Digestion-gut-autism connection: The Specific Carbohydrate Diet
Abstract
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One study examined implementation of a specific carbohydrate diet in a 4-year-old child with ASD and fragile X syndrome, showing the diet was well tolerated and led to improvements in growth status, gastrointestinal symptoms, and behaviors.
“We found one study that examined the implementation of an SCD protocol in a child with ASD, which showed that the SCD protocol was well tolerated in this 4 year old child diagnosed with ASD and fragile X syndrome (FXS), leading to improvements in growth status, gastrointestinal symptoms, and behaviors [112].”
From Autism, Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Modulation of Gut Microbiota by Nutritional Interventions (2019) · cites this paper as [112]
The specific carbohydrate diet was developed in the 1930s for patients with celiac disease but is also employed to treat Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis, and chronic diarrhea.
“The SCD was developed in the 1930s as a dietary protocol intended for patients with celiac disease [111] but it is also employed to treat Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis and chronic diarrhea [112,113,114].”
From Autism, Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Modulation of Gut Microbiota by Nutritional Interventions (2019) · cites this paper as [112]
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Autism Spectrum Disorder: Classification, diagnosis and therapy
Sharma, S., Gonda, X., & Tarazi, F. I. (2018) · Pharmacology & Therapeutics · doi:10.1016/j.pharmthera.2018.05.007 · Cited by 695 · see citing works
Autism, Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Modulation of Gut Microbiota by Nutritional Interventions
Ristori, M. V., Quagliariello, A., Reddel, S., Ianiro, G., Vicari, S., Gasbarrini, A., & Putignani, L. (2019) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu11112812 · Cited by 214 · see citing works
“We found one study that examined the implementation of an SCD protocol in a child with ASD, which showed that the SCD protocol was well tolerated in this 4 year old child diagnosed with ASD and fragile X syndrome (FXS), leading to improvements in growth status, gastrointestinal symptoms, and behaviors [112].”
BackgroundNutritional interventions for autism spectrum disorder
Karhu, E., Zukerman, R. J., Eshraghi, R. S., Mittal, J., Deth, R. C., Castejon, A. M., Trivedi, M. S., Mittal, R., & Eshraghi, A. A. (2019) · Nutrition Reviews · doi:10.1093/nutrit/nuz092 · Cited by 145 · see citing works
Gut microbiota and Autism Spectrum Disorder: From pathogenesis to potential therapeutic perspectives
Mehra, A., Arora, G., Sahni, G., Kaur, M., Singh, H. B., Singh, B., & Kaur, S. (2022) · Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.jtcme.2022.03.001 · Cited by 106 · see citing works
How nutritional status, diet and dietary supplements can affect autism. A review.
Kawicka, A., & Regulska−Ilow, B. (2013) · PubMed · Cited by 90 · see citing works
Cristiano, C., Lama, A., Lembo, F., Mollica, M. P., Calignano, A., & Raso, G. M. (2018) · Frontiers in Physiology · doi:10.3389/fphys.2018.00184 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
“The components of SCD are meat, vegetables (onions, spinach, peppers, cauliflower, and cabbage), eggs, natural cheeses, nuts (walnuts, brazil nuts, and almond), fresh fruits, soaked lentils, and beans (Gotschall, 2004).”
BackgroundInfluentialDietary Patterns and Anthropometric Measures of Indian Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Siddiqi, S., Urooj, A., & D’Souza, M. J. (2018) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3850-0 · Cited by 52 · see citing works
B vitamin supplementation reduces excretion of urinary dicarboxylic acids in autistic children
Kałużna‐Czaplińska, J., Socha, E., & Rynkowski, J. M. (2011) · Nutrition Research · doi:10.1016/j.nutres.2011.06.002 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
“These include phenylketonuria [5]; histidinemia [6]; dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase deficiency [7]; 5′-nucleotidase superactivity [8]; mitochondrial dysfunction [9]; chronic constipation, periods of diarrhea, abdominal pain, and indications of intestinal bacterial and fungal overgrowth [10]; and malabsorption and glu…”
BackgroundNutritional management and autism spectrum disorder: A systematic review
Al‐Beltagi, M. (2024) · World Journal of Clinical Pediatrics · doi:10.5409/wjcp.v13.i4.99649 · Cited by 36 · see citing works
Dietary Approaches to the Management of Autism Spectrum Disorders
Hartman, R. E., & Patel, D. (2020) · Advances in neurobiology · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-30402-7_19 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
Barnhill, K. M., Devlin, M., Moreno, H. T., Potts, A., Richardson, W., Schutte, C., & Hewitson, L. C. (2018) · Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders · doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3704-9 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
“…carbohydrate diet (SCD) was developed in the 1930s as a dietary protocol intended for patients with celiac disease (Haas and Haas 1955) but has since been employed to treat Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis and chronic diarrhea (Galland 1999; Gottschall 2004; Suskind et al.”
MethodDiet in treatment of autism spectrum disorders
Alam, S., Westmark, C. J., & McCullagh, E. A. (2023) · Frontiers in Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnins.2022.1031016 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
“…diets (SCD) have been used for the treatment of Crohn’s disease, celiac disease, ulcerative colitis, diverticulitis, and chronic diarrhea and are currently receiving attention for their potential in treating neurological disorders (Gottschall, 2004; Suskind et al., 2014; Obih et al., 2016).”
