Does a little REALLY hurt?~for Sandy

[Guest guest]

On 04 Oct 01 08:50:01 -0700 Sandy

writes:

> I have a general question regarding all this cross contamination

> talk. Do we really need to be so concerned about a possible tiny

> bit of wheat or dairy that we turn the other way on 2/3rds of the

> foods that claim to be gfcf as well? Where does one draw the line?

Sandy,

I do not want to flame you at all. What I think a lot of people

(especially researchers) don't realize about the diet is that it is a

medical intervention. It is not merely a dietary intervention for

behavioral gains. The behavioral gains are just the icing. Maybe

conventional science has not " proven " the diet works, but the evidence

both scientifically and practically is very strong. I was really helped

when I went to a medical conference on autism last fall. There were DAN!

researchers there and one spoke about how the proteins have peptide

chains in them that are IDENTICAL to the opiate in morphine or heroine.

He had isolated the animo acid chain (peptide). He explained it very

well for the parents in the audience. The tape is available online, I'll

give you the link if you want to order. I believe the speaker was Jeff

Bradstreet. His web site is http://www.gnd.org/

When one is dealing with amino acids at a microscopic level, and the

peptides made up of those amino acids, you are dealing on the microscopic

level. These " toxins " affect their brains. Using this reasoning (and

the testimonies of thousands of parents), it seems clear that a little

does hurt.

I look at it like if my child had an allergy to peanuts and would die if

he ate any. Would it be okay to give him just a little for convenience's

sake? Of course our kids will not die if they eat gluten or casein, but

it does affect their brains, and I don't want to take chances there

either.

It is natural for a child to feel different when he can't eat what other

children are eating. We have always approached it with our son as a

" special diet. " We cook him special treats that are only for him. He

thinks they are yummy and feels special because they are just for him.

That seems to help set him up for the times when he can't have what

others are having. I try to give him a substitute. The only thing I

have not been able to replace is cheese. I made doughnuts last night and

they were really yummy, like elephant ears.

I also tell my son that people are all different. I point to out that he

has a child in a wheelchair in his school, and some kids (like his

brother) that take medicine, some kids are good at soccer, and some

aren't, some kids like pokemon and other don't. I think if we talk

openly and frequently about these things then they will feel better about

it. But, the bottom line is still that we are doing this for their

health, so it is up to us as their parents to do what is right for them

even if it is an inconvenience to us, or annoying to them.

Here is the link for the videos. They are not expensive, only $20 for a

set of 5 one hour videos.

http://www.autism-oasis.org/autism-oasis2000/default.htm

Hope that helps.....it's at least what I think since you asked ;o)

Best of luck to you in your journey.

Amy