So I’m currently in a relationship with this most awesome girl, and of course this most awesome girl has a mother who happens to read this website. Her mother brought up the suggestion of me trying a Gluten Free Diet. I have mixed feelings on this and have yet to hear of any real benefit backed by scientific evidence to those with Autism Spectrum Disorders.She has an unrelated diagnosis and swears that the Gluten Free Diet has helped improve her condition. (I’m not going to state what she has as its private information, but shes free to post a comment when she reads this.) I’ve heard some parents swear Gluten Free diets have helped their children with Autism, but I’m not convinced yet.
I have to admit, I love my pastas and I would have a hard time giving them up. So I would also like to hear some suggestions on how to eat on a budget gluten free.
So What Am I Asking For?
- I would like people on the Autism Spectrum’s personal perspective that have tried gluten free diets. Have they helped you much? If so in what way?
- Suggestions on how to eat gluten free on a budget.
- Suggestions on tasty gluten free food.
- If I should just tease her mom about being afraid of the ‘Spaghetti Monster’?
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
One can be gluten-sensitive, and allistic, or gluten-insensitive and autistic. Some times they go together, sometimes not.
See Jerry Pournelle’s site for this week. One of his sons had celiac disease, and they had to watch for gluten in food like hawks. The kid was not an autie.
Oh, and if you have not been reading everything Jerry Pournelle has written, since, oh, 1975, well, shame on you!
I agree with Justthisguy. If you don’t have gastrointestinal issues or celiac disease, I can’t imagine what a GF/CF diet could be expected to accomplish. Some parents of kids on the spectrum think this diet improves “behavior,” but how is that even possible? Unless your stomach hurts and you’re acting funny because of it, I have a hard time understanding how eliminating these extremely important foods from your diet will do anything of value.
I personally think it is an insult to autistic people to say that they can’t eat the same foods as everybody else because said foods make them behave badly.
In a general sense, good food makes us feel better (rather than, say, a diet made up of junk food), whether we are autistic or not. There is nothing wrong with pasta and cheese unless you have some kind of allergy, intolerance or disease that makes these indigestible.
My 15 year old son is autistic and for years he was on a GF/CF diet. 3 years ago it became such a hassle we took him off – nothing happened. In fact, now that he is getting whole grains, dairy, etc. his overall health is better and his behavior is improved, though probably more due to maturation than diet per se.
It actually helps some people (my friend) they have few to no remaining autistic characteristics positive and negative but he can’t go back whenever he has those foods he gets depressed for days at a time
if it helps…
my daughter is on a gluten-free diet and that means that she’s in less discomfort. she is no less autistic.
she’s just more comfortable.
@Samual Sandeen
Anyone who never eats gluten and then suddenly eats it again will get “depressed.” Carbs effect blood sugar levels, and the ups and downs of blood sugar can create mood problems and an unwell feeling. This is for anybody, not just someone who is autistic. Regulated blood sugar is key for maintaining an even emotional keel.
GI problems are incredibly common–one of the most common childhood complaints. Studies have found no higher prevalence of GI problems in autistic kids v. the general population.
The question here in the original blog post was: do gluten-free diets help? What I’m not sure about is…help what? Someone who can’t digest gluten–like a person with celiac disease–would certainly be helped by eliminating gluten from the diet. If you are having a lot of diarrhea, I’d see a GI doctor. If you have celiac disease, you’ll be put on a gluten free diet. If you’re not having GI discomfort, I’m not sure what you think the GF diet might do.
Who’s afraid of the big bad spaghetti monster??!!
The main thing is, if you don’t have symptoms of gluten intolerance or such, then there isn’t a reason to exclude it. If you do have symptoms, you should go to a doctor to see other potential causes for these symptoms.
Myself, I suspect a mild dairy allergy (or perhaps intolerance, but allergy seems more in line with my experience) based upon my lifetime, and after I excluded dairy (I rarely drank milk as a teenager/adult anyway because I never liked it, but I wasn’t excluding packaged foods that had milk ingredients or anything like that). So I get calcium from other sources like plants and nuts (especially broccoli) and rice or soy milk (there’s also almond and oat alternatives too).
But, while my physical health has improved during the time that I have been dairy-free (and I don’t have the symptoms of a wheat or gluten sensitivity), I am just as autistic, still going through the independent living skills assessment. Eliminating dairy just improved my health, not doing anything about my autism.