Behavioral Issues and Gluten?

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I am debating switching over to a gluten free diet because of my daughter's behavioral problems. I have read that it is possible that the two could be linked and I am curious if it really is or not. Have any of you switched your kid's diets because of this reason? How soon did you notice a change in their behavior? What is your reason specifically for switching to gluten free besides of severe allergies?
 
A friend of mine started a company preparing organic food for kids as he maintained that it made a difference to his children, just having organic foods, he did supply all the main supermarkets
 
I tried a gluten-free diet for my son several years ago when he was struggling in school and I was being pressured to put him on ADHD medicine. I wanted to exhaust every resource before I medicated him, just to make sure. We went gluten-free for about a month and it made no difference at all for him. In reality, when I started paying attention, we didn't really consume that much gluten to begin with. For us, the gluten wasn't the culprit...but I'm only speaking in terms of what worked/didn't work for us. I won't discount it, though, for other people, because his issues turned out not to be ADHD or behavioral (so I'm glad I didn't start medicating him). Going gluten-free for a little while to see if it helps wouldn't hurt anything and it's far less invasive than medicating right away, so in my opinion, what could it hurt to give it a try?
 
I am debating switching over to a gluten free diet because of my daughter's behavioral problems. I have read that it is possible that the two could be linked and I am curious if it really is or not. Have any of you switched your kid's diets because of this reason? How soon did you notice a change in their behavior? What is your reason specifically for switching to gluten free besides of severe allergies?

I have a friend whose son is on the autism spectrum. He's probably higher functioning than many who are diagnosed with "Autism" but I'm not sure he's high enough functioning to be labeled as "Aspergers." Anyway, she has always taken him to holistic docs, and tried very hard to manage his behavioral issues primarily through eating healthy and getting enough sleep.

I'm not sure what kind of behavioral issues your daughter is experiencing, but my first thought is not to drastically alter a healthy and well-balanced diet. The first "drastic" diet alterations I always suggest is to cut all the additives, sugars, sweets, caffeine if that is something she ingests. I also strongly suggest going dairy free before gluten free, as most humans have trouble digesting cow milk. Switch from fruit juices and sodas to water. Things like that.

Then, check her sleep habits. Does she have and maintain a consistent bedtime? If she is under 17, is she getting 9-10 hours of sleep a night? It is a great misnomer that kids do not require more than 8 hours of sleep. I would highly disagree. Even 11 hours of sleep at night for anyone under 17 can be the healthiest option (if you can do it) and I wouldn't suggest that this is too much.

MANY behavioral problems have a root cause of lack of good sleep.

If you tackle those two habits first, you might find that it isn't necessary to go gluten free. Unfortunately, in America and Western Europe, there is a huge marketing corner on "gluten-free" to solve everyone's health problems, and honestly, it is based in a lot more hype than fact. There are those who would adamantly suggest that the only people who need to be gluten free are those who have celiacs disease.
 
We try to eat pretty clean in our house and I don't experience a lot of behavior issues other than my boys being typical 12, 8, and 5 year olds.

I don't believe just gluten is the culprit when it comes to dietary behavior issues. There is a lot of junk that is hidden in our food. So much sugar we don't realize is in there. So many chemicals. After I was diagnosed with diabetes and couldn't sneak my usual nightly chocolate bar and had to start eating even more carefully than I already did I noticed a change in me. By cutting out a lot of the sugars I became calmer and was able to focus better. Gluten though like everything else is one of those things that is better in moderation. Especially now a days with so many different strains of wheat. Good luck, I hope you find a solution that works for both you and your daughter.
 
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