Additive or Interactive Associations of Food Allergies with Glutathione S-Transferase Genes in Relation to ASD and ASD Severity in Jamaican Children.

Researchers looked at 169 Jamaican children. Half had autism. Half did not.

They checked each child for food allergies. They also tested their genes for GST variants.

Then they compared ADOS-2 scores to see if allergy plus gene combo changed repetitive behaviors.

Kids with autism who had both dairy allergy and certain GST genes scored a little higher on repetitive behaviors.

The effect was small. It did not change who got an autism diagnosis.

Other food allergies like egg or peanut showed no clear link.

Marí-Bauset et al. (2016) showed kids on a gluten-free casein-free diet often lack vitamin D and calcium. Their study focused on nutrition after removing dairy. Saroukhani et al. (2024) instead links dairy allergy plus genes to behavior. The two papers talk about dairy but answer different questions.

Raz et al. (2015) tracked a 10-fold rise in autism cases in Israel. Pinborough-Zimmerman et al. (2012) saw a similar doubling in Utah records. These studies describe how many kids get identified. Saroukhani et al. (2024) looks inside already-identified kids to find tiny biological differences.

Carnett et al. (2020) taught preschoolers to ask "where" questions with a speech device. Their work shows what we can change. Saroukhani et al. (2024) shows what we cannot change. Both help us understand autism better.

You do not need to screen every child for GST genes. The effect is too small to guide daily practice. Instead, keep watching for food reactions that worsen repetitive behaviors. If a child with autism also has dairy allergy, note any spike in stereotypy after milk. Simple ABC data still beats gene tests.