Gluten-free, casein-free, and sugar free. Ugh.

[Anonymous]

We just got our lab results back from testing our DS for food sensitivities. It ends up he is allergic to gluten, casein, and sugar. He also tested positive for allergies to beef, chicken, fish, watermelon, and oranges. What the heck is he supposed to eat!?! I'm so overwhelmed right now. Our pediatrician had all of the testing done. She said he also has "leaky gut" and yeast in his system (which is why he needs to be off of sugar I guess). She said he will have to be treated with an anti-fungal to get rid of the yeast, but she said she is afraid to do it because it will most likely make my DS go nuts. DS has been dealing with major meltdowns/mood swings, depression, OCD behaviors since about age 3. I guess she is worried he will get worse before he gets better when doing the anti-fungal treatment. DS was put on Abilify last year by his psychiatrist and he actually attempted suicide because the drug made him feel so awful. Because of his past, she (pediatrician) is worried that he will do something like that again when the yeast is dying off. Also, I've heard going off of gluten can make people go crazy. Any advice from anyone that has gone through this?

[Anonymous]

Would love to know who you ped is as we would like to do food sensitivity testing for our DS. We are GFCF and reduce sugar, but are not sugar free. Yes, it was tough seeing our son decline, but so worth it and now I don't find GFCF challenging. He eats so healthy and enjoys it!

Re:foods. I have made so many different dishes with beans or lentils. Hummus is a favorite snack food with vegetables.

Can he eat eggs? If so, I recommend organic eggs. I make so many different kinds of omelets for DS and he likes eggs scrambled with potatoes.

Can he have nuts?

Can he eat avocados? They are particularly good for kids on the spectrum (don't recall why) and they are full of healthy fats good for all.

Are you doing probiotics too? That helped our son.

[Anonymous]

Me again...what about free range turkey and lamb?

If you do tofu-do organic tofu so it doesn't have GMOs. Feel free to ask anything. We are so pleased with the diet.

[Anonymous]

Look at the GAPS diet for him.

[Anonymous]

Daiya cheese! It's good I swear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We just got our lab results back from testing our DS for food sensitivities. It ends up he is allergic to gluten, casein, and sugar. He also tested positive for allergies to beef, chicken, fish, watermelon, and oranges. What the heck is he supposed to eat!?!

Jeez! That's a lot.

OK -- eggs, clearly. Lamb, pork, gluten free pork and turkey sausages. Turkey OK? THat'd be a big help.

White beans, black beans, chick peas. Hummus. Lentils.

Rice, rice noodles. There's a ton of gluten free products out there these days.

Quinoa is gluten freeI think.

Potatoes.

Ghee is supposed to be casein free (clarified butter)



Raisins, pears, peaches, papayas, etc. Lemonade instead of OJ.

[Anonymous]

Yes, Quinoa is gluten free and a complete protein. So are chia seeds and they have lots of calcium.

Tinkaya brand brown rice pasta is soooo good.

Applegate farms makes great organic GFCF nitrate free lunch meat for school lunches.

As PP said-Daiya chesse is soooo good for taste, though not nutrient dense.

[Anonymous]

What type of allergic reactions was he having to sugar? I have never heard of that allergy...that would be very hard to accommodate given the natural occurrence of sugar in so many food items - fruit being the main one. How high was the IgE antibody level?

I am surprised they gave Abilify to a child. Did they try other meds? Just curious as to what made that the right choice for him?

[Anonymous]

OP, I have an SN child and I have a child with food allergies, so I am very sensitive to what you are going through. However, my experience also makes me skeptical of what you have been told by your doctor. Was the doctor who did this testing a mainstream MD, or an alternative medicine practitioner?

For a child to have true allergies to so many different foods would be very rare, and would require intensive counsel from a registered dietician to ensure adequate nutrition. Also, it is simply not possible to be allergic to sugar. Our bodies convert all food to glucose, and if we could be allergic to that, we would not survive. Food allergies are to proteins in foods, and sugar does not have any proteins.

At a minimum, I would meet with a board-certified allergist to get a second opinion on the allergies. You can find one here: http://aaaai.execinc.com/find-an-allergist/. Do this before making any drastic or unusual changes.

[Anonymous]

I would also be skeptical of a lot of this, particularly the sugar allergy and leaky gut syndrome.

I have a very close friend who went through a lot of diet agony after being given a similar diagnosis. Turns out a lot of it wasn't necessary, and they expended a lot of money, energy and time doing this.

See what PP says about the impossibility of a sugar allergy, and so a little research on the questionable nature of these theories about systemic yeast.

[Anonymous]

The leaky gut theory has gone mainstream. Both an Ped and Ped Gastro were on board with it. Never heard of a sugar allergy, but anyone can benefit from cutting down on sugar or eliminating. Gluten intolerances are real too. It has to do with GMOs and the new "improved" gluten.

[Anonymous]

It's OK, but think OP is slightly confused. You can definitely have sensitivities to gluten and casein, but the problem with sugar likely relates more to the child's yeast dysbiosis. Sugars feed yeast and the yeast in turn produce lots of nasty toxins that get into the blood stream in ASD kids who have leaky gut. The ped is correct that rapid die off of yeast from using an anti-fungal can cause a lot of behaviors initially. I wonder if the ped had discussed using probiotics first, which would help to repopulate the gut with good intestinal floral and keep the bad flora in check. Anyway, GFCF diets have gotten so much easier with a wide array of really tasty alternatives. Whole Foods and Roots Markets have some excellent products and local dev ped, Pamela Compart, MD, has written a really nice GFCF cookbook.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP- I'm in the same boat as you and I haven't really started the diet because it seems so challenging. The biggest challenge for me is giving up milk and dairy. Did your ped have any suggestions for a good milk substitute?

[Anonymous]

Wow, OP, that is a lot. I would have a really hard time with no chicken, beef, fish. The GREAT news is that you have a clear path and it should all get better from this point on. This is really a very good position to be in!

OP, could I ask a couple of questions about the situation? Did your child have very obvious gastro issues? And was this a urine or blood test? Could you share what the test order was? And who your ped is? Thank you very much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi OP- I'm in the same boat as you and I haven't really started the diet because it seems so challenging. The biggest challenge for me is giving up milk and dairy. Did your ped have any suggestions for a good milk substitute?

Not OP but my kids drink enriched rice milk and really like it. I use coconut milk in a lot of cooking recipes and it is delicious. Also, coconut milk ice cream is fabulous.