Category: Podcasts

You’ve noticed it… The meltdown after the birthday party. The crash after the juice box. The afternoon when nothing works, no matter what you try.

You’re not imagining things.

A 2024 study scanned the brains of nearly 30,000 people and found something that stopped me in my tracks: high consumption of ultra-processed foods causes structural changes in the brain, specifically in the regions that control emotions, cravings, and impulse regulation.

For a neurodivergent child already navigating those exact challenges, that’s not a small thing.

What counts as ultra-processed?

We’re not just talking about chips and soda. Think chicken nuggets, flavored yogurts, juice boxes, boxed mac and cheese, most packaged cereals, and processed lunch meats. Research shows these foods make up about 70% of what American kids eat every day.

There are two core problems with them.

First, they’re stripped of everything the brain actually needs, like fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. The good stuff our kids need to focus, regulate, and stay calm is just not there.

Second, they introduce things that actively work against the brain: artificial dyes linked to hyperactivity, emulsifiers that disrupt the gut microbiome, added sugars that spike and crash dopamine, and saturated fats tied to inflammation.

One study found that just five days of eating ultra-processed foods was enough to impair insulin signaling in the brain, disrupting how it manages energy and appetite.

Why this hits ND brains harder

Children with ADHD and autism are already dealing with higher oxidative stress, gut-brain imbalances, and neurotransmitter challenges. Their brains need more nutritional support, not less.

Ultra-processed foods deliver the opposite.

I’ve watched this play out in my own family. When my son’s diet shifted toward whole, real foods, I started seeing a different kid, calmer, more connected, more himself. The science finally caught up to what I was witnessing in my own kitchen.

This isn’t about perfection

I know how hard this is. Sometimes your child will only eat five things. Sometimes survival mode is the only mode available. I’ve been there too.

This isn’t about overhauling everything overnight. It’s about understanding why these foods matter because that knowledge is what makes even one small swap feel worth it.

Add before you subtract. Swap one juice box for fruit-infused water. Toss a handful of berries into breakfast. Blend some spinach into a smoothie they already love.

Small steps, done consistently, change everything.

Katherine Lawrence is a Stanford-trained nutritionist, Board-Certified Autism Specialist, and founder of Food Saved Me Institute.

Sources:

1. Kanyamibwa, A., et al. (2024). Nature Communications Medicine.
2. Zhang et al. (2021). Children’s ultra-processed food intake data.
3. Buch, A., et al. (2024). Nature Metabolism.
4. Chassaing, B., et al. (2022). PMC.
5. NIH News in Health (2024). Dejunking Your Diet.
6. Harvard Health (2015). Nutritional Psychiatry: Your Brain on Food.

If you’re a parent of a neurodivergent child, you’ve probably heard the word “picky” more times than you can count. Maybe it came from a relative at the dinner table. Maybe from a teacher. Maybe even from a doctor who moved on quickly. But there’s something that often gets left out of that conversation, and it changes everything about how you respond.

That something is called ARFID.

What Is ARFID?

ARFID stands for Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder. It is a clinically recognized feeding disorder, not a phase, not a behavior issue, and not something that can be solved by pushing harder at mealtimes.

Children who may have ARFID experience food as genuinely unsafe, physically, neurologically, emotionally, or some combination of all three. Their nervous system isn’t saying “I don’t like this.” It may be saying: “This is a threat.” And when the nervous system perceives threat, eating shuts down.

How It Might Show Up

ARFID can look different from child to child, but signs that may warrant a professional evaluation include:

• Eating an extremely limited number of foods, sometimes fewer than 10
• Panic, gagging, or vomiting when new foods are introduced
• Intense distress around smells, textures, or temperatures of food, or even just seeing certain foods
• Weight loss, nutritional deficiencies, or reliance on supplements or medical nutrition

These aren’t preferences. They may be nervous system responses, and they deserve to be taken seriously.

