A Link Between Our Diets and the Rise of Autism

So, how bad is autism today? If you look at the 1960s and 70s, the number of cases of autism was just 2 to 4 cases for every 10,000 children (that’s right - 10,000 children). Today, the number is incredible! It’s grown to an alarming 1 in 36 children.

These numbers say that we’re in the middle of an epidemic and it may be solvable. There may be hope from a groundbreaking study that has uncovered a potential link between diet and autism. 

This link is connected to PUFAs in our diet. PUFA stands for polyunsaturated fatty acids. 

So, what are PUFAs? They are a type of fat found in many foods from vegetable seed oils, certain seeds and nuts, and animal meat where the animal was fed a high-PUFA diet. In the 60s and 70s linolic acid (LA) made up less than 2% of total daily caloric intake. Now, they account for over 25% of total calories.

Tied into this, chickens that are now raised in confinement barns are the highest source of LA consumption in the country. So, the idea of eating commercial chicken raised because it’s better for you may be false! 

Some of the other impacts of PUFAs include interfering with thyroid hormone utilization, affecting gut health and contributing to inflammation and metabolic issues in a child’s body.

It’s the presence of these metabolic byproducts of PUFAs breaking down being found in the umbilical cord fluid that was linked by the researchers to the severity of the child’s autism.

This is the first study to find these byproducts in women’s umbilical cords. 

The addition of vegetable oils in processed foods and in cooking have increased the consumption of PUFAs and linoleic acid (LA) in the form of omega-6 PUFAs, which is abundant in vegetable oils. 

The researchers went even further and found that it’s a specific PUFA in the umbilical cord called diHETrE that’s one of the main problems. 

The researchers also found that elevated levels in the umbilical cord were linked to higher ADHA scores during the person’s childhood as well as cognitive impairments in the children.

The damage goes even further if the woman decides to breast feed her child. If she’s consuming a large amount of PUFAs they will wind up in her breast milk. As a matter of fact, the researchers found that 2 or 3 days of moving to a higher level of PUFAs in the diet increased the amount in the mother’s breast milk from 8 to 10% to 42%!

What can a mother do? She can switch to a diet that uses fat sources that are richer in saturated fats which means that they are lower in PUFAs. Also, limit vegetable oils in the diet and processed foods, as well as nuts and seeds.

You can find some companies that specialize in creating low PUFA eggs, port, beef, cheese and dairy products. Two are Angel Acres Egg Co and Nourish Cooperative.

So…even if you’re not pregnant or you’re a man, look at reducing the PUFAs as much as you can.

(Reported Mercola.com, August 20, 2024)