Tips On Starting a Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Diet
The Autism News | English
By Dawn Matthews | Pittsburgh Autism & Parenting Examiner
There is a lot of controversy about the nutritional treatment of autism and other behavioral disorders, mostly between conventional doctors and the parents who see that it works. Many wonder how diet modification can help a behavioral disorder, however consider your behavior when you aren’t feeling well. Can you concentrate? Do you feel like mingling? Are you irritable? You may not throw yourself down and start screaming like a banshee, but you would if you were a child and knew no other way to express yourself.
It’s amazing how allergies and intolerances manifest themselves. For example, many children with a sensitivity or allergy to gluten and dairy end up having enlarged tonsils. When placed on the gluten-free dairy-free (or caesin-free) diet the tonsils shrink back to normal. It also causes abdominal pain, which can be severe and overwhelming. Other food allergies may cause different symptoms. If your child is still unwell (may be congestion, chronic infections, etc.) after trying this diet, you may need to investigate other food allergies or other types of allergies.
As a result of the above mentioned improvements, the child becomes more reasonable, has less tantrums, begins speaking more regularly, and more clearly. They are better able to concentrate because some of the pain has subsided.
Dairy is pretty straight forward: cheese, yogurt, butter, cream, and the like. There are many kinds of substitutes you can use. Soy milk, rice milk, almond milk, soy cheese, etc. Flieschman’s light or unsalted is made with oil instead of milk or cream. There is also Earth Balance that makes a vegan (no animal products) margarine.
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye, barley, and with some controversy, oats. Some people are able to handle oats, while the more sensitive people can not tolerate it. It’s also not at easy to spot on labels. Wheat flour has many names like semolina and spelt to name a couple. However, gluten can be called starch, malt, or many other names. Modified food starch tends to be modified corn starch, but sometimes it can mean gluten. You can contact the manufacturer to find out for sure. Wikipedia has some great information on the gluten-free part of the diet. They point out that you have to be careful about more than just food. For example, some medications use gluten as a binder. There is a website specifically for the “autism diet” which includes information, a support group, they even sell food and books.
Grocery stores are beginning to stock gluten-free food, some of which is also dairy-free or just completely hypo-allergenic. Some Giant Eagle stores have a wonderful selection of gluten-free and dairy-free food, which is continually growing. If you can’t find anything at your local grocery, there are always specialty stores like Frankferd Farms or Whole Foods. New specialty stores are popping up all the time.
There are certain brands you can look for like Amy’s Kitchen, Namaste, Cherrybrook Kitchen, and Kinnikinnick just to name a few. Some of these manufacturer’s also sell their food online but I think all of them give a list of places to find their products.
Finally, you can find a lot of recipies online for gluten-free dairy-free cooking. Sometimes it’s best just to use a regular recipe and substitue the gluten and dairy products. You generally have to use a binder with your substitues, like Xanthan Gum. It’s expensive, but a little goes a long way.
For mor information:
http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/00/04703191/0470319100.pdf
http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/gettingstarted/tp/Getting-Started-.htm
http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/gettingstarted/a/hiddengluten.htm
http://www.chow.com/recipes/25308
http://www.earthbalancenatural.com/
Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-14700-Pittsburgh-Autism–Parenting-Examiner~y2009m6d27-Tips-On-Starting-a-GlutenFree-DairyFree-Diet
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