Improvements Seen With the GFCF Diet

The GF/CF diet has shown to improve these symptoms:

poor language skills
bowel disorders
mood disorders
hyperactive behaviors
skin problems like eczema
insomnia, fatigue
cognitive disorders
metabolic disorders like thyroid dysfunction
reactions to foods like swelling, bloating and food cravings

There are four separate and unique ways that gluten and casein can become a problem.
An individual child can have one or all of these:
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1. Allergic reaction (IgE or IgG food reactions) to the foods, causing inflammation and swelling in both the body and the brain, causing migranes, congestion, ear infections, etc. IgE allergies are more severe, but less common than IgG allergies.

2. The person is lacking the digestive enzyme essential to digest these proteins, called DPP4.
Lactose intolerance (the person is lacking in the enzyme essential for digesting lactose, called lactase.)
This causes toxins to form during incomplete digestion-- in addition to causing bloating, gas, nausea, muscle pain, restless legs, and IBS type symptoms.

3. Neurological (mood and behavior altering) effects from the opiods produced when gluten and casein aren't digested completely, including an addictive pattern. Causing foggy thinking, hyperactivity, impulsivity, inattentiveness, irritability and moodiness.

4. GI problems (inflammation) cause malabsorption of necessary nutrients that some Autistics are genetically predisposed to be low in, such as Glutathione, and this can result in the child having an inability to detoxify heavy metals from their systems (by methylation.)

A child can have all four problems, so simply supplementing with the deficient enzymes is not enough. There are numerous problems caused by the inflammation from allergic reactions to the foods themselves.

A large percentage of the American population has a deficiency of the particular enzyme that breaks down gluten, DPP4. This enzyme is also involved in the digestion of milk products.

There are lab tests that can indicate whether your child will respond to a gluten-free diet. You can first have them tested for Celiac disease, which is the most extreme form of gluten sensitivity. Then have them tested for IgE and IgG food reactions/reactivity (allergy). However, a child can have damaging neurological effects from the opiod peptides without having celiac disease or food allergies.

The testing can help to provide you with some certainty about the connection between these foods and your child's behavior, but simply going on the diet, and staying on it for a period of about 3 months (after you have the diet completely in place) is acceptable since wheat and dairy are the most common food allergens anyway, and if the child improves on the diet, you will then have your answer. The testing might help with getting insurance coverage for certain things related to your child's care, or can help you to tailor the diet with additional restrictions based on allergic reactions to more foods than are covered by the GF/CF diet.

Taking digestive enzyme supplements can help, but is often not a sufficient solution to the problem of the child's inability to digest gluten and casein.