Gluten Free Foods Help Your Child?

The thing with gluten free is they cannot have any glutens and it only works if you have a gluten intolerance. It is usually caused by holes in the intestines that allow undigested gluten to leach into the blood stream. Undigested glutens are like a psudo-narcotic. It is also linked to the extreme behaviors attributed to Autism spectrum not mild ADD.

What AL is actually speaking of has nothing to do with Gluten but carbohydrates. Most foods with Gluten are also high in carbs. Carbs metabolize as sugar so a diet too high in carbs can cause the symptoms she described. Just restricting carbs will have the effects she described. To understand just look up the science behind the Atkins diet.

They only help if your child is allergic to Gluten.
It's a misconception that it helps everyone with ADHD.

it is also a misconception that simply upping a child's omega 3 intake will get rid of their ADHD.

Hi--
This remedy only works if your child has a sensitivity or allergy to gluten. Most people are not aware that allergies/sensitivities do in fact effect behavior---the child will either get very hyper or very angry. By removing the offending food from the diet, the child no longer has a strong reaction and the emotions dissipate. That is why so many kids with ADHD have to change their diet. They don't actually have ADHD, they have a food allergy that has gotten so bad that it is effecting their brain chemistry. Remove the food and the brain can then balance itself and the behaviors go away. It's also true of food additives---chemical dyes, preservatives, MSG, etc have been proven to cause hyper-activity in children. SO, if you are thinking about changing the diet you need to know what your child is reacting to. If there is a gluten sensitivity then your child will likely display some of the following: constipation or diarrhea (constipation is defined by not having a bowel movement at least once a day), frequent ear infections, post-nasal drip, annoying cough, puffy and/or dark circles under the eyes, any type of rash, including eczema, frequent tummy aches. But it may not be gluten causing the behavior---dairy is another one that many kids have a problem with. The top seven allergens are rounded out as dairy, gluten, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, shell fish. Almost all kids will react to chemicals in their food---so make sure you eat "real" food as much as possible.

You can also tell if your child has a food allergy/sensitivity if they spit up a lot as an infant OR if they wanted to eat constantly (sucking soothes an upset tummy).

If you do think it is gluten causing the problem I'm happy to talk to you about this further. My kids are both super sensitive---we don't do dairy, soy, gluten, any type of chemical food additive, and a few other things besides, so I'm an expert at changing diets!!

Good luck!
J.

check out wellmama.com .. it's a great website and she has some recipe ideas all GLUTEN free.. also, good article on there as to why they are bad for us..
we've been going gluten free for about a week now and so far, both my son and myself feel better. I don't feel as tired or that cloudy feeling you get right before your period.. While my son doesn't have ADD or any of the above, I just felt like we were consuming way too much gluten and not to mention, I wanted my son to drop a few lbs as per the doctor..
I have found that these days, with so many people allergic to wheat, they are making more and more foods out there gluten free... for example, we had gluten free pasta last night and it was still pretty good..

again, check out that website. it's chalked full of good info

my best to you and yours

BIG TIME!!! My children were out of control. It was so hard for me. I knew it was food allergies because their behavior would change so drastically after they ate and they'd break out in a rash, have swollen eyes etc. Also, they'd have days where they were totally normal. I had them allergy tested but they didn't test for gluten and I never knew of such a thing as gluten allergies. This was16 years ago. After talking to my friend who found out her son had celiacs disease, I took gluten out of their diets. I had new children in a day and never had a problem since.

