Gluten and casein are both proteins, but gluten is found in wheat, barley and rye, while casein is an ingredient in milk. Some children with autism do not properly digest these proteins and may reabsorb protein fragments that have a negative impact on biological and neurological processes. One treatment method is to remove all guten- and casein-containing foods from the diet.
Stock the Pantry
Check every item in your pantry and refrigerator to determine whether they contain gluten or casein and replace them as needed with gluten-free, casein-free, or GFCF, products. If you're cooking both GFCF and regular meals for your family, keep the GFCF products separated from non-GFCF items, both in storage and when preparing foods. Flour travels through the air, on utensils and on your hands, making it easy for gluten-containing flour to cross-contaminate a GFCF dish.
Remove Gluten
Obvious sources of gluten are bread, flour, pasta and prepared baked goods. Gluten, however, can also be a hidden ingredient because it's used as a stabilizing agent in diverse products from vitamins and medications, to ketchup, deli meats and soups. Check the ingredient lists for these items that contain gluten: caramel color, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, malt, modified food starch, dextrin or maltodextrin and textured vegetable protein. Replace gluten fours with white rice, sorghum, quinoa or bean flour. These flours have different tastes and textures, so mixing several together often creates a better result, according to GFCF Diet. Try a mix of two parts white rice flour, 2/3 parts potato starch flour and 1/3 part of tapioca starch. One cup of this mix can be used to replace one cup of flour in any recipe. You'll also need to replace the gluten by adding 1 tsp. of xantham gum or guar gum for each cup of GFCF flour.
Remove Casein
Use rice, soy or nut milk, or powdered GFCF milk, as substitutes. Several companies offer GFCF butter, cheese and yogurt products. Check food labels for these ingredients that contain casein: hydrolyzed milk protein, lactate, lactose, sodium lactylate, galactose, calcium caseinate, magnesium caseinate or potassium caseinate.
Convenience
You can find a variety of prepackaged and prepared GFCF foods. Keep brownie, cake and cookie mixes or frozen GFCF bread or waffles on hand for convenient meal preparation. Remember that meats prepared without breading or stuffing, fresh fruits and vegetables are all naturally GFCF.
Cross Contamination
Once you begin a GFCF diet, it's important to keep all traces of gluten and casein out of the diet, so watch for cross contamination. Cross contamination at home may be found in the form of non-GFCF crumbs in the same toaster used for GFCF bread, on towels, hands or the surfaces of cooking utensils, pots, plates and cutting boards. Cross-contamination also occurs in manufacturing facilities, restaurants and grocery stores that may prepare GFCF products alongside non-GFCF products. Ask the manager whether the same utensils were used to prepare both, are machines cleaned between different batches of food and whether the same counter space is used.
