Diets

We love a healthy diet!  We stress a healthy, organic whole-foods lifestyle, yet we realize when you first come to us, your child is most likely eating only a few foods such as Mac-n-cheese, pizza and chicken nuggets.

One of the first questions we are usually asked by nervous parents is, “Do I have to do that Gluten-free, Casein-free (GFCF) Diet?”  First off, not every child needs to do this diet, and secondly, we have an amazing shortcut that “fakes” the GFCF diet.  This is like using the Easy Button!  We start most families on this shortcut, and then after the child (and your home life!) calm down, we can transition to this diet if there is a medical necessity for it.

There are several autism diets, such as the Low Oxalate Diet or the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, and from time to time one of them may be beneficial for your child.  However, the vast majority of our patients do just fine on our streamlined simple protocols that avoid the diets.  Our free Lending Library is a big source of information and help for families.

Feingold Diet

We have the books and support materials for the Feingold Diet in our Lending Library.  This diet has been in use for several decades and is effective for attention, behavior and hyperactivity problems.  We find it to be one of the most amazing things you can do to help with ADHD.  Many teachers and schools are pleasantly surprised as well.  We have numerous children, both with and without autism, use this attention and hyperactivity diet to avoid stimulant medications.

Food Sensitivities

More and more, we are hearing in the news about how food sensitivites are on the rise.   Food sensitivities are not the same thing as an allergy, and are actually more common than allergies.  They have been associated with conditions from ear infections to constipation to depression, aggression, irritability and hyeractivity. Dr. Lintala will guide you on how to use lab tests and a simple rotation diet to figure out which foods your child may be sensitive to.  Eliminating these foods for awhile will help with gut inflammation, allergy, attention and behavior issues.  If certain foods are contributing to gastrointestinal distress, preventing your child from paying attention, behaving well and keeping an even mood, wouldn’t you rather avoid those foods than medicate your child? After all, by learning to avoid these foods for a few months, and then rotating your diet after that, you may find a solution to the real problem, rather than a band-aid that only treats symptoms.