Switching to a Gluten Cassien Free Diet

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After a week of eating only foods containing gluten and finding myself in an absolutely awful funk, I am contemplating switching to a gluten free diet more then ever. Only problem is, most of the foods I really like contain gluten.

So, I would like some support.

Are there any aspies here who have switched to a gluten free diet?
If so, how if any have they been affected by it?

I've been doing the gluten-free diet for three years. No serious impact on my mood, but it helped the eczema a lot. The hardest part was finding alternate recipies for things like bread and cake. It's a good thing I like rice...

If there's anything specific you're looking for a GF recipe for, let me know, I've done some experimenting.

Do a search in the archives - there are a couple other threads on gluten and casein already.

I just started a couple of days ago to eat a diet that didn't contain gluten or casein, eating mostly fruits, vegetables, nuts and fish, and for me the change was almost instantaneous. I had a lot more energy, could think more clearly and was more talkative/sociable. It was like the first time I was really awake in years, but then I ate some things I shouldn't have and started feeling lethargic and spaced-out again like I was before. The theory that the body can misinterpret those partially digested proteins as opiates makes sense to me since when I eat them I feel pretty much as if I was on them.

Right now I'm motivated to try it again and follow it the best I can for a couple of weeks to see if the changes are consistent.

One thing I wondered, since the sensivity to gluten in casein in the autism spectrum seems more like an intolerance than an allergy, do we really have to be strict regarding such things as cros-contamination (some sites are saying to have your own separate toaster, beware of bread crumbs in peanut butter etc) or does it work too if we just avoid those foods the best we can while not worrying about such trace amounts?

Also, is there any supplementation that would be good for those following the diet? I'm thinking about a multivitamin and supplementary omega-3 fatty acids.

I have got the same questions. According to that website
http://www.advimoss.no/gfcf_results/html/managing_....htm
the diet should be strict because the body makes constant adjustments and becomes less and less tolerant.

I am considering trying this diet, not only because of my AS, but because of various physical troubles such like allergies.
Just to get an idea of the difficulties, I have been avoiding cheese, butter, milk, yaourts, bread, pasta... during about one month. Last week-end, I have eaten huge quantities of pasta with lots of cheese (which were my favorite food) and it is a disaster. Since yesterday my skin is itching everywhere and I can't help scratching just like after my last encounter with a caterpillar

That diet is really hell to follow. You can't eat anything you find in a normal grocery store!

It's hard not to mistakenly take something that contains gluten or casein... Every single food I like seems to contain them... anyway, hope I'll still be able to follow it through even if I only make it gradually. At least I'll be able to say I know how it feels like to kick heroin.

That is exactly how I feel about it. Has anybody some cool links or documents about allowed food and concrete examples of meals ? I am leaving in a rural french area; it is quite impossible to find adapted diet products (and accurate information).

You should be able to order rice flour, potato starch, gluten-free pasta, and such over the internet. I'm not sure what the best sites are for shipping to a European location, though.

The oriental section of my grocery store carries rice noodles. That's what I use to replace wheat pasta. They are very easy to prepare.....just soak in boiling water for a few minutes. I also use them for stir-fry.

Ordering can get pretty costly if you're a student not living in the USA.

Still, I'm just a couple days into it with some more or less strict ones at the beginning, but I think I finally found a diet that works for me. I'm starting to feel better than I have in a long time, maybe a bit edgy for now, but it feels like it's going somewhere. Can't wait to see in a couple more days.

It seems worth a try for those who're wondering if they should.

I had never heard of gluten-free pasta or rice noodles; I am going to Google it.
Thanks a lot.

Alex you can find the noodles anywhere they sell Oriental food. They are very inexpensive and quite tasty.

I found something pretty interesting regarding the diet.

http://www.enzymestuff.com/dietsgfcf.htm
http://www.enzymestuff.com/offdiet.htm

Supposedly, instead of restricting the intake of gluten and casein, you could take enzymes to simply digest them better. Makes sense. Does anyone has any experience with this?

Thanks for the tip! You are right, despite I am living in a rural area, I found rice noodles at my usual supermarket among Suzi-wan products.

Regarding the enzymes, this will work only if you are gluten and/or lactose intolerant. I am not aware of a gluten enzyme.

If you have any kind of severe symptoms associated with eating products containing gluten, you should get tested for celiac disease. Unfortunately there are a lot of things that act like celiac disease. They won't kill you, but if you have celiac and don't follow the diet, you will die.

Europe has produced some of the best gluten free products I've eaten, especially pasta and pretzels. No one has ever gotten the bread right. Close sometimes, but never the same. There is a bakery in Vancouver that produces the best fresh GF bread.

There are recipes for gluten free everything on the web; some of the cookies and cakes are good. Last year I found two recipes for gluten free matzoh.

I have a PDA in which I carry a list, not of what I can't eat, but what I can eat. This is a lot more cheerful. When I first got it, it was 44 pages long. That's a lot of food. It also helps that I have always had a predilection for asian food and have cultivated this.

Finally, according to some, wheat is likely not good for most of us. That is a long story. The wierdest thing I have heard (this is confirmed by research) is that if you have more permeable intestines (caused by celiac disease as well as some medications, stress, etc), the gluten/protein from the wheat gets into your bloodstream undigested; when it gets to your brain it attaches to the OPIATE receptors. Ugh. I am sure that is where my brain fog originates. It also affects mood. Studies have been done with schizophrenic, autistic and ADHD folks, and in eaaach group there are some who have vast improvement on a gluten free diet.

OK off my soapbox now.

I don't know what a gluten or cassien is, but have always assumed that MSG would be a gluten at the very least, considering what the initials stand for. That being the case, Chinese food is typically saturated with MSG unless you go to a restaurant and specifically order a non-MSG meal.

gluten is wheat protein (the stringy, elastic bits you get when you wash flour). glutamate is the anion of glutamic acid, or glutamine, which is an amino acid.

and here endeth the chemistry lesson...