Kids with food dye sensitivites

[jaybirdsmommy]

We're in the process of eliminating all food dyes from our 7 year old sons diet in the hopes of improving some of his behavior issues. Does anyone have any experience with this that you'd care to share?

Thanks for your help.

jm

 

[ratlenhum]

Are you just pulling food dyes or doing with the Feingold diet?

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

I don't know about Feingold, right now we're just trying to eliminate the dyes and cut way back on preservatives and gluten just to see if there's any improvement.

His hyperness and argumentativeness have taken a nosedive over the summer, come to find out he's been drinking red gatorade by the gallon at day camp.

 

[C&G'sMama]

DS is 7 with Aspergers. We have done artificial dye free since he was 4 because he's senstive to them and they irritate his kidneys and turn his cheeks and ears bright red. He's been GF since March or April, I can't remember now. We truly feel it's made a difference. He still has his moments but they aren't as intense (even with some of the current issues we are having with him.)

Good luck

 

[koolaidmoms]

To add onto C&G'sMama as I am the other half -

We started by calling it his Caveman diet. He could understand that. He couldn't understand why everyone could eat things he could not so we talked a great deal about it and he liked that he could understand Caveman eating - all the fruit, vegetables, meat (except cured meats), nuts and berries he could eat. (Whole foods)

He still gets upset about it but we have found an amazing Vegan bakery in our area and a GF bread and pasta store that have made life much easier. We almost never eat fast food anymore as there are few things he can eat there and overall I think we are all more conscious of what we are eating.

He has become an avid label reader as has his older sister. It is amazing how many foods that you don't think would need color do - marshmallows - blue to make them appear whiter. Why? Kosher marshmallows work for DS.

Good luck!

 

[ireland_nicole]

we have definitely seen an improvement in DS's behavior and attentiveness since we went artificial free for him; including colors, preservatives, etc...

OT, but Disney is really good with this. We do list his sensitivity as an allergy for our reservations, and they ensure his food doesn't have any artificials in them. Although the french chef in Epcot was very offended that we even asked; He was appalled that we might think they would use any artificial ingredients in the food lol. Thankfully, my husband is fluent in french and was able to smooth things over. Also, apparently resort wide there is no MSG used at Disney according to the chefs we spoke to last month.

 

[kelleyrn2000]

I'm interested to know more about this too. DD was given a blood test that tested for red dye sensitivity and it came back negative, but I have no idea how they can test for it with a blood test . They also tested for food allergies at the same time (RAST). Everything came back negative.

One thing I have been thinking about recently is sugar sensitivities in my dd. Would this be similar in symptoms to food dye sensitivities? For me when my blood sugar plummets I get extremely moody and irritable.


I have always wanted to try Feingold, but I have no idea how I would do it! It seems so difficult to get the whole family to change...esp dh!

OP-that's interesting about the red gatorade. I find when dd is home over the summer I notice so many things about her that I never picked up on! KUP!

 

[MomofSixinSC]

I have been doing the Feingold Program with my family for almost 10 years now. I thank God daily for the blessing that it is to our family. In the beginning, my husabnd was onboard because he knew how important it was for our son. Within 8 weeks, dh got a promotion and a raise at work. Now he tries very hard to stay on Feingold 100%.

If you have any questions, please read the Feingold website http://www.feingold.org/ and feel free to pm me any questions you have.

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

We are artificial color, flavor, and preservative free. Pretty much only natural (home made) foods made with real (pure) ingredients.

It has been amazing for my daughter. Her rages and meltdowns have almost gone away. Her frustration tolerance is better and she is not as hyper emotional.

It is hard but it is worth it. You can start out by looking at Failsafe, which we do a modified version of.

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

we have definitely seen an improvement in DS's behavior and attentiveness since we went artificial free for him; including colors, preservatives, etc...

