As you probably know, autism (aka ASD) rates seem to double every time they check them again. The standard medical explanation is that this is not real and it’s just because the test methods have changed, but a little bit of deep research shows that anxiety rates have skyrocketed over the decades, to the point where the average child in the 1980s had levels of anxiety higher than pediatric psychiatry patients a few decades prior. Even if we forget the modern elusive term “autism,” rate of childhood mental, behavioral, and emotional disorders has climbed about 5x since 1950s.
Autism Causes
Autism has various causes, which is why there is no one treatment that can cure all people with autism. The RFK Jr. HHS under Trump seems to think Tylenol is a major cause, but that doesn’t seem to pan out. Some of the major ones that have better research backing:
Viral origin and vaccine viral re-activation (also discussed here). This can be treated with dilute, food-grade H2O2, IV vitamin C (safer but more costly), sunshine, and various other remedies from orthomolecular.org. While antiviral and antibiotic drugs do show good efficacy in about 40% of autistic children, their long-term side effects may negate the acute benefits.
Toxins, leading to leaky gut: Mold (including peanut aflatoxin), arsenic, antimony, lead, cadmium, aluminum, mercury, oxalates and other toxins (especially from vaccines but could be other sources) and parasites.
Partly because of this, food sensitivities are common for autistic folks and can make the condition worse if ignored. A basic healthy diet (high in fruits, veggies, protein, low in industrial junk) scored the highest for effectiveness (Matthews & Adams 2023), but failing that, you can try an elimination diet to be more scientific. See my general detox tips and Vax detox tips.
Endocrine disruptors, especially dibutyl phthalate exposure in pregnant women and young children, leading to 2-40x increases in behavioral problems in children (Lien et al, 2024). Broccoli sprouts can pull phthalates out of the cells, and then once in the plasma, activated charcoal binds and detoxes phthalates at 85% efficiency (Bhatnagar 2016), while probiotics (like S. boulardi, L. rhamnosus, L. plantarum) were able to eliminate phthalate toxicity in rats (Baralić et al 2020). Both of these are in my ZHoly3O packets.
ZeoCharge Zeolite, also in the ZHoly3O formula, is one of the few safe ways of detoxing metals. Many people have reported metal detox to work for autism, but most metal chelation therapies are extremely dangerous, which is why doctors usually do not advise them. Most zeolite is worthless in my experience and some even dangerous, but ZeoCharge zeolite is the only one that’s cleaned and remineralized, and it really works.
A much cheaper option is diatomaceous earth, which seems to work for some folks on EarthClinic, although the evidence is not strong for this compared to ZeoCharge zeolite.Pangamic acid (“vitamin B-15”) is a very interesting, well-tolerated treatment which worked on 12 out of 15 kids with learning and speech impairments in this study. It did NOT work on 6 hyper-excitable kids. The theorized mechanism of action was chelation, specifically of arsenic.
Oxalates in foods, especially high in certain foods like spinach, rhubarb, cacao, beans, can cause a host of symptoms. Deficiency in oxalate-processing bacteria, or vitamin B-6 (P5P form) deficiency can reduce oxalate processing capacity.
Gestational diabetes in mothers doubles risk of autism in babies (Stern 2011). Paleo diet can help both mother and child.
Liver congestion, low stomach acid, dysbiosis, etc.
Consider liver flush approaches, including the oil method to pull stones out, as well as more gentle cleanses with beet tops juice, celery juice, red cabbage juice, betaine HCl with protein meals, GAPS diet.
T. C. Hale has lots of videos on fixing gut issues, and most of his advice is pretty good, but some is debatable like the anabolic/catabolic theory.
General Micronutrient deficiencies:
NAC (N-acetylcysteine) (especially combined with glycine + selenium) has shown promise in trials for boosting glutathione and reducing irritability, with some parents noting better social engagement (average 1.6 standard deviation improvement in behavior scores in this study). Glutathione supplements are anecdotally linked to behavioral improvements, especially in kids with oxidative stress markers. 10% of people aren’t able to convert NAC to glutathione, so you might want to try just glutathione itself. Glutathione requires selenium to neutralize peroxide.
Vitamins & Minerals: Orthomolecular Drs have found, over decades of study, that the following to work well for many autistic kids (Gemini report, Saul 2017):
Vitamin B-1 (thiamine) in fat-soluble forms (e.g., benfotiamine, TTFD) have parent stories of developmental leaps, like better school performance, and one study showing 8 out of 10 autistic kids benefitted quite a lot from TTFD form. It helped most for the most severely autistic kids. The study authors indicate that TTFD was able to remove the neurotoxic metal arsenic (and some others) from the bodies.
Vitamin B-2: 50mg daily.
Vitamin B3: Niacin or niacinamide — 1 to 2 gm. daily, depending upon body weight (put in water and sip thru the day slowly to gauge tolerance, build dose up slowly). NAD+ subdermal injections or NMN oral might work better according to anecdotes.
Vitamin B-5 — 400 to 600 mg
Vitamin B-6 (P5P form) 200 to 400 mg. This helps detox oxalates.
Vitamin B-9: Folate deficiency is caused by Folate Receptor Autoantibodies (as proximal but not ultimate cause). Leucovorin is the generic name in the pharmacy for calcium folinate which is able to pass into the brain despite folate receptor damage. Megadoses required for children (2mg/kg), with incredible 70% success rate. Can be expensive unless you have an Rx to get it in pharmacy. Normal doses of folate work during pregnancy to reduce autism risk by 60-70% (Vanderheyden 2018).
