What is camel milk and camel milk therapy?

Camel milk is milk produced by camels. It’s available frozen, as a liquid, or as dried milk powder. You can buy it raw or pasteurised.

Camel milk autism therapy involves adding camel milk to an autistic person’s diet.

Who is camel milk therapy for?

Supporters of camel milk therapy say that it’s suitable for autistic children and adults of any age.

Supporters also say that people with other health conditions can use camel milk as a therapy. This might include people with diabetes, cancer, skin diseases or autoimmune diseases.

What is camel milk therapy used for?

Supporters of camel milk as an autism therapy claim that camel milk improves a wide range of autism characteristics. This includes behaviour, communication, speech, movement and ability to make eye contact.

They also say that camel milk helps with the stomach and digestion problems that some autistic children and adults experience.

There’s no evidence that camel milk changes autism characteristics.

Where does camel milk therapy come from?

For centuries, camel milk has been used in Africa, Asia and the Middle East as medicine. It’s believed that camel milk can treat a wide range of conditions, including diarrhoea, diabetes, cancers, skin diseases, ulcers and autoimmune diseases.

Since the early 2000s, camel milk has become increasingly popular as a therapy for autism.

What is the idea behind camel milk therapy for autistic children?

Supporters of camel milk therapy believe that many autism characteristics are caused by high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS).

ROS are highly reactive molecules that are naturally found in our body’s cells. Research has found that high ROS levels can lead to many diseases, including cancer and autoimmune diseases. Anti-oxidants help to lower ROS levels.

Camel milk has a lot of anti-oxidants.

Supporters of camel milk as an autism therapy claim that the anti-oxidants in camel milk can reduce ROS levels in autistic children. They say that this then improves children’s autism characteristics.

Although scientific research supports the relationship between ROS and many diseases like cancer, there’s no evidence to say that high levels of ROS cause autism. There’s also no scientific evidence that drinking camel milk can improve autism characteristics.

What does camel milk therapy involve?

This therapy involves consuming camel milk every day.

You can drink camel milk on its own or add it to other food.

You might need to spend time preparing camel milk, particularly if you’re using dried camel milk powder or adding camel milk to food.

There are no standard guidelines or research studies about how much camel milk to drink, how often or for how long.

Does camel milk therapy help autistic children?

There’s no good-quality evidence that camel milk helps autistic people.

In addition, drinking raw milk isn’t recommended because raw milk can carry dangerous bacteria and other germs that cause food poisoning.

Who practises camel milk therapy?

Camel milk is available in health food stores and some supermarkets. Although you can do this therapy yourself at home, it’s always best to speak to your GP or paediatrician or a paediatric dietitian before giving your child camel milk.

Where can you find a practitioner?

If you’re thinking about giving your child camel milk, see your GP, a paediatrician or a paediatric dietitian. They can talk about its risks and benefits with you.

Parent education, training, support and involvement

If your child is drinking camel milk, you need to choose and shop for the milk.

If you’re using dried camel milk powder, you’ll also need to prepare it by adding water and mixing until dissolved. If you’re using frozen camel milk, it needs to be safely defrosted.

Cost considerations

The cost of camel milk varies depending on the brand and form of camel milk. For example, dried camel milk powder is generally more expensive than liquid camel milk.

Therapies and supports for autistic children range from behavioural therapies and developmental approaches to medicines and alternative therapies. When you understand the main types of therapies and supports for autistic children, it’ll be easier to work out the approach that will best suit your child.