Considering the GF Diet...

This week I'm in Vancouver, attending "an important business function."

At the "post-meeting barbecue get-together," I was reminiscing with the wife of a friend and colleague of mine.  

We covered the usual subjects: Her undying love of her husband... Elvis Costello's ever-growing oeuvre... what makes a happy relationship...

And then the subject of NJ and Asperger's came up.  

She immediately informed me of a family member with autism, a young lad of about 11 from what I could tell.

Then she asked pointedly: "You're doing the diet, right?"

I knew what she was talking about, of course.  

She was referring to that rather intimidating idea of the Gluten-Free Diet, or GF Diet (basically, no breads).  Or its even creepier cousin, the dreaded Gluten-Free/Casein-Free Diet, or GFCF (basically, no breads or dairy). 

She was very insistent that we implement the diet right away - and completely and forever, amen.  Like others I've met who have tried this diet themselves or with a loved one, she was passionate.

Her story about the young family member moved well, and it came from the heart.  

The kid started the GF diet, and three weeks later, in the parlance of old-time preachers, he "walked again."  The simple deletion of certain (often pleasurable) items from the diet had affected a transformation.

The kid's original symptoms had included: Not talking, period.  Extreme sensitivity to all kinds of stimuli.  Tantrums.  And I'm assuming what must have been the normal challenges with self-care stuff.

After just a few weeks of going without gluten, she said, he began functioning much better.  He would suddenly greet her on her arrival at their house.  She had phone conversations with him (something NJ still isn't great at).  Really, it was a transformation... in mere weeks!

This was the second example I've heard from close friends of a kid practically going "neurotypical" from this diet.

Here's the problem: You can't do this halfway.  You must cut out gluten altogether.  And that's hard, considering it's in almost all good breads, pastries, doughs, fried dough... fried dough again... cereals, flatbreads, some tortillas, maybe a little malted barley flour, pasta, wheat crackers, malt vinegar and NJ's favorite, sprinkle donuts.

Another problem: I wouldn't be comfortable enjoying all these delicious things in front of any child who couldn't have them.

So... that would require a pretty much non-GF diet for me, too.  A scary prospect when you're nearly 40 and you've never known anything but a gluten-friendly diet.

NJ's mother and I have talked about this possibility before.  

We've even done some practice runs, cutting back on gluten just to see what it might be like.

After this discussion, I'm tempted to at least try it for one month.  If there's no difference, then maybe we can bag it.

If there is a noticeable difference, then obviously, we'll do what we have to do.

Even if it involves the removal of sprinkle donuts from our diet as well.

Peace.