I'm not anymore, but we tried a gluten/casein free diet last year for my daughter with autism, now 5 yrs old. We didn't really notice a difference after 6 months on the diet, so we went off it. She's actually made a lot more progress in this past year, so while I'm happy I tried it to see if it would help, it was very hard to maintain her diet and I'm kind of relieved that I can be more relaxed in regards to food.

The main pro from the diet for us is now she's a little more open to different foods like rice (she's picky - I think mostly a sensory issue), but she used to love milk and now won't touch cow milk after having me try so many other types as a substitute (soy, potato, rice, almond...she would not drink any of it!)

NB,

Thanks for sharing. The behavior of our 4 year boy with autism has recently gone off the charts (esp. in the p.m.) and I am starting to question his diet which is mainly starches. I had heard previously that one of the reasons they think the starches are bad for those with autism is b/c it acts like a drug after being absorbed in their intestinal tract keeping them craving more and more. I can't recall in this interview on NPR if it was the gluten causing this particular issue or another component of the starch. I just find it ironic that his favorite food items are primarily starches. As you know already, their diets can be limiting enough and with the starches I am able to get some whole grain breads and pastas in there without the trouble of a special diet. Just debating on trying this. He also refuses to drink milk. He hasn't drank milk since the bottle was taken away as his thought process is that it can only come in a bottle.

We're gluten free. My 14yo is ADHD, and we went through all the typical therapy type solutions, but everything came to a head when he was 11. His behavior had become so disruptive at school that we tried going gluten-free as a last ditch effort before trying the drugs. I'm not anti-drugs, it's just that they're all appetite suppressants, and he was already only in the 4th percentile for weight at the time.

Going gluten-free with a child for non-health related issues is impossible if the child is not on board. In the beginning he would cheat at school, and eat food from other kids lunches. The big breakthrough for us was getting his system completely cleaned out during summer break. He was calmer, much less combative, much less impulsive, able to complete small sequential tasks, and able to focus better than ever before. But here was the big AHA moment for him: we went camping with some friends. They had a typical camping food tent filled with hohos and dingdongs. We were on vacation and didn't want to fight about food. When we got back that Monday he had a lacrosse game. He was playing goal for that summer, and had been averaging 5 goals against. He was lit up. The other team scored a dozen goals in just the first half, and went on to score 25. He couldn't keep track of the ball. Not for lack of trying. He just couldn't focus.

This was the turning point - the moment that he knew there was a chemical change in his body with gluten in it. Every now and again he'll feel so in control, he'll slip on food, and the wheels will come off the bus, and he'll get back on board. We compare it to a schizophrenic who on medication starts to feel so good and so in control, that they stop taking their meds, end up in a cardboard box, and get back on their meds.

Now here's the kicker: on the gf diet he's actually gained weight, enough so that he's now in a normal weight range. All that fidgeting was really doing wonders for keeping him tiny. We also haven't had a hyperactivity related hospital visit in years. DH was a skeptic when I first started us on this path, but he's seen the difference in DS1 and is quick to tell others about going gf now. I post a lot of gf recipes on my blog, if you're still in the testing things out stage.

Thanks lax. How has the rest of the family coped? Is everyone eating gluten free as to not cross-contaminate? I am hoping that if I incorporated this now and was able to find enough substitutes for the things he loves it may go over easier esp. if I don't bring those other items into the home or take him to the grocery store. Though I know as he gets older it will be tougher as he will be less sheltered. If it works, hopefully by then he too will see a difference in how he feels. Also, thanks for posting the link.

DH has a small stash of glutenous foods in a chifferobe in our bedroom, but the kitchen is gluten-free. I prepare gf meals for everyone, partly so that DS1 doesn't feel different in his own home, and partly because I just don't want to have to prepare 2 separate meals at each mealtime.

As far as substitutes go, I can't say enough good things about Udi's bread. It's the very best gf bread. I used to have to drive completely out of the way to go to the one health food store in the area that carried it, but now Wegmans carries it. Tinkyada Brown Rice Pasta is very good. The trick with B.R. Pasta is that it's so starchy that it'll gum up in the water if you don't keep moving it around. Make sure to use way more water than you think is necessary, and keep moving it around. I bake most of our cookies, and cakes from scratch, but will use Pamela's baking mix for pancakes & waffles. Nice fluffy pancakes. The best gf pancake mix. But for other gf mixes Bob's Flour Mill has very good chocolate cake and brownie mixes. It's been a while since I've used mixes in my own kitchen, but BFF likes to make DS1 feel at home at her house, too and uses them there. E-mail me offline for a complete low down on all the different flours, and other good prepackaged gf foods.

