Mindd Diet Protocols

The growing “special diet” section online and in your local bookshop is reassurance that you are a part of a large and growing group of people whose digestive tracts are demanding that we reconsider our modern diet, medications, environmental toxins and stress levels. By offering a comprehensive overview of some important healing diets and a great selection of cookbooks, we endeavour to give families an idea of how fun and easy “special diets” can be.

There are many dietary protocols and principles that help children with ADHD, asthma, allergies, and autism also help individuals suffering from Coeliac, Colitis, Crohn’s, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, anxiety, and depression.

Individuals dealing with metabolic and digestive disorders require special diets to avoid foods that trigger allergies or harm the digestive tract. There are a number of “elimination” diets that can help in this way. While elimination is sometimes necessary, in many instances certain foods can be reintroduced once the gastrointestinal tract has had time to heal.

In general, we recommend an organic, fresh, whole food diet with no/minimal refined flours and sugars and no processed foods, artificial additives, colourings, or preservatives. And plenty of filtered water containing minerals is essential.

Following here is a valuable dietary protocol, the Gluten-Free Casein-Free (GFCF) diet. The implementation of a GFCF diet involves removing all sources of gluten and casein from a person’s diet. This is a common approach to take whilst treating children with autism.

Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet

Adopting a Gluten-Free Casein-Free (GFCF) diet is a common approach to take whilst treating children with autism.

Leading researchers are seeing nearly 100% correlation between gluten and casein sensitivity in an individual, most likely because the protein molecules in wheat (gluten) and dairy (casein) have a similar molecular structure.

There is also emerging research that damage to the gut microbiome may play a role in an inability to break these proteins down.

The Theory Behind the Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet

The theory behind using a gluten-free casein-free diet for autism is that if a person is experiencing gastrointestinal reactions to gluten and/or casein, it will cause inflammation and damage to the intestinal tract. The inflammation, in turn, may cause nutrient absorption issues, as well as intestinal hyperpermeability or ‘leaky gut’.

Leaky gut can result in large molecules being absorbed into the bloodstream, which are not normally able to pass through. Increased absorption of gluten, casein, and their metabolites into the bloodstream and potentially across a ‘leaky’ blood-brain-barrier, in combination with a pre-existing metabolic defect, may worsen autistic symptoms.  These molecules may interact with a child’s brain and pose negative effects on their mood, and general wellbeing, further provoking anxiety, sensory issues, mental difficulties and worsening behavioural symptoms.

Additionally, abnormal metabolism of gluten and casein may also result in excess opioid activity in the central nervous system, altering its function and causing negative effects on mood and behaviour.

Casein is also rich in glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter which can also increase anxiety.

Eating a gluten-free diet

The gluten-free diet was developed for people with coeliac disease, an autoimmune condition where the immune system reacts to gluten, a protein found in certain grains (wheat, oats, barley, rye). This immune reaction causes damage to the inner wall of the small intestine, in turn, flattening intestinal villi, which are responsible for nutrient absorption. Flattening of the intestinal villi may lead to multiple nutritional deficiencies, as the surface area of the gut becomes greatly reduced. Malabsorption issues usually accompany this.

A diet that is free from gluten strictly omits all gluten-containing grains and their derivatives. It aims to aid with intestinal healing, allowing the villi to grow back, and for nutrient absorption to be optimized.

What is gluten?

Gluten is a rubbery protein present in wheat, rye, barley, and oats as well as other ingredients which are derived from these grains. It is in obvious foods such as breads, pizza, pastas, porridge, cakes, pastries, noodles, and cereals. However, it is also present in some commercial products such as sauces, non-dairy creamers, malt drinks, some chocolates, beer, gravy, mayonnaise, stocks, and it may even be found in some processed meats.

How do I know if something is gluten-free?

In supermarkets, health food stores and grocers, you can identify whether food contains gluten if it fits into one of these 3 categories:

1. Naturally gluten-free foods

These include:

• All fresh fruit and vegetables
• Nuts and seeds
• Unprocessed meat, poultry, and seafood
• Eggs
• Legumes
• Oils
• Herbs (oregano, thyme, basil, dill, sage, coriander etc…)
• Spices (chilli, cloves, star anise, cardamom, coriander, cinnamon, ginger, saffron, turmeric etc…)

Alternatives to gluten-containing grains: Rice, buckwheat, millet, quinoa, amaranth, tapioca, sago, sorghum, arrowroot.

2. Foods which are labelled “gluten-free”

These may include gluten-free:

• Cereals
• Bread
• Sauces
• Noodles
• Pasta
• Beverages (including alcoholic beverages like beer)

3. Gluten-free products by ingredients

If a product is not labelled gluten-free, it does not necessarily mean that it contains gluten. A lot of products in supermarkets or health food stores do not have a gluten-free label placed on them, and it may be worth reading the list of ingredients to check if it does or does not contain gluten.

In Australia, under the Food Standards Code, any ingredient derived from wheat, oats, rye, or barley must be declared. Ingredients, where the source grain is not identified, will be from a grain which does not contain gluten and therefore, it can be assumed that the food is gluten-free. Essentially, if you do not see wheat, rye, oats, or barley on a food label, none of the ingredients in that product are derived from a gluten-containing grain.

Eating a casein-free diet

Casein is a protein, found in the milk of mammals. This differs to lactose, the sugar component of milk. Eliminating casein from the diet requires omitting all dairy products. However, each case must be assessed individually in order to determine whether the benefits of breastfeeding outweigh the effects of casein on the child.

Foods to eliminate include:

• Milk
• Cream
• Butter
• Yoghurt
• Cheese
• Ice cream
• Custard
• Some ingredients containing casein include:
• Magnesium casein ate
• Brown sugar flavouring
• Caramel flavouring
• Chocolate flavouring
• Non-dairy substitutes containing casein ates
• Artificial butter flavour

One day on the Gluten-Free Casein-Free diet