Next week in the first of our gluten-free series I’ll be providing some great information in regards to what is gluten, what it means to suffer from celiac disease and review some grains to help clear up any confusion there might be around what you can and cannot eat.

At DietsInReview.com we strive to provide the most up-to-date information to our readers so when news breaks with regards to gluten, we work to bring it to you first. Some great stories we were able to share on the progress American culture has seen with regards to gluten are:

Coors Field Introduces Gluten-Free Concession Stand
Gluten News about New Enzyme
Brief on Gluten-Free Diet
Comfort Bar Offers a Gluten-Free Protein Bar
Gluten-Free Resources for Celiac Awareness Month
Interview with Babycakes Bakery’s Erin Mckenna

I also want to hear from you and happy to answer any questions. Post them below in the comment section and I’ll make sure to include all answers in the weekly series!

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Announcing the Gluten-Free Series

Gluten-Free/Casein-Free Diet: The Facts

A gluten-free/casein-free diet, also known as the GFCF Diet, is a strict elimination eating plan where all foods containing gluten and casein are removed from the child’s daily food intake. Gluten is a protein found in the seeds of grains like barley, oats, rye, and wheat. Casein is a protein that is prevalent in cow’s milk and cheese. Unfortunately, a large number of foods contain gluten and casein, which makes it hard to totally eliminate.

Some people believe that their children are allergic or sensitive to the components found in foods that contain gluten or casein. Among the benefits reported are changes in speech and behavior.

A recent pediatrics report reaffirms the skeptics’ view about diet as a definite positive treatment for autism. Recently, an expert panel came to the conclusion that there is no “rigorous evidence” that digestive problems are more common in children with autism compared to other children, or that a special diet would work.

Actress Jenny McCarthy is one of the more famous vocal proponents of a dietary treatment for autism, as she has searched for solutions for her autistic child. Maybe her high-profile plight has contributed to the fact that nearly one in five autistic children are on a special diet. Surely, the debate will continue.

“I think we still have a lot to learn about the gut and how it contributes to behavioral symptoms,” says Lee Grossman, president of the Autism Society.

(via: momlogic.com & WebMD)

Also read:

Autism Awareness Week – a series of articles by moms and experts related to the diet and fitness role in autism treatment.

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Special Diets for Autism Unproven

Guest blogger Janice Ellen Wright is a former magazine editor and website editorial person, currently being the mother of 7-year-old DuckyBoy and making forays into online information marketing. Janice also blogs about her experiences with her son’s school program for students with high-functioning autism and how this experience got her sent to the principal’s office for the first time in her life. Feel free to search for controversy at Autism and Public Schools.

Part of the casein-free diet’s success for me and my son was the amount of time I was able, and willing, to devote to preparing things that were not only CF, but also would be something DuckyBoy would eat.

It was this past Christmas that we tried going off the diet. Now, he’s in love with the grilled cheese sandwiches at the school cafeteria, and some days I find myself wondering what protein he ate on the CF diet now that I pack some combination of cheese sticks, cheese crackers, and Goldfish for his snacks or lunch almost every day.

Today, eating is so different from eating that I knew when I was a kid. There just weren’t as many processed choices with whey or powdered milk snuck in. But there also weren’t as many health food stores that carried alternatives to cow’s milk and cheese – and what was available often wasn’t so yummy. (I never did find a good vegan cheese. Tofutti cream cheese was as close as we got. Never did make that stuffed jalapenos recipe from their website…)

When I follow the casein free diet with my son, it’s amazing how much better I feel. But it’s all but impossible to avoid cheese now. I’m back to loving pizza, but I put almond milk in my coffee, and find I eat waaaay less cheese than I used to. The less I have, the less bloated and more light I feel.

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A Mother’s Experience with the Casein Free Diet for Autism

Guest Blogger Holly Bortfeld is a work-at-home mom to two children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), ages 14 and 16. She home-schools her son and writes content for the Talk About Curing Autism (TACA ) site, including the popular series, “Autism-On-A-Budget.” Follow Holly on Twitter @TACAnow.

My son has been on the GFCF diet since 1998. Back then, there was little available as far as information, research or foods that didn’t taste like cardboard. Happily, you can now find an extensive array of mixes and pre-packaged foods now in grocery and health food stores, as well as online grocers.

Why should you do the diet? Because it works! According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, at least 70% of children with ASD have gastroenterological problems and both published and anecdotal research shows diet to be the single-most effective treatment used with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) kids.

Almost all families who come to TACA for diet information report the same thing – “My child only eats a few foods, he’s very picky-eater.” Rarely are any of those foods protein or vegetables and almost none are nutritional. The sensory defensiveness that many ASD children exhibit is vastly heightened before the diet and texture becomes a roadblock to healthy eating as well. Once they are on the diet however, they expand their food choices to include more healthy choices, thus improving their nutrition.

