If you child has any types of food allergies. This page will
help you find local stores that carry Dairy-Free, Egg-Free,
Gluten-Free, Wheat-Free products. This list is only a guide
to assist in your shopping for products available to you in
the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area. This
information should not be considered medical advice.

Great Cookbooks:

Special Diets for Special Kids
by Lisa Lewis (Author) "In
1991, when he was three and a half years old, my son
Samuel received a diagnosis of PDD-NOS (Pervasive
Developmental Disorder-Not otherwise specified.)..."

Special Diets for Special Kids, Two
by Lisa Lewis (Author) "There is a little question that the
rate of autism has been climbing, although the reasons
behind the increase are the subject of vigorous debate..."

Whole Foods Market is the world's largest retailer of
natural and organic foods,
www.wholefoodsmarket.
com/stores/list_stores./index.html

www.wholefoodsmarket.com/specialdietsSpecial Diets

Our Special Diets pages provide store-specific shopping
lists and overview information for those on special diets.
We believe that food should bring pleasure along with
good health, and these guides are intended as a resource
to help everyone experience as many healthy, natural food
choices as possible.

Store-Specific Shopping Lists

* Dairy-Free
* Gluten-Free
* Gluten and Casein-Free
* Low Fat
* Soy
* Low Sodium
* Sugar-Conscious
* Vegetarian

Trader Joe's, Our logo assures that the products it is on
contain NO artificial flavors, colors or preservatives; NO
MSG; and NO added Trans Fats. In addition, ALL Trader
Joe's private label products are sourced from non-
genetically modified ingredients.

No Gluten Ingredients Used
Products in which no ingredients or sub-ingredients
contain gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley and
their derivatives such as malt or spelt.
Click here for
product list.

Low Sodium Products that contain 140 mg or less of
sodium per serving.  
Click here for product list  

Fat Free Products that contain less than .5 gram of fat
per serving.
Click here for product list.  

Vegetarian Products in which no ingredients or sub-
ingredients are animal derived from meat, poultry or fish
(may contain eggs or dairy).
Click here for product list.

Vegan
Products that are free of all animal products and /or by-
products, including meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, honey,
gelatin, lanolin, confectioner’s glaze and carmine. Click
here for product list.

My Organic Market, (MOM's) offers only the best in 100%
ORGANIC produce, natural and organic grocery items, and
a full line of supplements and beauty products. Stop by and
experience one of the areas most unique health and
natural food stores.

Locations: MOM's - My Organic Market,
www.myorganicmarket.com
Frederick, MD 21703, (240) 566-1444
Columbia East, MD 20794, (410) 799-2175
College Park, MD 20740, (301) 220-1100
Alexandria, VA 22305, (703) 535-5980
Rockville, MD 20852, (301) 816-4944

Institute for Asthma & Allergy,
11002 Veirs Mill Road, Suite 414, Wheaton, MD 20902,
301-962-5800; 5454 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 700 Chevy
Chase, MD 20815, 301-986-9262,
www.allergyasthma.us

www.generationrescue.com  Find a local mentor for
biomedical interventions

www.healthfulliving.org/recipes/recipes/index  
Gluten Free Casein Free recipes

BOOK: Eat Healthy Feel Great by William Sears, M.D.

The Complete Food Allergy Cookbook – Marilyn Gioannini

9 Simple Steps to a Healthier Family Diet (DVD)


Mary Romaniec, author of Autism is Treatable, shared
this with me when I did this with our son. I learned that he
had a dairy sensitivity and had no problems with Gluten or
Casien. Remember to talk to your doctor before starting
this.

Week 1 - 2  When I mentored families the first thing I
suggested to begin the diet was to remove all milk based
products.  So for the first two weeks this is the only focus.  
Further I don’t recommend replacing these items with fully
soy based products like soy milk or soy yogurt as soy has
a molecular structure similar to casein and should be kept
to a bare minimum in order for the child to not become
sensitive to the soy (many children on the spectrum are
sensitive to soy).

For milk replacement:  Rice Milk  (check to be sure they
are gluten free too)  Almond Milk  Darifree  

For butter replacement:  Margarines that do not have
whey like Earth Balance, Organic Smart Balance and Non-
Salted Fleichmann’s.  Ghee is also a choice.  Even though
it is a dairy derivative the casein protein has been
removed.  
For ice cream replacement:  Sorbet  Frozen fruit bars as
long as there is no cream in them.     

