gluten, dairy and sugar free diet to treat autism?

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is this legit do u think?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... d-son.html

do you have any knowledge on particular diets helping autism? i also heard something about a 'paleo diet' helping

In some cases it is legit. I've seen it. My kids are able to function soooooo much better since we changed how they eat, and I had a lot of the same problems myself (but my functioning hasn't improved as dramatically as theirs has...but I feel A LOT better)! I think it makes sense to check into it because communication and sensory integration are major issues with Autism....both of which would make it difficult to determine if there was an underlying medical problem.... My biggest pet peeve is that I don't think we get as good of medical care as NT people. I've had doctors tell me "It's just Autism" when I come to them with a medical concern about my child (and turns out I was proved correct later on). Many of the families I have talked to with girls (specifically older girls) have reported repeated issues with yeast infections (I suspect it is just more readily noticed in girls)....hence the recommendation of no sugar because sugar feeds a yeast over-growth. The gluten and dairy....that is a little more complicated but I do have my suspicions.... My children and I can all eat wheat now (despite being gluten free for 3 years) so long as it is ancient wheat and has never been sprayed with anything. We can also now do dairy so long as it is only grassfed with no treats and no medications, etc. The reason paleo is often recommended is because it is a great starting place...it is trendy so easy to find recipes, ingredients, etc....it takes out most of the problematic foods....etc.

Going in a GFCF diet helped my son drastically, but he was indeed allergic to those things. I don't know if there would be a change if you weren't allergic, but it's worth a try, not like you really need either of those things anyway

Also, making a dietary change....especially one that involves going gluten free, soy free, or corn free....can be VERY tricky!! !! ! My children and I would get sick if we ate off plastic plates that had previously been used with anything containing gluten!! !! ! There are lots of articles online about the importance of either having separate GF cookware, etc or using only glass, ceramic, and stainless steel to avoid cross contamination! Also store products that don't contain gluten may have gluten cross contamination, and if you do not get enough of the gluten out (and you are that sensitive) you may not notice a difference (and not everyone notices an immediate difference....some symptoms take a while to show improvement.....like my sons hair....we had to wait for it to grow to see just how much healthier it looked after going gluten free). I didn't realize all of this the first time we tried it and gave up pretty quickly because I didn't notice a difference. Once we saw a really good immunologist who works with kids with Autism and he told us to go gluten free, I did much better with figuring out how to do it and remaining committed.....then we did start to see improvements!

Going gluten-free made a HUGE difference in reducing both meltdowns and self-injurious fits.
Bonus: No more insomnia! I sleep deeply, and wake refreshed!
I never thought I had any problems with gluten. My digestion's always been fine.
I simply ditched all gluten to see if it would help with insomnia, and noticed the tremendous improvement in meltdowns & self-injurious fits.

Do I miss gluten? No. You'd think I would, but never. There's gluten-free pizza, cookies, bread, English muffins, waffles, pancake mix, crackers, etc. Why crave gluten, when now I feel so much better!

My mother checked out a book from the library on Autism and ADHD diet, it seems to talk about GFCF I haven't read much myself but she has been trying to alter my diet after reading it. I'll post if I feel any differences.

They tried the gluten free and other diet approaches with me. In my case it did not make any difference.

GF helps tremendously with my son's (usually auditory) sensory issues and also with stomach issues. CF didn't make much of a difference.

Yes! I cut out bread altogether. Only times I allow it is when I go to a local bakery using all organic ingredients, no additives and they bake the bread in the morning. It goes bad a lot faster than store bought bread, it tastes delicious and is much easier to digest.

But I only buy a bread there once in a while.

I cut out all refined sugar since mid august when I got my s**t together. Since then I've caved in a couple times, like when I visit family and they have baked a cake. Couldn't resist a slice. This weekend I also had my first proper "cheat" meal as I caved in and went to the McD and had a small meal. My head hurt for the rest of the day and I literally felt poisoned! I never felt like that prior to making my lifestyle change, so I guess the bodys natural reaction to toxins returned.

All in all I have less rashes and digestive issues although I still have... how to put it in a nice way... abnormal waste consistency. But this has improved as I've eaten more fiber and is only occasionally now. I eat a lot of green peas, beans, lentils and rice, supplementing with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, herbs and spices.

It's less bread, sugar and dairy that has made the big difference for me + regular exercise.

I am able to cope with setbacks much better and I don't get depressed like I use to. I still get sad, but it passes and I can deal with it. Depression lingers more when your body is toxic.

I think those who have talked about GI issues and autism having a correlation are on to something, as most autistics I know have food intolerances and sensitivities.

I recommend trying a neo-paleo diet, limiting bread as much as possible and boycotting refined sugar completely .

It becomes apparent, when I've slipped and had refined sugar, that judging from me having become more sensitive to it now, refined sugar is pure evil. You get addicted to sweets and you're riding a never ending insulin rollercoaster. If you can cut out caffeine too, that's even better! I can't, because I'm very dependent on caffeine. Maybe one of these days, I'll kick myself in the rear and wean myself off of it.

When it comes to bread, you'll notice a radical differene when you try bread from a bakery such as the one I described, or you bake your own, as opposed to supermarket bread, which has so much chemicals added to it to increase shelf life.

I can never go back to supermarket bread again. Just look at the ingredients list and it looks like the reciept for a shipment of chemicals for a laboratory or something. It's crazy how much crap they put in your food.