Milk or No Milk-that is the question

prmenrs, RN · Dec 7, 2004

You need to present objective information, preferably a reputable journal article, something like that. What influenced you to stop giving your child milk? They're not going to do it just because you want them to, even just to 'try' it. WAs it on a website? If so, where is the website's data from?

Not trying to give you a hard time, just trying to help you.

DDRN4me · Dec 8, 2004

I work in a school for students with autism and pdd and behavior disorders. although some of the students are lactose intolerant, there are only a couple who have profound difficulty with milk...how about enlisting the help of the child's MD..a gallon of milk is alot for ANY child....(even young adults) :nurse: mary

Hi all,
This is a question to anyone who is good at convincing skeptical people about Autism treatments.
I am a nurse for a group home for young DD adults. One in particular concerns me. He is Autistic and he drinks at the most a gallon of milk per day. What I know about milk and wheat products and the potential harm they do to these particular kids is not bearing any weight on getting them to stop giving this child milk even just to "see" what happens. I have discussed this issue with co workers. I have discussed the issue with supervisors...but unless I have some kind of offical medical journal stating that milk is bad for autistic people, I dont' know what else I can do. This is really bothering me...My own son has high functioning autism and I have seen the difference in removing milk in particular. I just feel the young man I work for could benefit greatly if milk wasn't such a staple in his diet. And I would like to see it at least "tried" to see what happens. How do I make the people I work with understand I'm not talking voodoo?
Thank you for any responses.

LuvPerNrsng · Dec 8, 2004

I appreciate the responses that you both have given me.

I have been looking on the internet for articles supporting removal of milk from this young man's diet. It's amazing what you find with goolge under casein gluten free diets, or milk AND autism, etc..

As far as working with the M.D.- wow if I only had that much power..lol. I have a book called Biological Treatments for Autism and PDD by Dr. William Shaw from Great Plains Laboratory. I can share that with my supervisor. Plus I did come across an interesting article called Dietary Interventions for the treatment of Autism...but it contains more than just the milk/casein issue we are discussing.

I will leave a link for that.

You asked why I decided to remove milk from my sons diet. Well my son has regressive autism..meaning he was perfectly fine, born healthy as far as I know- talked on time, walked on time, etc.. only right before 3 years old did I know that he was regressing. By three and a half my son was headbanging and biting. Over the years he has matured. Is just as intelligent as I thought and wanted him to be. But his social communication was poor. My son could talk at you..not with you. I cannot say one particular treatment has turned my son around to where he is learning, calm, less meltdowns, etc..Because being a desparate mother I tried alot at the same time. But I know that milk played a part in all the things I have to do for him. Others being..epsom salt baths, vitamin suppliment and antioxident protocol, yeast treatments.

My son had an interesting diet...he would only eat things that contained milk or wheat. His favorite and only foods at one time was pretzels, icecream, sour cream, cheese sticks. And that was it! His behavior was worse, I dont' know how to explain it. I know that off of it, he is much better. And I can see a big difference on his school report if someone in the lunch room had let him have a milk. I know the "wheat" is next on my list. Its just so expensive to accomplish because I know that I will need to substitute with specialty items.

Well that was a bit longwinded...that's what usually happens when I start talking about my kid.

Here are some articles I ran across and I will keep working up the chain of command for the young man I work with.

http://www.gnd.org/autism/autism.htm

http://trainland.tripod.com/paul.htm

memphispanda, RN · Dec 8, 2004

The gluten free-casein free dite must be followed strictly for up to 6 months in order for changes to be seen in most children who could benefit from the diet. And keep in mind that there aren't that many kids who do actually show a benefit from the diet. It isn't as simple as just stopping the obvious products like milk and ice cream, but you have to go beyond that. It can be VERY difficult to find the needed foods, and then they tend to be quite pricey. It's also more difficult in a multi-child family. Also, depending on the size of the "young adult" and how much physical ability the child has, it may just be easier and safer to leave it alone--maybe they have tried to reduce the milk and been physically threatened or injured--it's certainly possible.

