diet ?my son has just been diagnosed with autism he is 5yrs old and i want to try modifying his diet but i have no idea where to start any help with this would be greatly appreciated If you're looking at the GFCF diet, the best way to start is to phase out casein first, which is milk and all milk products, wait a couple of weeks, and then start taking out gluten. Most people eliminate soy too, for good reasons, so I don't suggest soy milk - there are a lot of others on the market that are tasty, like rice milk and hemp milk. There are a ton of good websites about this diet. A couple of my favorites are: http://www.talkaboutcuringautism.org/index.htm and http://www.gfcfdiet.com/directory.htm There are also some great books about the diet and biomed. I started with Children with Starving Brains and Unraveling the Mystery of Autism and PDD: A Mother's Story. The first is more an encyclopedia of treatments and the science behind them; the second is actually a mother's story of recovering her son and an enjoyable book just to read. The diet has been an absolute miracle for our son - it is definitely worth the time and energy (and money!) it takes! thanks heaps iwill definatly be looking into as i have never heard about it before so milk and milk products first then gluten ok. sounds like i have a fair bit of reasearch to do knowledgable will answer and give a better answer. We are not shunning you, welcome! Harriet The above mentioned websites and books are fantastic and are good places to start. It does take quite a bit of research, and lots of food label reading! I would also suggest finding a DAN doctor in your area. You can find a list at http://www.autism.com/index.asp We started out with removing casein, then gluten. Have progressed to probiotics, enzymes, vitamin/mineral supplements, fish oil, etc. In my daughter's case, there is definitely a difference! She is not as spacey and silly. Very much worth it. Best wishes, mom to 9 year old boy/girl twins (Asperger's PDD-NOS) wow 46 people read my post and only 1 person replied that sure makes you feel welcome on the site I'm a nutrition specialist for a company called Nutricia and I specialize in the Autism division. We have a few products geared toward kids with ASD who are following a GFCF diet so I talk to moms all day who are doing the same thing you are. It's definately a hard thing to start but once you learn what has gluten and casein and what doesn't, its not too bad. There are pretty much GFCF alternative foods for anything you can think of. The tricky part is making sure the child gets adequate nutrition while following a restrictive diet (especially since most kids get the majority of protein from milk). We have a great overview of special diets on our website, www.nutritionandautism.com. It is an hour-long webinar given by Judy Converse, who specializes in nutrition intervention for kids with ASD and is very helpful when you are getting started with your special diet (and its free!). We also have a free parent diet guide you can download: http://www.nutritionandautism.com/dietguide.pdf . We have 2 products, E028 Splash and Neocate Junior that are beneficial for kids following the diet. They are GFCFSF, hypoallergenic, elemental and nutritionally complete, meaning they have all the necessary nutrients and can serve as a sole or supplemental source of nutrition. The proteins in these products are all broken down into amino acids, the building blocks for protein, so they are are very easy to absorb and digest. They were originally developed for kids with severe food allergies/intolerances and GI tract impairment. Since many kids on the spectrum have these conditions as well, it is helpful in these areas in addition to providing nutritional support for the GFCF diet. If you want to know more about them, feel free to browse the website or email me at info@nutritionandautism.com. Good luck and happy holidays! Mallory I drink goat/almond/rice milks. |
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