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Hi
I guess I need to clarify what I meant in my previous posting. My little guy hasn't been on GFCF diet. We have just taken out preservatives, additives and colourings from his diet. I agree with Julie,, you try much and settle for what works for your child individually. Children may have the same general diagnosis of "Autism" but the spectrum is wide and varied as are our children. I pretty much let my little boy decide what he wants to eat (within the range of foods I think works for him) and we put different things on his plate now and then. Often we are surprised that he will like something he refused previously for a period of time then go off that again to something else.
All I know is that being preservative, additive and colouring free his behaviour is less anxious, less aggressive, less demanding and not as "over the top" meltdowns as he previously had at 4 years old. I also recognise that these changes may not all be as a result of his diet changes but about other changes as well, I just think try things, if they work good, if they don't whatever, don't stress about it. That's my only advice.
Oh , we have also just started at the 'Hearts and Minds Clinic (Tony Attwood) he is brilliant and has given me so much understanding and strategies to try - I can't thank him enough.
This is very nice forum.[FONT="]Your diet is always an important factor in your health, but it is especially important when you are suffering fromany chronic health condition
Tried GFCF when dd was little, and it wasn't much help, to be honest, other than allowing me to feel like I was doing something constructive.
And Jenny McCarthy's a complete waste of fifteen minutes of fame.
I am a firm believer that diet can have a profound effect on behavior because I have lived it. When I was a teenager I started to develop strange symptoms. I would go through times where I felt like I was walking in a dream. My vision would fade, my thinking would get foggy, and I had a really hard time socializing normally. The only reason I was able to talk to people in a normal way was because I was old enough to know how I was expected to act. I would force myself to look in people's eyes and try to talk normally. Sometimes though I would still do strange things. For example, once at an ATM, I tried to put money into an ATM rather than my card because my mind was so out of whack!
Eventually I went to the doctor, and that wasn't too much help. They said I had a thyroid problem, but the medicine they gave me did not make the problems go away. Fortunately, I had an aunt who had had similar problems, and I tried to follow her advice. Over a course of time, I eliminated all refined sugar from my diet, which in turn ended up eliminating most artificial coloring. I also added more protein. The change took a while to take effect, but eventually after following a strict new diet, my problems have almost disappeared. There are times when I go back in fog land, but it happens much, much less.
Sometimes I think if I was a young child when this happened, I would have been mis-diagnosed with something since it really is hard to function normally when I get in this mode. The experience has helped me with my oldest daughter though. She is allergic to milk and had a number of problems until she was diagnosed. Over the years, her symptoms have eased on her strict no milk (casein etc.) diet.
I don't know anything about Jenny McCarthy, but I do know many doctors dismissed my problems, so I handled it on my own. However, the experience did definitely teach me how much your brain can be altered by food, and that some people like me seem more vulnerable to these problems. I think my daughter is more vulnerable. We often have to experiment a bit with her because she is the type of kid who will have a side effect that is not listed on the medicine label, and she sometimes has phases when she says she feels shaky and things like that. When those things happen, I try to look for patterns in what she is eating.
I recommend parents keep searching for ways to help your kids. I really think diet can make a difference. It may be gluten; it may be casein; it may be sugar; it may be artificial coloring or it may be none of these things, but it is worth the effort to try to find ways to make life better. And if you do try changes, you do have to give them a good bit of time. It took me quite some time to feel better.
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