I forgot to say that DS2 has eaten gf since he was 2 1/2(when we made the switch,) so he doesn't even remember a time when we ate gluten in the house. There was a time when I watched DS2 like a hawk looking for signs of autism, because he toe-walked, and was very late developing speech. I started to really panic when he was 2 and not talking. Plus there was the toe-walking, and occasional hand flapping. But then DS1's ADHD went completely out of control, and by the time we got that under control, DS2 was speaking, and (with reminders) started walking on his feet. I don't know if going gf helped push him off the spectrum or if he was never on it, because I couldn't give full attention to him at that time with all that was going on with DS1.

DS2 is definitely a quirky kid with an aversion to change who when tired will do a hand thing(not flapping, more like wringing only just his fingers,) but we & his doctor are not at all concerned that he is on the spectrum. He goes to a regular school in a regular class with no I.E.P. needed.

We recently discovered that my dh has an allergic reaction to wheat (the entire family did a month+ allergy elimination diet; when we added wheat back in, my dh realized it caused his symptoms).

We haven't gone gluten-free as a family as he isn't as sensitive as someone with celiacs would be.

With one of our children, we discovered that high fructose corn syrup and red 40 had a huge negative effect on his behavior. Some of his symptoms: his voice would get higher pitched, and he would make more repetitive noises; he would get a twitch in one eyelid, and he would become aggressive with no impulse control.

It was difficult, but worth it to investigate what was triggering our son's reaction. We don't have to avoid them as strictly now, but our son does better with limited exposure to HFCS and food dyes, and dh feels better without wheat. Since my dh found a GF pizza crust recipe that he likes, he doesn't really miss wheat too much.

So my DD3 and I have been GF for celiac reasons for almost 3 years now. I can't really speak to the behavioral portion of things...she was just falling off the growth chart with no other real symptoms, and is still petite, but has managed to grow a bunch since getting the diagnosis.
We don't all eat GF, partly because we are a family of 6 and it would break us financially (when you consider pasta is 3 bucks for 12 ounces!), but also because we just try really hard to find all comparable foods...many times we do end up eating gf anyway, but it's not a hard and fast rule. All my baking is GF though.
It's interesting to hear about those of you that have found great results on the behavior end with ADHD and Autism and the like...I am continually amazed at the links between what we put in our bodies for nutrition and the subtle (or not so subtle) effects...
I will just echo what laxsupermom said about UDI's being the absolute best bread there is out there, and we've tried them ALL! Also, the brand of pasta we use is called bionature, and I find it to be superior to Tinkyada, which we were eating for a while.
The hardest part for me, was the baking...but let me share that the King Arthur line of GF baking mixes are outstanding, particularly the flour and the pancake mix, but also the brownies. And Betty Crocker has an excellent, light chocolate cake mix. Those have become staples for me with a 5 year old with many birthday parties and social occasions in which we can't just eat what's offered.
I hear they're working on a pill which would prevent absorption of gluten - this would be for occasional use, but man would that be nice.
Best of luck with the diet, at least there's tons out there now - 5 times as much as when we were first diagnosed!

I have to agree that Udi's bread is the best (except for Genius bread which we had in England...perfection) and the VERY best pasta is Le Veneziane corn pasta imported from Italy. It stays very yellow, has amazing texture and tastes much better than the brown rice stuff. It does have a distinctly corn flavor but my daughter loves it! Being GF has really helped DD2's ADD.

I have read all of the above post with interest. I have only recently been wheat and dairy free. I must be sensitive to both because I am feeling so much better for having done this. I have lost the arthritic feeling I had every morning, energy has increased, no more bloating etc. I have just been eating fish, vegetables and fruit but in the future want to begin gluten free baking. Laxmom, read your blog, like it alot, you have great info. Is there a baking cookbook that you recommend? Thank you all for the posts.

Another vote for Udi's--that's by far the best available. (I don't have celiac, but wheat is a big asthma trigger for me so I mostly avoid it.)

Thanks,maggie08! I actually only have one gf cookbook. Babycakes, by Erin McKenna. I got it when it first came out, because she had been on the old Martha Stewart show when we had first gone gf, and showcased her brownie bites. I tried them(making a few tweaks,) and they were the first really good gf baked item that came out of my kitchen. Now that I've got the hang of gf baking, I just do my own thing without books. But if you're looking for a good one, she does a good job explaining the different flours, and how they affect different people.

