How do you start the GFCF Diet?

[Guest guest]

Where do I begin? Our son who is 3 was just diagnosed

with Autism. I would like to start this diet. Just

am alot confussed at where to begin. PLEASE someone

email me personally if you could. Someone told me

Copps stores sell alot of GFCF foods. There is not a

store like that in our town but Sunday we will be

going to a town where there is one. Thanks for any

help anyone can give me. Cindy in Wisconsin Son:

Gavin 3 Autism

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[Guest guest]

Cindy,

The first thing to do if you haven't already is read the books

" Unraveling the Mysteries of Autism and PDD " by Karyn Seroussi and " Special

Diets for Special Kids " by . There are some other must reads out

there, but those are the first two. The next thing you need to do is decide

if this is right for you and your family. If everyone is not on board with

you, it will never work. If your husband or your Mother-in-Law or your

child's teachers are constantly saying " A little bit won't hurt. " , it's the

same as not being on the diet at all. One molecule of gluten is too much.

It is definitely a lifestyle change. I compare it to quitting smoking or

drinking or deciding to lose weight. It takes commitment.

If you still want to do it( which I highly recommend) then it's easier

to remove casein first. That's not just milk, yogurt and cheese. It's whey

and caseinates and other less obvious things. I highly recommend keeping a

detailed food diary. Keep track of every bite your child eats. I'm not a

control freak by nature, but you kind of have to be on this diet. Also keep

a journal of daily events. And do a baseline ATEC (Autism Treatment

Evaluation Checklist) available on the GF/CF Diet website. Do them again

periodically to measure your progress. My son ' baseline ATEC was in

the 80's, now, not quite a year later he's down in the low 40's.

Learn the fine art of label reading. I have a book called " The

Dictionary of Food Ingredients " , but that's a hard one to get a hold of. I

think there are other publications out there. Anyway you've got your

listmates. If your not sure about a certain ingredient, post your question

and I bet you get an answer. Don't be afraid to rely on your listmates.

They've been there-done that and they're not afraid to pass on what they've

learned from the school of hard knocks.

That should be enough to get your started. I know it sounds like a

lot, but... you asked. :-)

Keep your chin up,

Pat in Ohio (Dad to 3 1/2 asd, Tori 6 1/2 nt and hubby to )

[Guest guest]

Go to www.gfcfdiet.com. On the main page, there is a link to the

University of Sunderland. There you will find an explanation of how

to phase in the diet over several weeks.

Also at gfcfdiet you will find lists of " acceptable " foods. Many

things in your cupboards and refrigerator may be on that list. Also,

you may find gfcf substitutes for favorite foods.

The yahoo group gfcfrecipe can help you change favorite recipes to

gfcf and make the switch to a gfcf kitchen.

Don't worry, there's lots of help among the listmates here and on

related lists.

> Where do I begin? Our son who is 3 was just diagnosed

> with Autism. I would like to start this diet. Just

> am alot confussed at where to begin. PLEASE someone

> email me personally if you could. Someone told me

> Copps stores sell alot of GFCF foods. There is not a

> store like that in our town but Sunday we will be

> going to a town where there is one. Thanks for any

> help anyone can give me. Cindy in Wisconsin Son:

> Gavin 3 Autism

>

>

> __________________________________________________

>