Gluten/casein free diet for Aspergers?

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Has anyone found that following one of these diets can help them with anxiety and other issues?

When I was first diagnosed with AS aged about 7 or 8 (1997) my parents were advised to put me on a gluten and dairy free diet, which I followed for several years. Apparently this did help to control some of my behavioural issues, although I was also on Ritalin and anti epileptics at the time. When I got a bit older I started to try different things like pizza and chocolate and my diet has been pretty standard since then.

I'm 26 now and although I wouldn't say I struggle with AS (I'm in full time employment as a graduate, live with my partner, have a dog and drive a car etc.) I think sometimes more than others I get overwhelmed. I get social anxiety, mostly from a complete and vacant-brained not knowing where to begin with office small talk or things like that. I get anxiety in a lot of other ways too, especially about my health. Sometimes when I'm sat here under the fluorescent strip lights of the office it feels like I'm surrounded by steel wool and it's all just too much to handle.

Also I've put on a bit of weight recently, maybe partly due to anxiety/depression. About 4 months ago I thought I'd give a keto diet a try after hearing other people had lost weight quickly on it. The first week was pretty bad (had a panic attack at work probably from low blood sugar) but the week after I saw an amazing improvement in everything. I felt sociable, normal and really happy about everything. I had loads of energy and could handle work without being overwhelmed by people. I even went out for drinks and a meal which is something I'd avoid before.

Previously I'd been really sceptical about "you are what you eat" claims and this whole clean eating fad but after talking about how good I felt with my mam she reminded me about that diet I went on when I was a kid.

Anyway I lost about 2.5 stone in 4 months so went back to eating carbs over Christmas. Now I feel like crap again lol. Just sad and not wanting to face people because it's so exhausting. I started the diet again today though so fingers crossed I'll perk up again. It could be placebo effect, I don't care though as long as I feel less anxious and able to cope with life more.

Has anyone else tried either a low carb, gluten free or dairy free diet? Does it affect your mood too?

What's casein? never heard of that, only gluten, lactose intolerance or nut allergies.

Anyone else get hiccups after eating or drinking certain foods and drinks? brain fog?get fatigue? bloating? makes you wonder what they put in our food and drinks for people to have more allergies than ever?

I don't know about mood, but gluten seems to cloud my thinking. I try to avoid it. Eat tons and tons of dairy, though!

Do you find that you're better off a gluten free diet ball?

I adopted a keto lifestyle about 3 months ago to combat fatigue(chronic-type that comes and goes). I’ve always been very into sports but had noticed my fatigue levels at times, off the charts. I enjoy cooking for others, but have always found eating a chore(wish I could just be plugged in like my car and have my battery charged up Lol) I love it! It makes me feel better generally and I can’t imagine ever going back to breads/pasta/potatoes/sugars again. I’d long cut sugars out anyway. That’s great that you’re finding what works for you too!

Lol. Wow! i've heard of the keto diet, like with eggs, avocado and salads? Quinoa. I'm a vegetarian so it'll have to be a vegetarian version for me the diet.

(edit)
Unfortunately i love foods that are gluten based, bread, garlic bread, pasta but get the worse hiccups if i eat too much of that stuff. I'm sorry to hear that you find eating a chore, maybe you'll need to find a way to make it more appealing or adventurous to you? Good luck Juliette with cutting out sugar. I'd be wary of artificial sweeteners especially aspartame if i was you!

Hi sorrow - I’m used to cooking both vegan and vegetarian menus for different family members, and really enjoy putting together interesting menus for them. Cooking is something I really enjoy doing for others. I was a bit of a chef once, employed in Brisbane, Aus in the past at an eatery. I enjoy creative cookery(home made pasta from scratch, pizza, fresh baked breads/rolls, Chinese/Indian/Japanese/Aussie etc cuisine and have a massive array of cookbooks and have put my own recipes together as well. I’ve been cooking since I was 8 for a large family and genuinely enjoy it. I also love baking and make iced Christmas and Birthday Cakes, apple pies, apple teacakes, handcrafted chocolates, gingers, easter eggs etc. I do really enjoy the cooking process, but just not so much the actual eating. i’ve eaten at some amazing restaurants the world over, and do appreciate food, but honestly, I’d still rather be plugged in lol!

