Diets

[JenniferG]

I was just wondering how much luck anyone has had with gluten free, casein free, dye free etc diets. And some yummy kid friendly sites would be VERY helpful!!

 

Also, does anyone know where to find the appropriate amount of probiotics for children?

Thanks

Edited March 30, 2011 by JenniferG

[fuelforall]

I was just wondering how much luck anyone has had with gluten free, casein free, dye free etc diets. And some yummy kid friendly sites would be VERY helpful!!

 

Thanks

 

 

Hi, I would look into the GAPS diet. gutandpsychologysyndrome.com. Find out if there is someone who can supervise it. support you.

Gluten free casein free is not enough for most kids. Get off grains, legumes, dairy. Use coconut oil and lots of animal or fish based broths.

If I had to do it all over again, and I did gfcf, I would do this diet. Gut flora health is at the root of all kids health problems, 80 percent of the immune system is in the gut.

 

Check out the site. get the book. Good luck.

 

Michael

 

Also, feel free to PM me about other matters you posted about. If you are on the East Coast, I may be more helpful to you.

Edited March 30, 2011 by fuelforall

[texascatholic]

Currently in the midst of a GAPS diet experiment here with my whole family! I plan to update the group soon about it. The GAPS diet has really seeminglt made an impact on us even though we've only been on it for 2.5 weeks. Please look into it!

 

I will be updating the group soon...

 

Holly

[smartyjones]

I was just wondering how much luck anyone has had with gluten free, casein free, dye free etc diets. And some yummy kid friendly sites would be VERY helpful!!

 

Thanks

 

 

my ds6 has been GF/DF for about 2 1/2 years. when he first presented with symptoms, we saw a naturopath who ran a food IGG test. he was off the charts reactive to over 15 foods. i think it must play in in some way, but. . . he's had 100% remission and exacerbations while eating this diet. i currently keep him on it b/c i think his immune system has been overwhelmed and it can only help in recovery, but i do not really believe it to be a major reason for his health troubles -- i am speaking specifically about my son with that -- i do certainly believe there are those who see phenomenal results from diet changes/restrictions -- i just don't think so for my son b/c he's been on both sides of the coin and everywhere in between while eating a GF/DF diet.

 

we've seen the best results from targeting the infections plaguing him. i think the infections messed with his gut. therefore, going easy and healing the gut aid in recovery, but i do not believe it to be a root cause -- rather more like a secondary symptom from the infections.

 

i do know a dr i respect highly who works with many autistic kids that states he cannot provide any medical research as to the diet but has countless parents who 100% attest to it.

 

if your just thinking you want to make some changes to diet, i'd recommend cutting all HFCS, trans fats, dyes and artificial ingredients first and pushing fresh fruits and veggies. ( i will disclaim that i tend toward vegetarianism, so will be a differnt thought than some other specific plans)

 

b/c i had a test in my hand (which a traditional allergist told me "so what") but i figured it had to mean something. . . we went cold turkey. i actually think this was easier than trying to do it slowly but many people do like to slowly cut dairy over a few weeks and then the same with gluten.

 

on the good news, ds knew he didn't feel well and after a few weeks said, "i don't want to eat anything i'm allergic to". he's been amazing in complying -- probably an OCD trait of black and white. now that he's better, he does talk about what he will eat "when he's not allergic".

[fuelforall]

Hi Smarty Jones, enjoyed your post.

 

Well, I have become very pro meat for kids, particularly broths to heal gut problems, per Dr. Campbell-Mcbride's protocol. If they won't eat meat, the broths, with veggies, are a way to get it down them. Someone once told me Temple Grandin only ate Jello. So she was getting animal protein and no grains, etc.

 

Anyway, I just posted because I wonder when we will see a study of gut flora and Pandas.

My two cents.

[SSS]

I would ask: how is your child eating right now?

 

We went GF/CF 1 1/2 years ago- before pulling the gluten and casein, ALL my dd would eat was carbs, and truckloads of fruit and yogurt- she would not drink milk- this eating caused massive yeast overgrowth. When I pulled 100% the gluten and casein, it opened up her eating- she starting eating protein, different kinds of meats- and I started treating yeast (with natural supplements) and giving probiotics (this was all before we knew about PANDAS)

We did see significant improvements doing this- she was able to talk/open up more at part-time preschool, was 'taking more in' her teacher said. We saw her clearer at home. (we do not have an autism dx)

Looking back, I think part of the gain was reducing inflammation.

We did an IgG for food, and Soy came back very high, we have since pulled Soy.

