GFCF diet

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Thank you so very much.

Not all of those come from peer-reviewed journals... I wouldn't trust some of those sources.

I know better than to trust just anything. I will read each site and see what I learn, what I find to be true. I would HOPE that no one believe everything they read.... Common sense..

I'm on it right now. I've been on it for 4 days already, and have noticed that my mind feels more cleared up. I hope this diet will help me with digestive problems.

I have been gluten free for four days and I feel great. Don't get me wrong, I am still completely my usual aspie self but I don't have stomach pain, I have tons of energy, I don't feel depressed, and I am thinking much more clearly. I am going to get an official diagnosis to see if I have celiac or just an intolerance but I will probably have to eat gluten again for awhile before I take the test. Don't want to.

i tried this diet a couple times, well 3 to be exact, and i stopped eating altogether, went completely gluten free didnt notice any difference but isntead lost a lot of weight and began hating food, didnt last long, my mother told me to get off it, it was limiting my diet even more and causing serious harm to me. I also went casien free, eliminated my milk intake for almost 6months, only 1 or 2 slip ups with other dairy products, didnt notice anything was proud of myself for doing that, but started back last week, and havent noticed anything different at all. Eliminating milk wasnt hard for me, it was gluten, both didnt have any positive affect, and gluten made my diet extremely limited and made me stop eating. If you do the GFCF diet, Make sure to take a calcium supplement, its verrry important, anywasy thats my experience, my mother told me to never ever try limiting my diet or puttin a restriction on anythign i eat, cuz ill prob die of starvation and not know until the last minute because my body doesnt always tell me stuff. either way good luck with it all whomever is doing it!

I am on a (mostly) GF diet ( I say mostly because I love bread and crack occasionally). I started because my dad has Celiac (very severe, he was perfectly miserable before he began the diet) and I seemed to have a lot of the symptoms. My stomach issues have disappeared and my mood lifted drastically. I was constantly tired and miserable. I have more energy and less cranky. However, I don't know that the diet had any affect on my aspie traits.

I eliminated dairy from my diet two years ago, but I still eat gluten. I've been considering removing it just to see if I notice a difference, but I like gluten-containing food too much.

The GFCF diet isn't supposed to make you less aspie. It's just that people on the spectrum are very likely to be gluten/casein intolerant (leaky gut syndrome). In people with leaky gut syndrome, these two proteins are converted to opiate-like substances which then affect the brain, hence making you all cranky.

Having said that, I've been on the diet for amost a month now. My mood improved significantly, my mind has cleared up, and somehow it's easier to look into people's eyes. Other than that, I'm still very much into my special interests, still feel confused in social situations (but I'm able to think more clearly now so it's easier to for me to process and analyze them), and it's also slightly easier to multitask (although I'm still horrible at it). I can thus talk a bit faster and put my thoughts/feelings into words much more coherently. However, my way of thinking is still aspie-like, and I still stim all the time.

This diet has been totally worth the struggle for me so far. I still wish there was a way to still eat gluten/casein-containing food once in a while (man, I miss pizza!), like on social occasions, without getting any side effects.

I'm trying going vegetarian this year as a new year's ressolution (I ate so little meat per month it was quite easy to change over) but that's all I do. I like homemade pizza and little debbies (twinkies, moon pies, etc) too much to cut out gluten. Though turning vegetarian has given me more energy, and I feel slightly less crappy after a long day.

I saw some gluten free pizza dough at the grocery store! Going to try that next time I go shopping. Pizzzzzzza.

The key point in the GFCF diet is what replaces the gluten (i.e.: wheat and other flours) and casein (i.e.: dairy in all its forms). The success of the GFCF diet in improving mood may have more to do with blood sugar regulation and similar metabolic factors that have a significant impact on state of mind than the theorized (and certainly possible) ideas about opioid receptors et al.

It's certainly an area worth exploring for anyone on the spectrum, though results do vary based on the dozen or so research studies I've read this year. Some children respond quite well, and others gain no benefit. Adults generally respond less overall, though some, particularly those with a gut pathology or enzyme insufficiency, benefit.

None of this will change the underlying neurology of an ASD.

I have considered going on GFCF diet but I have read that there are many forbidden foods (margarine, chocolate, vinegar, coffee, glutamate...). Have you stopped eating all the forbidden foods or just milk and wheat?

There's disagreement about exactly where to draw the line about various foods on a GFCF diet. Chocolate typically has milk in it, so that's on the "don't eat" list. But foods like vinegar and such are borderline or okay in some people's view. Others consider them essential to eliminate as well.

The one thing you can count on not doing is eating in restaurants. The various extra ingredients, from butter to wheat bran, used to enhance flavor and texture in foods are too numerous to keep track of, and the simple solution is to avoid restaurants while trying the diet.

If you follow a GFCF diet, you are basically conducting an experiment on yourself. How you conduct it is up to you. If you benefit from following the GFCF diet, you'll have lots of reasons and motivations to continue, and there are good books and websites with recipes, cooking tips, and forums discussing the various borderline foods for this diet.

Most studies to date on this diet have shown a benefit for a subset of children on the spectrum. No formal study has shown any benefit for adults. But there is no risk to this diet as long as you eat a nutritious variety of food, so try it if you are so inclined.

it's amazing to me that people want all the good stuff but not the bad. we want Einstein to be an aspie because he paved the way to everything. but nobody wants to follow in the footsteps of someone with a sensitive digestive system because they'll have to give up macdonalds and doritos. I happen to be sensitive to just about everything. seriously I've been pooping my pants non stop since infancy. the only way to keep away the headaches bloating cramps indigestion abdominal swelling and esophogeal inflammation is no milk no wheat and low acids. basically fruits veggies and meat with no sauce. now everyone pretends to be concerned about my weight. they get the flu and tell me I look unhealthy. they miss work and I never miss at least getting a walk. where is the 60 minutes expose on the great numbers of people dying from not eating processed food? you've all been hypnotized. because tv skinny actually is what were all supposed to look like. god bless Kelly Ripa.

i went GF because of Celiac Disease, i was amazed at the difference it made. I lost 15 + kilos within 2 weeks. I have a much clearer head and i dont fnd myself loosing it anywhere near as often. The build up of depression just isnt there. I have heaps more energy now as well. It is a pain in the arse though because takeaway is very difficult (but improving) and you have to always shop ahead. You cant just run out late at night and grab something form the 7/11.