My son saw the neurologist yesterday about his problems with writing and his suspected learning disorder. The neuro latched on to the idea of Aspergers, and wants to try My son on a gluten-free/CF diet. From what I am reading, I don't think Aspergers is a good fit for my son, but I am going to give the diet a try for a few months like the doctor asked.

I am so overhelmed about having to learn how to read labels AGAIN. Most of what he likes to eat has dairy in it. It seem like milk can hide in even more sneaky places than gluten.

Can anyone point me to a good starter guide? Do you have any good gluten-free/CF subs for:

chocolate candy
cheese
ice cream

He has his learning disability assessment next week (it takes 6 hours!), so I hope to know more then. We are not making any changes to his diet until then, so I have a few days to learn all I can about Casein.

Any help will be appreciated.

If you google on GFCF diet, you can find some good resources.

For chocolate, stick with dark chocolate (and real the label -- some silly companies, like Hershey's, will still put some dairy in). For cheese, try soy or rice based cheeses (just read the label to make sure they don't have casein added); it also probably is good to wait a bit, since the nondairy cheeses don't really taste like dairy cheese -- one needs to forget "real" cheese For ice cream, just look at soy or rice based frozen desserts, or go with sorbets.

I don't find that casein is really hidden. If there isn't a dairy sort of word in the ingredients (milk, cheese, whey, yogurt, butter, cream, lactose) or the word casein or caseinate, it is probably safe. Foods regulated by the FDA need to have the presence of a milk ingredient noted. USDA-regulated products aren't covered by allergen labeling law yet, so one has to be a bit more vigilant. (The way jurisdiction sorts out is rather complex, but anything with meat or poultry in it, plus egg products, is potentially regulated by the USDA.) In practice, it could be that companies do disclose casein even if they legally aren't yet forced to do so by the USDA. I really don't know because I eat only FDA-regulated foods. Perhaps someone else has greater insight on this issue.

Here is one description of what to avoid on a milk allergy diet (obviously, gluten-free adds to the list):
http://www.ohsu.edu/health/health-topics/t...mp;parent=12351

I have read that ghee doesn't contain casein, but is 100% fat. Some casein-intolerant people cook with it. I find it looks kind of gross to me, but then I don't cook with fat anyway. What I get is when I go out to restaurants. I'm sure I'm getting ghee when I go to Indian restaurants, but it doesn't seem to bother me.

Chocolate:
http://www.veganessentials.com/catalog/tro...colate-bars.htm
http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommer...;prrfnbr=457241
I've found these bars in health food stores.

Ice cream:
http://www.sogoodbeverage.com/desserts_vanilla.cfm
http://www.sogoodbeverage.com/desserts_chocolate.cfm
I've found this ice cream in regualr grocery stores. It's good!

Here is a good site www.pecanbread.com.

Almost all corn is now GMO (genetically modified) and high in mold. This can have an affect on the brain. There is a very good thread here if you want to read more about it. http://z11.invisionfree.com/Health_411/ind...p?showtopic=179 and here http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/ki...;highlight=corn

My kids and I are CF (99%), gluten-free, DF, and SF. I do give my kids goat cheese because it is easier to digest. Not daily though. It's hard to find bread and cracker type products that are corn free. Seems like that is the substitute they put in everything that doesn't have gluten.

I can be done though. For ice cream we do Rice Dream Ice Cream. I sometimes make a milkshake by mixing the ice cream with a good protein (UltraCare for kids), probiotics, coconut oil or milk, almond milk and whatever else you can throw in there. The kids LOVE it. It's healthy, too. The Ultracare for Kids is very hypoallergenic and has good protein and fats (mine are underweight) for brain function.

Do you supplement with a good quality fish oil? What about magnesium?

There is a lot of good information here on other causes of autism.

http://www.generationrescue.org/
http://www.prisonplanet.com/articles/septe...0907Mercury.htm

Good luck!

April

I love the Enjoy Life chocolate chips:
http://www.enjoylifefoods.com/our_foods/chocolate_chips.html

They are gluten-free, CF, SF, etc (no allergens), they melt beautifully, & taste delicious.
I get them at Whole Foods market (you can order online too).

Good luck with your son's testing; keep us posted on what they find out.
Does he have an IEP (individual education plan) in place at school already?
Make sure the school meets all of his educational needs - it's required by law.

Horsegirl