Had her tested for celiac disease (cheek swab test, while off gluten) and it came back negative, she does not carry the genes for celiac.

I plan on keeping her gluten free for a long while...

I pulled all food dyes and high fructose corn syrup out of the house 2 years ago.

HTH-

and by the way, I'm no great cook (although my DH is) and I am still able to do it :-)

[smartyjones]

michael -- i assume from your posts that your son is doing well with the diet -- ? -- are you still seeing the 2 famous drs you had been? side note, -- have you read "The Horse Boy"? you mention Temple and i think i remember the author did much consulting with her. it's also a movie but i keep forgetting to order it on netflix. it's a really good story about a father and his son and their travel to outer mongolia -- figuratively and literally.

 

i hear your excitement about the paleo diet . . . but, my hummus, red pepper, carrot, cauliflower sandwich i just had was sooo yummy

 

 

jennifer -- regarding GF/CF -- it's not so difficult once you get going -- you find many things to eat-- and i don't do a lot of packaged stuff -- some but not a lot b/c my boys don't do much fruit and veggies so i say - i'm not buying you a $6 bagel if you can't eat a banana. it's not so difficult, it's just that it's quite different from the way the majority of people eat.

Edited March 30, 2011 by smartyjones

[fuelforall]

Hi, SJ

No, I can't get cooperation from a 10 year old on diet matters. I can't even get it from his mother.

I however am benefitting a lot from it.

 

No we don't see the doctors any more, we've gone Stephanie Weeks route with homeopathy. We're seeing some good things from it.

 

Michael

 

BTW if your gut can handle the hummus, more power to you. Mine can't.

Edited March 30, 2011 by fuelforall

[texascatholic]

Resorting to homeopathy here, too. Just getting into it. Which remedy have you tried that has been helpful?

[Ozimum]

Hi,

 

A GF/CF diet may seem daunting at first but you can do it. We've gone a long way towards adopting a paleo diet for our whole family, as part of our Biomed's treatment for DS17. And yes, it has helped. We started with supplements according to blood test results - found to be v low in Vit D and low in Zinc. omegas messed up etc. So Vit D, Zinc, Omega 3, iron, Vit C, 2 probiotics, enzymes, magnesium. Along with this we all went GF/CF, and reducing all grains, no potatoes, low sugar/food additives etc, basically meat and veggies! Ds17 is committed to all of this because he knows it's helping him!

 

The typical AS thing of not giving eye contact - that's gone! Focus/concentration is much improved, the spaced out look is gone, posture is improving, pain threshold is back to normal...it's that kind of Aspie thing that's disappearing and I attribute that to the diet.

 

The OCD (mostly contamination), intrusive thoughts, the horrible anxiety, and the drop out moods of abject dispair which would stop as fast as they came on and leave us shell shocked - the PANDAS stuff is going too. Not gone completely, but going. More 1-2 out of 10 rather than 8-9. He's happy. He's back at school. He can hug the dog again. He comes out of his cave and actually talks to me. He can laugh! He's no longer angry with me and the world! I recognise that really nice kid I used to know. I attribute that to the repair of the gut and the strengthening of the immune system which was compromised by the leaky gut. He had virtually no E-coli in his gut which we think is the seat of the problem. (According to a researcher here, the E-coli is supposed to be responsible for the body's ability to make the precursors to amino acids and neurotransmitters.) Instead of E.coli he had overgrowths of staph, strep and clostridia which were wreaking merry havoc. Diet plays a critical part in dealing with this.

 

DS is doing really well and we're not finished treatment - I see the diet as an important part of that treatment. He just had a heavy cold - no worsening of symptoms! He had his wisdom teeth out in January - no worsening of symptoms. So I'm daring to hope! It's the end of summer here...we'll see how he gets through this winter...

 

Good luck!

[fuelforall]

Resorting to homeopathy here, too. Just getting into it. Which remedy have you tried that has been helpful?

 

 

Kali phosphoricum.

Different model cars, your results may vary.

High dosage, given sparsely

[pixiesmommy]

Just seeing this- I'm mostly on the Lyme board these days...

 

We have been GF for a year, dye-free for several years (it caused rage) and follow Weston A. Price guidelines for the most part. We pay close attention to salicylates too (for more info on this go to www.feingold.org)

 

I am grain-free and find that corn specifically causes trich/dermatillomania for me, and other grains cause bloating.

 

You can read more about our diet and get some kid-friendly recipes from my blog: www.chickiepea.wordpress.com

 

We have eliminated casein several times, but have found no evidence of impact.