A swift switch in diet can be a tough challenge in the kitchen, but the impact doesn’t stop there. Navigating ingredients can be rough on the brain, but anyone who has been this route knows -it can be just as rough on the budget! Did you know that you could possibly write-off the cost of your increased grocery-spending on your tax return?

Right around the corner lurks a yearly extravaganza of ghoulishly engrossing treats and spooktacular tricks. Children have selected their favorite characters to transform into for a night of house-hopping fun. Schools are having fall parties, churches are putting together carnivals, and neighborhoods are stocking up with sugary and corn-syrup laden “goodies”. Does this scare the nightlights out of anyone else?

School is now in full-session and those cool breezes are starting to blow through, sweeping away those hot summer days with the unmistakable gusts of FALL! Yes, its fall, y'all; and that means it’s time for that fall fan-favorite - FOOTBALL! Try these quick and easy gluten-free, casein-free versions of some game day classics and have your family cheering for more than the game this season.

Just a handful of days stand between the carefree days of summer vacation and the ringing sound of the rigorously scheduled school bells for many of us. As a mom who pays very close attention to every ingredient that our daughter gets exposed to, I am a bit anxious about the big change. When most of us think about preparing our teachers for our special dieters, we expect that we will be sending a list of our children’s food allergies and sensitivities, but what about the school environment beyond the food. Packing my child’s meals is a give-in for me.

Do you have a family vacation on your heels? Are you more anxious about what you are going to eat when you get there than you are about what to pack? I was standing in those exact shoes two weeks ago when I was anticipating our departure to the magical world of Disney.

Many kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) function in their daily environments on a Gluten-Free Casein-Free (GFCF) diet…but they’re not the only ones. More and more adults and children without ASD are finding that they, too, feel better and function better with no gluten and no casein in their diets. As one of those adults, I am here to tell you that foods can greatly impact not only our stomachs, but so much more!
While I’ve been on a 100% GF diet for about 12 years, anytime I inadvertently get cross-contaminated foods (from restaurants or items sold at the store) I get Grumpy with a capital “G”! I notice that it really affects my state of mind; I am much less patient, feel significantly more negative about life in general and find that I’m more likely to lose my cool with both Ethan and my husband. I am opposed to yelling as a parent (or spouse), but sometimes when I’ve had gluten, I am so much easier to anger and yes...sometimes I yell. I literally feel less in-control of my actions – such a miserable feeling!

Last time we ended by explaining that breastfed infants have less food allergies and sensitivities. Those that have done testing previously may remember the IgA marker on the urine test. IgA is the first line of defense in the GI mucosa and when reduced may have greater food allergies and eczema. IgA is a crucial antimicrobial component also found in breast milk and those that show less tend to have “leaky gut” which leads to food allergies in many cases.

The heat is ablazin’ here in Texas, leaving no room for argument that summer is in full swing. Moms everywhere are packing up their coolers of sugar-pouch drinks, oily chips, cheesy puffed sticks, and cream-laden cones and setting up camp with a poolside view. On a yeast-free, cheesy-puff-free, ice-cream-free diet, it is easy to feel like your left in the shade. It’s a good thing that the shade is exactly where you want to be right now!

If you’ve followed my blog for much time, you probably know that I’m very concerned about how changes to our environment in the past 50-100 years have affected the health and wellbeing of our entire society, but especially our children’s generation. With Autism Spectrum Disorders, asthma, life-threatening allergies, ADD/ADHD, diabetes and so much more at record numbers and on the rise in our littlest population, I’ve come to the conclusion that many variables must be to blame for these frightening increases.

The neonatal period is a critical time with regards to priming the gut for allergic disease. After birth the intestinal barriers and immunoregulatory networks are poorly developed and the post-natal period is a time for the normal commensal microbial flora to develop. The timing and dose of dietary antigens is imperative in this development. The mucosae are bombarded immediately after birth by a large variety of microorganisms as well as protein antigens from the environment. The mucosal surface is huge, 200 times the surface of the skin.