Behavior Questions

Hi,

I know my son's behavior and language have changed since I put him on the dairy free (casein) diet. My son was diagnosed with PDD NOS in January and despite the fact that there isn't any proven documentation about it, I tried the diet in hopes that it would help him. Since that time, he is much more calm, able to attend better, his imaginative play has emerged, and his language has increased a lot. I am thankful that I found a book called "Unraveling the Mystery of Autism & PDD" by Karyn Seroussi. This is where I learned about the diet and was able to help my son...even though the doctor that diagnosed my son didn't tell me anything about the diet because it hasn't been sufficiently documented in the field.

It's probably all that sugar in those types of drinks and foods. Try water or real juice instead. Real fruit is much better than candy as well.

I know this is VERY long but I think you will really find it interesting.
Wed Sep 5, 2007 6:32 PM ET

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Certain artificial food colorings and other additives can worsen hyperactive behaviors in children aged 3 to 9, British researchers reported on Wednesday.

Tests on more than 300 children showed significant differences in their behavior when they drank fruit drinks spiked with a mixture of food colorings and preservatives, Jim Stevenson and colleagues at the University of Southampton said.

"These findings show that adverse effects are not just seen in children with extreme hyperactivity (such as ADHD) but can also be seen in the general population and across the range of severities of hyperactivity," the researchers wrote in their study, published in the Lancet medical journal.

Stevenson's team, which has been studying the effects of food additives in children for years, made up two mixtures to test in one group of 3-year-olds and a second group of children aged 8 and 9.

They included sunset yellow coloring, also known as E110; carmoisine, or E122; tartrazine, or E102; ponceau 4R, or E124; the preservative sodium benzoate, or E211; and other colors.

One of the two mixtures contained ingredients commonly drunk by young British children in popular drinks, they said. They did not specify what foods might include the additives.

Both mixtures significantly affected the older children. The 3-year-olds were most affected by the mixture that closely resembled the average intake for children that age, Stevenson's team reported.

"The implications of these results for the regulation of food additive use could be substantial," the researchers concluded.

ONGOING DEBATE

The issue of whether food additives can affect children's behavior has been controversial for decades.

Benjamin Feingold, an allergist, has written books arguing that not only did artificial colors, flavors and preservatives affect children but so did natural salicylate compounds found in some fruits and vegetables.

Several studies have contradicted this notion.

Stevenson's team made up several batches of fruit drinks and carefully watched the children after they drank them. Some did not contain the additives.

The children varied in their responses but in general reacted poorly to the cocktails, Stevenson's team reported.

"We have found an adverse effect of food additives on the hyperactive behavior of 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children," they wrote.

Dr. Sue Baic, a registered dietitian at the University of Bristol, said in a statement: "This is a well designed and potentially very important study."

"It supports what dietitians have known for a long time, that feeding children on diets largely consisting of heavily processed foods which may also be high in fat, salt or sugar is not optimal for health."

Others disagreed.

"The paper shows some statistical associations. It is not a demonstration of cause and effect," said Dr. Paul Illing, a registered toxicologist and safety consultant in Wirral, Britain.

When my son was younger my doctor told me to not give my son anything red but I never noticed any difference.

I've wondered that myself as a parent but then I've always put a limit on how much "fake juice" (Kool aid or HIc type drinks) my kids consume anyways. My kids only drink 100% juice at home, I buy Juicy Juice or HIc juice boxes for my daughter's school lunches when she takes it, I make Gatoraid instead of Kool Aid in the summer and I always keep a thing of water in the fridge that my daughter can use herslef too. I push fruits and veggies on them, and candy normally gets tossed out because it is out of sight out of mind.

Does he get hyper with just red colored things, or do you think it could be the sugar in the candy, juice and kool-aid?

Yes, it absolutely does. While I do not struggle with this with my daughter I have a number of on line friend who do. Once all dairy and wheat has been removed from the diet their childs behavior settled right down. There may be other foods causing the hyper activity as well. If removing one product does not help remove another and another. The results are seen fairly quickly so long as ALL of the offending food is removed. Even trace amounts will cause behavior issues. Read labels and if you decide to test it remove it all. Good luck. I have two friends I wish would try removing wheat and dairy from thier childs diets to see if there is a positive response. They are not up for it even for a week.

K. T

I believe that it does affect behavior, absolutely. And I have stumbled upon a treat that is gf/cf. They are the yummiest brownies you could imagine, and you cannot tell there is anything different about them. My husband and daughter are my guinea pigs, and they ate them up!

You can buy them at Whole Foods Market. It's a bit more expensive than what you're probably used to, but if you're looking for gf/cf products, they have them in droves.

Good luck!

I agree. I see changes in my daughter's behavior when she eats food containing red dye 40. There are also foods that are not red which contain this dye - cool ranch Doritos is one.

My 10 yr old has ADHD,Bipolar and intermittent explosive disorder.YES it does affect them.Red dye makes him hyper, sugar esp Chocolate can make him aggressive.I limit his diet in many areas.The red dyes and other dyes in koolaid can trigger asthma attacks.My s/o was reacting to it He stopped drinking Koolaid and it got better. Red dye is the worst .Don't forget bologna and hot dogs can have red dyes too.

R.

Get a book called the Caring and Feeding of the Indigo Child. It talks about foods and the affects that the artificial additives have on children. It tells you about alternatives. I hope that helps. SMILE!

I have a co-worker who is trying gluton free right now and she says she feels so much better while she isn't eating it. And I know people who say the red foods affect them too...

I do wonder about what to feed my LO. As a parent you want to make good, intelligent choices for them, you know? I suppose I need to do some research on this... I am suspicious!