Further it is recommended by physicians who work with
children with autism to add in a calcium supplement  to
make up for the possible lack of calcium in their diets
initially.  It also may help to avoid eye stemming like
rubbing or poking at the eyes.   During the first two weeks
of the diet I encourage parents to read up further on the  
WHY to do the GFCF diet.  Lisa Lewis’ book is excellent
resource for this, although she and I differ on the
implementation of the diet.  It is her thought to remove one
grain at a time, while I believe it is best to focus on one
meal at a time (as illustrated in what follows).  Next, I
encourage parents to begin stocking up on gluten free
foods.  Buy ready-to-eat and package mixes only.  No
gluten free flours yet.    Also, it is wise to check out www.
gfcfdiet.com just to become familiar with some of the
brands considered gluten and casein free.  Not all brands
of foods and other items are listed but it is a fairly good
starting point.  You will also be contacting manufacturers of
your favorite foods just to see if certain foods are
gluten/casein free (i.e. Lay’s Potato Chips and Fritos are
fine).  What is also nice is a lot of regular grocery stores
are stocking gluten free foods on their shelves and even
dedicating entire sections of their grocery shelves for these
foods.  Don’t hesitate to ask your local store if they carry
these foods and to request them if they don’t.   

Week 3  Find five gluten and casein free foods that your
child will eat for breakfast and serve it:  ·                    
Frozen GFCF waffles with margarine and real maple
syrup  ·       Bacon and eggs (GFCF Bacon) and GFCF
hash browns   like Cascadian Farms
Cream of Rice Cereal
McCann’s Quick Cooking Oatmeal  ·            
Many of the Envirokids Cereals with rice milk or almond
milk (check to make sure Rice Dream brand is the gluten
free version).  ·                   
 GFCF pancakes made from a mix or the frozen kind at
Trader Joes.  ·                   
 GFCF French toast made from GFCF bread and dairy
free milk.  ·                    

The margarine mentioned above have a small amount of
soy in them which is okay as long as the child is not
already identified as having soy sensitivity.  ·
Turkey maple sausage from Wellshire Farms  ·
 Bowl of fruit     

Week 4  Find five gluten and casein free foods that your
child will eat for lunch and serve them.  Look for ready to
eat foods as much as possible, especially if they are your
child’s favorite brand.  Maintain the breakfast choices
foods too.
 GFCF Hot dog – there is a wide variety of choices out
there, but it is always best to contact the manufacturer to
be sure.  We like AppleGate Farm products for lunch
meats and hot dogs.  If your child prefers a bun there are
also GFCF brands in the frozen section of your health food
stores.  More than likely they will prefer it without the bun.  
 GFCF pizza without the cheese.  Top with AppleGate or
some other GFCF meat product or vegetables.  If you want
a cheese on it, check out SoyMage.  The frozen individual
pizza crusts from Glutino are excellent.  I use a GFCF
marinara or a pizza sauce (last check Ragu Pizza sauce
was GFCF).  ·          
Chicken Nuggets – Ian’s GFCF and Belle and Evans
brands are excellent choices for kid friendly nuggets.   ·        
 Fritos (yes, these are GFCF)
 Lay’s Potato Chips  ·                    
 Boars Head lunch meats  ·                    
 Tostitos Tortilla Chips  ·                    
 Most juice boxes  ·                    
 Even McDonald Happy meal (hamburger, no bun and
French fries are okay if they did not cross contaminate with
nugget oil)  ·                    
 Rice pasta with marinara  ·                
 Fresh fruit and veges (no dips)     

Week 5  Find five gluten and casein free foods your child
will eat for dinner and serve it, maintaining breakfast and
lunch choices.  ·                    
Any meat, starch (like rice or potato) and a vegetable.  
Just ensure they are cooked GFCF method.   ·                    
Rice or Corn Pasta and a GFCF spaghetti sauce.  Last
check Prego Traditional was GFCF.  ·                    
Chicken nuggets with French fries.  I use the fries from
Alexandra brand (just the plain or waffle fry version).  
·               
Any breakfast or lunch item your child can eat for dinner.

Week 6  Replace all snack items with GFCF versions.  
·                    GFCF Pretzels  ·   
             Plain popcorn (no butter)
·                   Fresh fruit  ·                   
             Welch’s fruit snacks  ·       
            Trader Joes Fruit leathers  ·   
            Sorbets  ·                    
            ANDI or R.O.C.K. Nutrition bars  
            GFCF Cookies (I love the mix versions from The
Great Food Company)     

Week 7  Replace all soaps, shampoos, lotions,
sunscreens, toothpaste, laundry detergent and over the
counter medications with GFCF versions.  Check with
www.gfcfdiet.com to see if your brand is okay or what you
should consider as a replacement.  This is the area that
parents who have tried the diet and stopped say that they
failed to implement this part because they did not know
that these products could be affecting their child adversely.  
In fact when many of our kids develop rashes or eczema
we find ourselves bathing them in Aveeno Oatmeal bath.  
This is a gluten item and needs to be avoided.      