I’d rather be creating or writing than eating, that’s for sure. For me, it’s just about fueling the body up so I can function.

I too used to love pasta and bread ... but don’t even miss it now. On sugar, that wasn’t hard for me to give up at all. I use healthy sugar replacements eg stevia and erythritol(good quality sweeteners). No aspartame. I have taught cookery. There’s a combined mix of stevia and erythritol that can be bought from Amazon or certain supermarkets under the NKDLIVING Brand.

After 3 months of not seeing my adult children, due to lockdown, I was finally able to cook them a 3 course Easter vegetarian homemade celebratory meal last night. Plugged myself in as usual lol!

Happy Easter

I dont really believe that diets improve or affect autism

I agree Caz. Some of the co-morbids might be helped, but autism itself .... I never believed a diet was the answer. I used to feel so bad for children whose parents placed them on strict gluten/dairy-free diets, clutching at what the pseudoscientists would say.

Hi Juliette

Ah nice, it's good to get creative with different recipes for those with different dietary requirements.
Ah wow! being surrounded by the smells of food and cooking, it's nice that you enjoyed it and had experience as being a chef. All the food sounds mouth watering, especially the baking lol.

That's fair enough.

Isn't there any type of food that you really enjoy eating though and don't see it as a chore?

Ah yes they're much better alternatives. Like you, i've cut out sugar, especially in teas and coffees for like five or six years now, i'm used to have tea and coffee without any sweetness in and enjoy it and i automatically lost half a stone.

Aww i'm glad you got to see your adult children and cooked for them, must've made it even more special the meal, the fact you've been apart from them. Sorry it's late but happy Easter to you too!

I haven’t ever tried it because I have sensory issues with food so bad that a lot of things, my body will refuse to swallow if I try to eat (hate to say I’m picky because it isn’t just a preference for me), and GFCF diet would eliminate a large amount of the foods I do eat, and when I look up healthy foods (I’m trying to do low glycemic index after gaining a bunch of weight from chemo), most of the suggestions are things I literally cannot force myself to eat. So unless I have a real reason to think it would be beneficial, I’m not going to try restricting my diet any more than it already is.

I strongly suspect that there is no one cause or combination of causes for ASDs, that the cause(s) are different for different people, so something that works for other people won’t necessarily work for me and vice versa. Since I’m one of the apparently uncommon ones who don’t have any gut issues or any determined food allergies/sensitivities, and my diet varies enough sometimes that I expect I would have seen a correlation if anything in particular was adversely affecting me, I don’t believe that I have sufficient evidence to suggest that for me it would be worthwhile to try, although I don’t discount other people’s experiences.

I think with some conditions, theirs a correlation to sensitivity with food

However, more people have allergies than ever and i think it's because of what they put in certain foods.To think how ingredients go into foods, especially ready made or instant food packets and the amount of stuff that's in it that's not even considered real food or ingredients is astonishing.

gluten-free helped my skin and enabled me to lose some stubborn weight, and reduced systemic inflammation a bit. but i'm still the same old stranger in a strange land.

Wow it sounds like it helped you immensely AuntBlabby.

I'm glad that it's helped you. It goes to show that food is medicine and medicine is food and the right adjustments can eliminate allergies or help you to heal in some way.

Only thing i hate, is when they make out certain diets are a fad that's got to be tried out, like gluten free became a trend, then eating avocado and egg ect.even those that are classed as being "super foods" have been from ingredients that's been used with pesticides, if the usage of pesticides is low, it's considered "organic" even though organic should be completely pesticide free.


Still i wish you well and abundance of health

Thank you Auntblabby