Anyway, I would think that's too much milk for a variety of reasons--none to do with the casein free diet. For one thing, large quantities of milk can cause anemia. It's also a LOT of calories and sugar. However, it's ultimately up to that family to do what they have to do. Provide what information you can and let it go.

LuvPerNrsng · Dec 9, 2004

The gluten free-casein free dite must be followed strictly for up to 6 months in order for changes to be seen in most children who could benefit from the diet. And keep in mind that there aren't that many kids who do actually show a benefit from the diet. It isn't as simple as just stopping the obvious products like milk and ice cream, but you have to go beyond that. It can be VERY difficult to find the needed foods, and then they tend to be quite pricey. It's also more difficult in a multi-child family. Also, depending on the size of the "young adult" and how much physical ability the child has, it may just be easier and safer to leave it alone--maybe they have tried to reduce the milk and been physically threatened or injured--it's certainly possible.
Anyway, I would think that's too much milk for a variety of reasons--none to do with the casein free diet. For one thing, large quantities of milk can cause anemia. It's also a LOT of calories and sugar. However, it's ultimately up to that family to do what they have to do. Provide what information you can and let it go.

*****I would have to concure with you. That is so true about the amount of work that would have to go into removing "all" forms of casein for the diet to be effective. And its also true that the casein/gluten diet doesn't work for all. He still literally drinks a gallon of milk a day. I know that there is something that I can do about that regardless if my supervisors research and the family agrees to try the diet. I might just have to be ok with that.******

LydiaNN · Dec 20, 2004

Hi all,
This is a question to anyone who is good at convincing skeptical people about Autism treatments.
I am a nurse for a group home for young DD adults. One in particular concerns me. He is Autistic and he drinks at the most a gallon of milk per day. What I know about milk and wheat products and the potential harm they do to these particular kids is not bearing any weight on getting them to stop giving this child milk even just to "see" what happens. I have discussed this issue with co workers. I have discussed the issue with supervisors...but unless I have some kind of offical medical journal stating that milk is bad for autistic people, I dont' know what else I can do. This is really bothering me...My own son has high functioning autism and I have seen the difference in removing milk in particular. I just feel the young man I work for could benefit greatly if milk wasn't such a staple in his diet. And I would like to see it at least "tried" to see what happens. How do I make the people I work with understand I'm not talking voodoo?
Thank you for any responses.

My son also has high functioning autism and removing milk from his diet didn't help one bit. I'm not saying it doesn't help anyone- only those who have some sort of an intolerance to casein products in the first place, though. Have you any reason to suspect that dairy is a problem for him- digestive problems, etc? Given the havoc a change in diet can cause for a child with autism, especially a change as drastic as withholding something he consumes in such quantity, I think caution is warranted. Why not ask the pediatrician if there are any tests that could reliably taste this child for a casein intolerance?

LuvPerNrsng · Dec 21, 2004

((((My son also has high functioning autism and removing milk from his diet didn't help one bit. I'm not saying it doesn't help anyone- only those who have some sort of an intolerance to casein products in the first place, though. Have you any reason to suspect that dairy is a problem for him- digestive problems, etc? Given the havoc a change in diet can cause for a child with autism, especially a change as drastic as withholding something he consumes in such quantity, I think caution is warranted. Why not ask the pediatrician if there are any tests that could reliably taste this child for a casein intolerance?)))))))))))))

I know of friends who also seen no benefit when milk was removed from their childrens diets..but then again casein is in alot of things, and the removal has to be absolute for benefit to take place. Personally, I do not believe that a milk allergy is the cause of my sons autism even though he is sensitive to the protein, removing it does however make for a happier child...I feel that there are other things involved. I have had my son tested for heavy metals in his system and he does have toxic levels which has led me to read alot of studies on children where by genetic suseptibility and/or environmental insult/s are unable to rid metals from their bodies there by causing neurological damage and acquiring the symtoms of autistic characteristics.

As for asking a pediatrician, remember the reference was for a young adult that I work for, not my son. But I have since discussed this more in detail with staff and his milk consumption has been significantly lowered as there are health risks related to consuming large amounts of milk as this man did. It's a start for us. As for testing casein, the test "my son" took was a gluten/casein urine peptide test through Great Plains Lab.

Thank-you for your post