Autism and the GFCF diet

[Guest guest]

Hi, all,

 

I had to pipe in on this one. I think you should give the diet a

college try, meaning do it for at least 3-4 months. The dairy leaves

the system within 3 weeks, but the gluten takes *at least* 3-6 months,

and up to a year. My son had a lot of autistic symptoms at age 2.5, we

put him on the GFCF diet, and it unleashed a whole plethora of gastro

issues, which made us realize he was in actuality celiac. We also had

him allergy tested and he was actually allergic to dairy. He wouldn't

eat for about 3 days, at which point he grabbed a carrot stick off the

table (he had previously eaten NO vegetables - he'd only eat mac and

cheese, cheese slices, chicken nuggets, yogurt, waffles - that's about

it). He also did not grow or gain for 8 months after starting the diet,

and he'd had failure to thrive prior to the diet. His body had to heal,

and heal it did, and he is now 4 years old, flourishing in kindergarten,

and has no remaining autistic characteristics. He never needed any

behavioural intervention.

 

I would urge you to at least have him tested for celiac (it is *very*

common and will produce autistic traits in some individiuals), and also

have his gluten and casein protein peptides tested. Then at least you

can fairly rule out the diet.

 

Heidi