OT, but Disney is really good with this. We do list his sensitivity as an allergy for our reservations, and they ensure his food doesn't have any artificials in them. Although the french chef in Epcot was very offended that we even asked; He was appalled that we might think they would use any artificial ingredients in the food lol. Thankfully, my husband is fluent in french and was able to smooth things over. Also, apparently resort wide there is no MSG used at Disney according to the chefs we spoke to last month.

Cool....like I need an excuse to want to plan a trip!!!

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

Thanks everyone for your input. This is hard. Right now we're just focusing on dyes and gluten. His diet is already so restrictive that it's nearly impossible to find things he'll eat. I did however get him to promise to try one new fruit or vegetable of his choosing every week. So far he's discovered he likes cherries.

What do those of you with picky kids do? He's a certified carb addict and doesn't like the gluten free alternatives for most things (celiacs in the family so we've tried lots). Doesn't eat much meat, few vegetables or fruits. No cheese except American (white only). Could live on hot dogs, chips, and eggs.

 

[Schmeck]

I'm interested to know more about this too. DD was given a blood test that tested for red dye sensitivity and it came back negative, but I have no idea how they can test for it with a blood test . They also tested for food allergies at the same time (RAST). Everything came back negative.

The blood will have antibodies in it for the things that cause allergies - so they are testing to see if the blood has those certain antibodies or not. Same as if they were testing for a bacterial or viral infection, to a point.

 

[MomofSixinSC]

Thanks everyone for your input. This is hard. Right now we're just focusing on dyes and gluten. His diet is already so restrictive that it's nearly impossible to find things he'll eat. I did however get him to promise to try one new fruit or vegetable of his choosing every week. So far he's discovered he likes cherries.

What do those of you with picky kids do? He's a certified carb addict and doesn't like the gluten free alternatives for most things (celiacs in the family so we've tried lots). Doesn't eat much meat, few vegetables or fruits. No cheese except American (white only). Could live on hot dogs, chips, and eggs.

I know a lot of moms have reported that their picky eaters became much less picky after being on Feingold for 6+ weeks. Once all the hidden artificials had cleared the child's system, they were much more willing to try new foods. They had thought they were doing well avoiding artificials, never realizing that many of the "organic" and "100% natural" products they were feeding their children actually did have petroleum (crude oil - like in the Gulf) in them.

All the foods listed as acceptable in the Feingold Shopping Guide have been extensively researched, even the ingredients of the ingredients and the products used in the manufacturing process. I can use any of them with confidence, knowing that they are petroleum free.

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

They had thought they were doing well avoiding artificials, never realizing that many of the "organic" and "100% natural" products they were feeding their children actually did have petroleum (crude oil - like in the Gulf) in them.

Where does this information come from? I cannot find this substantiated anywhere but Feingold-who has a vested interest in selling their product/service.

Certified 100% Organic (especially) and 100% all natural (less so) should be free of petroleum based E additives. If you have information that proves otherwise please point me in that direction.

Feingold also eliminates salicilates, so perhaps that is what you are referring to? But salicilates are naturally occurring and not everyone is sensitive to them.

We started on failsafe. One thing is probably certain OP, unless you cut out all synthetics (and synthetically processed naturals) you won't be able to find a baseline. It is true that once you get to 100% pure/clean diet they become less picky. It's hard at first but SO worth it. You don't have to go GF/CF at first, they recommend that phase after pure/clean has not sufficiently worked. Here is a list of common reactive E additives:

http://curezone.com/foods/enumbers.asp

There is a failsafe yahoo group that is free-all of the Feingold stuff costs $$$.

 

[quasar4legs]

To the OP, you might find it interesting to Google 'The food intolerance network' run by Sue Dengate in Australia.

The information on her site is based on the research done into food intolerances done by various doctors that work out of the allergy clinic at a large Sydney Hospital. There are a number of online support groups including one for the US, I believe.

Good Luck
Quasar

 

[MomofSixinSC]

Where does this information come from? I cannot find this substantiated anywhere but Feingold-who has a vested interest in selling their product/service.

Certified 100% Organic (especially) and 100% all natural (less so) should be free of petroleum based E additives. If you have information that proves otherwise please point me in that direction.

