Customer Reviews

Getting Your Kid on a Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Author Susan Lord is a registered dietician who used a gluten-free casein free (GFCF) diet on her daughter after she obtaining an Autism Spectrum diagnosis. Her daughter had improvement after the GFCF diet began. This book seeks to help and encourage parents in their effort to implement a GFCF diet with their children.

Some parents look to begin a GFCF diet after an Autism Spectrum diagnosis is made on their children and some may use the GFCF diet after a diagnosis of food allergies or food insensitivities to gluten (wheat) or casein (cow milk protein). I've had one child on a GFCF diet at age three and I know it is no easy task and that the idea of a diet that eliminates these major food staples of the Standard American Diet is overwhelming and challenging.

If you are a parent who wants to start their child on a GFCF diet and have ALREADY made that decision this book might help you. If you are looking for reasons why a GFCF diet may work or be a good idea, that information is not in this book.

If you feel overwhelmed at the idea of beginning a GFCF diet and just want to be told what to do including given menu plans for two weeks and recipes for those dishes, this book is for you. If you have already read other books and materials about food options for a GFCF diet and starting to use food substitutions I feel this book may be too simple or too basic for you.

If your child is already on a GFCF diet and you have managed to come up with menus and have learned new dishes to make from scratch at home this book may be of little or no use to you.

The book jumps right in with menu plans and dishes. A major issue I have with this book is that many of the dishes my children would never eat, not my picky eater child who was on a restricted diet in the past and not even my not-picky eater child. These dishes are flavorful, perhaps too flavorfully potent for young children, such as curry chicken, pad thai shrimp, and scallops with ginger. There are only two salad dressings for garden salads given, just one example of the low number of recipes in this book.

Only after the menu is laid out does the author discuss picky eaters and frankly I found the tone demeaning to the parent, basically blaming the parent for the child's pickiness. What bothers me the most is the total absence of addressing a real issue that some children have, that some suffer with texture sensitivity oral issues, which can and does account for some children being `picky eaters'. Given the fact that a number of children with Autism also have sensory issues (including undiagnosed oral sensitivities but diagnosed with touch or hearing sensitivities), the fact that the author ignores this is bothersome and disappointing to me. Also the ideas to entice kids to eat foods they hate by cutting them into special shapes or letting the kids give the foods silly names is ridiculous and ineffective when applied to children over age five.

If you exclude some of these dishes due to a child refusing to eat foods with strong flavors, refusing to eat soup, or refusing to eat green leafy vegetables you are down to a very limited menu plan, making this book nearly useless. Perhaps parents would be better off with the more numerous recipes in the cookbook for parents making substitutions as necessary to be GFCF with DECEPTIVELY DELICIOUS by Jessica Seinfeld, a book that hides nutritious foods inside of common family foods. There is nothing special about a number of these recipes which are just your basic cooking entrees from scratch menus whose ingredients don't contain gluten or casein. The truth is that many GFCF entrees and side dishes can be made using a regular "cooking from scratch" cookbook.

I was also disappointed with the recommendation to replace cow milk products with soy products for two reasons. First, children with food sensitivities, food allergies and leaky gut (all things that children with an Autism diagnosis may have), can easily start to negatively react to soy if it is eaten regularly such as replacing cow milk cheese with soy cheese and replacing cow milk with soy milk and cow milk cream cheese with soy cream cheese. This happened with my own child so I know it does happen with some children. Second, eating soy regularly is beginning to be questioned as I learned after reading the book THE HIDDEN DANGERS OF SOY by Dianne Gregg in which she reports that children are being diagnosed with hypothyroid and high cholesterol as well as having early onset of puberty due to the fact that soy acts as a phyto-estrogen on the body. Being that I'm more open to eating whole foods in as close to their natural state as possible I myself tend to make foods from scratch and avoid the cow milk substitutes completely rather than replace a processed and factory prepared cow milk food product with a processed and factory prepared soy cow milk imitation food item.

