If autistic children are not supposed to eat foods that contain gluten or casein, what should i substitute?
I think gluten is in wheat and casein is in dairy products. Am I right? Taking out wheat and dairy products from a child’s diet is a major part of his diet. What is he supposed to eat instead? We tried to eliminate these from his diet, but he just was too hungry. What should we do? And how long does he have to live without these foods? For the rest of his life?
Tagged with: casein • dairy products • diet • wheat
Filed under: Living Foods Diet
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try some different grains- you can usually get them from a good health food store- buckwheat, quinoa, milo, etc.
Go to your local library and look for these books-
The Allergy Cookbook- this gives a lot of good recipes that are free of all of the major allergens
The Gluten Free Gourmet
THe Gluten Free Bible
These are good starter books for helping to get started on a GF lifestyle
There are tons of different studies that say yes to the gluten free life and some say it doesn’t matter. Do you have an organic section in your grocery store? Typically they have tons of gluten free and soy products for the whole family. Soy milk, and icecream are good alternatives. And since gluten is in everything it is nice to find alternatives in there for things like chips, crackers, and even some candies. Here is a web site to help explain the diet more and give some other ideas for recipies, etc. http://www.autismweb.com/diet.htm
Diet is not always the answer. If your son does better without gluten and casein then you should stick with it. But you have to remember that everything that your son eats has to be cook in pots and pans that have never had gluten or casein in them. Don’t make your son miserable by staying on a diet if it is not working. There are so many more issues that he has to face and if food is a small pleasure you really have ot think about it because there is no cure, no matter how many times you change a diet.
I am going to answer the gluten related question. As to how long–that’s between you, him and his pediatrician.
Gluten Free foods are everywhere. Please check out the Yahoo Group foodallergynetywork they can help you a lot.
Visit the sites I list for mor einfo on GF life also.
Here are my kid friendly Gluten Free rec’s (FYI Gluten is in WHEAT, RYE and BARLEY. OATS are also avoided due to cross contamination).
(I do NOT know if these products contain Caesin, they are only GF to my knowledge!)
Kinninnick’s Pizza crust (buy frozen in health food stores or online. The Whole Foods brand pizza crust is good also.
Kinninnick’s Donuts (may contain casein)
Glutino makes great cereal, breakfast bars (like nutrigrain bars) breads, bagels and cookies.
Go to http://www.glutenfree.com they will help u shop by allergen, as does glutensolutions.com I think.
Ener-G makes great pasta as does Tinkyada. In stores and online.
Once you get the hang of buying stuff online, buy one thing at first, taste it, If it goes over well, try to buy in bulk to save money. Amazon has a great selection of GF and other specialty foods but their stock changes.
Best of luck and u can privately email me if u need any more info!
Amy
Chairperson Louisiana North Shore Celiac Sprue Association
(Former early childhood teacher with experience in Autism, so feel free to email me for help in that also! I can just listen if need be!)