I figured there was something about red food dye 2 years ago when my son took a red antibiotic for 2 weeks. He was a wild and crazy 5 year old for the entire 2 weeks. It was awful. He changed into this crazed maniac that I was embarassed to be with. So I started watching and realized over several months that it was happening every time he had Red #40. I took out the Red #40 and realized it also happened with yellow #5 and #6.
That was 2 years ago. Now I have removed all artificial food coloring from the diet of all three of my children. If you've ever tried to do that, you know it's not easy. If you haven't tried it, you should start today. You may have no idea how many of the annoying things your kids do could be related to the food coloring in their diet.
I'll write more about my kids in other posts. If you don't believe me, check out the link I've provided to Center for Science in the Public Interest . There is recent research that verifies this problem is not just for ADHD kids but the general population.
Britain has removed food coloring from their foods. Why haven't we done that here in the USA? I hope this blog will help more people ask that question and start demanding answers.
Would you feed your child chemicals that would cause them to be hyper, moody, or distracted? Of course not, no parent wants that. Well, this blog is to help parents understand that your kids probably eat foods at every meal that could really keep them from being their best. It's time to get the word out.
IF YOU ARE NEW TO MY BLOG, START HERE
you get more smiles when you eat dye free
LINKS TO THE RESEARCH
- 2007 Lancet Study
- BBC research and news about school lunch foods
- Center for Science in the Public Interest
- Cut ADHD by 1/3 with ban on dyes
- Die dyes on Squidoo
- Dyes can double ADHD
- Feingold research on dyes
- Food coloring and ADHD
- Food dyes rainbow of risks
- food-dye-rebellion-starts-now
- Fooled by petrochemicals
- Health Observatory from IAPT
- Twin study from the BBC
LINKS TO MORE INFORMATION
About Laurie
- food dye diaries
- I'm a mother of 3 and a part time Counselor. I'm interested in improving the health and well being of children. I have found food coloring to play such a crucial role in the well being of my own kids, I want to get the word out. I think we should all work to make the world better than we found it. If even one family finds their child better off by not having food dyes, than this blog is successful.
Followers
More about me
First I was a therapist. I have a Masters degree in Community Counseling. I have treated children with emotional and behavioral problems for over 15 years. Never once in my advanced clinical studies or in my extensive reading and web searching about ADHD and other behavioral issues, did I ever hear about food coloring.
I am also a Mom. It took me 7 years of parenting to discover that food coloring was a trigger to many of my children's worst behaviors. I didn't go looking for something to blame. I didn't really think there was anything wrong with my kids. I only found the connection by accident. When I first starting telling people that food coloring was bad for my children, they looked at me like I was nuts. I wondered if it was some weird trait carried only in my family. Now I know better. I'm not the crazy one. Entire countries are banning dyes from their markets. I hope the FDA or Congress catches up soon. So many children will be better off, if we can just get the word out.
I am also a Mom. It took me 7 years of parenting to discover that food coloring was a trigger to many of my children's worst behaviors. I didn't go looking for something to blame. I didn't really think there was anything wrong with my kids. I only found the connection by accident. When I first starting telling people that food coloring was bad for my children, they looked at me like I was nuts. I wondered if it was some weird trait carried only in my family. Now I know better. I'm not the crazy one. Entire countries are banning dyes from their markets. I hope the FDA or Congress catches up soon. So many children will be better off, if we can just get the word out.
6 comments:
My son has probably always freeked out after eating food dyes, but it was never as clear as when he ate a bowl of fruity pebbles this week. I took him to his Doctor and was looked as about as crazy and I looked at Jacob when he was dancing, jumping, crawling and flopping around that day.
I AM FLABBERGASTED! I AM OUTRAGED!
HOW HAVE I NOT HEARD ABOUT THIS BEFORE? I will be going thru all my foods tomorrow while most of my kids are in school! And I am going to be more aware while shopping. WOW - I just can't believe it! US best place to be - I keep pondring that yet I keep hearing that we are so behind with so much stuff when it comes to our kids - this is ridiculous! Please tell me how I can find out about all of the resturants, and off name brands and such. I have a 7 year old Foster son who was diagnosed with ADHD, his moms solution was a Slim Jim - For protein she said - he'll calm down after he has some protein, WELL - All it took was overall healthier eating and LOTS of excercise, and no more hour upon hour of TV & computer! HOWEVER - I was talking with his teacher and I have always noticed my self that he has really great SMART, POWERFUL, GREAT, SHINING KID DAYS, and then low temper tantrum filled horrible days! I am going to definately test this out and I hope it works - even if his mother won't follow it after they go back with her - At least I can give him and his sister the knowledge now and maybe they can help themselves later on! I could write here for hours, but I'll stop now. Thanks for putting this out here, and I'd love more info - and any links to petition sites etc that I could help out with this cause. Thanks, Jayme
I have updated my links on the right to include the petition site. You may also want to check out the "Find food dyes link".
thank you for your blog. i have been researching diet intervention for my non-diagnosed developmentally delayed son for well over a year and this is the first time i've seen this evidence so clearly.
www.atypicalmother.blogspot.com
My three year old son developed a blinking tic last spring. I was so distraught about it, and did some research to find answers (doc said there was nothing I could do). I learned that food dyes can bring on a tic in some kids. I immediately eliminated them from his diet and also switched his vitamin (that had dyes) to one with magnesium. The tic disappeared. This week he's had fruit snacks, M&Ms, artificially colored icing on a cupcake and Kool-Aid. Not intentional on my part - and my husband gave him the Kool-aid. The tic is back! It's crazy that this stuff is still used in foods! It's time for me to pay attention to his diet again. It was good for me to see that food dyes really do cause a problem.
After birthday parties my daughter would act so crazy. Turns out the alarmingly bright colored frosting was chock full of dyes. Now we are forced to bring our own cupcakes to birthdays because we always suspect that the cake and ice-cream will be full of dyes. Thanks for your informative blog. Eliminating dyes from my family's diet has made parenting so much easier. We still have our occasional dye-related slip-ups --immediately followed by temper tantrum - but that is now a rarity.
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