Switching to a Gluten Cassien Free Diet

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Sounds interesting, but there's no way in heck I'd ever be able to stick to a diet like that. Heck, I can't even stick to the diet I'm supposed to be on because of my acid reflux, which restricts dairy products, juices, tomato sauce, caffeine, and, last but not least, my beloved spicy foods. I'm trying, don't get me wrong, and I'm at least eating less of those things than before, but dang it, I have no willpower.

A super-powerful remedy for acid-reflux is carrot juice. It works almost like magic.
And spices often have nothing to do with it. And definitely not juices or tomato!!
Eating at greater intervals can often make a big difference without having to avoid any particular foods , and another approach is eating heavy /concentrated proteins separately to starchy carbohydrates, because the stomach doesn't have to produce as much acid ( enzymes which break down proteins ) if eat proteins on their own ,as when there are alkaline-saliva-soaked (enzymes to digest carbos ) carbohydrates present as well ,cancelling out the acid!!
The best way to reduce excessive stomach acid production is eat less often ( 3 times a day max), and NOT too much, and try and only eat one meal a day which mixes carbs and proteins. Then you'll be able to eat all the spices and tomato and coffee you like!!
Good luck.

Also raising the head of your bed (not just your pillow, the whole head of your bed- try putting books or newspapers under the feet) by at least 3-6 inches, and not eating within 3 hours of going to bed helps to reduce acid reflux.

Trace amounts as crumbs etc can be ameliorated by enzymes that break down these very peptides. But not recommendable to eat gluten and casein if you can avoid it.

Casein is an important protein in milk products.
Gluten resides in wheat, rye and barley.
Oats and maize is gluten-free.
Soy can give opioid peptides in some.
Egg can also give opioid peptides.
Spinach is also suspected.

My younger brother. After a whiles on a GFCF diet that actually worked, my parents went and ordered digestive enzymes for these. It worked pretty well.

Hey you said the gfcf diet helped your eczema a lot? My little cousin has Sensory integration disorder and Severe eczema and I mean severe, and i feel so bad for him. Do you think i should recommend the diet to my aunt, shes always looking for suggestions for my cousins eczema? If anybody else has ideas if that GFCF diet helps eczema, please let me know, thanks!

As for me trying it, i tried it for a week, hated the tasted of the gfcf food, and wouldnt eat, and i usuallly would let myself starve to death, my mother quickly told me to just give up because i have no food allergies, no GI issues, and already have a limited diet as it is, to try the GFCF diet, i would probably end up killing myself from starvation. But i do however have seen positive results in other autistics with that diet, but usually the ones i see much more noticable positive results are the ones who have food allergies and GI Issues, anyways good luck to the OP!

surprised this topic doesn't get more attention here on the forums. Anyone have recent experience to share?

Here are some suggestions if you want to try the diet out for a few weeks:

1) SKIP MEALS. Skip meals every other day. There is good evidence this is healthy.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16529878
"The effect on health of alternate day calorie restriction: eating less and more than needed on alternate days prolongs life."

Restricting caloric intake to 60-70% of normal adult weight maintenance requirement prolongs lifespan 30-50% and confers near perfect health across a broad range of species. [snip] and have observed health benefits starting in as little as two weeks, in insulin resistance, asthma, seasonal allergies, infectious diseases of viral, bacterial and fungal origin (viral URI, recurrent bacterial tonsillitis, chronic sinusitis, periodontal disease), autoimmune disorder (rheumatoid arthritis), osteoarthritis, symptoms due to CNS inflammatory lesions (Tourette's, Meniere's) cardiac arrhythmias (PVCs, atrial fibrillation), menopause related hot flashes.


2) Focus on the basics. Is it really that hard for you? Corn, potatoes, rice, and beans are really not that hard to shift to!
Diet isn't that hard: stir-fry chicken/beef fresh veggies and rice. Broiled fish or ceviche. French fries and steak. BBQ ribs and potato chips. Chips and fresh salsa. Bacon and eggs for breakfast. Vietnamese Pho for noodle soups, chicken soups, vegetable soups.

That list of foods is just one example.

Yes, after being gluten-free for almost 20 months, ( the longest time that I have been gluten-free in the 15 odd years since I first started experimenting with exclusion diets ), and losing lots of weight, feeling lighter and brighter and calmer and clearer and more optimistic in general, I tried eating gluten again a few weeks ago ...

... and gave up again after 10 days because the results were so awful. After just two days my mood deteriorated dramatically; I became gloomy, intense, pessimistic, felt alienated from world again, felt foggy-brained, tired, and my guts were in uproar, ( something I tended to "tune-out" in the past when ate it all the time, but I think that has a huge effect on me too ).

Gluten-free can be very difficult to start with; the cravings can be the hardest thing to deal with, ( they were for me ), and the "invisible" gluten which find out about by not feeling as good suddenly after eating some supposedly ok meal.

