Mother reverses autism symptoms in daughter by eliminating MSG from diet

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A biochemist located in the San Francisco Bay Area believes that she has drastically improved, if not cured, her daughter's autism through eliminating monosodium glutamate, or MSG, from her diet.

Katherine Reid, Ph.D., says her daughter Brooke began exhibiting symptoms of autism at age two. Brooke's communication capabilities were far below average, and she failed to develop normal human connections. She also suffered from tantrums and digestive complications including constipation.

Dr. Reid's husband, a cellular biologist, became suspicious of his daughter's symptoms and began researching, only to find that Brooke was showing nearly every characteristic of autism. After seeing their pediatrician, who also agreed that something was wrong, the family hired a psychologist to test Brooke's learning abilities. The results were devastating in that they showed that she suffered immensely from severe learning disabilities, ultimately diagnosing her with moderate autism.

"She was in her own world," Dr. Reid said. "Her actions were repetitive, like doing a puzzle over and over again for hours. And she exhibited signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder. She couldn't stand going home in the stroller on a different route without having a screaming tantrum."

Soon, most of Dr. Reid's free time was dedicated to researching autism and the struggles that other families were experiencing. Through her research, she learned that many children suffering from the disorder had improved symptoms after altering their diets to exclude MSG, gluten and dairy products.

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