More about Diet and Autism

Some more about Autism and diets.

The things in the last post are not exactly foods themselves, but things added to foods to change them in some way. You are not really eliminating any true foods if all of these are gone from your child's diet. It may seem like there is "nothing left to eat" when you go to the store. But really everything "left" is the actual food itself. You still have all the foods your Grandparents ate and enjoyed and thrived on. All of civilization before 100 years ago, lived just fine on foods that contained no preservatives (other than salt, vinegar and some spices), no high-fructose corn syrup, no artificial dyes (they had beet juice, turmeric, blueberry and some others), and no nitrates. They had "slow-acting" yeast, which worked just fine for making breads and beers. They had refrigeration, freezing, canning, root cellars, drying and heating. All non-chemical ways to keep foods safe to eat.

They had fermentation as a preservative, which is the only thing that is not available on this diet at this point. Fermentation often produced alcohol, which works to preserve the food, or creates acidity which also inhibits bacteria. For a good replacement for vinegar, substitute lemon or lime juice. Alcohol is actually ok on this diet, of course not for youngsters.

So what to eat, and how? Just shop around the outside of the grocery. Buy produce, fresh meats that aren't processed, canned, frozen and dried goods that have no artificial preservatives or dyes. Shop more often, buy smaller amounts and cook them fresher, and more often from scratch. You don't have to cook "fancy" recipes to cook from scratch. In fact, some meals are great without any cooking at all. Try serving a fresh fruit, like grapes, with a bowl of mixed nuts, and some celery, carrot and red pepper sticks on a plate. A baked potato with olive oil and salt is a nice filler.

Good preservative substitutes are:
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citric acid, available as a powder in bulk form,

vitamin E. (Buy as a liquid or empty a capsule into a preparation.)

Alcohol is fine, although not for children, or if used let the alcohol cook off or evaporate.*

Salt is fine. As are garlic and herbs that inhibit bacterial growth.

Also, as mentioned above, freezing, refrigeration, canning, drying, boiling.*

Avoid using rubbing alcohol for external things (obviously not to drink) use Vodka instead. Rubbing alcohol has been seen by some as a cancer-causing agent.
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The next things to try to eliminate, as part of an elimination diet that works for Autism about 30% - 50% of the time is the GF/CF diet. This is where we actually eliminate foods that can cause problems for specific types of people. The GFCF diet is not a weight loss diet, although some current weight loss diets have this as a component. Oprah's current 21-Day Cleanse eliminates both gluten and casein, but also eliminates meat. GF/CF stands for gluten-free/casein-free. Gluten is a protein in wheat and some other grains. Casein comes from milk and milk products. (Eggs are ok.)

The gluten-free part of the diet is almost exactly like the diet recommended for celiac patients. Even extremely tiny amounts of gluten can cause a problem, so following a celiac-type diet is going to cover this.

The casein-free part of the diet is similar to what you might do if you are lactose-intolerant, but it is not the lactose that is the real problem here (although lactose might be an additional problem--its not what causes the Autistic-like symptoms.) In other words, choosing lactose-free milk means that you still will have all the casein in the milk. And adding Lactaid to a dairy product only "fixes" the lactose-intolerance, not the casein problem.

So you have to eliminate all milk, and milk products, like cheese, yogurt, buttermilk, ice cream made from milk or cream, butter (unless it is clarified butter, sometimes called "Ghee".)*

In addition, casein is a very common food additive. Read all the labels on the foods that are processed to look for anything that uses casein. You also might have to check your personal care products like shampoo, and makeup for wheat and casein additives. And sometimes, even the gluten-free candies have been made using flour on the preparation boards to keep them from sticking together. So at this point you will have to call manufacturers to be sure they aren't using either gluten or casein in the preparation, even though it is not a listed ingredient. This is where buying whole unprocessed foods comes in very handy. A sack of potatoes is just a sack of potatoes (hopefully) unless, of course it has been sprayed with a chemical at the farm or in the warehouse. This is where organic foods are helpful, but not essential to this diet.

Many people start by eliminating the dairy products first. There are now many good substitutes for milk. Not-so for cheese. Many vegetarian cheeses have casein added to them. Substitute non-hydrogenated oils, nuts and nut-butters for cheeses. Butter can be clarified, but I highly recommend substituting it with organic, extra-virgin olive oil.

Gluten-free products are available now more than ever. There are many places you can find them, and many regular grocery stores carry a line of gluten-free products. Generally, for starches, we use potatoes and rice. Corn starch can be used to thicken things, instead of flour. Tapioca is OK. Oatmeal is ok, but check to see that it is certified gluten-free (oats are often grown in fields next to wheat and can be combined accidentally.) Popcorn is OK, Corn chips are OK. Salza is OK.

Give this diet about 6 months to see results. Nobody is going to starve. The whole family is on this diet and after an initial adjustment there is no problem finding things to eat and enough to eat. It is more a mind adjustment than a body adjustment. And if you do a little cooking, you don't have to spend any more money than you already do.

Entire cultures of our world live practically gluten free and casein free (until recently if they have become "Westernized".) For example, your local Chinese restaurant has many gluten free, casein free dishes--almost all of the traditional ones are.**

Traditional Mexican food was based mostly on corn flours, and had very little cheese and dairy. Cheese is almost an afterthought, added as a topping, and so it is easy to request dishes to be served without it.

* To make clarified butter, or Ghee, simply warm it until it melts, and then skim off the milk solids that float to the top. What is left looks "clear," hence the name.

** Watch out for "soy sauce" most soy sauces are made from wheat in this country. Buy some Tamari (soy sauce which is actually made from soy) which is labeled gluten-free and bring it with you.