Your diet could be one of the most important factors in determining whether you suffer from anxiety, autism and nervous and behavioural problems. The food you eat reverses some of the worst symptoms, and researchers have discovered this week that it can also be a key trigger.
A diet that is high in sugar can cause abnormal behaviour such as hair-pulling, say researchers. The condition – trichotillomania – affects up to 4 per cent of the population, and happens more in women than men.
The researchers, from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, think the diet could also cause other behavioural problems, such as autism, Tourette’s and skin picking.
(Source: Nutritional Neuroscience, 2010; 13: 256).