The best parts of the book are the lists of processed foods that contain gluten and casein and the shopping list of GFCF foods. Also wonderful is the table in the appendix of vitamins and minerals explaining what they do and how they benefit the human body.

To sum it up this book is best for a reader who already decided to put their child on a GFCF diet and doesn't need any of the `why's' given to them. This book is best for non-picky eater children who do not have taste or texture oral sensitivities to food. This book is best if you want to be told what to do right now to quickly get up and running with a GFCF diet and if the idea of reading one, two or more separate books on the topics overwhelms you. This book is best for a newbie overwhelmed parent who doesn't like to read much or go find the best source for GF baking recipes or other recipes and wants all the info in one short book.

Parents who have already investigated the GFCF diets, already have some recipes, already have their child on the GFCF diet, already own one or more cookbooks with GFCF recipes, and already have food lists will not need to read this book.

I'm rating this 3 stars which in Amazon's definition is "It's Okay" for the multiple reasons explained in my review. If it were longer and had more recipes I'd bring my rating to the 4 star = "I Like It" Amazon definition.

This should be the book that you get when you start either a gluten free, casein free diet, whether you are adult or child.
She also talks about what you do when there are kid parties at school, etc, and also talks about how you get the strange stares and criticisms about eating such a weird diet... The book is an easy read and gives "simple" ideas on what to eat so that you or your kid can eat as normally as possible and not feel deprived. It's a simple book designed to take an overwhelming life change and make it simpler.

I'm always looking for good books and different recipes for GFCF foods. But I was underwhelmed with recipes such as Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich - Use gluten free bread, peanut butter and jelly, and Garlic Bread - Use GF bread, GFCF free butter like substance and garlic powder. Really, I couldn't have figured those out on my own.

I had hoped for more information or studies on the problems with Gluten / Casein to support the reasoning behind the diet. If only for my own edification. But, no such information seem to be in evidence. The book glosses over the whys and moves on to practical suggestions, ingredients and foods to avoid, food and snack lists, meal plans, as well as recipes for gluten-free and casein free meals. It also gives tips on how to introduce diet changes into the routines of kids on the autism spectrum, though your mileage may vary...

Some of the recipes seem a bit too basic. I'm all for simplicity, but things can be taken a little TOO far.

For instance, the meatloaf recipe in the pre-print proof: literally 1 lbs of ground beef and a teaspoon of salt, baked @ 350F for an hour in a square or rectangle baking pan.
So, basically it's a pan-shaped hamburger? Aren't there supposed to be other ingredients like onions, celery and/or eggs mixed in, or tomato sauce over the top (in some recipes), etc?

Then there are a few things that seems a bit utterly too obvious: peanut butter and jelly sandwich or tuna sandwich. On the one hand, it seems a bit silly to have recipes for these, since they're *so* commonplace. On the other hand, mentioning them as being GFCF (gluten-free, casein-free; as long as they're on GFCF bread) options I guess makes sense. The author justifies PB&J's inclusion since some of her "British friends" have never heard of or eaten one... Apparently we must export our PB&J habit to the world for completeness. I smiled a bit at the explanation, which was perhaps the point for American readers. Though I found it odd she referred to "you Americans" rather than "we Americans," since she says she *is* American. The "tuna salad [sandwich]" is really a more basic "tuna sandwich" (listing only tuna and mayonnaise for the ingredients), as tuna salad, per its title usually has some kind of vegetable matter in it like celery and/or sweet pickle relish. But, that's just me being nit-picky... Kind of like nit picking that garlic bread usually is more palatable with a good garlic salt than with plain garlic powder which tends to come out ever so slightly bland. Many of the other recipes seem interesting and reasonably easy. Though the inclusion of black beans and instant coffee powder in the recipe for dark fudge brownies both seem very counterintuitive.

