GFCF Here We Go!

Why gluten and casein free?

We have thought for awhile now that Maya shows the symptoms of someone with food sensitivites or allergies like being itchy, having dark circles under her eyes sometimes and "brain fog". Here is why so many kids with autism respond so well to a gluten and casein free diet, taken from the website http://www.gfcfdiet.com/:

The theory is that many if not all autistic children have a damaged intestine/gut. The damage may be there from birth but more likely comes from some immunological injury like a bad reaction to an immunization. (keep in mind this is mostly theory). Autistic children seem to have weaker immune systems, and a lot seem to have digestive problems.This "leaky gut" allows some food proteins to pass through into the bloodstream only partially digested, particularly the gluten from wheat/oats/rye/barley, and the casein from milk and other dairy products. These partially digested proteins form peptides which have an opiate-like affect (opioids is another term for them). They can bind to the receptors and cause harmful effects in the brain just like a regular opiate. Opiates can either cause or magnify autistic symptoms. The opiates are a type of narcotic. There are receptors in the brain that they bind with to reduce pain and induce pleasure, but they also have harmful side effects. An example of an opiate is morphine or heroin. Until it can be figured out how to heal the "leaky guts", many parents are putting their children on the gluten free/casein free diets . By Barbara Byers

So the theory is that the kids aren't exactly allergic to gluten and casein, but that they can't break it down properly, and it is absorbed into the bloodstream in this partially broken down state and that causes all kinds of problems. So we thought we would give the diet a try.

So in practical terms, what does a GFCF diet entail? It means cutting out wheat, oats, rye, barley, and dairy and all things that are made with any of that. A lot, right? Yes, until you consider trying to do this diet 5 or 10 years ago. Now, so many people are following the diet that there are tons of books, web resources and products to help. From what I have learned so far:

5 Most Difficult Foods to Cut Out:

1. doughnuts-those are her favorite. There is a GFCF doughnut recipe that I may try at some point soon. If I do, I'll let you know how they taste...
2. cheese-Maya loves cheese-string cheese, cheese slices, grilled cheese, cheese burgers, etc.
3. pizza-that'll be hard for all of us...we can't exactly eat it in front of her.
4. bread-toast, PB&J, etc. We tried making one kind of GFCF bread that I thought was pretty good, and even Shayne liked, but Maya wouldn't eat it.
5. chicken nuggets-Maya would eat these at every meal if she could. No luck with a GFCF version, although there are a few recipes I might try.

Foods/Condiments that I am so happy are GFCF:

1. steak-she loves this
2. A1-the only way she likes to eat steak. This was a close one. Vinegar has gluten in it, but distilled vinegar or cider vinegar don't. A1 has distilled vinegar...:)
3. salmon
4. ketchup (Heinz) and most kinds of french fries (not McDonnald's fries though...I think our McDonnald's days are over, at least for awhile...probably not a bad thing)
5. BBQ sauce-same story with the vinegar. There are a few brands out there that are ok because they use a gluten-free vinegar type. She loves dipping anything in BBQ sauce.
6. The taco sauce she likes...this makes GFCF tacos very easy to do. The only thing you have to leave off is the cheese, but they are still pretty good. I even snuck some cheese on Shayne's and she didn't seem to care she didn't have any.
7. Mission tortilla strips-yes, those are the kind that come in an enormous bag at Costco and we all like them :) Salsa and guacamole (homemade) are GFCF also.
8. eggs-she has always liked those for breakfast

What great GFCF substitutes have we found so far?

1. GFCF pancakes from Trader Joe's- they taste very close to the real thing and don't cost too much. We all four like them. This was such a big deal to me because she LOVES pancakes.
2. GFCF chocolate chip cookie mix from Bob's Red Mill- not exactly the same, but good, and again, everyone likes them. Also, they have this mix at the regular grocery store.
3. Ice cream made from coconut "milk" instead of dairy. It tastes great, but it's 5 dollars a pint... There is a recipe that I have that is made from coconut milk also. I will give it try soon and let you know how it tastes.

I will write more later about how our first few days of going GFCF have gone.