A Gluten-Free, Casein-Free Diet as an Alternative Therapy for Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Literature Review

Autism is a disorder of social interaction and communication. It is a collection of behavioral symptoms causing the person to be easily disturbed by a lack of routine and organization of daily activities. The disorder becomes apparent within the first three years of life. Though the cause of the disorder is unknown, there has been feverish research to determine the cause and develop a treatment. Several clinical studies have found that children with autism have a range of gastrointestinal symptoms including inflammation, decreased digestive enzyme activity and permeability of the intestines to pathologies. Children with autism also have abnormal levels of peptides in their urine. These peptides are derived from gluten, gliadin and casein and can have an opioid effect. For example, casein is metabolized by the body into casomorphin, which can then travel up to the brain and react with opiate receptors and produce an effect similar to that of endorphins. Children that were placed on a gluten-free, casein-free diet had improved development in one study. In another study, the result for children on the gluten-free, casein-free diet wasnot statistically significant, but parents reported a noticeable difference in their child‘sbehavior