The most common things parents report after their child is fully on the diet is that “he came out of the fog,” started talking, started sleeping, stopped getting sick all the time, the tantrums decreased dramatically and the diarrhea stopped.

For my son, all of those things happened but something else too, his therapies began to work. Before the diet my son had a one-on-one, in-home, 40-hour a week program for months. The problem was that he didn’t seem to know they were there. Once we implemented the diet, it was as if he woke up and said “Oh, you want me to do this? Sure, why didn’t you say so?”

Some people worry that the diet is too expensive, but the diet is only as expensive as you make it. Any diet is expensive if you buy a lot of pre-made foods. TACA has two great articles to help: “GFCFSF on a Budget” and “GFCFSF Diet on Food Stamps.”

Try the diet, you won’t regret it. Your child deserves it!

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Using the Gluten, Casein and Soy-Free Diet for Children with Autism

Janice Wright's son's favorite food: Oyster cracker & cream cheese

Guest blogger Janice Ellen Wright blogs about her experiences with her son’s school program for students with high-functioning autism and how this experience got her sent to the principal’s office for the first time in her life. Feel free to search for controversy at Autism and Public Schools.

When my son was about four-years old, and struggling with Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), a behavioral disorder of autism, I bought a book titled Unraveling the Mystery of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder: A Mother’s Story of Research and Recovery, by Karyn Seroussi.

I had no idea what the GFCF diet was, nor did I want to know. But Seroussi was such a thoughtful writer, I kept on reading. When she wrote something like, “How can you not try removing dairy, for your child’s sake?” I knew I had to try.

I never tried gluten-free because I didn’t know what my son would eat at all. He’s picky, with many sensory oral issues. Eating out was especially tricky – between what he couldn’t eat and wouldn’t eat, we just stayed home most of the time.

My husband thought I was crazy, until we saw some improvement. Our son’s tantrums were less extreme, his ability to tolerate the unexpected increased a bit.

After about two years we tried going off it over Christmas break, and his behavior did not deteriorate, at least, no more than any kid does over a school break. He ate a year’s worth of Goldfish crackers in a month, but still prefers Tofutti Cuties to other ice cream.

Now that he’s seven-years old and can eat anything, I’ve noticed he’s trying more foods – still one reluctant bite at a time, but it’s progress. Parents of kids on the spectrum know the terms “preferred” and “non-preferred;” for my son, foods are much more black-and-white: Favorite or Hated.

We find ourselves struggling to know whether a refusal to eat is a sensory issue or a control issue, spectrum behavior or age-appropriate testing of his limits.

Everything is a battle with my son, and sometimes the food is what I choose to lose on, especially during the school year when so many social demands are made of him all day long. He eats more processed foods than I’d like, and more carbs than I’d like, but his weight and height are fine, so we’ll just keep trying new foods a little at a time, and hope his tastes expand with age, just as mine did.

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Learning to Love the Casein-Free Diet for Autism

Guest Blogger Karianna writes at The Karianna Spectrum. Her oldest son was diagnosed with PDD-nos when he was in pre-school.

Food is sustenance, but it also has sensory and social components. All three of these come into play for individuals on the autistic spectrum.

Many kids with autism are affected by food in ways that neurotypical children are not. My son is on the Feingold Program, a diet that avoids certain salicylates and petroleum-based additives. Other children have found success with gluten-free/ casein-free diets, particularly when they also have celiac disease. Some autistic kids might have lots of food sensitivities, while others may have none.

Even without a specific food concern, kids on the spectrum typically have more pronounced reactions to food, so eating healthfully is even more crucial than for a typical kid who might be “off” after lots of junk food or without a well-rounded diet.

Kids on the spectrum frequently have strong sensory reactions to food. Common concerns include taste, color, and texture. Something mildly seasoned may seem overwhelmingly spicy to someone on the spectrum. A few little lumps in food might be painful or uncomfortable. And then there is the classic preference for a certain color. While the “I’ll only eat white things” might be a common toddler stage, it is a more pervasive problem for autistic kids. Fear of the unknown definitely translates to food, so creating a well-rounded palate is a challenge. For those who use medication to control some of the impulsivity or aggression symptoms of autism, appetite can be a big concern. Drugs such as Risperdal can significantly increase appetite, causing obesity, whereas stimulant-based pharmaceuticals like Ritalin or Focalin can suppress appetite dramatically.

Eating is a social activity. Kids on the spectrum usually already have social challenges, but a picky palate, a special diet, or a depressed appetite can create major challenges for family gatherings, birthday parties, or at school. Situations that would already be stressful become doubly-so when these food-related issues are added. But, despite the hurdles, the behavioral benefits to eating well are profound, so addressing the food-related challenges for an individual on the spectrum is important.

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The Feingold Diet for Autism