Co Founder
Co Founder of the Indian Association of Functional Medicine, Co Founder of Functional Medicine Clinic, and creator of the Autism Recovery Program.
Co FounderCredentials
Autism, metabolic and gut health, autoimmune conditions
Areas of expertise
Roles and affiliations
Dr Ashwani Garg is a Co Founder of the Indian Association of Functional Medicine. He is also a Co Founder of Functional Medicine Clinic and the creator of the Autism Recovery Program.
His stated areas of expertise are autism, metabolic and gut health, and autoimmune conditions, which between them account for a large share of the chronic presentations that bring patients to Functional Medicine practice in India.
On autism, his writing for the association separates what is established from what is not, in that order. Gastrointestinal symptoms occur more frequently in autistic children than in their peers, which is well supported and frequently under investigated. Constipation, reflux and pain deserve to be treated to the standard any other child would receive, and a child who is comfortable, sleeping and adequately nourished is better placed to engage with therapy.
What he declines to claim is equally clear. He does not describe any dietary or supplement protocol as a treatment for autism, and he does not present recovery as an expected outcome. The research on microbial composition, intestinal permeability and immune activation is genuinely interesting and, in his assessment, not yet therapy.
On metabolic health he makes a related argument: fasting glucose is a late marker, the pancreas compensates for insulin resistance for years, and a patient can therefore be reassured repeatedly while the process that will eventually produce diabetes is well advanced. Much of the earliest evidence is visible in an ordinary consultation rather than in a laboratory result.
Writing
Published in the Knowledge Hub for colleagues and for the patients they treat.
Autism3 min read
Gastrointestinal symptoms are substantially more common in autistic children than in their peers. That finding is solid. What follows from it requires care.
Metabolic health3 min read
Fasting glucose is often the last measure to move. By the time it does, the underlying process has usually been running for a decade.
Gut health3 min read
The intestinal barrier is real, measurable and clinically relevant. Much of what is sold on the strength of that fact is not.
Contact
Professional and media enquiries for members of the association are handled centrally. Write to info@iafm.in and we will pass your message on. This route is not for clinical advice and cannot be used in an emergency.