Last weekend I made GF cupcakes by combining Bob's Red Mill GF all-purpose flour with the necessary ingredients to make it into cake flour. In other words, I put two tablespoons of Mochiko rice flour (http://www.kodafarms.com/product_glutenfree.html) in a one-cup measure, added half a teaspoon of baking powder, and then filled the rest of the one-cup measure with the all-purpose GF flour. I did this for each cup of flour that the recipe required. The cupcakes were so light and fluffy! I brought them to a party, didn't bother mentioning that they were gluten free (I only made them that way so that I could have dessert too), and people loved them. One guy said, "It's really CAKEY. That's exactly how a cupcake is supposed to be."

Total stealth cupcakes. No one knew they were gluten free. They had the right texture! Yay! Just thought I'd share so we GF people could be liberated from the purgatory of inferior baked goods, at least when it comes to cake and cupcakes.

Thank you everyone for responding. I didn't mean to abandon my post yesterday but I got blindsided yesterday at work with an issue that could be very bad for my office so I spent the rest of the day trying to resolve that!

Everyone's info is encouraging me more and more to give it a try and possibly the casein as well. However, this may be even more difficult as he does like cheese and I feel good about him eating it b/c I know he is getting some calcium and a little protein from somewhere.

We will probably just start with the GF diet and see how he reacts to it first and then go from there.

I am definately going to start trying out some of these products mentioned and trying to find what works for us. We are fortunate enough to have a store that carries GF products near my home.

Shannon

We don't personally have a GF household, but we have many friends who are GF, or have children who are GF. One family used Is This Your Child, a book by Doris Rapp in tracking down the triggers for their children's behavior. They found that gluten, additives, preservatives, food dye, dairy were all playing a huge part in what they were seeing in their children. Another good resource is the Feingold Association, which publishes an updated list of foods that can trigger all sorts of behavior issues as well as foods that are relatively trigger free. I'm not doing their site justice, there's a lot more there, too.
A third thought is mineral defficiency. A mutual friend started showing symptoms of autism as an adult mother. They were able to track down much of it to a defficiency. She uses a product called Min-Cal, which is a form of ground rock phosphate, and her symptoms have dissipated. She also incorporated it into her children's diet, and has seen marked improvement from ADHD.
They also found that she was highly sensitive to molds. She must be very careful what she breathes, and what she eats. For example, she's extremely sensitive to corn syrup. Not because of the corn, but because of the mold content that comes from how corn syrup is processed. I would think that PB would cause the same difficulties as well.

Here is a link that might be useful: Feingold

I went searching and realized I misspelled in the last post. It's Min-Col, not Min-Cal. Other search words would be Carey Reams, and brix testing. I'm afraid I don't know enough about all this to know which side of the fence I'm on, but, it might be worth looking into, based on the experiences of the friend I mentioned above.

Great post louisianapurchase, thanks. also thanks laxsupermom for the book name. I will look into it. It is so interesting and sometimes scary when you start looking at what goes into the food we purchase. Additives and preservatives, I'm getting so if I just eat the food as close to nature there is less I have to worry about. But I do love to bake so I will eventually figure it out. Thanks all for good information.

Wow, thanks laughable. Amazing information. I am definately going to look into the Feingold Diet. It's crazy how so many body issues can be related and irritated by our diets by things that you never really think of.

I probably sound like a hypochondriac and/or a label crazy mom, but my oldest has a learning disability with ADHD without the hyperactivity (a difficult way to say ADD). I am also not so certain he isn't on the spectrum slightly as he has to have a stimming episode everyday. I just didn't realize it was stimming until the youngest came along.

The youngest is autistic and just recently his behavior has gone off the charts.

I have athletic-induced asthma, allergies, eczema (in fact this spring I am having a flare-up; haven't had one in a few years), IBS (was even tested for celiac disease), depression, etc.

My family is genetically predisposed to autoimmune diseases so I feel that comes into play to an extent, but am becoming more convinced that diet has sooo much to do with it.

It's funny as I consider my family to be healthy eaters and maintain a relatively healthy diet except for DS2. His diet primarily consists of, if I may, cr*p and DS1 and I are both on medication.

We are definately going to start incorporating these changes and see if they help all of us. I originally asked the question for DS2 but it looks like some changes may help us all.

Almost two years ago, we began to look at the food we eat and behavior triggers. In my research I found foods with food dye, preservatives, dairy and gluten/wheat were the biggest contributors to behavior. I looked in our cupboard and found few foods with preservatives and fooddyes but found many glute filled foods. We started a food diary and noticed that most food I fed our son contained gluten. My son was very active, having meltdowns, trouble sleeping, lose bowel movements, and more. So we (my husband and I) decided to give gluten free a try to see if it improved his behavior and digestion. It has been two years and he is still 95% gluten free.

