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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good Practical Help, May 22, 2009
This review is from: Eating for Autism: The 10-Step Nutrition Plan to Help Treat Your Child's Autism, Asperger's, or ADHD (Paperback)
Before striking out on my own in this review, I'd like to correct the misconception by D. Prince that there was "...NOTHING about problems with protein intolerance" in this book. First of all, gluten IS (or rather ARE) proteins... two of them, in fact; glutenin and gliadin. Both of these special proteins make up what we call "gluten."
The elasticity we see in bread dough is due to these proteins. There are two amino acid sequences in glutenin; HMW (high molecular weight) 10 and HMW 12. Their differences are in their repeating arrays of hexamer and nonamer amino acids. Their structure is responsible in large part for the increase in elasticity when the dough is kneaded.
While the author of EATING FOR AUTISM may not have gone into great detail about this process, I think one gets a clue about the book by its title, EATING for Autism. The book is about EATING, and it's written for the layman, not the scientist, albeit some people with these diseases and/or with gluten intolerance and other food intolerances and allergies have become experts in the field.
As far as the comment on speculation, "...a lot of un-referanced and speculation babble about autism," I think even scientists and medical experts have not nailed everything down about autism yet. There is a lot of speculation in this field for that very reason. Someone with protein intolerance or other food intolerances or allergies must rely on "speculation" coupled with their own experiences until such a time in the future when all can be known about this subject.
Having read the book, I must agree that it suffers a bit from the lack of detail about protein intolerances and food allergies. However, having tried many of the recipes myself, I must also agree with D. Prince that the recipes are excellent... and THAT'S the thrust of this book; EATING for autism, Asperger's and ADHD. Most people I've come across with these diseases have a common complaint... "I miss bread and many of the foods I can't eat on my intolerance diet. It's so hard to find anything I can eat."
It seems to me that a good cookbook addressing this problem is a godsend to most people with this problem. As a cookbook alone, EATING FOR AUTISM should help to solve some big problems for people with food intolerance issues.
I'm of the opinion that this book will help a lot of people since it is for the layman. I can't give it five stars because I believe that people who are highly informed on this subject will need to read further in order to satisfy their need for more informative and/or scientific material. All in all, however, I do think this is a very good book.
For those who want more information on the protein gluten and its subunits, glutenin and gliadin, see the REFERENCES list at: www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v7/n12/abs/nbt1289-1281.html
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Eating Issues and Autism: best steps offered, January 24, 2010
This review is from: Eating for Autism: The 10-Step Nutrition Plan to Help Treat Your Child's Autism, Asperger's, or ADHD (Paperback)
My review is partly in response to another's eval that states that this author purports foods that are not nutritious and that the author must not have reviewed the literature etc.
I believe this book makes a great approach at addressing the nutrition issues most often found in those with Autism, ADHD, Asperger.
As a practitioner, eating issues are prevalent. This author cannot suggest salads,a litany of fruits, legumes if the child won't even go near those food types! Most often the parents states that this is the case. The parent comes in desperate because they have spent weeks, months preparing broccoli 10 different ways, or have pureed every legume in the book to try to get their child to eat healthy, and nothing works, because they have not started with the steps she outlines. The vegetables, fruits, legumes are the ideal end in mind. But it is reasonable to start at a place where the child is at and make changes towards the goal. Hence, the "recipes" for alternative chick nuggets, jello, etc. Start with the food that looks like what they would even allow to come near their mouth, basically. The resources provided in the back, the support literature is very appropriate. Getting a child to follow all of these steps and take every vit and min desired on a daily consistent basis, is NOT easy and can be difficult. It is not unacceptable to say so. Any child that can do this on a daily basis, therefore would not appear to have an eating problem! Simultaneously, the title does not say nutrition encyclopedia. Instead the author gives resources for one to look up the nutritional content of food and if I know a dietitian when I see one, likely would give you nutrition and food group intake and analysis/suggestions for free if you asked. Excellent, helpful, recommend it!
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20 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Nutrition book without any nutrition!, December 19, 2009
This review is from: Eating for Autism: The 10-Step Nutrition Plan to Help Treat Your Child's Autism, Asperger's, or ADHD (Paperback)
I love the title and cover of this book. I opened it with great anticipation and optimism. An apple, carrot, strawberry and broccoli...it doesn't get any healthier than that! I was SO disappointed to find no reference to any of these foods in the book or index. The closest it comes is applesauce muffins and carrot cake. The recipe section on "Vegetables" does not include any fresh or green vegetables, only frozen vegetables. Where are the broccoli, chard, green beans, avocado, kale, zucchini and winter squash? The dessert section has fruit jello and pudding. No fresh fruits.
There is, in fact, no true NUTRITION in the book! The recipes are for "junk foods," not REAL food. Chicken nuggets (2 ways even!), fish sticks and spaghetti and meatballs? What about broiled fish, lamb chops, turkey burgers, lentil patties, buffalo burgers, hummos, burritos? Microwaving food! I cannot believe that the authors would support microwaved food when it is so dangerous. What an opportunity they missed to help people eat more healthy food!
I found the book's negativity very disturbing. The authors convince the reader that following their instructions will be difficult. Examples abound: page 9- One of the biggest mistakes parents make...page 15 - preparing home-cooked meals can be difficult...page 73- there's little research on effective therapy to treat feeding problems in children with autism (not true)... page 75 - it's going to take time to assemble a team...page 105 - there's little research supporting a GF/CF diet in autism (not true)...page 121 - Unfortunately, there's no clear cut dosage. Haven't the authors seen the parent checklist from the Autism Research Institute? Two-thirds say their kids got better on the diet, and almost no one got worse!
Calling an ELISA allergy test "controversial" in autism is simply wrong. It is one of the most valuable tools we have for helping our kids.
Where did the authors learn the material they put in the book? Not a single footnote attributes material to its proper source! One of the first things I learned is to show some gratitude to my teachers. Other than the few folks they thanked in their acknowledgements, they mentioned no one!
I cannot recommend this book to the autism community. Please look at Special-Needs Kids Eat Right: Strategies to Help Kids on the Autism Spectrum Focus, Learn, and Thrive by Judy Converse and The Kid-Friendly ADHD & Autism Cookbook, Updated and Revised: The Ultimate Guide to the Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet.
If you want to learn more about the science behind diets and nutrition for autism go to Envisioning a Bright Future: Interventions That Work for Children and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders. It has references and other therapies that work even better once the child is well-nourished!
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