Gluten Free Casein Free Diet (GFCF)

The result of humility is fear of the Lord,

along with wealth, honor and life.

                                            Proverbs 22:4

Learning a new way of cooking, thinking and getting your "picky eater" to try something new, can be overwhelming and challenging. Luckily, there are MANY websites out there that will help you navigate through the Gluten Free Casein Free Diet and many stores have GFCF pre-packaged foods and snacks. 

Miles' D.A.N Doctor oversees and directs dietary changes based on his test results.


What is GFCFSF?

1. Gluten is more than just wheat – it’s grains like wheat, barley, oats and rye. Labels that say “wheat-free” do not necessarily mean gluten-free and certainly not GFCF. Gluten-free also includes things that do not have gluten in them but are either grown near them or processed in a facility with them, contaminating them, such as millet and oats.

2. Casein is the protein found in all things dairy – more specifically, anything juiced from a mammal – including cow’s milk, sheep, goat and human breast milk. Dairy-free isn’t casein-free. Lactose is milk sugar. Lactose-free isn’t casein-free either.

3. Soy might need to be removed.  

4. Phenols, Salicylates & Additives might need to be removed.

5. Organic doesn’t mean GFCF. Organic milk still comes from a cow and organic wheat is still wheat. 

6. Reading labels and understanding the difference is crucial. 

Learn To Read Ingredient Labels

Learning to read labels will save you much time and effort and that means you can go anywhere confidently. If a store or restaurant sells a food, they must be able to provide you with the exact ingredients list for each food so you can determine if it meets your child’s allergy issues or not. Know that manufacturers can change ingredients without any special alerts, so always check the labels. When in doubt, contact the manufacturer. For the most up-to-date information about food labeling laws and requirements, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA).

Miles has been on the GFCF diet since he was 8 years old. The GFCF diet was done initially for 6 months then it lead him into the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD).

In the beginning we were very strict with cross-contamination and processing practices. Finding foods and recipes that he could eat was tough because there were not as many companies producing GFCF products as there are today. 

Being on a budget means I have to pick and choose what I can afford in order to get the best possible results out of diets or treatments. One of those budgeting factors is Organic food. Organic is expensive so the only items we purchase are Organic Eggs, Chicken, Grass Fed  Meats and the "clean 15" when possible. We chose to go organic for these foods when Miles' heavy metal test showed high arsenic levels. The D.A.N Doctor had us stick with the organic versions of these items and amazingly the arsenic levels decreased. 

Since Miles is no longer as sensitive to Gluten I buy items that are processed in the same facility as their wheat counterparts. I also make most of Miles' meals and desserts and store them in the freezer. The pre-packaged food items are very handy for traveling, quick snacks and those nights where I haven't thawed anything out to cook! 

Again, every child is different and what works for one child may not work for another. As with any treatment or therapy you might have to give it 6 months to a year before you begin seeing changes. For Miles this has been a VERY beneficial treatment and I am glad that the Lord lead us to his wonderful D.A.N Doctor! 

The Bio-Medical approach is not cheap but there are organizations who can help with the cost of some of these treatments (see Autism Resources for more information). 

Diet topics discussed can be located at TACA.