Gluten/Dairy Free Diet - where to begin? (Updated)

Health & Medical Diet & Nutrition
1

We are switching to a dairy/gluten free diet because we feel it may be beneficial for our daughter who was just diagnosed as being on the Autism spectrum. We do not eat much dairy right now - just butter, cheese and yogurt. I am a bit overwhelmed though. If you have done this, how did you implement it? Can you give me tips on what types of food are okay? And how did you handle your child if they were very picky? Right now my girl only wants to eat fruit, yogurt, cheese, peanut butter, and scrambled eggs. She will eat a few other things. Its just hard to predict what she will eat from day to day. Thanks!

Sorry, forgot to mention her age! She is 32 months old. We were planning on putting our entire family on the diet just to make things easier…so that would be me, hubby, my daughter, and our son who is 17 months old. He does not drink cow’s milk due to a milk protein allergy.

2

I have no experience with this, but if it were me, I’d get on amazon.com and read review of gluten-free cookbooks and guides. I’d search “gluten free” and then refine my search by picking 4+ stars. THEN before buying, see if your local library has the book already, saving you a few bucks.

good luck!

3

Fortunately, there are many products that are gluten free than there were just a few years ago. Read labels. There is even gluten-free bread that tastes pretty good. You might need to do some shopping at a Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s to get some things - depends on your supermarket. With Trader Joe’s, if you do not like a product (doesn’t matter if it’s opened or you’ve eaten some of it), you can return it for a full refund.

I prefer coconut milk over soy milk. Rice milk is also good, but somewhat watery. I usually pick up the vanilla flavored of either, plain is a little blah. I’ve had sheep’s milk and goat’s milk yogurt, but did not like either one.

I agree with the other poster to browse gluten-free cookbooks - if you have a Borders near you, everything is 30-75% off. You could pick up a couple of cookbooks.

Good luck!

4

You don’t mention how old your child is, but I’ll give you an idea of my 16 month old’s diet, who has Celiac disease and has JUST been reintroduced to dairy, in cheese form only. So some of my suggestions may have cheese, but you can tweak it for your own needs.

For breakfast, she eats Chex with coconut milk, which is non dairy. She especially likes the Honey Nut Chex, but will also eat corn and rice. Fruity Pebbles, Cocoa Pebbles, and Gluten Free Rice Krispies are also options (and there are a ton of specialized GF cereals, but they are expensive.) Sometimes she eats scrambled eggs.

Snacks are always fruit. She loves apples, cantaloupe, bananas, strawberries, watermelon…all good, healthy options.

Lunches are tuna salad on tortilla chips, or special sandwiches. I like Ener-G’s Light Tapioca Bread (GF, Dairy free), toasted, and then I add Hellman’s mayo (GF, Dairy free) and we like Land O’Frost Bistro Favorites lunch meat, or Hormel Natural Choice…both gluten free. She also likes Turkey hot dogs…we buy a brand called “Fit and Active”, which is sold only at Aldi. She’ll also eat Vienna Sausages…I know it’s not the healthiest, but it’s a rare occasion and they are GF. To supplement lunch, it’s always fruit, cheese, and chips. Lots of potato chips are GF, and we also buy some special vegetable chips.

Dinners…well, we eat together, so we’ve had to get creative. Amy’s Tomato Soup with grilled cheese (again with the cheese, sorry) on GF bread, standard meat/veggie/rice meals, and casseroles. She particularly likes my husbands green bean hotdish, which is hamburger, cauliflower, green beans, GF cream of mushroom soup, and again, cheese. You may find that hard cheeses (like cheddar) will be tolerable, especially when cooked into something.

We have found that Pacific Foods Cream of Mushroom soup is the best. It cost about three dollars a package (it comes in a little square box, not a can). It isn’t dairy free, though, I don’t think.

Concentrate on “whole foods.” Veggies, fruits, meats, potatoes, rice, etc. You can buy rice and corn pasta, rice flour for baking, etc…and there are a ton of GF products out there. I don’t know what grocery stores you have…we have a Hy-Vee, and they carry a huge selection of GF, dairy free foods.

Don’t bother with vegan cheese, in my opinion…it’s gross. Almost inedible, if your child has a taste for real cheese.

If you want to talk more, feel free to message me!

(Oh, for snacks she also likes the new Fruity Pebbles/Cocoa Pebbles bars…90 calories each, not bad…and super yummy.)

I wish I knew how old your child is!

5

Being dairy free was pretty easy for us. I would start out with diary free and see how that works out before doing gluten free, which I think is harder. You wil need to switch to soy cheese and soy yogurt which actually taste really good. You are fine with the rest of the stuff. Does she go to school? We cut out dairy when my son was 2 and he started EI. A lot of his anxiety and irritability improved. Often allergies mimic autism symptoms so you are right to try this. My son’s pickiness improved one he started the town’s preschool since they give them school lunch free of charge. I also started bringing him to the supermarket and letting him pick out what he wants. I still have to feed him sometimes but that also improves the chances that he will eat unfamiliar food. Good luck!

