Saturday, December 6, 2008

Autism Treatment: Gluten and Dairy Free Diets

By Maxwell Smithson

The Gluten free diet consists of removing any foods from your Autistic child's diet that contain Gluten. This can seem hard at first because so many foods do have Gluten in them. Gluten is found in most prepared foods. Foods containing wheat, barley, oats, or rye need to be eliminated from the diet. Gluten can also be found in some vinegars and sauces. Artificial flavorings often contain Gluten.

If you are going to try the Gluten free diet with your child you have to be prepared to follow it for several months to tell if it is going to make any difference. Gluten remains in the body for a long time. Most people do not give the diet a long enough chance to work. Trying it for a week or two will not give the body enough time to remove any remaining Gluten from its system. Some people do however see improvements right away in their Autistic child.

You should know that gluten free diet is not a cure for Autism. But it is used to help lesson the symptoms of Autism.

Dairy free diet to treat autism

Parents are turning to their child's diet to when treating Autism. Some believe that Autistic children have food sensitivity. They believe dairy, also known as Casein, is one of the foods to cause problems with Autistic children. Removing all dairy from your child's diet can at first seem very difficult to do. Most kids love cheese and ice cream.

Following a Casein free diet can be expensive. Most milk replacements cost double the price of regular milk. Not all stores will carry the dairy free products. They can usually be found at specialty or health food stores. You can find Casein free products on the internet for mail order. There are also lots of Casein free recipes available online. To save on the cost of Casein free foods some families find another family in their area using the same diet, and share the cost of ingredients by buying in bulk. They then split the foods.

A Casein free diet might be helpful in treating your child's Autism. It is not a cure for Autism though. It will only help treat some of the symptoms.

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