Gluten Free Diet & Autism
Once again I was browsing the web tonight looking at the news on autism and I stumbled upon an article that talked about Gluten Free and Casein Diets.
The article says the current research says that this does not improve autism. Here’s the article: LINK
Well, I am sitting here scratching my head as if they don’t know what causes it how the heck do they know if it improves it or not.
Another point was that these diets could cause nutritional deficiencies in kids. Now I don’t do any special diets with Dakota as I have thought about it. I suppose that is where the DAN doctor topic comes in. Maybe not… Anyways for anyone that does follow this diet with their child does it just seem to help with behaviors or is there more that I am missing.
I know I have heard people say this diet has been very good. I just would like to hear what others thoughts are on this. If they have experience with this… what has improved?
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Im not autistic so I dnt know about that but I am allergic to wheat. People think its soo difficult not eating it and always are like “What do you eat then??” but its not difficult at all once you get used to avoiding it. There are so many other grains like rye, spelt, rice.
@abilene_piper_lg@xanga – I also am a vegetarian so it is completely possible to do both lol. Although I once tasted the morningstar bacon which has wheat it is sooo good thts the only thing that sticks out in my mind of being rly annoying lol.
My niece is autistic and it was recently advised to her parents to put her on a gluten free diet.
My brother and his wife can not afford this diet though, and, i believe, as a result she is always hungry, always looking for something to satisfy her hunger, which probably has a major influence on her behavior.
Last year in my high school freshman biology class we were assigned a group to complete a grant proposal. My brother has autism (high functioning, like your son) so I thought we could do our grant proposal on the GFCF diet and if it really was effective. Unfortunately, grant proposals are different from actual science experiments because grant proposals don’t actually involve conducting the study ):
All I can say from my research is that there really hasn’t been a large-scale study (as in a couple hundred study participants, not just 50 or 100) that has given evidence to the efficacy, or lack thereof, of the gluten and casein-free diet. However, if more studies could be conducted and possibly show that the GFCF diet really works, prices on food products that can be implemented in such a diet will lower due to an increased awareness by food corporations of its efficacy. If that makes any sense haha.
Who says ANYTHING “cures” autism? The diet may improve symptoms for SOME. Every child has a different system and responds differently to diet and medications (don’t we ALL?). Much of our immunity/health is in our guts, and there is a definite gut-brain connection whether the person has autism, or a gluten sensitivity (you don’t have to HAVE “celiac disease” to be affected by gluten), or not. SO WHAT the kids are not “celiac!” Doesn’t matter. Could it be yeast? Candida … leaky gut from gluten, medications, other allergies? http://www.leakygut.co.uk/Causes.htm
This study was done from data searches on FILES, not people. Those “files” are filled with likely “mainstream” protocol. What do kids with autism like to eat? Carbs and sugar: cereal with sugar and milk, milk and cookies, pizza, chicken fingers fried in wheat. Um, where’s the balance in THAT diet? I am celiac: I eat no grains period and I’ve never been healthier. Just because the kid might not eat dairy and wheat (think lobbyists or agribusiness and what this would do to our “cultural” mindset if it were changed??? think Oprah and the beef industry?) might mean the kid WOULD have to eat veggies, healthy fats, protein. There’s nothing unhealthy with that.
It’s preposterous to believe that article on face-value, and it saddens me to think people get more confused with their fillabustering such things. Give it a try, but try to do it with someone who knows what they’re doing. http://www.blockcenter.com
I know a woman with Tourette’s, her children also with autism and Tourette’s. They’re doing better on GFCF diet and taking supplements. It took more than a year for one boy to sleep, but now he is. It’s worth the trouble to find out.
Frustrated with media confusion.
In my grade 11 class, I remember having to research Celiac disease. This is the only disease I know of that is linked to a Gluten free diet. Autism isn’t fully discovered yet, we still need some more time to find ways to help “cure” this problem.
Recently, the results of several studies regarding the efficacy of various diets and other treatments have been published. The HBOT therapy has shown great promise in younger children and ongoing studies are taking place. The GFCF diet did not show the same improvement…even using double blind/control group studies. The patients that showed the most promise on the diet were the ones who actually had celiac disease (yes, there is a test for it) and while those patients showed improvement in their digestive problems, no children were “cured” in the course of the studies. More studies are in the works.
That said, many many parents have sworn by the diet. Although, back in its early days parents were promised results within weeks and now frustrated and financially struggling families are being told that results could take months or years and that negative behaviors could be an early result of the body ridding itself of the “toxins”. This is the same exact wording used by those who sell supplements for the probiotic/enzyme autism cure diet. I have known several parents over the years who have tried everything from the Feingold diet to the GFCF diet and those families saw no major improvement, although many families of kids with constipation issues did see vast improvement once they started getting enough dietary fiber.
My son was diagnosed 12 years ago and his uncle was diagnosed several years before that. My mother in law and I were just discussing last month how happy we are to finally see some studies being done on the efficacy of many fad treatments, therapies, and cures. What is even greater is that we are actually around to see the results. I know it gives me a lot more to go on when trying to decide what to try and at what cost.
I can agree that this type of diet is great for you, but your body (taken if you arent diabetic) needs regular amounts of glucose to regulate your body’s sugar levels, the common break down of energy.
what this has to do with autism. I have no idea. I thought it was just a god diet or eating plan for those with health issues derived from obesity or sensitive to processed gluten products.
then again, i really dont know much..I’ve touch base on organics, but not gluten, because i don’t have alergies to gluten.
I have no experience on this at all, but here’s the inside scoop: they (Big Pharma, Physicians, and the FDA) don’t want you to think it’s effective. Why? That way they can force feed medication into unknowing victims of the greatest scam perpetrated against the American people. It’s all about the money, honey.
I’ve talked to several individuals with ASDs and parents of children with ASDs who are into more naturopathic treatments, and they all have reported successful improvement in symptoms. Being a vegetarian, a GFCF diet is pretty much impossible for me, however, so I can’t comment directly.