Vitamin B-12: Methylated B-12 is highlighted as a top remedy on EarthClinic. Some people however should take the hydroxycobalamin form if they are sensitive to methylated vitamins (causing overstimulation).
Vitamin C: 1 to 5 grams in water bottle, sipped slowly thru the day.
Sunshine for vitamin D, melatonin, nitric oxide
Magnesium, potassium, iron, selenium (without which glutathione can’t neutralize peroxide), calcium, iodine, zinc carnosine, molybdenum are often deficient, and they compete with toxic metals. See this Perplexity Deep Research on mineral imbalances in autistic children.
Mineral analysis is difficult to do properly, because the levels inside the organ tissues are what matter, more than levels in blood, urine, hair, etc. However, one thing that hair tissue metals analysis can detect is impaired metal transport.
OligoScan is an alternative that some holistic practitioners have validated on their own clinically, but it’s difficult to trust since it has never been validated simply against ICP-MS biopsy. Even on the OligoScan website itself, there is a caveat that results are not always accurate.
Supplementing the diet with kelp and other green/red seaweeds (most of which, including delicious Nori/Laver seaweed, contain true vitamin B-12 in good quantity) is a cheap way to get all the minerals from the sea that are depleted from the soils. A more scientific mineral blend is Spike.
Additional remedies helpful for autism:
Nrf2 activators: Broccoli sprouts, luteolin, turmeric, and pterostilbene are potent activators of the Nrf2 pathway (master regulator of antioxidant defense) which protects the CtBP2 pathway (regulates metabolism and aging), and they also improve the gut microbiome.
Broccoli sprouts (as a source of sulforaphane+myrosinase) were studied in 17 autistic children: 11 of them had incredible benefits. None benefitted in the control group of 11. Three RCTs were done since that case series study (not on broccoli sprouts in these RCTs, but rather pure sulforaphane): the 2024 and the 2025 study found mild to moderate benefit, while the 2023 study found no benefit (summary). But I was highly convinced by the first case series (parents in that one were saying “everyone needs to know about broccoli sprouts!”). Broccoli sprouts are also the main food that aids our cells in pushing out microplastics (Hong et al, 2023).
Luteolin (celery leaf juice is the best source): Luteolin is thought to help by calming down the brain’s overactive immune cells (mast cells and microglia). A 2011 case series on 37 ASD children found that GI and allergysymptoms improved in about 75% of children, eye contact and attention in 50%, social interactionin 25% and resumption of speech in about 10%.
Turmeric contains curcuminoids as well as a possibly even more beneficial compound called ar-turmerone. When you grind turmeric and cook in oil (traditionally in ghee), and add some black pepper, bioavailability can go up 20x or more. It works well for autistic rats. No human studies done yet.
Pterostilbene is an antioxidant found in blueberries (but you’d need to eat up to 500kg of blueberries to get one 180mg dose of pterostilbene) which has the Nrf2 activation ability of resveratrol (from grapes), except that it’s highly bio-available, unlike resveratrol. Interestingly, if not paired with grape extract, pterostilbene at high functional doses like 180mg can raise LDL cholesterol too much. The benefits of pterostilbene are more theoretical than confirmed, but it’s worth trying.
High CBD, Low THC cannabis oil helps most autistic kids to calm down and function better (Schleider et al 2019). Cannabis root oil is another option which can help. A double blind study on 150 ASD children from 2021 found that 49% of ASD children had greatly reduced aggressive behaviors when using CBD isolate.
DMSO: although there aren’t any studies showing this as a remedy for autism that I know of, and anecdotes are strangely sparse, it’s generally non-toxic and useful for many different brain issues, plus it also detoxes some metals and all kinds of other toxins. See my DMSO page.
Lithium is beneficial, at 1-20mg usually. A 2019 study on 20 ASD patients found that 14 of patients had reduced maladaptive behaviors, and of those, 10 had great reductions. Not much research done otherwise, except anecdotes, and a rat study.
Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HbOT): studies show modest improvement, but some anecdotes stand out.
Fasoracetam (20mg), a nootropic that repairs GABA-B receptors, helps anxiety, mood, socializing, executive function (Grok 4 Expert Deep Research).
Here are the top reported cures from parents who “tried everything.” Note the risks of metal detox in the table: it’s talking about non-ZeoCharge zeolite detoxes.
Psychological/behavioral/therapeutic interventions
These are mainstream treatments which do not address the root cause but can still be beneficial.
One treatment is a bit controversial: “Forced” cuddling, deep massage, and tight squeeze hugging — autistic kids often really need affection and some kind of squeezing feeling to reconnect with their body. But they don’t want it, as it makes them feel weird at first. They need to be shown that it helps them calm down and feel better. Don’t do it in an abusive way but, heed the warning of Temple Grandin, whose mom stopped touching her at 3 months of age because she would fuss when touched…
Important Notes:
Autism treatments are usually more effective for younger children, since the brain damage is harder to reverse after it has solidified neuronal pathways. However, there have been cases of rapid reversal of autism symptoms even in older children (for example with suramin, which helps temporarily by dampening the Cell Danger Response).