Anyone doing the GAPS diet or SCD in here?

[eskimomama]

Hello all,

My DD is 2.5, diagnosed with mild autism and DH and I have spent a lot of time researching diet intervention for autism. I know it isn't everyone's cup of tea, and that the topic can make some people angry... but before we embark on it, I wanted to know if anyone in here was also doing the GAPS diet (Gut and Psychology Syndrome), or the Special Carbohydrate Diet (SCD)?

So far MN's help has been invaluable for so many things, so I'm just trying to see for this one :)

Thanks in advance

Just by way of information you might like to have a look at the CiteuLike The human microbiome library and my own PubMed Gut, and Psyche research paper collection.
You might find them interesting

Hi Eskimo,

DS has been gluten free and casein free since November and I'm aiming for the gaps diet since it has been recommended following an extensive food intolerance and vitamin deficiency testing.

So most days I'm doing scd as the gaps is currently too rigid for our household but aiming to do it during the summer when I will have the organic milk and the sauerkraut and the yogurt available from a farm.

DS has certainly responded well to the diet adjustment, recently I stopped sweets and chocolates and even though they were gfcf certainly triggered some inadequate behaviour.

There are threads about the gaps diet, but don't remember seeing any on scd.

A diet rich in proteins and fresh/raw veg and fruit is the recommendation of almost every professional I have visited or read about, obviously you need to supplement it at the beginning until the gut heals.

Smeone once posted about a test being available in London to check for gut dysbiosis, I couldn't find it sorry.

Good luck in a major step on improving your DD life and ask any questions you may have, there are lots of experienced people on here.

Agree with BlueShark.

We went gfcf inspired by the GAPS book and it was the right thing to do.

2 is a good age to do this , because it's certainly harder when they're at school.

dd1 has been gfcf since she was 2. she is now 7, and doing brilliantly.

at 2 she had:

no pain awareness
no temperature awareness
was totally fuzzy headed and in her own world
very little language (and what she had was not clear)
and a whole lot more besides, including inability ot digest/process her food.

she is still severely autistic, but her improvements have been huge. she is now verbal (she still ha a language disorder), has appropriate pain respnse and temperature response, lives in our world, is able to learn, and a whole lot more besides.

going gf/cf remains the best thing we have done for her, it has totally changed her life.

DS is part Romanian and I found tapping into the MIL's recipes invaluable for variety. They call them Chorba if you wanna do a google, as they are a staple there's loads of yummy types.

There are a few previous GAPS threads that are worth scrolling through.

I'm a firm believer in diet intervention to the point where I'd rec someone with a child this young sorts the diet before trying ABA or any of the other therapies on here simply cos I think the right diet can enable a child to then benefit from ABA/SALT etc. I'm no prof, it's just my gut instinct from my own research.

Sorry trying to do 3 things at once. Chorba = nice clear stock based soups & stews along GAPS rec'd lines.

boc, that's exactly how we did it.

without the diet, dd1 would still have benefitted from ABA, but it would have taken a LOT longer.

the diet gave her the headspace and awareness of others and the world around her to be able to learn, iyswim?

thank you everyone! wow I didn't expect so many replies so quickly. Gives me some much needed courage :)

dolfrog thanks for the links - will look them up asap

bochead thanks for the Romanian suggestion. A lot of the ideas in the GAPS book are def Russian/Eastern European inspired (the author being Russian!), so I'm sure traditional recipes are just as good without having to "replace" a dish (I want to avoid using massive amounts of nuts to replace carbs!).

Being French myself, I can suggest a French dish called pot-au-feu which is 100% GAPS if you omit the potatoes :)

May I ask everyone if they consulted with someone specialised in GAPS? Or went their own way? I found someone who lives an hour from us but she charges a lot...

