Nutrition

GF/CF Diet

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of adhering to a diet. Many parents fail to understand that it takes three weeks to remove casein from our system and three months for gluten. I can recall parents stating, “Well, we tried the diet for two whole weeks and didn’t notice any change” or “We only give him cookies or on special occasions, perhaps once every two months or so”. Can you see knowing what you know now how this can be detrimental to what we are trying to achieve? Diet intervention is “all or nothing”, if you want to see results.

So what is GF/CF?

Gluten is more than just wheat – it’s grains like wheat, barley, oats and rye. Casein is the protein found in all things dairy – more specifically, anything juiced from a mammal – including cow’s milk, sheep, goat and human breast milk. Soy needs to be removed too. Labels that say “wheat-free” do not necessarily mean gluten-free and certainly not GFCF. Dairy-free isn’t casein-free. Lactose is milk sugar. Lactose-free isn’t casein-free either. Organic doesn’t mean GFCF. Organic milk still comes from a cow and organic wheat is still wheat. Reading labels and understanding the difference is crucial. Gluten-free also includes things that do not have gluten in them but are either grown near them or processed in a facility with them, contaminating them, such as millet and oats. For shopping lists, recipes and more information please visit Talk About Curing Autism.