Gluten and Casein Free Diet or GFCF 101

I am starting this blog to hopefully answer the many questions that come my way about what the diet is, what it entails and how to get started etc...

We use the gluten and casein free (GFCF) diet as part of our autistic son's many treatments. The theory behind the diet is that children on the autism spectrum don't digest the gluten protein (found in wheat, oats, rye, barley and miscellaneous other ingredients) and casein protein (found in dairy products...i.e. milk) and end up with an inflamed and perforated (leaky) gut. These undigested proteins then escape through that leaky gut and enter the bloodstream where they travel to the brain and act as opiates. This can interfere with functioning and their ability to access other treatments designed to help them. For us it is a baseline to help us provide the ABA, OT and Speech therapists with a child who feels better and functions better...increasing his chances for success with what they are working on. That is our premise for everything we do biomedically. One of any of these things alone will not recover my son. It is the balanced and well rounded treatment module that gives him the best chance.

However, not every parent of an autistic child who hears of the diet does it. I hear all the time that parents don't do the diet because it is too expensive and too hard. My answer to that is yes and no to both. You can cut costs by being willing to put the time in to making things from scratch like I do with my bread, and hamburger and hot dog buns. But there are also items out there that are inexpensive and you can do a lot with them. (Check out http://www.chebe.com/ to see one of my favorite source of mixes you can do a lot with!)

Another excuse I hear is that their child is so limited already as to what they will eat. Further investigation usually leads to me finding out that most of the limited foods they will eat contain gluten and casein. Hence, their child is likely addicted to an opiate effect of these foods and would more likely benefit from it!

Another reason given is that the diet isn't proven to work. Well, it isn't proven not to work and you cannot ignore the thousands of families stories of improvement, including our own, that show it is making a difference. My son was less out of it and more in tune to everything around him when we made the change. And to test things, after about a month or so of going casein free, we gave him milk one weekend to see how he'd react and I found myself with a child that was loop and out of it like I'd shot him up with drugs. No thanks, we'll pass.

Was I as capable or comfortable as I am now with doing it? No. At first it felt like a barrier between me and the rest of the world but as time went on and I figured out how to do more and where to find more and just plain became more comfortable with it....it just became part of our life. At the time I am writing this post we have been casein free for 3 years and 5 months and gluten free for 3 years. It isn't always fun....for instance, although I love getting invited to birthday parties for others it has taken it's toll on my enjoyment a bit at times because it involves a whole lot of extra work for me with a child that requires so much effort in so many areas. I'm not only picking up a gift...but I am also finding out ahead of time what will be served and making time to prepare a gluten/casein free alternative. I will be doing this very thing tomorrow as I make GFCF free pizza and cake.

But no amount of extra work or cost will ever make me not do this and the "diet" will not keep us from everyday life. For the value I place upon it is equal to that of chemo for a cancer patient. I always say that if my child had cancer, needed chemo and the nearest treatment facility required a long drive every day and a ton of gas I wouldn't think twice about doing it. Just as a child with cancer deserves every chance to survive, my son deserves every chance/opportunity to feel and function better. He deserves every chance he can get to have a better recovery and more success. I just wish other parents gave the diet this amount of respect and priority and gave it a shot. Our kids deserve it.

I started out removing casein because that was much easier to accomplish but when it came to going gluten free, I had to "get over myself" and my fears and excuses and just do it. So don't think I was gung-ho on it from the get go. It just came down to the fact that my son deserved 100% effort and I had no right to let my issues/fears/excuses get in the way. I felt I was short changing him if I didn't attempt it and see if it made a difference for him. Thanks to the support and assistance of my mother-in-law who flew in armed with information from the celiac group she'd joined on her grandson's behalf, we did go gluten free and plugged on. I ended up with a child more connected to us and to his world so every bit of everything I do with regards to the diet is completely worth it.

Well, I'm tired tonight and going to head to bed but will be back soon to start with the basics and hopefully start my GFCF 101 guide for those who need it.

Love, Sherry