The Feingold Association is a non-profit group that charges a nominal fee to their members. I only pay that once a year. For my about $70 per year, I get a Shopping Guide that lists food that has been researched by unpaid volunteers to be petroleum-free, access to the members-only discussion board, regular updates to the shopping guide as new products are added, as well as the newsletter, the mail order guide, the fast food guide, and other helpful program materials.

The most obvious example of a "100% natural" product with petroleum in it is Nature's Own 100% natural bread. They spray the baking pans with a petroleum based non-stick spray that leeches into the bread The would be enough to send my son into meltdowns for 3-5 days.

Whole Foods Organic Milk used to preserve their Vitamin A Palmitate with a petro-chemical as well.

 

[SDSorority]

We are artificial color, flavor, and preservative free. Pretty much only natural (home made) foods made with real (pure) ingredients.

It has been amazing for my daughter. Her rages and meltdowns have almost gone away. Her frustration tolerance is better and she is not as hyper emotional.

It is hard but it is worth it. You can start out by looking at Failsafe, which we do a modified version of.

SO ARE WE!!! How do you do at Disney? Are there any snacks that you know you can have or do you avoid them all?

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

We haven't been to WDW since we started the diet. I will probably end up #1 bringing a lot of safe foods-snacks, etc. #2 talking to the chefs at the sit down restaurants/buffets about what would be safe (is it possible to get an ingredients list of the foods served?). I am quite concerned about this-somethings I know are a big no-no-but things like mashed potatoes and such I will have to find out exactly what all of the ingredients are. DD can't have margarine so unless they use real butter it would be a no go. Things like minimally prepared vegetables and salads are ok (depending on if they have oil on them-the only oil we use is sunflower and pretty much all commercial dressings have MSG these days ). Meats probably wouldn't be ok-I am careful to select organic, hormone free chickens & beef so as to avoid steriods or hormones. I seriously doubt chicken/beef on Disney buffets is hormone free.

DD might just be eating vegetarian while at WDW. Of course, raw fruit is acceptable, although unless it is certified organic, you can't be sure if you're getting pesticides or not.

I think our next trip will possibly be offsite in a condo that has a full kitchen and I could order Garden Grocer to prepare foods.

We are going to Disneyland for one day next weekend and alas, won't be able to do our regular brunch at Plaza Inn. It's sad but the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

We had a major slip up 2 weeks ago when we went out with family and others were eating fried pickles (NOT safe for SO many reasons!) and I let dd have a few. She was up half the night-agitated and itchy all over. Everytime that happens I make the connection for her. "Those pickles make you feel this way" This helps her understand the diet makes her feel better and eating poorly makes her feel worse.

 

[Scuttle]

I am SO happy to have stumbled upon this thread!! We are going to Disney this winter and I returned to the DIS to do some research about allergies and the DDP. I would have sworn that I was the only "crazy" (self-proclaimed!) mama that didn't allow our children to have the dyes, sweeteners, etc.

Ours elimination diet started very similarly to the original poster that we started with eliminating dairy/casein, then it progressed to gluten, and as I did more research we jumped completely to the no dyes, no artificial sweeteners, preservatives, no MSG, etc etc.

I knew that we couldn't be the only ones!!!

My DS (6) asked me this morning, "WHY do they put the food coloring into the foods, if they are so bad for you?" We talk about how they are a chemical, and how we try to avoid chemicals - which he understands.

I know that this is redundant advice for you, but ALWAYS read the label!!

My favorite DUH moment is that regular marshmallows have BLUE dye in them!! YEAP - BLUE! Thank goodness to the health food store for providing an alternative without dyes! Oh, and there's also a pretty easy homemade recipe if you feeling adventurous!

I work really hard at finding healthy alternatives to just about everything that the kids want to eat. Now it's a fun challenge, it's no longer a chore!

To the original poster, you WILL get to that point also, where it's easy to find the alternatives, and your child's gut will thank you!!