How Antioxidants Can Help Children With Autism By Mark DeRosa At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

In the past few years, many medical groups and sectors have released their findings and research regarding autism and its cause. Up until now, the medical world has not agreed on a singular cause, but the research that came up due to the endeavors to find out the disorder’s cause have yielded some very important information. And one of the more important discoveries about autism that was discovered through these researches is the link between autism and antioxidants. Antioxidants are not necessarily unique to people with the brain development disorder. However, according to some relevant research, there is enough evidence to prove that the two indeed linked.

According to a research in Arkansas a few years ago, the antioxidant levels of autistic children is significantly lower compared to the antioxidant levels of children not suffering from the disorder. The research has shown that a child with autism has 80 percent lower antioxidant levels than usual. This is an incredibly significant number, since such low antioxidant levels in their bodies mean that the said chemical is not able to do whatever it is supposed to do.

So what exactly is the purpose of antioxidants in the body?

As previous stated, antioxidants are present in everyone’s bodies. They are the substances in the body that protect the cells from harmful free radicals. Free radicals, in turn, can be found in various food substances and even environmental substances such as smoke, radiation, and pollution. However, it is in many food substances (such as wheat or dairy) where free radicals can supposedly be found. Without antioxidants, once the body breaks down such food substances, free radicals can do major damage. It is the antioxidants that cleanse the body from harmful substances, so to speak.

In any case, free radicals can cause severe disorders and diseases, such as cancer and other heart disorders. The antioxidants prevent the free radical’s oxidative process and repair any damaged cells. Antioxidants can be found in Vitamin A, C, E, Lycopene, and Beta-carotene, among others. In the bodies of individuals not suffering from autism, the lack of antioxidants can cause oxidative stress, or the general effect of free radicals in the body.

The fact that the antioxidant levels of children with autism is very alarming, to say the least.

For one, this means an autistic child has no way of cleansing his or her body from the chemicals that are derived from the food that they intake. To add even more damage to this already pressing problem, the digestive systems of autistic children are not capable of fully digesting and breaking down the food they ingest—meaning the free radicals from the food taken in can grow in overwhelming numbers. This plus the fact that an autistic child has a low antioxidant count can mean only one thing: be left unsolved, the damage can become catastrophic. To be more precise, free radicals can damage one’s brain. This, surely, can hamper a child’s development.

This is the reason why many experts encourage the intake of food supplements with antioxidants—specifically glutathione. To be sure, it is not exactly determined if the lack of antioxidants in the body is the cause or the effect of autism. However, the condition remains to be an undeniable fact. Taking supplements with antioxidants can suppress autism symptoms caused by free radical damage.

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