As a parent of Autism, it’s difficult in itself to adjust to the changes that need to be made. One of the most difficult areas to adjust to are diet changes. Adopting a gluten and casein free diet is something that is commonly practiced amongst parents of autistic children. Parents instantly cut out the obvious foods like bread and milk, and foods that contain bread and/or milk. Is cutting out the obvious enough? What about products that contain hidden gluten? And we’re not just talking food.
There are some foods that don’t necessarily have gluten or wheat in the ingredients, however it is part of the food makeup. Some foods to be sure to avoid are:
- Salad dressings
- Maranades
- Soy Sauce
- Spices
- Anything with “Spices” in the ingredient list
- Gravy
- Ice Cream / Yogurt
- Dried Fruit
- Non-Stick cooking spray
- Chewing gum
- Candy Mints
- Ketchup
- Infant Formula
- Processed Meats
It is important to pay special attention in situations in which the GF diet isn’t the only diet practiced in the house, special care should be taken to ensure that cross contamination doesn’t take place. If your Autistic child is on the Gluten Free diet, however, you’ve chosen to not practice it, there’s a good chance that you may be cross contaminating without realizing it. Do you toast your gluten free bread in the same toaster as regular bread? Do you use the same cutting board for gluten free and non-gluten free food? If so, there’s a high chance for cross-contamination to occur. The little peices of wheat that fall off of the regular bread can easily latch onto the gluten free bread.
It’s not just the foods that we eat that can contain hidden gluten in them. Products that are used every day with no second thought can contain gluten and cause adverse reactions to those who are intolerant of gluten. Where are these hidden sources of Gluten? Here a few that you should certainly be mindful of to ensure that you or your Autistic child are really are on the Gluten Free diet.
Some of the things that you should avoid, or check into are:
- Any kind of adhesive (including that in band-aids)
- Lickable stamps/stickers for kids
- school supplies including glue
- modeling clay
- soaps in bar and liquid forms
- shampoo
- conditioner
- any kind of lotion or sunscreen
- toothpaste
- dental floss
- mouthwash
- play-doh
- hair gel
- hair spray
Going Gluten Free is a very big decision with marked health improvements from those who are successful. It’s important that if you or your child are on the gluten free diet, that you’re sure not to just cut out the obvious. Gluten is an ingredient that is included in many foods and products that you might not ever think of. If you adopt the GF diet, be sure to do your homework and research potential hazards in your food and product habits.
16 Comments
repsected sir,
very useful information regarding diet ,
I am middle class fellow I want to take the treatment at reasonable rate,
please provide me the help from charity institution .
thanks
hashmukh pandya
hi
hope you are fine please guide me about my 07 years old autistic daughter who is unable to speak how does the food therapy will help us in solving this particular problem.
thanks.
aamir aziz
thank you for the information my autistic son he is 4 and 5 months on GFdiet also casien free since 2 months we started it after oxygen therapy ,WHICH DOES NOT REALY HELP,UNLESS ITS NEEDS FEW MONTHS TO WORK, he is on all supplements and OSR may i ask when and what changes we should notice
also is their any thing else we can do for him
thank you for helping me to guide the famieles who have autistic children which Iam working with at the center for persons with disability in Jordan
Hi Hashmukh, Please contact http://www.generationrescue.org/about/grants and they can help you with charitable care. I am also on their doctor list.
Hi Aamir, food therapy can calms down the inflammation in the body especially the GI system. It also can ensure the proper delivery of nutrients with better absorption rate. Any autistic child can surely benefited with the proper diet. Once you started on food therapy, you must simultaneously starts on speech therapy and one-to-one language training with your child. If progress is slow or none after 3 months then consider other biomedical testings.
Hi Nuha, best of luck and keep up the good works. THANK YOU for your support.
