What happens when there is a setback?
Someone who contacted gfcfadmin wanted to know what could be done for a child who had mistakenly ingested gluten/casein while on a gluten-free casein-free diet. The child in question had been gfcf for over a year and was making tremendous progress in all social, academic and motor skill areas, and his digestive system had been healing nicely. Suddenly one meal of gluten/casein, and they saw the diarrhoea come back, all focus on schoolwork was lost, the child was acting giggly and was unable to sit in a chair, stimming increased to pre-diet levels overnight. The teachers could only describe it as a “drunk” reaction, which is exactly what gluten/casein does to some autistic brains - has an opiate or alcoholic effect. The child had to be removed from his regular classroom setting to a special day class, upsetting to both child and parents. Well there is something that can immediately be done without resorting to chemical intervention. According to a Board Certified Pediatrician and Specialist in Medical and Environmental Aspects of Autism, there are enzymes available that help to “absorb” and neutralize the contaminants. One enzyme in particular covers a whole panacea of carb allergic reactions, and it’s name is Threelac. This enzyme is available to order from many websites direct to your door, often within 1 day. Its effect can be immediate too, but usually there is a positive result within 48-72 hours depending on the amount of gluten/casein in the system. When all else has failed, and every specialist in your child’s life is at a loss for what to do, don’t think chemicals. There is more and more research on the Bio-Medical intervention that can help support children through these difficult patches. If this is something that has happened to you, check it out!
Is it Really Dairy-Free?
Sometimes when we are reading food labels, we think that what the label says must mean what we think it means. Not so! Be aware that when a product is labelled dairy-free, it does not mean it is necessarily casein-free. Of course you’d think the easiest solution is to call the 1-800 manufacturer’s number on the side of the item, but you’d be surprised how often they don’t know what you’re talking about. Often they make the same mistake as the consumer - surely dairy-free means no casein. Casein is a milk protein that can be separated and used apart from the milk it has come from, and is used in a staggering number of products that you would not normally associate with a dairy protein. Casein is used in everything from adhesives and emulsions to plastics and of course, food. When casein is used in a non-dairy product, there is no legal obligation for the manufacturer to state the presence of the milk protein, as it is considered a trace amount - and therein lies the problem. No need to label trace amounts means a problem for casein allergy sufferers. Indeed TACA states that casein “is a term the dairy industry invented to indicate less than 1/2 % milk by weight, which could mean fully as much casein as whole milk”.
Here are some other names that casein - or a substance which contains casein - goes by on food labels:
whey, curds, sodium caseinate, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, lactose (sodium lactylate), lactalbumin, galactose, hydrolized caseinate.
There are new substances containing whey or one of the above coming onto the market all the time. Only by asking the question “Does this contain casein?”, will we receive the right up-to-date and accurate information from the consumer’s - and not the marketer’s or manufacturer’s - point of view.
The Survival Instinct
Today researchers are trying to diagnose autism as early as babyhood, in an effort to reach the brain at its most malleable state. The idea is to completely re-engineer the brain and “re-wire” the child so that they are able ultimately to function socially at much higher levels than autism normally allows. GFCF admin has spoken to a number of mothers who noticed that right from the start, their babies did not want to nurse. If we accept that gluten and casein allergies are a factor in a significant number of autistic people, then this ocurrence should be seen not as incidental or coincidental, but as startling and revealing evidence to be taken into consideration with other aspects that match the ASD criteria. Until now, it is not an advertised fact anywhere that babies CAN be allergic to human breast milk. We have all heard of allergies to cow’s milk, where many babies are put onto soy formula. But human breast milk is thought of as the best of the best, nothing is stronger than the survival instinct and the natural drive of the new-born infant to search out the sustenance from its mother. Doctors therefore believe that it is the mother who is at fault, who is unsuccessful in her attempt to breast-feed, when the baby seems to turn its head away and scream. Two facts for you: first, human breast milk contains casein. Second, many people - as we know - are allergic to casein, causing the increase of autistic stimming and other symptoms. Rather than beating themselves up about their inability to feed their child, professionals and researchers as well as parents, should be looking for signs of ASD - the allergic reaction to breast milk has surely got to be one of the first vital symptoms of a child with possible autism.