What are some autism diet foods to avoid? Keep reading for my best tips and hacks for a successful autism diet. Commonly referred to as the gluten free casein free diet, there are other autism diets but this is the most popular. Starting an autism diet can be challenging but it can also be rewarding and even life changing for some children on the autism spectrum. However, it can be difficult to actually succeed with it.
One of the biggest autism foods to avoid is anything that contains whey or casein. This can be a tough one since whey and or casein is often added to a lot of otherwise safe foods. Also some foods will be labeled as lactose free, or safe for people with lactose intolerance and these foods still often contain some whey or casein. This is especially the case with foods such as chocolate, canned soups, and other gluten free packaged foods. From my experience gluten free is easier than casein free. This is especially true in 2021 since gluten free has become popular enough that lots of things have gluten free versions that didn’t as recently as 2015.
To start with you can check out this list of optimal foods for autism.
I’ve also found that the easiest way to make an autism diet work is to focus on single ingredient foods. That is you should avoid anything that is packaged or canned, or boxed and focus on fruits, vegetables, meats, whole gluten free grains, nuts, seeds and eggs. That said, you can of course combine ingredients to make meals but buying mostly foods that don’t have an ingredients label is the best bet.
You should also consider buying at least some of your fruits and vegetables organic. While I don’t believe organic is always necessary nor do you need everything to be organic, children with autism often are extra sensitive to chemicals so buying organic and washing everything thoroughly is also a good idea. The fruits and vegetables I especially like to buy organic are apples, spinach, strawberries and celery. This in particular are often sprayed with a lot of pesticides.
Research which foods are often sprayed with glyphosate. Wheat is a big one which is part of the reason so many people have gluten intolerance. However, there are others out there and you want to avoid these at all costs.
Learn to read food labels so you really understand what is in the foods you are buying that have a label.
You also should do your best to avoid sugar and dyes as well as anything on this list of foods that can make autism worse.
That said, once you know what foods to serve and what autism foods to avoid, how do you actually make this diet work for your child?
I’ve written some other articles that go into more details such as this one. However at a fundamental level, the main things you want to do are:
- Involve your child with the meal prep, shopping and cooking.
- Include as many of your child’s favorite foods as possible. If your child really loves pizza and chicken nuggets for example, find ways to make them gluten free and casein free. Pinterest is your best friend here.
- Go slowly and avoid too much change at once.
- Be committed for the long term and accept that you may get some meltdowns at meal time along the way.
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