ARFID and Autism

ARFID is not exclusive to autism, but research suggests it may be significantly more common in autistic children than in the general pediatric population. Prevalence estimates among children with autism commonly range from approximately 12 to 28%, particularly among children with high sensory sensitivity, anxiety, GI disorders, past feeding trauma, or greater support needs.

Most children with autism do not meet the criteria for ARFID, even if they are selective eaters. But for the children who may, the approach needs to be different.

Why Typical Strategies May Not Work

This is where it becomes critical for parents to understand: the strategies that work well for selective eaters, even the gentle ones, may not be the right starting point if ARFID is part of the picture.

Research consistently shows that pressure-based or exposure-based strategies, when used too early with ARFID, can actually increase anxiety and food avoidance rather than improving intake. That’s not a reflection of your effort. It’s a reflection of a mismatch between strategy and nervous system.

For children who may have ARFID, the initial goals aren’t variety or nutritional optimization. They are safety, trust, and simply getting the child adequate intake. Reaching those goals often requires a team-based approach, which might include feeding therapists, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, specialized dietitians, and medical providers.

What Progress May Actually Look Like

For families navigating what may be ARFID, progress often looks different than what we typically imagine. Real wins can include:

• Protecting the safe foods your child can and will eat
• Reducing pressure at mealtimes
• Supporting nervous system regulation before any food expansion is attempted
• Building trust with food without requiring the eating

These are real wins. They deserve to be recognized as such.

A Note to Parents in the Thick of It

If you’re reading this and thinking “none of this feels possible for my child right now,” hear this clearly: you are not failing, and you are not doing it wrong.

Nutrition still matters deeply when it’s accessible. But food strategies must match your child’s nervous system capacity. Understanding why food may be hard, how the brain responds to perceived threats, and what supports regulation can give you power, not pressure.

You belong here. So does your child.

Where to Go From Here

If any of this sounds familiar, the most important next step is to bring your observations, not conclusions, to a qualified provider. A feeding specialist, OT, or your child’s pediatrician can help determine whether ARFID may be part of your child’s picture and what kind of support makes sense.

Inside the Food Saved Me Institute’s ND Kids Masterclass, we walk parents through the full picture of nutrition and neurodivergence, including how to use food knowledge as a tool for advocacy, not pressure.

Learn more here: https://kids.fsminstitute.org

Katherine was a Guest Speaker on The Wellness Driven Life Show podcast sharing her story on how to survive and prevent disease.

April Chavez and Katherine had a powerful conversation during this hour-long show that leaves you crying, laughing and wondering how your nutrition is impacting every aspect of your life.

Katherine was a Guest Speaker on The Kim Jacobs Show where together with her co-author, Certified Nutritionist, Jacquelyne Samuels discussed their published book African American Nutrition. During this episode, they dig deep into how to help people understand how genetic differences matter and how to use nutrition to their advantage.

Katherine joins Chris Wark in a great episode of Chris Beat Cancer podcast to share her story of overcoming stage 4 endometriosis, ovarian and uterine cysts and infertility..

Katherine joined the Healthy Living Shows podcast for a special Mother’s Day Wellness event to explore the power of nutrition in managing hypertension and diabetes. In this episode, she discusses the importance of incorporating nutrient-dense foods into your diet and how certain foods can help manage and prevent chronic health conditions such as hypertension and diabetes. She also touches on the unique challenges that African Americans face in accessing healthy food options and how to overcome them.

Katherine was a special guest speaker on the podcast The Healthy Brain with Carrie Miller. The episode is about How a Whole Foods Plant-Based Diet Can Change Your Life and appeared first on My Texas Table Blog.

Katherine discusses how she chose to take control of her own health by researching all her options first before making the hard decisions. Her story is powerful. She is an advocate for a whole foods, plant-based diet, and shares with us menus and what she feeds her family. You don’t want to miss this one!

In the fourth episode of the special “Your Body in Balance” series by The Exam Room, Katherine Lawrence Ireland, whose surgeon stopped a hysterectomy mid-procedure after discovering that her endometriosis had improved so dramatically that it had practically vanished. Doctors called it a miracle, but Katherine believed it was because she changed her diet weeks earlier.