High Fructose Corn Syrup and Red Dye #40

[hegsag]

Does anyone have any experience with eliminating these products/ingredients from your child's diet? Just wondering if it made a difference in behavior. My 3 year old can be quite a handful (he's always in time out at preschool for his behavior) & I was thinking of trying to eliminate HFCS from his diet as well as red dye.

Any experience or thoughts greatly appreciated....

 

[piney]

bumping, hoping you get some answers.

 

[castleview]

I don't rule HFCS out in the house, but try to avoid it. Most snacks come from Trader Joe's where little HFCS exists in products.

I can't say if it effects their behavior, but I've found that we can keep food in the house a little longer because they're a little more satisfied after eating. HFCS only gets their taste buds wanting more. Whenever we have junk cereal in the house, it's gone by the end of the day!

 

[KimR]

bumping, hoping you get some answers.

That made me laugh!

 

[Erin1700]

My DD8 can not have red dye 40. It made a HUGE difference when we took it out of her diet.

 

[legalsea]

Heck, I don't know. I mean, I assume that getting rid of the high fructose corn syrup is good. But is there that much red dye in stuff?

I must admit, my first thought was of Arrested Development, when (as part of a scam) Gob makes up a huge batch of high fructose corn syrup and red food dye (suppose to be blood). Buster finds the tub and drinks it all, and becomes hyperactive for hours.

 

[piney]

That made me laugh!

 

[KimR]

Nevermind, I thought you did that on purpose (a pun).

 

[gonemousin']

Here's a LARGE thread on eliminating HFCS - lots of informative info in there. My DD5 has a sensitivity/allergy to it which brought it to light for our family. After eliminating it in our household, we all lost weight inexplicably (DH lost about 20 pounds, I lost about 25 pounds). Only change to our diet was food without HFCS. And yes, you stop craving junk.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1595131

Good luck - hope that helps!

 

[tlens]

Nevermind, I thought you did that on purpose (a pun).

That's ok. I thought she did too.

Piney: Go back to the what do you dislike about the DIS thread. I think it may become clear to you then.

 

[got2luvtink]

How did you find out yoour DD had an allergy to it? Do allergists test for that too?

Here's a LARGE thread on eliminating HFCS - lots of informative info in there. My DD5 has a sensitivity/allergy to it which brought it to light for our family. After eliminating it in our household, we all lost weight inexplicably (DH lost about 20 pounds, I lost about 25 pounds). Only change to our diet was food without HFCS. And yes, you stop craving junk.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1595131

Good luck - hope that helps!

 

[Colleen27]

My DD8 can not have red dye 40. It made a HUGE difference when we took it out of her diet.

Same with my DS11. We haven't completely eliminated HFCS, but we've completely eliminated red #40 and cut waaaaay back on processed/convenience food overall and we've noticed a marked improvement in his attentiveness and ability to focus/control himself.

 

[3jsmommy]

Red Dye makes my DS throw up! I haven't brought him to an allergist for it, but it's happened about 5 times, so I totally avoid it.
I have a friend who swears it makes her son wild & I have read about that effect too.
I always try to avoid HFCS, it is getting easier as a lot of products are now labled "without HFCS" right on the package. If you have a whole foods or trader Joe's near you it will be easier to find products that aren't as likley to contain those two things. Juice, cereal, "fruit" snacks, ice pops, & candy are the biggest culprits. Read all your labels & you'll be fine!

 

[mla1977]

I am sensitive to all red dyes. I think primarily it is #40, but I just try to avoid all of them to be safe. It start in high school when I realized that the CoolAid I was drinking was giving me a rash on my upper lip. In college I realized the Crystal Lite that I was drinking out the sports bottle I carried around was the reason I kept getting sore throats and getting sick. I can't even use lotions, shampoos, etc without getting a rash from it. Now I'm stuck with plain old lemonade as the only drink mix that I can have.

I think I'll try to cut out the HFCS in the future.

 

[gonemousin']

How did you find out yoour DD had an allergy to it? Do allergists test for that too?

Wasn't easy - it was a combination of a process of elimination along with pure luck. We'd complained to our pediatrician about her ongoing stomach pain (massive cramping) and she'd been tested for numerous things. One day it dawned on him to mention that he had another patient with similar problems whose parents swore they'd identified HFCS as the cause of their child's problems. We figured it was worth trying.

As soon as we eliminated it from her diet, the pain (ongoing) went away. If she accidentally consumes some (one time for example, she slept over my parents' house and my mom gave her pancake syrup instead of 100% maple syrup by mistake - early on...grandma is good about it now, LOL) she'll react to it very quickly. But it's just HFCS for her - regular corn syrup and corn products are totally fine, so it's not a corn allergy.

At our last appointment, our pediatrician mentioned he's since seen about 5 kids in the last couple years with the same problem (big practice in all fairness). Appears to becoming more common.

 

[tinkerdorabelle]

Its in so many things, you don't even realize. A little off topic but even makeup has Red Dye and other dyes. They say NOT to let your teenage daughters wear makeup with it now, it can cause problems. I have a link to great makeup that is ALL natural, no dyes either. One QVC sells called 100% Pure, which uses fruit and vegetable dyes instead of the other, and is good for your skin, and another is Ultrapure.com. I love Ultrapure also bc the company has the absolute best customer service, sends me samples, etc. Bare Minerals which people like still use the dyes although they are starting to get a couple products wo it.

 

[Michelle67]

Definitely. I know several kids that don't tolerate HFCS, and one that doesn't tolerate dyes. They all become horror children. My kids amp out pretty easily, but I don't know if it is HFCS or any/all simple sugars. We have a whole family full of blood glucose issues anyhow. I just control their sweets intake overall, and don't differentiate.

 

[hegsag]

Thanks for all the input. I have started cutting out red dye in my son's medication, toothpaste and food & it seems to make a difference in how he sleeps at night. I have to call the pharmacist becasue my son also gets fluoride drops at night & I just found out that they put dye in that as well.

 

[Padstack]

I've been working at eliminating HFCS from our family's meals and have had great success. You will have to spend a great deal of time reading labels. Of course, eating fresh vegetables, fruits and meats will let you avoid them all together.

Edited to add that bread is a very big culprit when it comes to HFCS.

 

[wowsmom]

We don't really worry about the dyes, but we did cut out HFCS about 14 months ago.

The biggest difference I noticed was that DS14 (13 at the time) no longer had that "teenaged attitude". I also noticed that I no longer had that "stressed out witchy mom attitude"!! My DH and DS11 haven't noticed any difference from eliminating HFCS. I know that DS14 and I both have issues with hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) so I don't know if that makes us more susceptible to problems with HFCS.

We don't buy anything with HFCS, but I'm sure we still get a bit of it when we eat out (although we try to avoid the places that are bad about that and trans fat).

At first, it was challenging to eliminate ALL HFCS, but we are lucky to have both Whole Foods and Trader Joe's close by, plus as a PP said, there are more products becoming available without the HFCS.