New to Diet--QUESTIONS!

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I am *very* new to the GFCF diet... I've been on this listserv for over a

month now, and I try my best to keep up with the posts. There is SO MUCH

INFORMATION to digest, and I'm finally realizing that unless I get up and

running with the diet, I won't know what to try next... so here we go...

My son Hunter will be 4 next month. I've been told by MANY people that he's

not autistic. I know he's not your typical autistic child, but he does

have a few symptoms (he's nonverbal but receptive langauge skills are very

high, stims on TV--his favorite videos--all day long, has trouble

interacting with others, thrives on structure and routine in his life,

etc.), and so I think that this diet might help him. It's worth a try, at

least!

Currently Hunter is on a " healthy diet " --he has no preservatives,

artificial flavors/colors, refined or processed foods or sugars, etc.

Thus, I think that the diet won't be INCREDIBLY difficult to implement.

The hardest part for us will be the casein. Hunter's beverage of choice; in

fact, the ONLY thing he'll drink, is cow's milk. He refuses water, juice,

soda, etc. He also loves yogurt (didn't even mind the switch to plain).

This is one reason why I really think that the diet might help him (because

of his milk cravings).

A typical Hunter breakfast right now is a bowl of Mother's brand oatmeal

mixed with pureed baby fruit and chopped bananas to sweeted it, and a piece

of GFCF toast with Land of Lakes Unsalted butter. He'll also eat waffles

(Van's), and eggs (scrambled). Besides the oatmeal, are any of these

things " forbidden " on the diet??? The oatmeal can be replaced with cream of

rice or baby rice cereal.

A typical Hunter lunch right now is one of five main dishes: spaghetti with

ground meat and tomato paste, chicken stew (chicken breast, potatoes, corn,

broccoli), beef stew (stewing beef plus same as chicken stew), chicken and

rice (rice is Lundberg brand Quick Brown Rice), or tuna and rice. We

rotate these five things throughout the week (making them in bulk). Along

with the main dish, he has mashed potatoes with butter, 1/2 jar of pureed

baby veggies, a bowl of plain yogurt mixed with 1/2 jar of pureed baby

fruit, a bowl of plain unsweetened applesauce mixed with 1/2 jar of pureed

baby fruit and some bananas, and for dessert usually a GFCF cookie.

*questions... can he still have spaghetti? Which brand(s)? I can

substitute the yogurt for WholeSoy's Creamy Cultured Soy (has anyone tried

this? is it good? do they carry it at Wild Oats?). Is there anything else

that he's eating that he CAN'T have?

Also, what about " snacks " ... right now, Hunter has organic graham crackers

or organic animal cookies. He's not a " snacky " person, so these suffice

for him when he has snack at school (only a few usually if any). What do

your kids eat, what do you recommend? (I need BRAND names!)

Finally, the beverage issue... from what I gather, we can choose to change

to one of four " non-milk " substitutes: rice milk, soy milk, almond milk,

and potato milk. I am leaning away from soy, as we tried going CF over a

year ago using soy milk and he had NASTY diapers during that time, so I'm

thinking he might be allergic. Friends have told me that the potato milk is

really good... any advice on types or brands??? Also, would it be cheaper

to buy it at Wild Oats or online?

I'm sorry this is so long... I just want to have a good idea of what we're

getting into...

Thanks,

Marcie, mommy to Hunter (almost 4, agenesis of the corpus callosum, sensory

integration dysfunction, autistic symptoms)

[Guest guest]

Hi...I'm going to break your post down in segments and respond:

> The hardest part for us will be the casein. Hunter's beverage of

choice; in

> fact, the ONLY thing he'll drink, is cow's milk. He refuses water,

juice,

> soda, etc. He also loves yogurt (didn't even mind the switch to

plain).

> This is one reason why I really think that the diet might help him

(because

> of his milk cravings).

My son was the same way and we removed casein first, replacing with

soy or rice milk (now we use only rice milk). Taking away milk and

then the other casein foods had the biggest effect on my son and it

happened relatively quick. We did this about a month before we began

removing gluten.

>

> A typical Hunter breakfast right now is a bowl of Mother's brand

oatmeal

> mixed with pureed baby fruit and chopped bananas to sweeted it, and

a piece

> of GFCF toast with Land of Lakes Unsalted butter. He'll also eat

waffles

> (Van's), and eggs (scrambled). Besides the oatmeal, are any of

these

> things " forbidden " on the diet??? The oatmeal can be replaced with

cream of

> rice or baby rice cereal.

The oatmeal is not gluten free, so I would replace. I would also

replace the Land of Lakes butter with Fleischman's unsalted or

another safe alternative (for a complete list, go to gfcfdiet.com).

The Vans gluten free waffles are very good also.

>

> A typical Hunter lunch right now is one of five main dishes:

spaghetti with

> ground meat and tomato paste, chicken stew (chicken breast,

potatoes, corn,

> broccoli), beef stew (stewing beef plus same as chicken stew),

chicken and

> rice (rice is Lundberg brand Quick Brown Rice), or tuna and rice.

We

> rotate these five things throughout the week (making them in bulk).

Are you using gluten free spaghetti? Your health food store should

carry several brands or check Miss Roben's (missroben.com). My

family loves Miss Roben's. Their catalog is easy to read and clearly

tells what is gluten free, dairy free, corn free, egg free, etc.

It's a really good place to start if you are unsure about different

brands.

Along

> with the main dish, he has mashed potatoes with butter, 1/2 jar of

pureed

> baby veggies, a bowl of plain yogurt mixed with 1/2 jar of pureed

baby

> fruit, a bowl of plain unsweetened applesauce mixed with 1/2 jar of

pureed

> baby fruit and some bananas, and for dessert usually a GFCF cookie.

Replace the butter and substitute the yogurt...I'm not sure if Whole

Soy is acceptable or how it tastes...you can check the gfcfdiet.com

site for your options here.

>

> Also, what about " snacks " ... right now, Hunter has organic graham

crackers

> or organic animal cookies. He's not a " snacky " person, so these

suffice

> for him when he has snack at school (only a few usually if any).

What do

> your kids eat, what do you recommend? (I need BRAND names!)

Does he like pretzels? The Ener-G pretzels are good. We use those,

Pamela's cookies, Lays potato chips, Ener-G crackers with peanut

butter and the mixes from Miss Roben's as snacks.

>

> Finally, the beverage issue... from what I gather, we can choose to

change

> to one of four " non-milk " substitutes: rice milk, soy milk, almond

milk,

> and potato milk. I am leaning away from soy, as we tried going CF

over a

> year ago using soy milk and he had NASTY diapers during that time,

so I'm

> thinking he might be allergic. Friends have told me that the potato

milk is

> really good... any advice on types or brands??? Also, would it be

cheaper

> to buy it at Wild Oats or online?

We don't have a Wild Oats here, so I'm not sure about price. We use

Naturally Preferred Vanilla Rice milk. We find this at our local

grocery and I verified the GFCF status. When we used soy, we used

Soy Dream. Pacific is another option. You will probably have to

shop around. Check the health food section of your grocery

store...you may be surprised. Always confirm the GFCF status though.

>

> I'm sorry this is so long... I just want to have a good idea of

what we're

> getting into...

I know how you feel! We went GFCF a year and a half ago and I still

have questions. Feel free to Email me personally any time.

Cathy

Mom to Dallas, 3-1/2.