Simple and Safe Evidence-Based Ways to Reduce Autism Risk From a Physician and a Father On a Mission

Dhru Purohit Show

Dhru Purohit

Medicine, Health & Fitness, Alternative Health

4.7 • 3.4K Ratings

🗓️ 10 September 2025

⏱️ 130 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This episode is brought to you by BiOptimizers, Birch Living, and Our Place. Autism rates have increased fivefold over the past twenty years. While much remains unknown about how children develop autism, research suggests that the rise in cases may not be explained by increased diagnoses alone. Today’s guest takes us on a deep dive into autism and shares his proposals for reducing these rates. Today on The Dhru Purohit Show, Dhru sits down with Dr. Jeff Zadeh for a deep dive into autism and the research he’s uncovered on key strategies that may reduce the likelihood of a child being diagnosed with autism. While Dr. Jeff acknowledges that much remains unknown about why some children are on the autism spectrum, he highlights the top nutrients and vitamins women should focus on before pregnancy to help lower the risk. From dosages to deficiencies, Dr. Jeff breaks down what the research shows so far. He also shares his personal journey with his son’s diagnosis and what inspired him to begin exploring this topic in depth. Dr. Jeff Zadeh, a board-certified internist with nearly 30 years of experience, founded Dallas Medical Specialists in 2005 and later moved his practice to rural North Texas, where he serves as a hospitalist, trauma director, and emergency physician. After his oldest son was diagnosed with autism, he discovered research suggesting many cases may be preventable through prenatal counseling, yet most physicians were unaware of it. Inspired by this and the work of Dr. David Berger, he wrote Autism Prevention 5 Days a Week to share simple, evidence-based prevention strategies in accessible language. In this episode, Dhru and Dr. Zadeh dive into: Dr. Zadeh’s personal journey with his son’s autism diagnosis (00:55) Dr. Zadeh’s medical background and the challenges of obtaining a diagnosis (8:50) The importance of supplementation before conception (27:32) What to look for in prenatal vitamins (45:27) The 5-day-a-week proposal and the studies behind it (49:55) Maintaining sufficient iron levels in women (1:06:33) Why checking thyroid levels before pregnancy is essential (1:15:21) Environmental toxin exposures affecting pregnancy (1:15:26) The risks of taking Tylenol during pregnancy (1:27:23) The connection between celiac disease and autism (1:31:35) How increasing DHA omega-3 and vitamin D intake may lower the risk of autism (1:35:32) The role of choline in autism prevention (1:51:12) Key factors we should pay attention to (1:54:47) Dr. Zadeh’s reflections as a parent of a child on the autism spectrum (2:00:20) Final thoughts and takeaways (2:07:30) Also mentioned in this episode: Dr. Jeff Zadeh’s Slides Autism Prevention 5 Days a Week Dr. Rhonda Patrick BPA Instagram Post For more on Dr. Zadeh, follow him on X/Twitter and visit his Website. This episode is brought to you by BiOptimizers, Birch Living, and Our Place. Upgrade your digestion with enzymes! Go to bioptimizers.com/dhru now and enter promo code DHRU to get 15% off any order and free gifts for a limited time. Get 25% off your Birch Living mattress during their Labor Day Extended Sale—just head to birchliving.com/dhru today! Reduce your toxic load by upgrading your cookware! Go to fromourplace.com today and use promo code DHRU at checkout to receive 10% off any order. Sign up for Dhru’s Try This Newsletter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Jeff, welcome to the podcast.
0:02.2	Happy to have you here, brother.
0:03.4	Thank you for having me here, Drew.
0:04.6	I really appreciate it.
0:05.6	Today we're having an in-depth and nuanced conversation about the topic of autism,
0:11.6	which is probably one of the more polarizing topics to talk about.
0:14.8	But as a physician, you've written a book and you're on the podcast today to talk about things that you've learned
0:22.4	from not only having a child, a son, Luke, on the autism spectrum, but also digging into the
0:29.7	literature about what parents, especially those that would want to have a kid in the future,
0:40.8	should know about things that could be increasing their risk of having a child on the autism spectrum. Along with that, we're going to
0:46.4	go into a bunch of other topics and nuances around the subject. But before we get started,
0:52.4	is there anything that you want to say about your story and your journey? Well, yeah. So, you know, my oldest son, Luke, has autism. And I was looking for ways, and he's wonderful. I mean, I love him so much. And so he's just, he said me some videos. Yes, yes, yes, yes. I mean, his little brother jumps on his back. Give me a piggyback ride, and he does it.
1:11.9	He just gets up, and he's just such, I mean, he'll give you the shirt off his back. I mean, he'll have little treats, and he'll just give him to his little brother and sister. If they start crying and they want him, he'll just give him to him. He's such a cool kid. Super heartfelt. Yeah, but I started doing research to see, well, what if we wanted our next kid to have a less,
1:31.9	to be less like that our next kid has autism?
1:35.0	And I started doing research on it.
1:36.6	And even as a physician, it was really hard to find any.
1:41.0	And so I finally kind of stumbled across it.
1:44.1	My brother helped me actually find a doctor who was doing preconception counseling.
1:49.4	And he had written an article back like in 2012.
1:54.0	And so that gave me the idea that, well, maybe there is something we could do.
1:57.4	He claims the rate of autism in his clinic had gone all the way down to 1 in 400. This is your brother? This is Dr. Brian Berger. Okay. And my brother had done a little mini internship with him. And so my brother was one who told me about him and said, you know, you should look into this, you know, mostly to help with Luke. But then I went to his website and it's right there and then watched his videos and he said,
2:18.6	you know, look, I've got it down to one in 400, which I was just like, this is amazing. Why doesn't
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