MethodEl-Ansary, A. K., Shaker, G. H., El-Gezeery, A. R., & AL-Ayadhi, L. Y. (2013) · Gut Pathogens · doi:10.1186/1757-4749-5-9 · Cited by 20 · see citing works
“This conclusion is admittedly tough to prove mechanistically and requires further study emphasizing the role of the gut-brain axis in the pathoetiology of autism [47].”
BackgroundA Spectrum of Solutions: Unveiling Non-Pharmacological Approaches to Manage Autism Spectrum Disorder
Mondal, A., Sharma, R., Abiha, U., Ahmad, F., Karan, A., Jayaraj, R. L., & Sundar, V. (2023) · Medicina · doi:10.3390/medicina59091584 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
“This diet’s central premise is to prevent the advancement of pathogenic intestinal microflora’s by alleviating malabsorption [53,54].”
BackgroundĀbele, S., Meija, L., Folkmanis, V., & Tzivian, L. (2021) · Proceedings of the Latvian Academy of Sciences Section B Natural Exact and Applied Sciences · doi:10.2478/prolas-2021-0062 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Specialized Diet Therapies: Exploration for Improving Behavior in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
Bjørklund, G., Meguid, N. A., Dadar, M., Pivina, L. M., Kałużna‐Czaplińska, J., Jóźwik-Pruska, J., Aaseth, J., Chartrand, M. S., Waly, M. I., Al-Farsi, Y. M., et al. (2020) · Current Medicinal Chemistry · doi:10.2174/0929867327666200217101908 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Advances in Causes and Treatment of Autism
XiaoLi, W. U., Jin, F., & Duan, Y. (2015) · Scientia Sinica Vitae · doi:10.1360/n052015-0108 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Gastrointestinal health and nutritional strategies in autism spectrum disorder
Wu, Y., Wong, O. W. H., Chen, S., Ng, S. C., Su, Q., & Chan, F. K. L. (2025) · Journal of Gastroenterology · doi:10.1007/s00535-025-02269-1 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
“Similarly, the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD)—theoretically targeting carbohydrate malabsorption and microbial dysbiosis—has been employed to relieve GI symptoms in ASD management [29, 30].”
Jin, F., Duan, Y., & XiaoLi, W. U. (2015) · Chinese Science Bulletin (Chinese Version) · doi:10.1360/n972015-00355 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
DIETARY APPROACHES AND NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
Adıgüzel, E., & Çiçek, B. (2023) · Editora Científica Digital eBooks · doi:10.37885/230613484 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Targeting gut microbiota as a possible therapeutic intervention in autism
El-Ansary, A. K., & Bhat, R. S. (2020) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-818466-0.00017-4 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Nutrition Therapy Approaches in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder
AKHALİL, M., Çiftçi, S., & Batu, Z. (2023) · Farabi Tıp Dergisi · doi:10.59518/farabimedj.1237543 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Autism in Children Connected with Gastrointestinal Symptoms
Walecki, P. K., Kawala‐Sterniuk, A., & Siwek, J. (2018) · IntechOpen eBooks · doi:10.5772/intechopen.79863 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“It has been pointed out that the use of probiotics may help in restoring the proper intestinal microflora and thus eliminate diarrhea and constipation, which are a common problem in people with autism [38].”
BackgroundSatapathy, T., Sahu, L., Verma, R., Sahu, P., Tiwari, K., Patel, N. T., & Dhiwar, P. (2025) · Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics · doi:10.22270/jddt.v15i7.7294 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Ibrahim, K. S., Sayed, E. E., & Mahdy-Abdallah, H. (2020) · Archives of Ecotoxicology · doi:10.36547/ae.2020.2.4.79-88
“It is used to alleviate the malabsorption and growth of pathogenic intestinal microorganisms (Gottschall, 2004).”
BackgroundParents' Attitudes and Beliefs Towards Dietary Behaviors of Children with Autism Aged 5-13 Years
Narayanan, S. (2021) · University of North Florida Digital Commons (University of North Florida)
Autismo: uma abordagem multiprofissional
Borges, F. D. S. S., Cavalcante, F. P., Brilhante, F. D. F., Portela, J. G., Costa, L. F. L. D., Fernandes, L. M. C., Fontenele, L. A., Diniz, M. A. N., Sousa, M. D. D. A., Fonseca, M. C. S. D., et al. (2023) · Editora Científica Digital eBooks · doi:10.37885/978-65-5360-414-8
Complementary Health Approaches Commonly Used for Autism Spectrum Disorder
Handal, L., Barrett, J., Wu, N. W., Berends, M. N., & McPherson, P. (2025) · Autism and child psychopathology series · doi:10.1007/978-3-032-01237-1_17
Chindarkar, M., Medithi, S., Rajesh, N., & Rajesh, V. (2026) · ACS Nutrition Science · doi:10.1021/acsnutrsci.6c00058
- Authors
- Gottschall, E.
- Corresponding author
- Gottschall, Elaine
- Venue
- Medical Veritas: The Journal of Medical Truth
- Publisher
- Pearblossom Private School
- Published
- 2004-11
- Volume
- 1
- Pages
- 261-271
- ISSN
- 1549-1390 (ISSN-L)
- 1549-1404
- OpenAlex
- W2093487128
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 5 · 2015: 2 · 2013: 2
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Medical veritas (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Child Nutrition and Feeding Issues
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gut microbiota and health
- Keywords
- specific carbohydrate diet, autism spectrum disorder, digestion, intestine, dietary therapy, gut dysbiosis
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