We have not gone through the formal gluten testing, well we did but he wasn't on gluten at the time so the test was inconclusive. he did turn out to have a dairy allergy and many people with gluten sensitivities also are sensitive to dairy too.

So we keep all of our things together, his cereal in boxes next to our cereal. Make his sandwiches with gluten free bread on the same cutting board as our bread. We all eat gluten free pasta, gluten free pancakes. Most of our family sit down meals are all gluten free. If I make pizza I do make a regular one and a gf one. Enchiladas are gluten free. All dinners are gluten free.

It isn't as hard as I would have thought and there are soo many gf foods that taste good on the market.

We did it for behavior and digestion and haven't looked back in nearly two years. I would do it again too.

Some of our FAVORITE products:
Udi's bread!!!! Udi's pizza crust
Kinnickinnick donuts
Trader Joe's pancakes
PAMELA"s BAKING MIX!!!! cup for cup replacement for flour. GREAT product we do soo much wit Pamelas!
Cereals: Rice Twice, Puffins, Mesa Sunrise
Enjoy Life Bars
Glutino pretzels
Schar pasta!!! BEST pasta in my opinion -we don't miss regular at all!

Definitely Glutino pretzels! Did you know they make chocolate covered pretzels, now, too? Love putting some of those in our homemade trail mix(for Spring & Autumn.) We like that Chex reformulated, and now most of their cereals are gf, but the packaged Chex mix is still off limits. Vans toaster waffles(like Eggos, but gf) are an easy on the go breakfast option. San-J gf Tamari Soy Sauce is an absolute lifesaver in an asian household where most of the foods are gf, but half the sauces are now off the list.

Louisiana Purchase, I don't think you are crazy mom or a hypochondriac. It sounds like you are tuned in to what is going on and paying attention. : ) Another common additive that other friends of ours cut from their diet that I forgot to mention yesterday is soy. The mom has lupus, and it got so bad that she was spending most of the time in a wheelchair, felt sick all the time, could not handle noise to the point that she would have to go to bed after dinner. The family would wait until she was in her room before clearing the table bc the clatter of dishes and silverware was too much for her. She had several friends recommend that she read Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon where learned of the dangers of soy. She removed soy from her diet, and a bunch of other allergens, and she got better. I won't say that all of her symptoms are completely gone, but she no longer is in a wheelchair. She can run and play with her children again, enjoys regular family meals, can travel, can entertain guests in their home, etc. Like you, she paid attention to her children's behavior and symptoms, made a lot of dietary changes, and saw marked improvements in them as well.
I wish you the best and will be praying that you find what you need to help you and your family. : )

Thank you laughable for the prayers and support. It is funny you mention soy b/c my dad is lactose intolerant and cannot have soy.

I am making a note of the books, products, foods, etc. mentioned and am about to be on a mission. Like ejbrymom said, we are heavy Gluten wise in the pantry and with DS2 heavy with dyes and preservatives. All of our breads aand pastas are whole grain but still loaded with gluten. Being a La family we do have to have our crusty french bread occasionally, but I do try to limit that. However, we are a heavy roux based family, mainly in winter. I do make my rouxs now with whole grain flour but has anyone ever made one with gluten free flours?

Yes, you can substitute GF flour for wheat. There are several videos on the Internet about making GF roux. I like gluten-free girl's blog for all sorts of GF cooking ideas, but there are hundreds of other sites, too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gluten-free girl

My husband was diagnosed with Celiac about 18 months ago. He has always been extremely active and healthy but went downhill for a couple of years until he was a wreck. Within 48 hours of his diagnosis the changes were amazing.

I bake his "daily bread" using recipe's from the Gluten Free Goddess blog. We live at higher altitude- she used to live in New Mexico and many of her recipes work for us. One of our close friends is Celiac and casein free & Goddess recipes also work for her. If I can't bake for some reason I buy Canyon Bakehouse bread.

I don't buy much that is prepared/processed but the Kinnickkinnick donuts are too yummy to resist. We especially like the cinnamon donuts with hot apple cider. I also like the Pamela's chocolate chunk cookie mix and Arrowhead Mills brownie mix.

Martha Stewart's "Best Buttermilk Pancake" recipe works well for us with Gluten Free Pantry or Bob's Red Mill GF all purpose flour. This is the only recipe where I like using one of the flour mixes. I serve this to guests and they have no idea that it's gluten free.

We rarely have pasta at home any more. I serve things over polenta, shaved zucchini, shaved carrots or spaghetti squash instead, and I make risotto more often. Martha Stewart also has a nice gluten free lasagna recipe using shaved zucchini. When I need to use GF pasta DH prefers DeBoles corn pastas.