All fruits and vegetables are gluten free. Eggs are gluten free. Meat is gluten free unless it is processed, so you have to look for lunch meat/hot dogs/pepperoni that say they are gluten free. We grind our own peanut butter at the store and then buy gluten free bread. You can make your own gluten free bread, there are lots of gluten free baking mixes out there now. We also eat gluten free oatmeal. Oatmeal although technically gluten free is often cross contaminated because it is grown near wheat and processed in the same facility as wheat. Yogurt is also gluten free as are most cheeses. Parmesan cheese may not be and sour cream may not be. Processed spices that you buy, like taco seasoning isn't. So we just make our own, very easy to do. I cook with a lot of different flours, sorghum, corn, masa harina, almond, teff, white, brown and sweet rice, millet and coconut. I also cook a lot of quinoa- very yummy and very good for you, and rice. My son has celiac so we have to be very careful about what we eat. One of the things I have learned about gluten is that the amount of gluten in wheat is about 80 times more now then it was 20 years ago. And while the wheat has evolved due to genetic testing/gmo etc, our bodies haven't evolved and have a hard time working with/digesting the protein. So even if you don't have a specific allergy your body is probably working harder than it needs and is causing issues. I also feel that processed food also causes problems with behavior not only because of the wheat that is in literally everything, but also the preservatives and food coloring. Again our bodies don't know how to work with these and it causes problems. What I have found to help with gluten free is to make everything from scratch, ie oatmeal that cooks on the stove for 15 mins , not 1 min in the microwave, or made from scratch pancakes, or eggs pb &j, cut up fruit and veggies, beef, pork or chicken for dinner with rice/quinoa/millet and veggies. I have also found some good flour combos for making baked treats, cookies brownies etc. There are lots of good blogs and websites out there with gluten free ideas and I have gotten a lot of good info from them. Feel free to send me a personal message if you have any questions.

You can bake things still - but you have to use other kinds of flour. My friend uses coconut flour or soy flour for example. She looks up recipes online. She will make homemade crackers and homemade pizza dough. I bet there is a recipe out there for gluten free tortillas to make wraps. My son will not eat sandwiches or bread anyway so we often do lunchmeat or pepperoni and crackers and fruits and veggies in his lunchbox. He also likes a thermos with soup. You can buy quinoa pasta with no gluten too.

Hi Viola,

My son & I eat GF - not for behavior - because we both tested positive for a gluten sensitivity (via stool analysis). I haven't heard that eating GF improves behavior - interesting. I have heard that cutting out dairy improves behavior, though. To answer your question, there are many GF meals you can make (and in my opinion, I would cut out as much
dairy as you can - give your son almond milk instead of cow milk). In the GF secion at Super Wal-Mart, they sell GFCF mac n cheese (alfredo style), and it is super yummy! It also has a TON of fiver and protein - awesome! For lunch, I make my son a dark chocolate almond butter and jelly (he is allergic to peanuts) sandwich on GF bread every single day, along with yogurt and a piece of fruit. There are many GF pastas (I like quinoa pasta the best - it tastes great and also the most fiber and protein compared to the others). I also make quinoa a lot, along with amaranth. Rice is also GF - stay away from white rice (whether you are GF or not). I make brown rice and beans and put smart balance butter spread in it and it is delish! Brown rice and beans is a complete protein and wonderful alternative to animal meat (which is also a complete protein). Health food stores sell GF chicken nuggets. You have many options. Start w/ your health food store - you will find a ton of stuff.

One more suggestion - if your son has ADD/ADHD - I cannot stress enough to you about this item - OMEGA 3 FISH OIL!!!!! It is better than prescription meds!!!! You cannot overdose on omega 3 fish oil (I'm talking about EPA and DHA), so give your son as much as you want and I promise you it will improve his ability to focus/concentrate! I used to take Vyvanse for my ADD and recently got off of it and increased my EPA/DHA intake and I feel great! I think it's so sad when I hear about kids who are taking medication for ADD/ADHD. It is not necessary! All they need is a major increase in their omega 3's! Good luck!

We know so many families who follow the gluten-free/casein-free diets for behavior issues and autism diagnoses. Having Celiacs myself, we talk often about new items available, recipes, etc. Some started out with gluten-free only (like me) and saw no results, so they added the casein-free to the diets before giving up.

Last I recall from a seminar, 35% of people saw absolute, life-changing things in their children. The other 65% saw no difference. Of our friends, one family has 2 boys with autism and they were actually part of a study 10yrs ago on the GF/CF diet, and their boys improved leaps and bounds every day, it was amazing. Another friend who's son was diagnosed with PDD had mixed reviews, where she saw tons of improvement and her husband saw none.

GF is pricey, but manageable. Stick to whole foods, lean proteins, minimal starches, variety of grains (millet, quinoa, amaroot, etc), veggies and fruits. It gets costly when you try to replace every wheat/oat/barley/rye product with a GF substitute (for example: a loaf of GF bread is 1/3 the size of a regular loaf and 2x more expensive). GF/CF is ridiculously expensive.

Good luck!!!!

EDITED to add: forgot to mention quality probiotic is key!