Part of my explorations into autism, I decided to follow up Nick Dubin's "Asperger's and Anxiety" with a... diet book? For years, there has been speculation that some symptoms of autistic spectrum disorders are connected--or at least exacerbated--by certain proteins. Even if this isn't the case, wheat gluten and dairy caseins are too much of a good thing for somebody who has coeliac's disease or other protein intolerances. So I selected a galley of Susan Lord's *Getting Your Kid on a Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet*.
It's part nutritional advice, part habit building, and part recipe book.

It is short and sweet. Lord's style is simple and friendly, with oldie-but-goodie expressions as a hand on the reader's shoulder. The introduction is a bit syrupy--opening with an excerpt from another book on learning to deal with the genetic hand that life has dealt your children--but with analogies to Holland, and testaments to bloom where you are planted, it's a good hook to the heart of its intended audience. While text and titles could be a lot smoother and more original, the writing is clear, unpretentious, and the instructions hard to miss.

Organization makes it easy as well. Lord lays out her case first, explaining that the purpose is to remove intolerable proteins without short-cutting the child's nutrition. It is a life-long diet, and not intended for simple weight loss or gain. Not restricted to an age-group, the diet works with an entire family and their mixed needs. An adult could follow this guide, which includes a serving-size table for ages under and over six years. Anticipating problems, Lord provides instruction on meal routines and schedules necessary to ease the child in, as well as suggestions on enforcing the diet during special occasions and social functions away from home. Lord then devotes a chapter to developing the diet after the child has been casein and gluten free for a few months; covering other possible food allergies to additives and substitutes. This can complicate matters, since corn and soy are core replacements for wheat, rye, and barley in the diet. She emphasizes that every child will be different, and that the parent follow a methodical, experimental approach that minimizes disruption.

The book concludes with "The Cookbook". It takes up a full third of the body, and begins with basic flour alternatives to wheat, which are crucial for many of the most popular meals (think sandwiches, hamburgers, and pizza). A major selling point of the book, these recipes help the parent put the diet straight to practice. They cover most of the alternative GFCF meals and snacks proposed by the guides. How well they work is another matter--I haven't tried to make any of them, and I will probably buy the retail publication before doing so. This was a bound galley I reviewed, not the final product.

Overall, Lord's effort shows a lot of promise, and I invite the reader to give this diet a closer look.

Susan Lord makes the daunting task of starting the GFCF diet seem very do-able. The book is very practical and easy to read. She does a good job of explaining the hows and whys of going gluten and casein free and walks you through it all step by step. When my grandson was diagnosed with autism a couple of years ago, my daughter tried to put him on the GFCF diet, but at the time there were so few products available and they were expensive and mostly unpalatable. She ended up very frustrated, and he ended up very skinny. So the new sources of information, like Ms. Lord's book, are very welcome.

Lord gives the reader nice GFCF meal menu ideas (14 breakfast, 14 lunch, 14 dinner, and 30 snacks) as well as a large variety of recipes (everything from waffles to candied Polynesian spareribs). She provides a detailed grocery list along with a list of foods to avoid... and a list of staples to keep on hand. The recipes are the type to appeal to adults as well as children, so they should get rid of the old problem of having to cook one meal GFCF, and another for everybody else in the family.

Susan Lord's book, "Getting Your Kid on a Gluten-Free Casein-Free Diet" was a necessary read for me. My daughter, autistic and extremely ADHD, had under-developed intestinal functions. My family has been operating non-dairy for a long time. However, as she has gotten older and discovered the joys of "real" food, she's not as interested in sticking to this diet. Susan Lord gently reins in the fear that begins when parents have to get creative in making this diet work. She offers simple, quick recipes that sound delicious and appetizing for the whole family. She's quick to nip myths and fears in the bud while still offering a realistic take of how to equip your kitchen and list when out grocery-shopping. A must read for anyone struggling with the "I don't think I can do this!" mentality. She'll make you feel you can and give you ways to slowly ease yourself into it. No overnight, drill seargant lectures here. She encourages her readers like students embarking on a new curriculuum. It's kind, caring, informative and impressively do"able" with her advice.