Hi Walwwd, since you asked and here I layout the plan: first, do a comprehensive blood chemistry panel encompassing all organs/panels including lipid, electrolyte, thyroid, CBC with differentials, vitamin D-25 OH, homocysteine, serum iron with ferritin and transferrin; after correct all abnormalities found to the bet of your knowledge; second, you could use simultaneously the HBOT maknig sure to take a good anti-oxidant like OSR#1 or others; then third, pick a diet to do if unsure unless you could tested for food sensitivities or gliadin/casein urine test . Don’t forget to continue any social therapy like OT, speech or behaviour. Give yourslf 6 months to see any positive effects. Be patience and keep loving your child.
My son is 3 years 4 months. He has several autism characteristics, including hand flapping, lack of verbal communication, disruptive behaviour, partial potty training etc. We took him to a child psychologist and she excluded autism, and said that he has slow development by a year. She said that his difficult behaviour is due to frustration for lack of verbal communication, although he has improved considerably in the last few weeks and is starting to say short sentences. He goes to OT and speech and language therapist. We took him abroad to a biomedical doctor who took urine and saliva tests, and prescribed us some 20 different drops and other things we should give him everyday, apart from being on a casein and gluten free diet. He was recently diagnosed with Fragile X premutation of 74 repeats. Do you think that gluten and casein free diet will make a difference? Does it need to be such a strict diet to see some improvement? Do you need to exclude all casein and gluten foods to be effective? I am so discouraged by such a diet and all those prescribed drops and vitamins and things. Thanks
Hi Jo Cauchi, your Biomedical doctor has more clues than me. I am sure the doctor is doing the best. However, normally it takes time 6 -12 months to see results. I understand the pain of the that special diet but do the best you could…don’t worry as it would all add up at the end. Being given this diagnosis just indicates a greater genetic predisposition to learning impairment and so you must handles and controls his environment to suppress genetic expression. Good luck!
Hi congrats for putting up good and intresting information.
I am a speech language apthologist working in Tamil nadu, INDIA.
If u can help me what food that Tamilnadu people eat to be avoided for our kids with autism.
Thank u
Hi Kavitha, there are lots of diets for those special populations in India. Your question on what diet to take or do is a very broad question. Please do more research online on your request.
i have a brother age-12 yr old,he has similar symptoms of Autism like sleep disorder,hyperactive,attention disorder,We did ECG but it is normal.We checked him AIIMS, Safdurjung, Moolchand,But we does not find any report who confirm that he is properly Autistic or not & the pills he given does show any Positive impact in him.So,From Where we can get Properly checked him?We can not afford Treatment . Could you tell me the right Hospital for him,from we find the satisfactory treatment in less price
Hi Swati, I understand your concerns. You could Google online and snoop around the ARI autism website for questionnaire to do to see if your brother has mostly autistic behaviours or is he really an autistic child. I suspect your brother has very high total toxic burden from the environment and caused him to be ADD, allergic, sleep or neurotransmitter disorder. Good Luck!
hi what is the effect of taking gluten and casein diet in Autistic kids? My daughter is 2 years and 8 months and non verbal. I went to a psychologist and she said my daughter is suspected to be autistic. She was very violent before and very difficult to deal with her but now bit easy and she does understand what others say. she is now using few words when she want something. she points her finger at any object she want and she is very attached with pens, pencils, books and all that kind of materials. she likes to go to new places and enjoy in the crowed. before she had lack of eye contact but now she does and she tries to say what others say even though she don,t apply it in the situation. Is she really Autistic? can you please answer me and tell me the the effect of taking Gluten and Casein containing foods?
Hi Zuney, at this moment based on your descriptions about your daughter I feared she showed some ‘autistic’ behaviors. However, please do not despair as you still have time to improve the situation. Please consider ‘checking’ her to make sure she is not anemia, low blood sugar, ‘stress’, digestive issue or poor stomach function, eating enough proteins, and probably seeking some professional guidance on biomedical care. You could try GFCF for 16 weeks and see if it makes any difference. Is she has poor muscle tone as this could indicates mitochondrial syndrome. Good luck!