Dairy and cognitive/behavioral issues

[SphinYote]

I'm posting this here rather than Health and Beauty because it tends to be most applicable to children.

This is what I think is/was true of me for many years, and a factor in my own issues during childhood, and they finally did a more extensive study in Norway.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080224/hl_afp/norwayhealthchildrenmedicinehyperactive;_ylt=AoLXmv72EBeN650mgepAvfLVJRIF

Note I've never been tested, so for me its just speculation and experimentation, but there are connections between the casein issue and autistic spectrum disorders, hyperactivity, and other forms of impairement as well.

With the way schools push dairy in school and parents think its a healthful thing (in most cases, probably, but the mindset tends to cause people to go into denial about any problems it might factor into) I think its important to post this information.

Yote

[Sequoia]

It's good information to have - I mean, it's obvious that there are some children who have dietary needs different than other children. And it wouldn't hurt to try changing a child's diet before attempting more traditional therapies. After all, a dietary deficiency like a gluten allergy will cause the stomach to be unable to absorb key nutrients, such as with Celiac disease. That would blatantly stunt brain development.

But even the article said that you can't catch all children in this fishnet, so for some families, caution will be needed - they may attempt the diet with blinders on, refusing traditional medical help when it may in fact be needed.

As always, the less biased the parent, and the more flexible and willing to try ALL approaches, traditional and alternative, the more likely the child will succeed.

[Lunacie]

We tried a gluten-free diet for my granddaughter who has been dx with Autism Spectrum Disorder, but it made no difference. We also had her tested for gluten intolerance and the numbers came back okay. That was only at home that we could keep her gluten-free, the schools would not adapt her meal plan without the doctor's say-so. Parents sadly have little control over what happens to their children once they are in the care of the school system.

So then we tried eliminating all fruits (her dad has a bad reaction to cherries) and saw some improvement. We've been reintroducing them one at a time and she has done fine with apples, bananas, grapes and raisens - but didn't do well with oranges or their juice.

Having seen that the school will not/cannot cooperate on dietary issues, we are waiting until summer break to try eliminating milk and cheese and any sources of casein. If that also seems to make a difference, then we will feel justified in asking the doctor to do a full range of allergy tests so that we can get the schools to provide a special diet.