Specific Carbohydrate Diet and Autism...

I recommend a Kinesiologist. Non-evasive testing and totally holistic vitamins are used for treatments. He has helped us tremendously in a lot of areas!
Dr. Lanny Lipson in Warren (at Masonic & Schoenherr) his number is: ###-###-####

Hi,
My daughter sent me this comment to pass on to you.
Hi Kim, My name is Cheryl and I am an SCD diet start-up specialist. I'm glad you are researching this as a healing option for your son. What I will tell you next is based on the work of neurologist Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, author of Gut and Psychology Syndrome. Dr. McBride recovered her own son from autism using SCD and now runs a clinic in Cambridge to help recover children from autistic spectrum disorders (ASD), (this includes PDD-NOS), as well as digestive and emotional disorders. According to Dr. McBride she has never seen a case of ASD, etc. where the child did not have a compromised digestive system. When the digestive system is not functioning, undigested food enters into the bloodstream. When this happens it becomes fuel for a plethora of pathogenic bacteria to take residence. This pathogenic bacteria then enters the bloodstream and travels to every organ, including the brain. This affects different children's digestive systems in different ways (reflux, picky eating, constipation, diarrhea), and it affects their brains differently (autism, Asperger's, PDD, ADHD) but the source is the same. The SCD is an amazing healing protocol that starves the pathogenic bacteria by not feeding it the foods that cause the bacterial overgrowth - namely all complex carbs. - grains, sugars, fluid milk, etc. Personally, I have not found any other protocol that heals the root of this problem the way that SCD does. If you are interested, I will be presenting a teleseminar on Sun. Mar. 1 at 1:00 EST on "How to get started with SCD: Doing it right the first time". For more information please visit my website at www.spiritofmotherhood.net Best of luck! Cheryl Cheryl Steinberg, EFT-ADV
SCD Diet Startup Specialist, Wellness Consultant
www.spiritofmotherhood.net
Author of:
Becoming Cinderella
Please order your copy now at:
www.becomingcinderella.com

Look into Jenny McCarthy's book about her son recovering from autism. I know he tested negative for gluten allergies, but when she stopped he completely started to get better. Also, high doses of fish oil (liquid) can really help in the brain connections. Keep doing your research, he can recover!!!!! Good luck!!!

There are dietary supplements that can promise that he will get what he needs regardless of the diet that you choose to follow. If you want to know more, let me tell you.

It's my business and is relevent to your question.

S.
____@____.com

Kim, who is to say that it will help but i really urge you to try it. Gluten and casein are so hard to digest for many kids it can really mess up the brain. I wont get into all the details here but my son was a thriving baby, 90th% etc. around 10 months he started having minor things go on that doctors and everyone kind of blew off and around 15m my very chatty and active child started to regress. at 18 months we removed all grains from his diet and put him on rice milk and rice based foods and within weeks we started to see him become more active and say a little more, it was amazing. he is still in early on but i wouldnt be surprised if he tests out of it soon. Now, he does have digestive issues but i guess my point is that is was SO EASY. There is a store on Hall road called LifeSmart and they have an entire isle and freezer section dedicated to gluten free foods. Whole foods has some and now many stores like Kroger and papa joes have sections. If you would like to email me i will help you as much as possible. it was an overwhelming thought but it was actually easy because the foods take great and after a few weeks, your toddler will, if nothing else, behave better. Good luck!

I was wondering how he was tested to show that he didn't have those allergies. Did you also do the food intolerance test? (Removing those items out of his diet for three weeks and then add them back in, one at a time.) My son showed very little sign of them by the blood test, but when we did the food intolerance test, he had reactions.

Hi Kim -

I have two AI kids and one that is on the AI border. While a strict diet works for some it doesn't work for everyone. If you are having success without a specific diet then I wouldn't worry about trying it. It is very difficult to track all the different foods that are GFCF (gluten free/casien free) and really limits what you can give. If you want to try it for a time and see if you get better results go for it but remember sometimes the struggle to get an AI child to eat GFCF isn't worth the trouble. I'd suggest you also join the Autism-Michigan Yahoo group. You'll get lots of support there and more answers to specific AI questions than you might here.

Good luck - S.

Kudos to you for doing your homework and finding out about SCD. Have you looked into Gut and Psychology Syndrome? Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride took the SCD a step further and focused on how to help kids who have various diagnosis (ADD, ADHD, ASD, etc).

Can an extreme diet help? Yes. I've seen my godson completely reverse autism.

I've been blogging about diet and children's health since 2007. If you want to find out more about my philosophy or want to ask me any questions, fire away!
http://blog.corganic.com/

I also run the site:
http://www.GutAndPsychologySyndrome.com/

It's a Michigan based company, so if you buy the book or DVD, you'll get it pretty quick.

Good luck on your journey.

D.

Dear Kim,
I have a girlfriend whose son was DX: Autistic when he was in preschool. His mother put him on a gluten free diet and he is getting allergy injections too. Now he's in the second grade and just got his final evaluation from the school and no longer considered autistic, and in fact his IQ tested 120. He is less rambunctious in the classroom and behaviorally is a totally a different child. I'm not sure what Pdd-nos stands for but I wish you the best---all I know is that this has worked for this young boy!!! Good luck!
J.