I eat lots of salad, brown rice and pulses, fish, lamb, organic eggs, fruit, avocadoes as dip with crudities, and some potato. I found corn wasn't such a great idea either so I avoid that too, and I am careful with sugar. And I don't eat dairy all the time because not only does it provoke lots of catarrh production, which doesn't go well with smoking, but it also makes me whizzy/spacey.

I never bother with the special gluten-free products. I don't like the taste of most of them, and they are expensive. Just eat simple fresh whole foods and be careful of things containing gluten, like tinned soups, baked beans, flavoured crisps, soya sauce, a lot of alcohols, and the "hydrolysed vegetable protein" in huge numbers of things, because the "veg protein" is gluten!

Good luck.

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Anything specific to share on the corn issues you have?

Giving up chips and salsa, that would be harder for me than bread. As shifting to corn chips and corn bread has satisfied my cravings.

Thank you.

Well, that's part of it, that I was using it to satisfy cravings, and eating when not hungry, ending up feeling bloated.

But even when I haven't eaten it for that reason but in perfectly restrained way, I noticed that I was getting this sort of "downer" a few hours later. And don't sleep so well either. It's not dramatic, not exactly a huge effect, but it happened sufficiently consistently for me to decide to exclude it.

Instead I cut hundreds of carrot, celery, and cucumber sticks, and separate chicory leaves, and eat them with avocado, or a smooth bean dip, or spicy tomato sauce.

PS. I was struck by the alternate-day calorie-reduction idea; it's interesting because I sometimes find myself doing that "accidentally"/spontaneously, and I do feel wonderful on it.

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Thanks for sharing on the corn. I grew up in the corn belt of the world (Indiana) and haven't had issues with it.

I think when it comes to both AS and Celiac, I have an observation:

-- If you are AS and you do not show obvious physical signs of autistic behavior. hand flapping or eye contact issues, you are much more likely to go undiagnosed. There are many adults discovering AS only at age 30,40,50,60, etc. reference: http://forum.psychlinks.ca/autism-spect ... adult.html

-- If you are Celiac/gluten issues... if you don't have stomach pain and intestinal issues. You are likely to overlook this as a cause.

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Reading here: http://autism.about.com/od/causesofauti ... tcause.htm <-- for me I have the 'drug like effects' ("break down into molecules that resemble opium-like drugs."). My only physical symptoms were tingling nerve issues and constant mild diarrhea which I just associated with the alcohol in beer - not the gluten! I never had stomach/intestine pain, bleeding, or other blatant physically external issues. Well, except the drug like cloudy, tired and dizzy impacts on my brain

As I understand it, "allergies" worsen with age and more exposure - so maybe I'm still lucky and it hasn't progressed too far yet. Maybe turning age 21 and making a hobby of brewpubs and beer - even traveling the country to visit places - was a big mistake. I'm sure I'll know a lot more in 12 months as my learning/experience progresses.

In a way, being "lucky" to not have the most obvious symptoms - is a curse, as you don't see the less obvious symptoms. I think a lot of undiagnosed and misdiagnosed people suffer from the most obvious symptoms not being shown. It's the luck of the draw on how the symptoms play out on the particular person/body.

Last edited by TobyZ on 14 May 2009, 8:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

Me too I didn't have obvious coeliac style symptoms, but the psychological effects were eventually devastating.

I would have appreciated it if someone had said to my parents when I was a 10 year old, "Your daughter is obviously addicted to cake, biscuits, and other wheat products; she may have a gluten intolerance, ( and sugar-sensitivity too )", because a gluten-free diet from then on might have spared me a few years of hypo-mania and recurrent depression in my mid-late twenties, aswell as years of being "out of it" as a teenager and young adult.

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How many kids in college misinterpret their "hangover" (brain problems) and next day toilet problems as caused by the alcohol? Beer is the favorite among those of drinking age, and they drink massive quantities several days a week.

At age 34 (5 years ago) I took a serious interest in drinking whiskey instead of beer. I work at home office and I telecommuted on my own schedules, so weekends are relative to me. Anyway, i felt better - and noticed that despite drinking straight scotch, I didn't get hangovers. Now I interpret this as the removal of gluten (high quality liquors are very low in gluten)! I rarely get hangovers. The times I drink too much, I vomit or other stomach nauseous - not headaches.

I think that it's the "hidden" nature of gluten, ( and casein ), intolerance ( in many people ) which is one of the worst things about it.

How many people tend to wake up feeling s**t every morning, tired, depressed/gloomy, overwhelmed, irritated, brain-dead, only to feel almost instantly better after eating toast or cereals? Their morning blues are actually a "hangover" which is cured by "hair of the dog"; gluten, ( and/or casein; the milk on their cereal etc ).

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Rice cakes are good as replacement. I actually prefer them to corn chips now.

PS. Try cutting out corn for a while and see if when you have got over the cravings you feel better in other ways.

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Ive found Ani Phyo's stuff great as its all dairy and gluten free

http://www.aniphyo.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/aniphyo

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anis-Raw-Food-K ... 149&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Anis-Raw-Food-D ... 149&sr=8-2