Allergy to Red Dye

I would suggest you wean her off the junk food all togehter. Her nutritional needs might not being met with such a carb/sugar rich diet. That woudl make me grouchy and hyper. Try whole fruits/veggies and some protein (like cheese, hard boiled egg) for snacks.

My son can't have any kind of dyes, in foods or likewise. It makes him super hyper when in foods, and makes him break out if in detergents or cleansers. We discovered this when we gave him some grape tylenol. He was sick with an ear infection, and his heart started racing and he started talking all crazy. It was like he was out of his mind. Pretty scary stuff. Just label watch and eliminate it all, and see if things improve. Things that wouldn't seem to have dye in it just might. Hope this helps!

A lot of the food now have dyes that should be banned (in my opinion). My daughter gets nutty when she eats them. Here is an interesting article on the subject.

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/30/134962888/fda-probes-link-b...

It doesnt' even have to be an "allergy" but rather simply a sensitivity. A large, well-controlled British study a few years ago showed that people who are prone to hyperactivity clearly become worse when exposed to a few common food dyes and preservatives. http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,###-###-##...

My own experience is that quite a few chemicals are capable of causing nervousness, sleeplessness, mood swings, dizziness, and a whole assortment of nervous-system disruptions in sensitive people. I used to participate in group sensitivity testing at my doctor's office, and I would watch calm children go manic within a couple of minutes of having various very dilute chemicals squirted under their tongues.

I have very noticeable emotional and physical changes occur when I've gotten exposures to a range of chemicals, some of the worst being the scents in laundry products and air fresheners. One concentrated whiff can keep me from sleeping well for as long as three or four nights.

I think more people are sensitive to red dyes than we realize. I think you should try to give her real foods, not the junk. Doritos are so horrible for you. They have MSG, which is a whole nother reason to avoid them. Poison. Give her fruit, cook from scratch to find snacks. We don't need that junk in our diets. Even if she isn't sensitive to the red dye, it will be good to cut that junk out. It isn't as hard as it sounds once you get used to eating better. You may even find yourself appalled by the junk eventually. :)

My son was allergic to a red dye. It was really obvious like letting go of a wind up toy. It was also a specific red dye not all of them. Can't remember the number anymore. There was only one product that had the offending dye so I can only assume it is not widely used.

Read the labels of all those snacks. There is more than red dye in there. Artifical anything is bad for our kids. Pop is bad for kids. Aspartame, sucralose, nutrasweet, equal, splenda, and saccaharin are derived from products that not healthy. Pick up a copy of the book The Unhealthy Truth by Robyn Obrien and you will find out about the food you and your children are eating. She can be found on Facebook. High fructose corn syrup is in the news lately. It is not a good sugar substitute. They know it causes obesity. My kids only get those kind of snacks once in a while but know that I have found healthier substitutes they don't even ask for those things anymore. And it is hard to change a high sugar diet. You have to do it gradually. It is like an addiction. There taste buds are used to the sugar and it will take time for the taste buds to be re-trained. But it can be done and you will have healthier children. You can do it!

Is she getting caffenine from any source, soda or chocolate??? you might want to watch that too.

Culdn't hurt to try to eliminate the dye, but it sounds like you have to be serious about it and stick to it for longer than a day or two.