Effectiveness of nutritional interventions on behavioral symptomatology of autism spectrum disorder: a systematic...

Introduction: the main treatment for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) corresponds to cognitive behavioral therapy in conjunction with pharmacotherapy. Together they seek to attenuate the behavioral symptoms of these patients, as well as to increase their social functionality. However, other strategies have become popular to achieve the same goal of classical treatment. Particularly, nutritional interventions are positioned above others, and it is necessary to investigate their effectiveness, considering that children with ASD present a marked food selectivity, as well as gastrointestinal alterations. Objective: to evaluate the effectiveness of nutritional interventions in the behavioral symptomatology of infants with ASD. Methods: a systematic search was carried out in the Scopus and PubMed databases, in Spanish and English. The filters of clinical studies and original articles were used, choosing only nutritional interventions in children under 19 years of age and who had had at least 4 weeks of intervention. Results: evidence was found on gluten- and casein-free diets, ketogenic diet, omega-3 supplementation, prebiotics/probiotics, and vitamins/minerals presenting positive results in most of the articles analyzed; however, the heterogeneity presented requires a greater body of evidence to promote its use. Conclusion: the five types of nutritional interventions evaluated show varied evidence that does not allow defining the degree of effectiveness between one or the other in terms of behavioral improvements in the population with ASD.