We saw big improvements on gfcf and then we tested his guts for dysbiosis and read about scd and thought it was a logical step to take, but it has been hard to completely eliminate the carbs: he has goats milk + gf oats for breakfast, which i am still trying to transition to omelette :( but the rest of the day its meat and veg stew and scd yoghurt, peanut butter cookies or coconut cakes, and i have to admit i allow the odd bit of gfcf bread and biscuits as my baking skills are crap still being honed...an NHS nutritionist came and took a look at what he eats and said its ok.

The big changes in behaviour came after starting gfcf - constipation massively improved, stopped crying suddenly with unexplained pains especially at night time, and this was accompanied by an improvement in behaviour and eye contact.

We are still in transition to scd so its hard to say what has helped with what (plus also now doing lots of behavioural stuff to muddy the waters even further), all I know is, every time I try to add something 'forbidden' back in, it leads to a worsening in behaviour and/or constipation. To me, that seems like it means i am on the right track but of course its all quite subjective and maybe I see worse behaviours because I am looking for them.

In terms of seeing experts, the ones we saw weren't only scd specialists but they did know about it and could advise on what to do.

Sorry for the ramble!

Thanks JoMaman

DD is allergic to egg so I'm dreading breakfast options already. She's been on GF oats for 2 months now. I've mastered a few baking recipes with almond powder and rice flour (and that's it!), she does like her cookie after her nap.

Otherwise she's not a fan of food anyway, very small appetite and only eating meals in front of cartoons. I'm not overly concerned about cutting carbs out, except for breakfast... she's fussy with my lovely GF oats at 7.30am so what will it be with brocoli and chicken! DH says I'm cultutally biased and breakfasts don't have to be sweet...

The other thing she is allergic to dairy, not as severely but she can't have homemade yoghurt anytime soon.

And the last thing is that I'm still nursing a bit (I find it awfully hard to stop, she's so attached to it), I'm limiting my gluten intake to the maximum but I'm sure some goes through.

Lots of changes ahead!

Eskimomama, I really hope you see a benefit. I think there is plenty of anecdotal evidence that GF/CF can have a significant effect. Just to let you know that my DS tried a strict GF/CF diet when he was 4 for 8 months after getting a urine sample tested by Sunderland bods, but unfortunately we saw no change. We abandoned the diet and started him on eye Q fish oils a few weeks later and saw a large improvement in his behaviour and development about 6 weeks later. I don't want to try to put you off trying GAPS etc as I do believe they can work, but just know it doesn't work for everyone.

jomaman where did you do the gut dysbiosis testing?

bochead I second the chorbas as I have eaten more chorba than anything and maybe that explains my excellent immunity. Cook these lots these days and DS who is sn loves them, the nt one takes longer to bribe to eat them :)

ellenjane I agree. I was told te takes 6 months for the gluten and 3 weeks for the casein to disappear.

hi blueshark - it was here www.breakspearmedical.com/

To be more specific you may like to have a look at these two research papers
A Microbial Association with Autism 2012
and
Application of Novel PCR-Based Methods for Detection, Quantitation, and Phylogenetic Characterization of Sutterella Species in Intestinal Biopsy Samples from Children with Autism and Gastrointestinal Disturbances 2012

sorry my spelling is terrible for anyone trying to google it. Every Mum has a her perfect version but there are hundreds of recipes available on the net. (I have yet to be convinced by the tripe versions though I'm sure it's very healthy lol!). Bone versions are nice.

Ciorba - Romanian clear soup/stew - the "magic" ingredient is saukraut juice

Or you can add raw egg mixed with probiotics yogurt to the soups as per Natasha book rather than sauerkraut.....or like me, put all of them in :) taste delicious!

My son is 3 has ASD and has been on a GF/CF diet for 2 months now. We have seen a nutritionist and are awaiting results from the tests for dysbiosis and other other gut issues. We have also had a hair sample sent off to test for minerals. Any good nutritionist will be able to help you get the tests done. Be careful though, get a recommendation, some nutritionists are con merchants!
He has definately improved his speech since being on the diet, though he still has stomach problems.
We have been recommended the GAPS diet but havent started it yet.
Good luck!