Bright Tots information on child development - Diet - Allergy Elimination Diet
Allergy Elimination Diet
Allergy Elimination Diet
Many children with autism have food sensitivities, due to abnormalities in their digestive and/or immune systems. If food is
not fully-digested into individual sugars, amino acids, etc., then the partly digested food can pass from the gastrointestinal
tract into the bloodstream. The immune system recognizes those foods as foreign, and may launch an immune response to
those foods, resulting in an allergic in behavior.

The most popular approaches are diets that eliminate foods containing either gluten or casein, or both. Removing allergic
foods can result in a wide range of improvements in some children, especially improvements in behavior and attention. This
diet is a temporary used to determine if a child has a potential allergy to certain foods by starting with a very basic diet low
in potential allergenic foods and intolerances.

In the elimination diet all suspected foods are removed for a period of time and then gradually reintroduced to observe any
response or reactions. If there is improvement, then try attempting the give the child one prohibited food every 5 days, to
see if any can be added back in. Gluten and dairy are the last challenged.

There are multiple tests for food allergies including blood and skin prick tests. However, there may be false negatives or
positives with these tests. Children with food allergies are at a higher risk for nutrition related problems and decreased
growth. Also, children with autism are more likely to be more negatively affected by problems with food allergies because
of their issues with sensory dysfunction.

While isolating food allergies or food sensitivity you may see an allergic reaction such as hives, runny nose, or
gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea or constipation. The following foods tend to be responsible for 90% of all allergic
reactions: milk*, wheat*, egg*, soy*, peanuts*, tree nuts*, fish and shellfish (*more commonly seen in children). The most
common reactive foods found in gluten include (wheat, rye, barley, possibly oats), dairy, cane sugar, corn, soy, yeast,
peanuts, egg, artificial colors and preservatives.

Eliminate the following foods from the diet for a period of 7 days:

•          Dairy products, including cheese. (Instead, use soy milk and soy cheese; rice milk, rice-based ice cream.)

•          Egg and egg-containing products.

•          Food products containing gluten, such as wheat and wheat-based products (including pasta), and barley, oat or rye
grains. (Alternative grains could be brown rice, buckwheat, spelt, millet, potatoes or sweet potatoes).

•          Citrus fruits.

•          Corn and corn-containing products.

•          All processed foods, including caffeine.

Next, reintroduce one food group to the child’s diet roughly every 5 days. The reintroduction period allows sufficient time
to determine any intolerance.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Copyright © 2004 Bright Tots® Inc. - Educational Toys & Resource Guide to Child Development - All rights reserved.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Allergy Elimination Diet
Bright Tots ~ Information on childhood developmental disorders, including autism, attention deficit
disorder (ADHD), behavior disorders, bipolar disorder, cerebral palsy, childhood disintegrative disorder,
depression in children, diabetes in children, down syndrome, emotional disorders, obsessive compulsive
disorder , selective mutism, separation anxiety disorder, speech and language disoreders and spina bifida..

Resources, articles and  information on autism including Asperger's syndrome, assessing autism, autism
and tantrums, autism in childhood, autism therapies, characteristics of autism, discipline strategies, early
signs of autism, echolilia, fragile x, hyperlexia / dyslexia, immunization worries, oral care and autism,
pervasive developmental disorders (PDD), Rett syndrome, savant syndrome, and more.

Understanding
developmental disorders.  Find Early Intervention in your area.

Information and articles on autism therapy and autism treatment including:  
ABA therapy, autism diets,
chelation therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, key to learning, medications for treating autism, play
therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, sensory integration, signed speech, speech therapy,
TEACCH Method and more

What is a learning disability?  What are developmental domains?  Tips on teaching a child with autism,
age appropriate behavior (milestones), parenting rules, oral care and autism, baby tooth decay, is your
child over weight?  For those hard to understand terms, visit our Glossary

Bright Tots - Helpful information for picking the right toy for Babies, Toddlers and Preschool kids
What to look for in developmental baby, toddler and preschool toys.  Read on the importance of
choosing the right
educational baby toys, educational toddler toys, educational preschool toys that will...

"Make Learning Fun"

Choosing the right Baby Toys | Toddler Toys | Preschool Toys | Special Needs
Print this page
Search the Web
Toys for babies & infants, baby toys, gifts for baby, great developmental value
Autism DietsAutism InformationDevelopmental DisordersParenting Issues
Bright Tots
Know What to Shop For
Bright Tots
Resources
Autism
Cognitive Behavior
Therapy
Developmental
Disorders
Early Intervention
FMLA
Learning Disability
Occupational Therapy
Physical Therapy
Special Needs
Shopping Tips
Speech Disorders
Speech Therapy
Search the Web