Autism is a mitochondrial disorder - and restoring their function can improve it, demonstrated beautifully in a recent trial.
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Mitochondrial dysfunction is any abnormality in this organelle's ability to generate energy or other substrates.
Depending on the criteria, anywhere from 5% up to 90% (in this study) of people with autism spectrum disorders suffer from some form of mitochondrial dysfunction.
Thus, the goal in this study was to identify that subset and treat accordingly.
This was done with the use of a mitochondrial targeted supplement.
It contained various essential vitamins and minerals,
as well as other nutrients like carnitine and CoQ10 that are also important for mitochondrial metabolism.
This study came out in 2010 in the British Journal of Nutrition.
People were enrolled who had:
◈ BMI >25 kg/m2
◈ Visceral fat area >100 cm²
So they were "considered to be visceral fat-type obese, but had not been treated at an out-patient department and had no serious disease."
For those of you who don't know, visceral fat is the type of fat that accumulates around the organs and is much more inflammatory and metabolically dangerous.
They were given 300 mg of enteric coated lactoferrin per day for 8 weeks (or placebo).
This study came out in 2010 in the British Journal of Nutrition.
People were enrolled who had:
◈ BMI >25 kg/m2
◈ Visceral fat area >100 cm²
So they were "considered to be visceral fat-type obese, but had not been treated at an out-patient department and had no serious disease."
For those of you who don't know, visceral fat is the type of fat that accumulates around the organs and is much more inflammatory and metabolically dangerous.
They were given 300 mg of enteric coated lactoferrin per day for 8 weeks (or placebo).