Yes, diet affects behavior (and more); there is NO question about it. The old adage "you are what you eat" was right on in many respects! It may not be as recognizable for some kids as others, but I can personally vouch for it! My son tends to be "hyperactive", but he acts MUCH worse when he eats certain foods. The GFCF (gluten free/casein free) diet is beneficial, but we found our triggers to go beyond GFCF parameters. By way of example, he can't eat wheat, but it is not because of the gluten. (My doctor said that no one should be eating wheat the way it is processed these days--the body can't even recognize it.) Red dye and some others have been proven to be triggers for many kids as well. We just stay away from anything artificial...
Kudos for noticing the connection!

I took my 14 year old daughter to the doctor last week. She seems to always get infections around her cycle. The doctor was telling her that she should watch what she eats because it can cause the mood changes swinging up and down. Stay away from pastas, breads, sodas, basically carbs.

Is there anything safe???

My 5 year old does not seem to be affected by foods. He continuously drinks milk most of the time and Hi-C juice. I think that it depends upon the child and their chemical balance. If you notice it affects your child, then monitor their consumption and take away those things that trigger the undesirable behavior.

100% for sure! My sister has one child that has several issues, such as ODD, ADHD, etc., and he has to be on protein and veggies pretty much and can NOT have sugar from sugar cane. Funny thing is, he can have sugar from beets..looks and tastes like regular processed sugar. Anyway, the slightest bit of candy, sugar, he gets, he is uncontrollable. My sis informed the school that he should absolutely NOT have any sugar. One day she had to go to the school and get him. Found out the teacher had given him a sucker! She was furious and told them again. Teacher said, it was just a sucker!? lol.

Think about how we react towards certain foods...and here are kids that can be affected dramatically with the 'right/wrong' kinds of foods.

Oh, another one to avoid is corn syrup....it's in almost any cereal, condiments, etc. I think 'they' sneak it in so we can get addicted to it.

You might want to check out the Feingold website, they have a lot of information (free) about the dyes/additives/sugars/lactose/casein intolerances. You can then subscribe if you wish. Good luck!

Yes, I know my daughter is allergic to red dye no. 4 which is the most common additive in many products. Once I got her off of it, her behavior dragtestically improved.

K.
The MOM Team
wwww.enhanceyourlifeonline.com

Hello Mother 2,

I'm a mother of two sons 17 and 12. When my 12 year old was a toddler we had this same problem. I found that "anything" with red or blue food coloring brought on hyperness in an extreme way. We began to cut out all colored foods after 6pm to include high sugar items and he finally settled down. At 12 years old we no longer see the effects of this, but we remember all too well. Our 12 year old also had asthma and this only excellerates this reactive air way disease. Increasing water intake in teh evenings will also help.

Hope this helps....

SC Mom

I am a Nana with 2 grown daughters. My oldest was definitely affected by red food dye. She cried and cried as a baby(sometimes 20 hours a day) and naturally they had me giving her tylenol(red at that time) and she also had a lot of ear infections which they gave her amoxicillin for (again it is red). I knew it affected her (she didn't sleep but about 6-7 hours total per day), but couldn't get the doctors to believe or help me, so I started experimenting. When she took an antibiotic, I asked for Pediazole (white) and just stayed away from tylenol as much as possible. I believe now they have clear tylenol. Anyway, throughout her childhood when she ingested anything with red dye (purple, orange) she was absolutely uncontrollable. Hot dogs and cheetos were very bad for her. Now, the good news. She is 29 years old with a 6 year old and is 4 months pregnant with no negative effects from the experiences. It was a very tough childhood for her and me but I believe now there are more avenues for help than in the early 80's. I also believe that because I had to work so hard for her, she and I are extremely close. As far as the gluten and casein, I don't know, but have heard they too affect behavior.
Good luck and God bless.
Nana

Yes! absolutely! My oldest son who is 6 1/2 is very affected by foods - anything with red dye- high fructose corn syrup, juice boxes, etc.... my kids eat a fairly healthy diet- they do not get fast food (except for emergency trips on the road or nothing at home to eat on the way home form preschool) and I do not give them juice or sugar treats....but of course you can't avoid it 100% of the time (team sports - the snacks the parents bring - birthday parties, Halloween, etc...) It takes my kids about 3 days to "detox" after they have ingested these things- I have so many friends that say - oh it doesnt affect my kids----thats because they are addicted! They have not eliminated sugar and processed foods from thier diet entirely long enough to tell a difference!)
I am not sure about gluten yet because that is one thing I can't eliminate totally from our house just yet...but I'm sure there is something to it. I would just try to eat as "clean" as you can buy organic when you can, give water instead of juice (they 'll drink it if they are thirsty)don't sell out for the convenient "easy" stuff- all your doing is setting them up for bad eating habits in the future...it's a hard transition, but one I think is well worth the struggle!
Good Luck
Nikki

My son also has a reaction to red dye. I have known other kids who had various food allergies that affected their behavior. You may want to get your child's allegies checked out.

Get this book: IS this your child? by Dr. Doris Rapp. It has saved our family. Food does matter and it is essential in understanding behavior changes. My daughter does not qualify under the standard term of allergy - but it is too narrow. If she has milk, gluten, corn, red food coloring or lemon she gets violent, aggressive, oppositional, emotional and sometimes incoherent. Within 15-40 minutes of eating the foods. It is like watching someone on drugs.

Elimination diets are the way to test it - but you have to be vigilant - some additives are in a lot of foods. I wrote in another post about the food colorings. Most european countries do not use chemical colors and some even require labels indicating that they cause behavior changes in children.

No doubt. Good friend of mine has a son and if he gets any amount of dairy, behavioral issues abound.