Will a GFCF diet help with the SPD of Autism?

[me]

Will the Gluten and casein free diet help with the sensory processing disorder (inability to tolerate certain sounds and very limited diet) related to Autism?

[Skeptic]

The only way to know if this may help your child is to try it. Anecdotal stories support the fact that some children benefit by avoiding gluten and dairy. I choose to avoid wheat and other gluten grains because of GMO commonly associated with these products. My grains of choice are brown rice and quinoa. I avoid milk, yogurt, and other dairy products. Instead I eat a lot of dark leafy greens (calcium, iron, and protein). To round out the protein requirement, I consume brown rice and legumes (peas, beans, lentils). Excess protein in American diets are associated with many chronic diseases such as vascular disease and some forms of cancer.

I would learn about the Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) diet advocated by T. Colin Campbell. For specific information about diet and autism, see Neal Barnard's web site, or order one of his many excellent books. You might discover that altering the entire family's diet may be of great health benefit to you.

[shauna]

There's no formal studies on this, to my knowledge. All the information has been anecdotal.

However, as someone with auto-immune disorders, and active in a lot of auto-immune and allergy communities, there's been some cross-over with parents who have children with autism, and this is what I've seen myself. Whether or not it applies to your little one, I couldn't say, unfortunately, of course.

1. First - and I mean this with all seriousness - I would get a copy of every single test your child has had in regards to the autism diagnosis. And then I would get on google and google things like auto-immune disease misdiagnosed as autism, or 'disorder' misdiagnosed as autism,' or 'caused autism-like symptoms.' You'll start running into articles like this one: http://specialneedslove.net/2013/01/14/c...-disorder/

This is not to doubt your child's diagnosis, but there is SO much new information coming out all the time, and you can sometimes find it on the internet in transcripts of speeches at conferences or studies before it's made it into the mainstream medical textbooks or the doctor's office.

I have a rare disorder that can cause mental problems (like panic attacks, depression, and OCD-like issues) and was only diagnosed by accident, but it led me to getting my daughter diagnosed. This disorder was only recognized in 2012 and I got diagnosed because a doctor who happened to have heard of it got my case. I was sick for 20 years before this.

it's truly worth it.

2. I have seen some amazing changes with diet, but GFCF is usually only the start. The best results I've seen are to pretty go completely 'whole foods' and drop the processed foods, with the artificial dyes and preservatives and sugar and lots of pretty nasty ingredients. Add in as many fresh herbs as you can, look at foods that are anti-inflammatory and try to add more in, and take out some that might increase inflammation. Soy is usually one of the latter, so dropping it can help too.

This is not so much in children with autism only, but in people with chronic pain, auto-immune diseases, autism, all sorts of things - just...conditions where we are more sensitive to toxins and stressors on our body can benefit from giving the body and mind as much support as possible, and minimizing some of the stressors, and food plays a big part in both. That's the best way I've heard it described that made sense to me.

3. I have not heard of a diet change helping sensory processing disorder in autism specifically, but I do know of some parents who had success in diet changes helping with this in children without autism. I do not know if it would apply universally or if it's just a few cases. However, these same children tended to have what I mentioned above: a huge dietary change. Sugar and a lot of processed foods dropped frequently, for example.

Wish I had more for you, but...it may be worth trying.

Although a quick question: is the limited diet primarily linked to the processing disorder, or is your child reacting with gastric or bowel upset to many foods? I only ask because if it is more than the processing, reacting to a lot of foods can be a sign of mast cell activation disorders, or of an allergy to a common food he's eating that is affecting the gut significantly (doesn't have to have a rash present for this to be true).

If it's a reaction and you want to explore mast cell disorders, I'd check out mastocytosis, MCAD, mast cell disorder, or MCAS groups on Facebook. There is almost no information about this rare disorder on the web in general, and most of what is out there deals with a particular type (although it acts like it is the ONLY type) of reaction which involves hives and shock. When in truth, it can often involve pain, gut issues, bowel issues, and even mental problems, as well.

The support groups have files with much better and more complete information that addresses all the variations, as well as people more familiar with it.

Take care, and I hope your week is a fairly good one where everyone gets some good sleep.

[JMITW]

only if the person is actually sensitive to gluten/casein ...most people with autism aren't..but for those that are the food issues exasperates the autism/sensory symptoms.

i can think of kids I worked with who seemed off to us before we knew that they had gone off the diet the day before...

You can be sensitive to gluten/casein and not have celiac...there are other reasons for the sensitivity. There was a story of a boy who became severely hyperactive from bananas...foods and affect people in weird ways

[Douglas]

Yes, these will help greatly, but what is more important is for you to get Educated on Autism, etc..

[irving snotpocket]

Check with a medical doctor. Last time I checked, GFCF works ONLY if you have a very rare medical condition (such as Celiacs). The "Fad" is just that, not based on fact. The reality is that very, very few people cannot process gluten.

That being said, after you check with the doctor, if hte GFCF diet works for your son (regardless of if he has Celiac or whatever), then go for it. I have seen one young man try it, even though he did not have a medical condition requireing it, and he claimed it helps his Autism. Of course, I believe it's a placebo effect, but it doesn't matter what I think. If it makes him better, then he should keep doing it (with the doctor's help).

[J-Dawn]

Since Autism is so different from child to child, it's difficult to say. I have a friend with 2 autistic children. She switched them both to gluten free and dairy free and the change has been amazing.