The GFCF diet (gluten-free casein-free diet) is advocated by some parents as a treatment for children with autism.
The theory is that some children with autism have a "leaky gut" which allows food proteins to pass into the blood stream and form substances that affect the child's nervous system, leading to symptoms of autism. While there are plenty of anecdotal reports of success on the GFCF diet, there is also a lot of research that points to low success rates.
Kids on a GFCF diet should not eat any foods with gluten or casein for up to two months to see if it improves their symptoms. Most experts recommend that you start the GFCF diet slowly though, as it isn't easily tolerated by all children.
Gluten
Gluten is a protein that is found in foods that contain wheat, rye, and barley and is more classically associated with celiac disease.
To help avoid gluten, including many grains, pasta, cereals, and other processed foods with gluten, it can help to learn to read food labels and look for and avoid products with the following ingredients on the label:
- wheat, including durum, graham, kamut, semolina, spelt, triticale
- barley, including malt, malt vinegar, or malt flavoring which can be made from barley
- rye
- oats (many people on a gluten-free diet also avoid oats, because oats are often contaminated with other gluten-containing grains)
Fortunately, there are many gluten-free breads and pastas and even gluten-free medications for children on a gluten-free diet.
Casein
Casein is a protein that is found in cow's milk, goat's milk, cheese, and other dairy products.
Children on a casein-free diet would avoid all milk products, but still need calcium in their diet, so should drink fortified soy milk, a fortified rice drink, or calcium fortified orange juice, etc.