If you are a parrent of a child with food sensitivities, you know how difficult common events can become. Sure, the kid eats good at home, but how do you tell him he can't have any pizza after Little League? All the other girls got to eat icecream at the slumber-party, will your child make the right decision? How do you handle these "Special Situations" that involve food? Well that had been our biggest challenge, but Susan Lord has walked us safely though this mine-field of potential deprivation, in a way that is win-win for everyone.

With all of the helpful lifestyle and pantry-stocking advice, you almost forget that there are going to be recipes in this book as well.

The recipes finally start on page 99. You get alternative flour mixes, breading, chicken nuggets, and even peanut-butter cookies!

Our lives just started looking normal from the outside. How can you put a price tag on that? Even if you could, that price would be a lot higher than the price of this book. If you have a child with food sensitivities, I urge you strongly to give this title a read.

This book is very well laid out and easy to follow. I like how it's very to the point with no 'fluff' to weed through. The author touches upon nutritional considerations and appropriate substitutions for meeting nutritional needs that would normally be met with gluten/casein products("major nutrient groups"). She gives many simple, basic ideas for all 3 meals as well as for snacks and desserts. I like that the book lays out two weeks of nutritionally balanced meals. This makes the diet switch less intimidating for parents. The whole last half of the book or so is the recipes.
Overall, I love the simplicity of her delivery. This book is very well organized and easy to read. If your child is on the autistic spectrum and you're considering a "GFCF" diet, this is a great book to own!!

As the mother of a child with autism, the author set out to help other parents adjust their kids' diet, operating on the now popular discovery that a gluten-free, casein-free diet is helpful in dealing with autism, ADD/ADHD and the autism spectrum. This is a well-founded notion, and I'm really glad it's starting to become more popular.

However I feel it's key for this nutritional adjustment to be approached well, without "throwing the baby out with the bathwater", so to speak. I know that's what the author tried to accomplish, but unfortunately the results are a little disappointing.

The problems lie mainly in the dietary recommendations:
1. There is WAY too much soy. Soy is very high in copper, which has itself been linked to depression, panic attacks, and the like. Also, many of the soy products recommended, like ice cream and pudding, are highly processed, often much more than their dairy counterparts. I don't think they should have any place in the diet of a healthy child, and especially not one whose general physical and mental well being is so heavily influenced by their dietary choices.
2. The notion that a diet without dairy products will result in osteoporosis is dated and faulty. Dairy products don't supply a form of calcium that is easily absorbed by the organism, so their presence or absence doesn't influence the incidence of osteoporosis. The presence of unrefined grains and calcium-rich greens and nuts/sees does, however. As does the absence of processed foods which will deplete mineral and vitamin stores and provide less nutrition than they require to be processed by the body.
3. Both in the nutritional advice and in the 2-week menus she recommends beverages with meals. I know this is common habit, but it's a bad one. Milk, or soy/nut milk, is NOT a replacement for water. It doesn't hydrate the body. It does provide some nourishment, and as such it should be offered as a snack, or as base for smoothies and such. Not as a beverage. And fruit juice... well, should really never be offered at all, not unless it's fresh squeezed, and even then only occasionally. Pasteurized fruit juice offers no nutrition, just sugar. There is no fiber, no enzymes, and no vitamin C, either, as vitamin C is sensitive to heat. Offer fresh fruit instead.

The book isn't all bad, however. There is a wonderful, well-written intro. The explanation of what will happen when casein is first removed is really helpful and an excellent addition. It's good for parents to know what to expect until the casein is out of the body, and it's also good that it's suggested they should remove first one, then the other after a period of adjustment, so they don't get discouraged and quit altogether.

I also really liked that the author shares her uncertainties, feelings of inadequacy and the reader can plainly see just how much this change, though hard, has been motivated by her love for her daughter. It's touching, and incredibly motivating to see that this wasn't a Martha Stewart-like "I can make anything from scratch" mom, but someone who found this hard and awkward at first, and yet she still made it.

For those reasons, this would be a good book to read, but look elsewhere for the nutrition.