Autism and Gluten/Casein Free Diet?
September 132008
My 3.5 year old daughter is going through an evaluation process because she is having a speach delay. She says hundreds of words but only says a few sentences (usually the same ones) but still can not carry on a "conversation" back and forth. Because of this, we don't know what she wants or doesn't want and she will have these terrible "melt downs" because of it. I am very aware of autism and asperg's syndrome, but she makes full eye contact with everyone and isn't "obssesed with anything and doesn't spin things or put her hands in front of her face or anything like that. A friend of mine told me to put her on a Gluten/Casein Free diet and she should start learning how to communicate better. She's been on this strict diet for 8 days now and nothing has changed, only her stools are now EXTREMELY watery and has an AWEFUL potent smell to it! How can I even tell if she IS even allergic to dairy products and gluten and casein??? How soon will I see results if she IS in fact allergic?
Here is a quote which outlines the significance of the digestive-autism connection within the medical establishment:
"There is growing interest in the link between autism and gastrointestinal (GI) ailments. A study by the University of California Davis Health System found that children with autism born in the 1990s were more likely to have gastrointestinal problems, including constipation, diarrhea and vomiting, than autistic children who were born in the early 1980s. Some people use the GFCF diet mostly to treat gastrointestinal problems."
It is though that many children with autism have some form of behavioral challenge that may be partially attributed to digestive dysbiosis. This means that such children do not fully digest their foods and allergens can actually turn in to opiates that severely impact brain function and behavior.
This if fully outlined in the book Dangerous Grains, which I highly recommend.
According to Allen Lewis M.D., of the Autism Society of America publication, Advocate:
"Controlled studies of the GFCF diet and the ketogenic diet have indicated improvement. A dietary trial is safe and the best way to determine if dietary restrictions are of benefit."
These quotes all come from this website:
http://www.autismweb.com/diet.htm
Putting my son on a GF diet really helped with his "melt downs."
You might also want to get your daughter tested for gluten-intolerance BEFORE you do the diet so that you can see if she has an auto-immune response to it when it is in her system. These types of tests will give you a most definitive answer. If the tests are positive, then keeping your child off gluten is imperative .
For a list of blood tests which any good physician will do to test for celiac/gluten intolerance, go here:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/2007/04/17/diagnosing-celiac-disease/
Hope this helps and feel free to email me if you have anymore questions.
More and more, diet is being recognized as treatment for serious medical ailments, so do not doubt yourself. You seem to be on the right track to at least give this consideration.
April 4th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I am going to put a website in the source section that despite its name will have alot of help for you. Check all the different sections including the links. Hope it helps some.
References :
http://www.pecanbread.com
April 4th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
There is no known connection between Autism and Gluten or Casein intolerance. Speech problems are not symptoms of either of those intolerances so you would not likely see an improvement in her speech issues. I would put her back on her regular diet. Besides, it's not a good idea to change anything about her daily routine while she is being evaluated, so be sure to let her doctors know about this change in her diet.
References :
2 years in pediatric allergy
5 years in clinical peds
April 4th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
If your child is inclined to autism, you are only increasing the chances that she will have an emotional breakdown. The special diet only upsets her. The fact that it is being forced on her by her own mother is a dreadful thing for any child, and more so for an emotionally frail one.
Besides, speech delays are really common in small children. Often times gifted children don't speak a word until they are five years old.
——-
Don't listen to "autie mom." DAN doctors are quacks. Here is a list of DAN doctors who are in legal or professional trouble for quackery:
http://www.kevinleitch.co.uk/dan-doctors-us.html
One of these guys was arrested for killing a little autistic boy.
References :
April 4th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
There is no clinical evidence that the gluten/caesin free diets improve autism. All that means is that they haven't completed a research study on it. However, I have a friend with a 4 year old autistic son that started the caesin free diet first and within 2-3 weeks noticed sustained eye contact and better speech in him. My son is 2 and has PDD-NOS on the Autism spectrum. We have changed him to soy milk and are slowly making changes in his diet to wean him off dairy. The milk change was no big deal to him. He loves Silk milk. I haven't noticed any huge changes in him, but then again, we haven't gone completely caesin free yet. I would recommend going slowly. Try the caesin free first over a couple months and then gradually try the gluten free. Let her system adjust to the changes. Good luck!
References :
ICU-Transplant RN
Mom to 3
April 5th, 2008 at 5:54 am
You will not see a change this soon. Please don't listen to Larry L. He will probably tell you that your kid's delays are due to watching too much tv or Einstein didn't talk until he was 5. If I had a dollar for everytime I heard that!
All I can say is I saw a big difference in my son due to diet and other biomedical interventions. Try to get your child to a DAN doctor. Don't go into denial, no 2 kids on the spectrum are the same. Go to TACA.com they have good information there.
References :
April 5th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Here is a quote which outlines the significance of the digestive-autism connection within the medical establishment:
"There is growing interest in the link between autism and gastrointestinal (GI) ailments. A study by the University of California Davis Health System found that children with autism born in the 1990s were more likely to have gastrointestinal problems, including constipation, diarrhea and vomiting, than autistic children who were born in the early 1980s. Some people use the GFCF diet mostly to treat gastrointestinal problems."
It is though that many children with autism have some form of behavioral challenge that may be partially attributed to digestive dysbiosis. This means that such children do not fully digest their foods and allergens can actually turn in to opiates that severely impact brain function and behavior.
This if fully outlined in the book Dangerous Grains, which I highly recommend.
According to Allen Lewis M.D., of the Autism Society of America publication, Advocate:
"Controlled studies of the GFCF diet and the ketogenic diet have indicated improvement. A dietary trial is safe and the best way to determine if dietary restrictions are of benefit."
These quotes all come from this website:
http://www.autismweb.com/diet.htm
Putting my son on a GF diet really helped with his "melt downs."
You might also want to get your daughter tested for gluten-intolerance BEFORE you do the diet so that you can see if she has an auto-immune response to it when it is in her system. These types of tests will give you a most definitive answer. If the tests are positive, then keeping your child off gluten is imperative .
For a list of blood tests which any good physician will do to test for celiac/gluten intolerance, go here:
http://www.elanaspantry.com/2007/04/17/diagnosing-celiac-disease/
Hope this helps and feel free to email me if you have anymore questions.
More and more, diet is being recognized as treatment for serious medical ailments, so do not doubt yourself. You seem to be on the right track to at least give this consideration.
References :
http://www.elanaspantry.com/
April 5th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
My son has autism and we tried the gf/cf diet on him. We didn't see any results from it. I've heard that you should at least give it 3 months to see if it's working. I think most kids who truly are allergic to gluten or casein will show withdrawal symptoms (their behavior actually gets worse) within their first week on the diet. Her speech and behavior should noticeably improve if the diet is working. Hope that helps.
References :
April 6th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
My 3 year-old is on a gluten-free diet because she has been diagnosed with celiac disease. She had a blood test that showed she was having an immune response to gluten then had the endoscopy to confirm it. While I can't speak on the autism problem, I can attest to the fact that the gluten-free diet made a huge change in my daughter's attitude and behavior. She has become a very loving and well behaved child.
While the idea of why kids respond to the GF diet is very different for celiac kids and autistic kids, there is some "proof" that it works. I would not have been willing to put my daughter on a GF diet without proof of celiac disease, I probably would have been willing to do it for an autistic child. It isn't as if there are other, proven methods of treatment for autism. The diet is hard but not that hard. If there was even a possibility of seeing my child to be more affectionate or verbal, I would certainly be willing to give the diet a good, long try.
References :