GFCF Diet

Re: Does any one know anything about this diet for Autistic kids?
anonymous

Question:

I have seen it on the news, in magazines, read the testomonies, even seen the websites. A special diet & vitimins. Seems to good to be true. A friend has

an autistic boy, wondering if I should tell her about it, but I need to know that its worth her time & emotions before I get her hopes up by showing her these websites (as these sites would get any parents hopes up!) & with Jenny Mc Carthey saying it worked for her child, & all the other parents saying it worked for their kids, if it works so well then where are the doctors support? Should I tell her about this or not. Concerened friend. Sorry for going anon, but we both have friends with minti. If you know about this diet please respond, any news will help.

My Advice:

I have read a lot about the GFCF (Gluten Free Casein Free) Diet.  I am pretty sure this is the one you are talking about.  I know that it is the diet that Jenny McCarthy put her son on.  My son was diagnosed with autism 2 years ago.  We have tried several different things with him.  We went on the GFCF diet for 3 months.  It was difficult and expensive, but it is something that we could control.  We started the diet at the same time we also started Kindergarten and a new program at school.  My son made great strides during the first 2 months, but we were really struggling with the diet.  I had a hard time getting my son to eat anything, and the things that he could eat were very limited.  No wheat, barley, oats or rye AND nothing with casein (milk proteins)... even if it says non-dairy, it might still have casein!!!  For a little while it was really OK.  Then he started losing weight (and he was really skinny already).  We were trying to give him vitamins and other supplements, but he would refuse.  We had to force him to take them... kicking and screaming!!!  He was also having a hard time sleeping.  We talked with his doctors.  We decided, with the support of his pediatrician, that we would gradually take him off of the diet and see what happened.  He was so much happier and he just looked healthier.  And he continued to do well at school.  I vowed never to do that to him, again.

From what I have read and the testimonies of other parents, I believe that the GFCF diet can help some children... but it will not help every child.  And it definitely didn't work for us.  I am glad that we did try it though.  As a parent of a child with autism, you would do (almost) anything to make them better, to help them be more normal.  I found the line... the line I couldn't cross.  It is not a cure... as some may say, but if it could possibly help a child it may be worth it to that parent to try. 

The best website I have found about the diet is

gfcfdiet.com