ASD and dietary influences

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Hi,
I am looking for anyone who is interested in discussing the possible affects of diet on people on the Spectrum (e.g. gluten, dairy/casein), and also gut flora issues and Candida.

Feel free to post here or PM me.

Many thanks,
J

I limit dairy in my own diet. It's not completely eliminated, but I don't buy cow's milk. It helps with GI problems, which have so far been unidentified, but I'm positive dairy is one of the culprits.

My daughter is also on limited dairy. She gets all the nutrients she would normally get from cow's milk from fortified soya or oat milk and I give her a supplement as well. She was accidentally on a dairy free diet a few months ago. She had been getting some at school, which I was OK with. But, unbeknownst (I can't believe that's a real word, but I googled it and it is ) to me, the school had temporarily stopped providing the milk. Her behaviour improved an awful lot and, seeing as this was a blind trial, I'm pretty certain it wasn't the placebo effect. So we have tried to stick with it.

Gluten is a topic which crops up over and over again on here. I hope to eventually go GFCF and the same for my daughter, but I find the dairy free a bit of a struggle as it is. I've heard of the benefits of it (for some anyway) and it can do no harm to at least try it out, so long as you maintain a balanced diet, which is perfectly attainable.

i seem to get yeast overgrowth somewhere in my gut after eating certain unidentified foods. I suspect high sugar/carb foods. It makes me constipated.

i was told by a doctor that it is not treated as a medical issue in the uk so i can't say i have explored it much. The symptoms i see are fairly rare and pass once i resume normal eating so it's not a bif deal really

I also get constipated if i travel. I think there are suggestions that it can be due to water differences but one obvous culprit is not drinking enough water

I've been on a lo gluten diet. I've been only eating the occasional wheat tortilla. I do feel bad after i eat bread or a larger quantity of gluten so i think i want to stick to it. Now that i do not desire gluten often (my mind has made the link between eating it and feeling bad) it is easy to avoid most of the time.

not tried a casein free diet but i may try it at some point. for me that is more drastic than gluten free as i like cheese and milk. once i can be sure i am replacing all the nutrients from other sources i may try it. Some day i need to sit down and really assess my intake. a food diary should help i guess

I don't have any of those intestine problems but sugar is a problem for me, I'm just realising.
There was a mild repeditive noise in my building but it was ok and I was having a mellow level
day until I eat this very syripy desert. After that my emotions were out of whack, the noise was
driving me insane and I started getting a headache. Stared drinking water in hopes of flushing it
about an hour and a half later I'm fine again.
It's a lession I seem to keep forgetting.

BTW: I have no history of diabius ect. faily healthy, average fitness. This might be something
that effects all of us.

I avoid dairy, wheat and sugar and seems to help...

I have allergies to casein and gluten, but also to other foods as well. Going CF/GF doesn't help everyone, but it certainly helped me with sensitivities and such - made me less sensitive. I've also noticed that if I avoid caffeine, other foods I'm allergic to, get enough sleep, and so on my sensitivities also go down even more. I never get rid of them altogether, but it's a lot nicer to just have some crazy irritation send me over the top once in awhile instead of screaming nightmare meltdowns all the time because of it.

Gluten/sugar/meat-free and lovin' it!