Sunday, May 3, 2009

A New Adventure

Since Jack has been diagnosed with autism, we have heard a lot about the gluten-free/casein-free (gfcf) diet. It's a very popular diet used by many families with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) and some families swear it helps their children function better. The theory is that children with ASD aren't able to properly digest gluten and casein proteins, which causes an opiate-like effect in their bodies. In turn, their behavior, immune system and development are affected.

SO. After a lot of thought, a lot of prayer and reading a lot of information, we are exploring starting this diet with Jack. Today, we went to Whole Foods (over an hour away) and picked up some of their pre-packaged gfcf foods. Our thinking is that we'll slowly ease into it before going "cold-turkey." We want to see what foods Jack likes and will eat. Once we figure out what he'll eat, then I can dive deeper into this and start making those foods at home, instead of buying them pre-packaged. Jack is a VERY picky eater to begin with, so this should be interesting.

Here's what $60 buys you in the world of gfcf. :)


6 comments:

Tiffiny said...

WOW... that's $60 huh? I have heard great stuff about diet change, and have read a bread machine may be you best friend because you can make him his own bread, but wow...how overwhelming to look at every food at once... good luck! Hope it works for Jack and he LOVES all his great new food! xox

Givinya De Elba said...

All the best, I hope Jack finds things he likes and that it's not a stress on your food-prep or your budget! It would be great to find things that really work for your family :)

Kelly said...

My SIL has celiac's disease and has to eat gluten free. She is VERY strict about sticking to it. I hope that it helps for Jack. Will you all try to make the switch? I'm sure it would be healthy, but expensive.

Kelly said...

Any updates? How's the diet going? Just curious...Kelly Gentz

The Pedigo Family said...

Yike.... I heard about this and Elizabeth Hasselback actually has a book out on how to eat gfcf on a budget and out in restaurants.

Hope you see an improvement!

hellokittiemama said...

Hi there!

I found your site from the Framehuggers site - my daughter has to patch too. How is Jack doing?

Also, my son has Autism and is on the gluten free and casein free diet. He is doing amazing on it and has been on it now for 3 years!

I'm really looking forward to reading more of your blog - seems we have quite a bit in common :)

~MT
My GFCF/ASD blog:
http://www.bonbongazette.com

My Amblyopia blog:
http://www.amblyopiakids.com