Do Casein Free and Gluten Free Diets really work?

Many parents of children with autism choose to restrict their child's diet to eliminate Gluten (wheat protein) and Casein (milk protein). Claims have also been made that once a child has been put on this restrictive diet, their autism has been "cured", so is there any truth to this?

Well, first, let me state that unlike other "alternative treatments" for autism, if the parent ensures that the child still gets adequate nutrition, restricting gluten or casein from the diet (as far as I know) does not cause any significant risk or harm to the child. But does it help?

The jury is still out. To my knowledge, there have only been two controlled studies investigating the effect of this type of diet on children with autism. The first was a small study that did find fewer "autistic behaviors" in children on the gluten and casein free diet, however, one major criticism of this study was that it was only a single blind study, meaning the parents knew whether their children were on the GFCF diet or not, and this information may have influenced their reports. Another more recent study that was double blind found no significant difference between the group with the GFCF diet and another group without this diet.

So, what should parents do? In my opinion, this diet could help with digestive problems that some children with ASD might have, and if the child is uncomfortable because of the digestive problems, this could be contributing to their behavioral symptoms. So, if you believe that your child (as some children with ASD) has trouble digesting certain foods, and there is a way to eliminate this food without any harm to the nutrition of your child, it may be worth a try. Also, parent should be smart, read up on the topic, and realize that this type of diet is extremely hard to diligently stick to and can get quite expensive.

In the end, do I believe this diet cures autism? No. But could it help? Maybe. And could it harm? Assuming your child gets enough calcium, vitamin D, and other nutrition from the rest of their diet, as far as I know, this diet does not have detrimental effects.

As usual, I am open to any comments you have regarding this or any other topic relating to autism spectrum disorders.