Gluten and Casein Diet Effects on Behavior - Essay Example

'Gluten and Casein Diet Effects on Behavior' is an outstanding example of a paper on food and nutrition. 
Since the year 1960, speculations have always arisen that some societies living in the south pacific island had low instances of schizophrenia. This was attributed to their diet which was majorly low on milk and wheat which are the only food substances containing gluten and casein. This speculation was instigated by Curtis Dohan, a biology researcher who worked in the area, and spread through America by the media.

Schizophrenia is a medical condition through which the patients suffer from poor emotional responsiveness and thought breakdown (Christison et al. 2006:66). The disease majorly affects children between the ages of five to fifteen, and the symptoms can last a lifetime if immediate medical help is not sought. This disease is experienced evenly among the American States but has been uncommon in the south pacific Island. With the fact that wheat and milk were not common food substances in these Islands following logistic related issues, the scientist quickly attached the absence of these commodities to the fact that the condition was least suffered by the children of the Island.

A study by the University of Rochester found that eliminating or reducing the levels of gluten and casein in the diets of children with autism does not have any directly linked effects on the children’s behavior. Autism is a behavioral trait common in children with Schizophrenia. A child with autism tends to have an irritating habit that he or she would engage in from time to time. This is an act that the child engages in absent-mindedly and always does it even after being warned. The most common among children is the act of stacking up objects. The objects in this sense would be toys or tins that they would pick from the playing ground or even within the house. The fact that the child would do this even after being warned makes this a symptom of memory breakdown.

As per the study, reducing these two from the child’s diet does not have any effect at all. In fact, the study indicates that the condition is hereditary in some instances, and thus the medical condition that has absolutely no relation with the diet one takes. The study reveals that the condition would be contained faster if detected early by enrolling the child in more interactive activities such as playing with peers. Such activities, as enrolling a child early into a school, would make the child have little time on his/her own. The company provided by the peers would eliminate instances of seclusion.

Early training, and not dietary measure, is the solution to autism-related conditions. From a medical point of view, a child’s diets play no proven role in the behavior the child acquires later. Consequently, Gluten and casein have no effect on a child’s behavior.