietician with an interest in food intolerance. You can see our list of experienced and supportive dietitians http://fedup.com.au/information/support/dietitians
© Sue Dengate update November 2021