I received Elizabeth Barbone's Easy Gluten Free Baking book as a gift and have found that some of her recipes work beautifully and others fail completely.

My kitchen is not completely GF but I do completely segregate my equipment and storage. Most of our meals are GF but I do make gluteny special occasion and holiday treats (I am the holiday hostess in our family these days), and the children and I still have granola and some other things.

I was thrilled to see my husband's health return but there were times shortly after his diagnosis when I felt overwhelmed at learning how to bake without gluten, especially at higher altitude. if you are just starting out, don't get discouraged, you will probably have to kiss some frogs on your way to your prince charming recipes. Keep notes and keep your sense of humor!

I am linking to the Gluten Free Goddess Blog's tips for success section- lots of good information there. I make her Delicious Gluten Free Bread and Gluten Free Multi Grain sandwich bread every week. I use white wine vinegar rather than apple cider vinegar.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gluten Free Goddess Tips

Didn't think to post this in the last one, but one thing that interests me very much is that Shauna (GF girl) has stopped using gums. I've tried it, too, and I do think baked goods are more like baked goods without them.

Oh my gosh! I am continually amazed by the information shared and generousity on this forum. I do at the moment feel though that I am suffering from information overload. This weekend I am going to take time and sort all of this out, go to the health store by my house and check out their gf products, check out all of the blogs, recipes, etc. I am actually kind of scared to start this...I guess it's fear of the unknown and a little of the feeling that your about to give up some major "joys" in life and some conveniences as well. Because we, as most people on the KF, love food and love to cook. I guess this will give me reason for more experimentation.

When you are grocery shopping and feeling totally overwhelmed and tired of reading labels, head for the produce section! Fresh, whole, natural foods that don't need ingredient labels!

I have always had "allergies." Every body is different and diet is powerful, so if you have issues, it makes sense to try a rotation diet, or just try eliminating things and see what helps you. I had MSG in a restaurant once, and it brought on a full migraine with aura - I literally could not see to walk out. If it affected everybody like that, it would be poison. But it is generally recognized as safe. Trust your experience - an allergy is defined as something that only affects certain people.

lyvia, blind migraines are scary. DH gets them from stress. I've never considered food triggers for them because he's had them since he was a teen, but I'll have to look into it. We all know we eat differently when we're stressed so I'll have to think on it some, and do some casual observation. He had 2 this week which is very unusual.

timber.j reminded me of one thing I forgot to say earlier. Once your child gets on board, he'll be able to read a nutrition label so much better than even the adults around him. DS1 has gotten so used to scanning a label, that it's just second nature. In fact there have been times when DH has brought home something, that DS1 will have to tell him, "Dad, I can't eat this." To which DH will say, "sure you can, I checked." And DS1 will point out the malt flavoring(barley.) Kids being cognizant of what's entering their bodies is always a good thing.

I've been reading this thread with interest, but only now have time to reply. I've been gluten free since June - after some testing I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance. I wasn't actually tested for celiac, but I saw huge health improvement and reduction of seasonal allergies by taking gluten out of my diet, so I'm staying that way. I know other people who have stopped having migraines, lost all symptoms of MS (after being diagnosed by a MD), cleared up their skin, and others by giving up gluten.

6 years ago I put my boys on a gluten free, casein free diet for 7 1/2 months. At the time we didn't really see any impact on their behavior. However, now at age almost 8 and with my diagnosis we're really wondering if gluten has an impact on our younger ds' behavior.

Being gf now is SO much easier than it was six years ago. So many more products. I've also enjoyed trying to bake gluten free goodies that my whole house will eat. While my entire house is not gf - I still buy glutinous cereals, breads, and snacks for the rest of my family - I will no longer bake with gluten or make pancakes/waffles with gluten. I've been using the gf blogs out there to find recipes. I usually google what I want to make and can find a recipe somewhere.

I also made AWESOME gf granola bars using the recipe from www.smittenkitchen.com. I used gluten free oats and all sorts of other goodies. I HIGHLY recommend this recipe, even if you're not gluten free. The biggest problem is that I make them for my kids to snack on, but I eat most of them!

I also recently found the BEST gluten free pizza I've ever tasted. The crust is both chewy and crispy. Its made by Against the Grain Gourmet. If you're GF, go find it and try it!

My new favorite GF pasta is Ancient Harvest Quinoa Pasta Garden Pagodas
http://ancientharvestquinoa.us/node-16310101-B000LKWSG8-Ancient_Harvest_Quinoa_Pasta_Pagodas_Wheat_Free_8_Ounce_Boxes_Pack_of_12.html