In my world, early intervention has been a blend of both a nutritional diet and specialized teaching strategies.  The goal of this crash course is to give a quick overview of special dietary intervention.
Dietary intervention is unique and personal, with the scope depending entirely on each individual.  The good news is that by learning what works for others can be a great starting point for you and your family.  

Nutritional Intervention
The trick to nutritional intervention is balancing between eliminating bad foods and additives, and adding good foods and supplements.  

What to Remove From Your Nutritional Diet
You’ve likely heard that removing gluten and casein can provide dramatic results, but in reality, this is only the beginning.  We must evaluate and remove (or at least minimize) sugar (especially refined, white sugar), yeasts, nitrates, food coloring, additives and sometimes other foods such as eggs, corn, or even rice.  Eliminating (and minimizing) heavy metals can also be important.  This process may include chelating (the process of removing heavy metals from the body) as well as eliminating aluminum (pots, pans, cans, as well as foil) in your daily cooking process.  

A Note About Food Allergy Tests
Food allergy tests may or may not be a good starting point for you.  For my son, allergy tests consistently came back negative.  Despite this information, we tried the GFCF diet and very quickly my son realized dramatic improvements.  My daughter was a different story and allergy tests were invaluable, as her sensitivities were hidden in foods like rice, corn, and bananas.  The lesson?  Information from food allergy tests, are important but even if results are negative, it may be worth a trial elimination diet.  

What is Gluten and Casein?
Grains are the fruits of cereal grasses, where the fruit and seed are united as a single unit.  They contain carbohydrates, proteins, sugars, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids.  There are many grains currently cultivated for human consumption and the good news is that many are gluten-free.  Wheat, however, is not one of them.   Wheat is one of the earliest cultivated grains, originating from Southwest Asia and the Mediterranean, genus name Triticum. Gluten is a portion of the protein found in the grains wheat, rye, and barley.  If something is gluten-free, then it is free of wheat and gluten but, if something is wheat-free, it does not necessarily mean it is gluten-free. Remember gluten exists in wheat, rye, and barley and any derivative of wheat such as triticale or semolina.  Also, some grains, particularly oats, are cultivated in the same fields as wheat or other glutenous grains.  Therefore, even though oats are technically gluten-free,  it is highly possible that they have cross contamination.  Be sure to look for gluten-free oats.

Milk that is produced by mammals is a white liquid that contains proteins, fats, sugars (lactose), vitamins, and minerals.  Milk can also be found naturally in plants, such as coconut milk, and it also can be manufactured by liquid, usually water, leaching (or milking) nutrients from nuts (almond milk), legumes (soy milk), or grains (rice milk).  Casein is the protein found in mammal milks.  If a food is listed as casein-free, it is free of the milk protein, but if a product is listed as nondairy, it may still contain casein.  Kosher parve (sometimes spelled Pareve or Parevine) is milk-free and casein-free.  “Kosher Dairy” or “D.E.” indicates that dairy equipment was used in the production line but that dairy ingredients were not used.  D.E. may be okay for you, depending on your sensitivity level.

What to Add to Your Nutritional Diet
Theoretically, a balanced diet should provide all the nutrition we need.  But when our kids limit their diet to certain foods or when the gut doesn’t work properly to distill the right vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, supplements must be added. What to add and remove from your child’s diet should be guided by a knowledgeable practitioner.  The practitioner should recommend tests to help determine the necessary balance for your child.  In general, you will likely evaluate and possibly add essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, probiotics, amino acids, or enzymes.  I highly recommend that you add one supplement or treatment (this includes therapeutic treatments such as those offered by speech and occupational therapists) at a time so that you may evaluate its effectiveness appropriately.  See Chapter 11 for tracking ideas.

Read Those Labels
In just the last several years, due to outcry from our food-sensitive community, manufacturers have made improvements in the way they label their products.  Public Law 108-282 (August 2, 2004) is the Title II—Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act.  It requires manufacturers to list on the product label “the common or usual name of the ingredient” or “the name of the food source from which the major food allergen is derived” by January 1, 2006.  The law defines the major allergens as ingredients or proteins derived from milk, egg, fish, Crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, wheat, peanuts, and soybeans.   
While we are already seeing the results of this law on our products, the law itself points out areas that we still must question.  First, cross contamination, a serious threat to sensitive individuals, will not be addressed until 2008 when the law calls for an analysis to evaluate “unintentional” allergen contamination from the manufacturing process.  Second, the Act calls for a proposed rule to define the  term “gluten-free” on the labeling of foods by 2010.  Last, and maybe most importantly,  preliminary research pointed out that recalls due to incorrect labeling tripled in the 1990 decade.  So even with these new labeling requirements, as consumers, we must continue to be cautious, especially of new and unfamiliar manufacturers.

Keeping Track of It All
People with GFCF food sensitivities may also be sensitive to food additives, not identified as “common allergens,” so in addition to the cautions and warnings about gluten and casein, we also must know over 1,000 food ingredients.  Here are some ideas on how to be more methodical in your shopping approach: (1) Beginning on page 200, I have included a list of forbidden and questionable ingredients and additives.  (2) Check manufacturers’ websites and search for GFCF lists.  (3) Shop at organizations such as missrobens.com, glutenfreemall.com, or wholesome grocers where they have a more reliable sourcing method. (4) Download the gfcf togo database that I compiled over the years and tweak it to your own needs.  This database can be uploaded into your PDA or smart phone and be easily accessed on the go. 

As found in Gluten-Free Casein-Free Everyday: Celebrating the GFCF Special Diet by Inga J Smith