Week 8  Replace all classroom contaminants.  I  asked a
preschool I was looking at for my son if I could purchase
playdough for the class instead of them using the
homemade version that was all over the tables.  They
declined and I declined to consider them as a school for
my son.  The  next school complied and offered to
purchase the GFCF playdough.  As a matter of conscience
I felt it my duty to purchase the playdough as long as they
were willing to not put out the regular version too.  This
avoided my son absorbing it through his skin and/or eating
it.  I also went through the teacher checklist to be sure the
classroom supplies were okay for my son’s use.  On the
www.tacanow.org website there is a whole section
dedicated to teachers and caregivers.  It is also wise to
discuss with teacher, aides and any other caregivers about
the GFCF diet and your wishes to have them comply.  Be a
staunch advocate and get them on board with the health
issues related to their needed support.   Most are very
eager to learn and help in any way they can.  I also had the
therapists, aides and teachers on alert to Daniel grabbing
another child’s food (very common with ASD kids starting
on the diet).  

Week 9  Begin making GFCF goodies from mixes.   Buy
lots to have on hand at all times, but only buy one kind at a
time in case the mix is not a hit with your child.  These can
be pricey but the good ones make the transition so much
easier.  
www.reallygreatfoods.com  www.causeyourespecial.com  
www.chebe.com  www.glutenfreepantry.com  
www.mrsrobens.com  www.gfmeals.com  
www.glutensolutions.com  . . . just to name a few.   So
many more choices to be found via the internet.      Or even
google in “gluten and dairy free baked good” to see what
new bakery or food company is now online with the
goodies to consider ordering.      

Week 10  Make a GFCF Meal from scratch.  Go ahead
and stock up on baking items.  Create a separate area for
them so as to avoid cross contamination of any gluten
foods.  We no longer have loose wheat flour in my house
for this reason.  It is too easy to cross contaminate with
flour when it becomes airborne.    Here are some of the
basics to have on hand. . .  ·                    Rice flour
             Tapioca flour or starch (for thickening sauces)  
·                    GFCF Baking Soda  ·
             GFCF Baking Powder  ·                        ·                     
Xanthum Gum  ·                        ·        
             Sea Salt or Kosher Salt (Morton's is not
recommended because of chemical processing)  
·                   
            Spices should be switched to GFCF brand like
             McCormicks or organic  ·                   ·                     
            Tapioca Flour / Tapioca Starch (same thing)  
·              Potato Flour  ·             
            Potato Starch  ·                        ·
            Bette Hagman's General All purpose                  
            Sorghum Flour - great for baking
             homemade breads  
            Brown Rice Flour  ·
            White Rice Flour  
            Arrowroot Starch  

There are others so read the recipes from the various
cookbooks and decide what to stock  up on. Try one
recipe a week at least to develop your favorites.  Once
again, on the  www.tacanow.org website there is an
excellent section on GFCF on a budget (meaning   
completely from scratch).     

Diet Information Resources

* Autism Network for Dietary Intervention-
www.AutismNDI.
com
* Talk About Curing Autism - www.tacanow.org
* Gluten Free, Casein Free Diet - www.gfcfdiet.com
* Pecan Bread (SCD Diet) - www.pecanbread.com

Specialty Food Resources

* Cause You're Special - www.causeyourespecial.com
* Really Great Food Company - www.reallygreatfood.com
* Gluten Free Mall - www.glutenfreemall.com
* Kinnikinnick Foods - www.kinnikinnick.com
* Gluten Solutions - www.glutensolutions.com
* Gluten Free Pantry - www.glutenfreepantry.com
* Against The Grain - www.againstthegraingourmet.com
(no direct orders, just a list of stores)
* Enjoy Life Foods -
www.enjoylifefoods.com

Nutritional Supplement Resources

* Kirkman Laboratories - www.kirkmanlabs.com
* Brainchild Nutritionals - www.brainchildnutrionals.com
* Nordic Naturals - www.nordicnaturals.com
* Twin Lab - www.twinlab.com
* Global Health Trax - www.ght.com (makers of Threelac,
which can be ordered on National Autism Association
website too)

July 28, 2009
Vital Signs
Regimens: Restrictive Diets May Not Be Appropriate
for Children With Autism
By RONI CARYN RABIN

www.nytimes. com/2009/ 07/28/health/ 28autism. html?
_r=1&em=&pagewanted=print

Using the Gluten, Casein and Soy-Free Diet for
Children with Autism

Guest Blogger Holly Bortfeld is a work-at-home mom to
two children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), ages
14 and 16. She home-schools her son and writes content
for the Talk About Curing Autism (TACA ) site, including
the popular series, “Autism-On-A-Budget.” Follow Holly on
Twitter @TACAnow.
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