has anyone heard of gfcf diet ? - Autism Spectrum Message Board

maggie78 · 12-30-2006, 04:40 PM

i spoke with the mother of a pdd-nos 4 yr old boy, who said he was on the gfcf diet (gluten and casein free) for about a year and a half. she says that since he's been on the diet he speaks normally, has eye contact, great social interaction, no melt downs or tantrums, no stimming, no sensory issues no nothing. she says he goes to regular preschool and no one can tell there are any issues. has anyone heard anything about this? any personal experience? she gave me a web site to look at gfcf diet, but of course they promote it and sell some stuff so it's all sucess stories. i'm wondering if this diet maybe "hides" the symptoms but doesnt really "fix or modify" them. it seems like some parents sucess stories mention how horribly their kids did when they ate something they shouldnt have, all the symptoms seemed to return while gluten or dairy was in their system.

Liz Cook · 12-30-2006, 10:02 PM

there is lots of big talk about the gfcf diet and life style being a life saver to kids on the spectrum... and it really can be... if your child is allergic. if there is no allergy then there is no reason it will help. ASD kids are thrown off track by all sorts of things! and allergies is a big culprit. if you have allergies of your own then you know how blecky that feels. now magnify that by autism

and you dont want to do anything! so ofcourse, if the mom you were talking to had a child with the allergy then yeah, she saw results.

i look at it this way, diet therapy, with in reason, is a practically side effectless treatment. if you are willing to go through with the gfcf diet they really there is no harm, no foul. and it's the type of allergy that generally goes undiagnosed until its stumbled upon, generally by the parents

so, if you want to take the effort then it certainly will not hurt your child... except if pasta is a mainstay in your child's diet... then you might hurt his feelings when you substitute in something else

but it wont hurt his health that's for sure! it's not a crazy idea... but it's not an easy diet from all that i gather to stick to if you are a foodie... like my family of foodies

we live for food

and our son, even with his ASD is a huge foodie. shocks alot of his workers because they expect him to be the stereotypical picky eater that some ASD kids are

probably not so helpful but this is my opinion anyhow

if you want to try it, it wont hurt your son, it might benefit him actually so what the heck right?

G-Luck

BetsyAnn · 12-30-2006, 11:21 PM

The doctors in the biomedical camp claim that the gf/cf diet will help about 80% of the kids on the spectrum. The theory behind it goes something like this . . .

For various reasons autistic individuals lack the enzymes which are necessary to properly break down the protein in milk, gluten, and (frequently) soy. Rather than break down completely, the protiens break down into peptides. These peptides act like little bullets in the digestive track. Over time they create a condition called leaky gut. The leaky gut allows the peptides to leave the gut and enter the blood stream. These peptides are able to cross the blood brain barrier. They are similiar in structure to opiate type drugs and attach to the opiod receptors in the brain. Alot of autistic behaviors are the result this drug (peptide) induced state. Eliminate the peptides and you eliminate the behaviors. Unfortunately, if the peptides are reintroduced the behavior will return.

I personally buy into the whole peptide theory. The GF/CF diet has worked wonderfully for my son. The first 3 days he was casein free he acted like he was having a severe drug withdrawl. His behavior was wild, desperate, and completely out of control. The fourth day he crashed. He had no energy but he sleep soundly for the first time in his entire life. The fifth day his pep was back but he was an entirely different kid. He stopped flipping light switches. He stopped messing with the x-box disc tray (he liked to put the discs in and out). He lost all interest in the wiggles. He stopped smearing poop. He again sleep (this was the most miraculous thing of all). His eye contact improved. His speech improved. He began playing appropriately with toys.

When my son had a dietary infraction his behavior changed. If he got a hold of just 1 flavored potato chip (How much milk could that have?) he could not sleep for three days and he would spend the better part of 1 whole day flipping light switches. The changes in him were so black and white. Even the naysayers who thought we were nuts, got on board quickly when they saw the change that even a miniscule about of milk would bring.

I would recommend to anyone who is considering giving the diet a try, do it.
It is hard, but if it works it is worth it. If it doesn't work you can always stop. I can honestly say that despite the difficulty of the diet, my life is easier when my son is on it. I also consider the changes in him miraculous.

If you decide to try the diet, you will need to read up and study it very carefully. It will not work if there are any trace elements of the proteins in the diet. One mother I know that claimed the diet didn't work for her son was feeding him things like Doritos--Of course it didn't work, he was still getting the forbidden proteins. Another mother I know claims the diet didn't work for her daughter. They tried the diet for two days and her daughter's behavior became much worse than it had ever been, (she was very difficult to start with), so they quit. Terrible withdrawl behavior is actually a good indication that the diet will be effective.

maggie78 · 12-31-2006, 03:24 PM

do you use the diet with aba and speech therapy, or just the diet? my son will be starting his therapy soon, and i'd like to have an idea about the timing.

BetsyAnn · 12-31-2006, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maggie78

do you use the diet with aba and speech therapy, or just the diet? my son will be starting his therapy soon, and i'd like to have an idea about the timing.

That is wonderful that he will be starting ABA and speech therapy soon. Get as many hours of these therapies for him as you can. The more the better. It can be very overwhelming to start everything at once, so you may want to wait a couple of months before changing his diet so drastically. This will also give you some time to see what effects the therapy is having. It is good to start one thing at a time so you can document effects. It will also give you time to research and study the diet.

My son started the diet before he did ABA. He had to wait until he was in his autistic pre-school to receive the ABA. I believe that the ABA therapy was much more effective because of the diet. I believe the diet and the ABA go hand in hand.