6

I would cut out and replace with a good alternative one or two things each week (or as your food budget allows) until you’ve completely converted, since you aren’t looking at a life threatening allergy. You’re lucky to do this now with the kids so little since they won’t know the difference.

Breads/wheat is the toughest. You HAVE to read labels. Find a list of all the names that gluten and dairy can be listed as. For instance; Modified food starch “can” be wheat starch or it can be corn starch or soy, or a combination. Most gluten free people just avoid it completely. Wheat/gluten is also put into many sauces, marinades, gravy and soups to help thicken the product. Gluten can also be found in vitamins and medications. It also helps to call the manufacture of the product and simply ask them if thier product has gluten or is made with gluten containing products (for cross contamination).

You might want to spend some money and try out various types of gluten free bread and noodles as that will be the toughest part to replace. My dad is celiac (and completely gluten free) and found that many of the gluten free bread mixes were good for sandwich bread. They were slightly cheaper then having to order loaves online and he didn’t have to worry about running out of bread and having to wait for an order to arrive. Plus he gets that delicious home baked bread smell in the house.

If there’s a trade joe’s near you or some other health food store, you can look there for gluten free snacks and such. Many of the Chex cereals are gluten free as well as are Kixx and Crispix.
best of luck, that’s a tough dietary change to get started with.

7

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8

I have been diagnosed with Celiac disease. This is an autoimmune disorder… It basically means that I am allergic to anything with gluten. It was very difficult to start this diet! I suggest finding mainstream items that are already gluten free, as this diet is very expensive. If you go onto the wesites of grocery stores or specific products, they will be able to tell you what is gluten free. However, not everything you’d think is already gluten free is. Not all yogurt is gluten free, not all ice cream, or anything else for that matter is. It takes a lot of research. Also, you should know that this diet can be vrry high in sodium and very low in vitamins and minerals. You may need to add supplements as well. Feel free to email me if you have more questions. It may also be a good idea to see a nutritionist as calorie intake can be effected too.

9

 Paints – six colors (Crayola, Palmer, or Lakeshore brand)
 Crayola First Crayons or Crayola regular crayons
 Crayola Model Magic in several colors (Do not use Playdoh or Crayola Dough or any substitutes unless sent from home!)
 Crayola brand chalk in white and colors
 Elmer’s or Ross Brand Liquid Glue (old fashioned paste contains wheat)
 Elmer’s or Ross Brand Glue Sticks
 Scotch brand clear tape,
 Craft supplies:
Corn elbows, corn retell, rice, black-eyed peas, lentils, rice spaghetti, colored rice or lentil noodles–remember, Dante cannot use regular pasta for crafts!
 Dum-dum Lollipops
 Tropical Source Lollipops
 Farley’s Jelly Bird Eggs
 Jet Puffed Marshmallows
 Swedish fish
 Nerds
 Skittles (including chocolate skittles)
 Jelly belly
 Smarties
 Starburst
 Laffy Taffy
 Mike & Ike
 Gummy Savers
 Pixie stix
 Unpowered plastic gloves or Liquid Glove (if needed for other activities–soap play, cooking, etc.)
 there are GFCF " Cheerios", Gorilla Munch cereal, or plastic pony beads that I can provide
 Silly Putty by Crayola is GFCF
 Palmer face paints or Hello Kitty products can be used as makeup for dress-up, activities/plays
 Ivory soap, Dial Soap, Johnson and Johnson Baby Soap, shampoo, and lotion are GFCF; avoid other lotions unless you know they are GFCF (Equate Brand and Target Brand contain gluten and/or soy)
 Prism Brand Acrylic Glow in the Dark
 Prism Regular Acrylics
 Prism Model Paints
 Prism Pearls
 Palmer Nature’ Hues
 Palmer Liquid Tempera
 Palmer Washable Liquid Tempura
 Palmer Face Paint
 Palmer Glitter Paint
 Palmer Dry Tempura
 Almost all Crayola products except markers and Color Wonders as they contain soy
 Oil Pastels
 Powder Paint
 Water Soluble Oil Pastels
 Elmer’s Washable Glue
 Ross White Glue
 Ross Glue Sticks
 Ross School Glue
 NexCare Brand band-aides ONLY
 Lysol
 Clorox Wipes
 Oust
 NO stickers; they contain gluten (as I mentioned, I did find some that are not gluten based and will provide them)
 NO envelopes-the glue has gluten
 NO hand stamps or ink on skin- source of gluten and soy
 NO Crayola dough it contains gluten
 NO regular Play-doh
 NO RoseArt supplies—at all!
 NO Crayola Markers or any other type beside Colorations
 NO Crayola or other brand colored pencils besides Colorations
 NO dry erase markers
 NO permanent Markers
 NO shaving cream (Colgate brand is the ONLY one that’s ok, and I have been told they do not make this any longer)
 NO Hay, Straw or Birdseed
 Please do not let him put any paper in his mouth. Almost all paper is made with some form of gluten.

