When they think you're crazy

Taking my children off food dyes was a radical step. I'll admit it, if a parent had come in and told me about food dye reactions more than 5 years ago, I would have thought I was dealing with a nutcase. If I had not seen the difference in my own children, I would never believe how drastic the difference can be.

So what do you do when friends, teachers, relatives don't believe you? For the friends and parents of your children's friends, simply start by talking about your experience. I find myself getting in conversations at all kinds of places with other moms. Waiting rooms, birthday parties, school events, you name it. Tell other moms about how your children are better off food dyes. What do they do off dyes, and which behaviors pop out only when food dyes have been on the menu.

Every mom wants to know how to have her children behave better. Many are not willing to believe that food can make such a big difference. But each time you get another family to try it, we slowly win the battle of having better leverage on a consumer basis. The more people shopping for natural products, the cheaper the natural foods get, the more people that can buy them.

For teachers it's a little harder to convince, especially if they do not have children, or their children are grown up. Send them links to the research or to my blog. Encourage them to see that it really isn't just you. The 2007 Lancet study was a key factor in prompting Britain to ban colors in their foods. Many people are very surprised to learn that other countries ban the same ingredients we readily feed our American children. The only way to stop seeming crazy is to get this information out to more families.