I know my dr office was doing a case study in this, if you want the information pm me. Also the blood test for Celiacs can be inconclusive, you can get a false negative, but not a false positive. The only way to truly test is to test tissue (I belive it is intestinal). I have a friend with Celiacs and have read alot of the research she has done. I have heard of fantastic results with children with autism.

Hi Kim,

Let me start by saying, that you have already received some great advice! (I would note Amy, Onna, Debbie and Dan.) I am a firm believer that foods cause issues. I would, however, like to add a few more suggestions.

Not sure how the glutein and casein allergies were tested, but my hubby had an IGG blood test that uncovered a miriad of problems (food allergies) he didn't know exsisted. Might want to check out that possibility/test.

Another thing is what about a yeast allergy? Again, I mention this beause of my hubby. While he does have problems with glutein and casein (oh yeah..fun cooking for that combo!) he also cannot tollerate yeast!! This is actually his biggest problem, and oddly enough, found in just about everything!

If you would like to research this, I would strongly suggest reading the book "Feast Without Yeast" by Dr. Bruce Semon. Not only does this address yeast allergies, but glutein and casein as well. This book was written because his son had autism...and the book resulted as a quest to help his som. Tons of info here..as well as grocery lists and recipes! This was truly my sanity and lifeline after my husbands diagnosis.

I applaud you as you work diligently to help your child. It is not an easy task, or uncomplicated journey, but any "gain" is truly nothing short of wonderful and miraculous! I hope you find your answer somewhere is these responses! Stay focused!

J.

Your child's allergy test could have come back fine for gluten & casein but not all allergy tests will find that intolerance... I highly suggest trying a special diet. I personally don't know much about the SCD but I do know that GFCF works for MANY kids. I just finished Jenny McCarthy's second book (Mother Warriors) and just like with ther first book about her son, it was enthralling. I've also read "Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Ashtma, and Allergies" by Dr. Kenneth Bock and he outlines a great healing program that includes a change in diet (often GFCF) along with nutritional supplements. If you can, find yourself a DAN! doctor who can really work with you through the program (both Jenny's books along with Dr. Bock's book will point you to resources to find someone in your area). My own nephew was diagnosed as PDD-NOS I think around 2 years old. His mom started the same type of healing program (with a DAN! doctor that is actually highlighted in Dr. Bock's book because her daughters have severe allergies) and his most recent diagnosis at age 5 was "upgraded" to Aspergers. To me, he is a totally different child and it's been amazing to watch his transformation. He is in a typical classroom with just a "shadow" and they hope that he will soon no longer even need that. He's made friends and is involved in activities (something that wasn't ever expected following his initial diagnosis). And you can totally tell when his mother kind of lets him fall off-track with his diet (I admit, it must be hard to tell him he can't have cake with all the other kids at celebrations, etc) because he is just moody and sick the next day and his behaviors regress. I highly recommend trying the diet. It admittedly doesn't help 100% of the kids but it helps SO many that it has to be worth a try. Best of luck and it's most important to remember that YOU are the parent. Don't let any doctor bully you in to simply accepting your child's diagnosis and saying that there's little you can do about it. THOUSANDS of moms and dads have proven that theory wrong!

I've heard so many people talk about the benefits of special diets for autistic kids and how wonderful they are for them.
I am gluten intolerant, it doesn't test as an allergy. But if I eat it anyway I'm hurting. My daughter also didn't test allergic to gluten, but gets hives if she has it. There is a lot of info around the testing for these antibodies, most gluten/ wheat tests aren't done properly for accurate results.
I suggest "The Gluten Connection: How Gluten Sensitivity May Be Sabotaging Your Health--And What You Can Do to Take Control Now" by Shari Lieberman She does a great job covering the testing of gluten allergies & sensitivities.
Most of us that are sensitive to gluten are sensitive to dairy (casein) as the proteins are structured similar.
The best way to check is to do a gluten free diet for a month, keep a food log and journal how you feel. Oh you might want to try it out with him, GI runs in the family.
Gluten sensitivity can cause inflammation throughout the body that can lead to a range of problems. It can result in permanent organ damage and a hyperactivated immune system—even if you have no symptoms.
Some 30% of Americans have gluten sensitivity. And 81% of us have a genetic disposition to this condition.
Oh and it gets worse over time, not better. My family didn't find out until my husband and daughter had hives every day. I had silent symptoms and didn't test positive so my Doc told me I could get gluten there was nothing wrong w/ me. But it wasn't the case, they just didn't know to run the right test. And he is a good allergist too.
http://www.glutensensitivity.net/

www.glutenconnection.com/uof/glutenconnection/

Message me if you'd like some recipes and tips if you decide to try it out. Do it while your husbands out of town for work. It was the best thing I could have done for my health and the health and happiness of my family.
Good luck, A. H

here's another little tid bit I found - association between gluten and schizophrenia
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16423158

Kim,

I've known of several families with young autistic children who have switched them to gluten & casein-free diets. This was completely voluntary because, like your son, their children did not suffer any food allergies.

These parents SWEAR by the diet and claim their children began progressing more and speaking more after a few weeks on the new diet.

I know it's extreme, but it might be worth it to try it for a month. It definitely can't hurt. Good Luck!

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I am a health nut prefering prevention to taking drugs. A grandmother and greatgrandmother working in the health and beauty field for last 28 years. Check out a Holistic Doctor in your area american Association of Naturopathic Phtysicians 866-464-5226. God Bless, Gladys