UNSAFE ITEMS
Dry Erase Markers (soy)
Suntan lotion (will provide)
Hand lotion
Soaps with Wheat Germ oil
Most soaps
Most cleaners
Toothpaste
Paper Mache
PlayDoh
Finger Paint (will provide alternative)
Straw/Hay
Band-aids (except NexCare Brand)
Stickers
Bird Seed
No ENRICHED items (gluten)
Washable markers (soy)—exception is Colorations
Colored pencils (soy) —exception is Colorations
No products from Rose Art
No Crayola Color Wonder products (soy)
Woven tape (only paper)
Envelopes to be licked or stamps
Temp Tattoos (soy)
Gum (soy)
No Vitamin E enriched toilet paper or tissues (soy)
Certain dryer sheets
Shaving cream
Be aware that MOST lotions, perfumes, deodorants and MAKEUP have casein, gluten, and soy in them

Normal Things with Gluten

Toothpaste (use Toms of Maine)
Lip Balm (use Burts Bees)
Stickers (including price tag stickers)
Envelopes and stamps (both the glue and the actual paper of envelopes)
Washing Machine detergents (use Arm & Hammer baking soda diet)
Soap and Shampoo (use Johnson&Johnson Sensitive Body Wash)
Band-aids (use NexCare brand)
Cosmetics (most kids don’t use, but some do play with it)
Ground Spices (MCCormick brand is GF/CF)
Baby Wipes (Parents Choice in the DARK blue container)
Bounty paper towels
Sunscreen (use Banana Boat Childrens)
Latex or Rubber Gloves coated with flour (usually wheat or oat flour) that are used at Dentist, Orthodontist, Doctor, etc.
Gluten in Pet Food (cat, dog, fish, etc.)
Gluten in Art Supplies (paste, paint, pastels, clay, etc.) at school (see list from TACA)
Some herbal/vitamins/mineral supplements

Grains with Gluten
• Wheat, including varieties like spelt, kamut, farro and forms like durum, semolina, bulgur
• Barley
• Rye
• Triticale (a rye/wheat hybrid)

Gluten FREE grains
• Oats ** see below • Amaranth
• Buckwheat
• Corn
• Millet
• Montina (Indian rice grass)
• Quinoa
• Rice
• Sorghum
• Teff
• Wild Rice

Here are some sources of calcium:

tofu- be careful
collard greens
rhubarb
spinach
blackstrap molasses
turnip greens
kale
sesame seeds
okra
soybeans
beet greens
bok choy
tempeh
mustard greens
Figs
swiss chard
almonds
broccoli
elp (seaweed)
wakame (seaweed too)
amaranth
great Northern beans
navy beans
veg baked beans
dried figs
Fortified OJ
Kidney beans
acorn squash
pinto beans

SNACKS
Ruffles Regular potato chips
Jell-O Brand gelatin
Ball Park Beef Hot Dogs
((GLUTEN FREE versions of cookies,
pretzels, crackers, cupcakes))
Sun-Maid Raisons
Gerber Graduates Fruit strips
Ting’s
Wylde Pretzels
Fritos

JUICE BOXES
Mott’s � all
Minute Maid � all
Del Monte
Juicy Juice � all
Capri Sun
Hawaiian Punch
KoolAid � all
Northland 100% Juice
Welches juices � all
Libby’s � all

DRINKS
Sprite, Sierra Mist
7-Up, A&W Root Beer, Snapple � all
Crystal Lite

ICE CREAM NOVELTIES
Dole Fruit N Juice bars
Edy’s/Dreyers Fruit Bars
Koolaid Freezer pops
Italian Icees
Minute Maid Fruit juice bar
Fla-Vor-Ice

CHEWY CANDY
Skittles

HARD CANDY & SUCKERS
Spangler Dumdum Pops
Lifesaver’s all
Jolly Rancher Lollipops
Topps Ring Pops
Pez, Smarties, fun dip (lik-M-Aid),

UNSAFE FOODS
ICE CREAM is NOT allowed!!!
gluten
wheat
barley
rye
oats
Milk
Cheese
Yogurt
Casein
ANYTHING listed with Soy (no soy protein, lethithin or oils)
Flour tortillas (corn is fine)
enriched white flour
all purpose flour
cookies
bread
buns
cake/cupcakes
crackers
cereal
doughnuts
pop tarts
pretzels (unless Wylde brand)
pancakes
waffles
pie
pasta noodles
spaghetti
Chocolate
Twizzlers
candy not on safe list
cheese sauces
processed cheese
hot dogs (unless Ball Park-all beef only)
gravy
soup
margarine
malt vinegar
vegetable oil
spices (unless McCormick Brand)
flavorings
MSG
Salad dressings
Mayonnaise
Tator Tots
French Fries
pickles

SCHOOL PRODUCTS
CRAYOLA (800-CRAYOLA)
ALL Crayola products are GF EXCEPT Crayola Dough. This includes:
Markers; Washable markers; 3D markers; Chalk; Oil pastels; Mess Free
Color Wonder; Jumping Colors; Model Magic; Crayons (regular, washable and
metallic); Colored Pencils; Glue Paint; Silly Putty
colored pencils, specific names are- so big colored pencils, washable markers, (washable markers, pipsqueak washable markers, doodling washable markers, slip top washable markers, and heads and tails washable markers)
The washable markers, Color Wonders and colored pencils are NOT soy free

ELMER
ALL Elmer brand products are GF EXCEPT Finger
Paints which contain wheat. This includes: Tempera paints; Paint
pens; All glue; Mucilage; All purpose Glue Stick; Glitter; Glitter
Shakers

PALMER PAINT (800-521-1383)
All Palmer Paints are gluten free.

ROSS PRODUCTS (888-435-6377)
ALL Ross products are GF EXCEPT for the Finger Paints. This
includes:
Ross White Glue; Glue Sticks; School Glue

LAKESHORE Learning Materials
(800-428-4414) ink pads contain wheat protein.

CENTER ENTERPRISES
(800-542-2214) would not guarantee whether or not
their ink pads contain wheat.

MAGIC; Crayons (regular, washable and metallic); Colored Pencils; Glue
Paint; Silly Putty
NOTE: (VP=05/02) Washable Finger Paints contain Dextrins.

10

My kids are all allergic to gluten and dairy. Some of mine were cleared of some of them successfully when they were older but I’ve spent their whole lives dealing with this. Even now, of my 5 kids, one of them (my baby hasn’t been treated yet only tested) is still allergic to dairy and 4 of them still allergic to gluten. I pretty much make everything from scratch. I’d make meats, chuck roast in the crockpot that shreds and pulls apart easily, ground beef, canned chicken or regular chicken. I chop lots of fresh veggies, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, garlic, onions and make fresh salsa with tomatoes, avocados, green onions etc. I’d put the meat on rice, and top with the veggies. You can add seasonings and homemade dressing with olive oil, apple cidar vinegar. If you stick with rice or corn chips or potato chips or mix it with lettuce for a salad etc. You can make cookies, cakes etc. with rice flour instead of wheat flour. You can use Agave Nectar for sweetener. Mix rice flour, agave nectar, oil, eggs (use more than normal to help it be moist and fluffy rather than hard and heavy) baking soda and fruit. Fresh fruit and veggies is good. You can also pick up rice noodles for spaghetti. You can also make rice and beans or chili. You can dress it up differently each time too. Good luck!!

11

TACA (Talk About Curing Autism) has a wonderful website full of GFCF tips, foods, menus, budget and guidance on how to implement the diet. It does work when you do it correctly. You might not see true results for 4-5 months. It takes that long for gluten to leave the system but most ppl see results within a week.
Also, get your daughter on a listening program like ILS or The Listening Program. Get her into a reflex integration program like INPP or Masgutova and a sensory integration based OT. Look for a SIPT certified OT who also knows The Astronaut Program.

12

theres a group on yahoo, its called foodlab, thats great. These women/moms (mostly) are amazing and can give you all types of information, recipes, alternatives, support, whatever you need. check them out.

13

Hi! I also just started the diet for my 2 1/2 yr old girl and we are super excited with the results.

OK a couple of other suggestions too…Gain & cascade are also safe according to the emails I received from their customer service departments. California Baby, Jason Naturals and 100% Pure brands are all GFCF…for pizza try Amy’s Organinc rice crust spinach pizza (it’s gfcf) and it tastes great. Also try Ian’s Naturals for fish sticks and chicken nuggets. Applegate farms are also a wonderful place to go for sandwich meat, bacon, burgers, nuggets and so on. Really good. Oh and UDI’s do wonderful bread and really naughty treats. Dr Lucy’s does great (wouldn’t know the difference) cookies.

BUT the MOST exciting thing I have found was a complete accident it’s called Cecilia’s Marketplace and it offers a bible of sorts that you can throw in your bag for when you go shopping. It does various different diets from gluten to gluten & casein to gluten, casein & soy!! It’s $24.95 plus shipping and they bring out a new edition each year. It has been the most useful resource I could find. So, look up Cecilia’s Marketplace Gluten and Casein free.

Please let me know if I can help with anything else. This world is new and fascinating…we’re learning together :wink: Good luck!!