Feingold Program?

It's vital to avoid as many useless or dangerous chemicals as you can ... most children i know of had visible results when avoiding processed foods with additives. Much that goes on many also be invisible.

I don't know a lot of details but my mom did this diet for my brother when he was little and swears by it. It made a world of difference!

Hi T......

I'm a Nurse, the age of your Mother, and it seems to me, that as an educated woman with a science background, you need'nt follow a highly restrictive diet for your child. You know that un-processed food, fruits, and veg's are the healthiest way to feed our children, i.e., cooking at home! So many programs attempt to make you buy into their programs from a position of fear! If your child is exhibiting really over the top behavior, he/she most likely does not have a problem requiring severe diet restrictions. Almost all behavior in chilren can be traced to much more simplistic causes: parenting and time management issues. We all look for the magic bullet, but the truth is, childen immediately reflect their family reality. Be patient, find a way to spend more time at home, and the behavior will resolve itself and morph into an entirely new one you didn't expect.

Hi T.,
First of all I would like to say congratulations for looking at this approach for your boys. This way will be harder to do than just putting them on a medication, but so much better in the long run. :)
I also would like to share a product that I give to my daughter that is all organic and tastes yummy that she looks forward to eating. The program is called IsaKids. One of my friends also put her 2 girls on it last year and neither of them hae been sick since. This is so great for her because they were making regular trips to the emergency room.
Here is the link and feel free to e-mail me with any questions you may have. If you click on sign up and save you will get all of the products at wholesale. http://funtobefit.isagenix.com/us/en/isakids_essentials.d...
My e-mail is ____@____.com
I would love to hear how this all goes for you.

I have not had personal experience with the total Feingold program but I know some people that have and they were very satisfied with it. Sometimes the change is immediate and spectacular. This seems to be mostly true of behavioral situations. At other times the change is slow. So you will need to make up your mind that you will stick with it faithfully and give it a chance to work. Giving them just a little taste of a food on the "NO" list can erase a lot of the progress that has been made. Much of what I know about the Feingold process I leared from my students and their families. I am a retired Home Economics teacher.

T.,
My question is, why spend the $ on a program? Just eliminate anything artificial or processed from your boys' diets. Buy only organic food and make everything yourself. Cut out wheat and dairy as well. Don't just eliminate chemical additives in food, but use only organic and 100% natural products on your kids, such as shampoos, lotions, etc. Go to www.cosmeticdatabase.com for more help.
Good Luck,
D.

I applaud your efforts - taking out the artificial stuff can only be good!

I don't know about the Feingold program, but I have a friend who just wrote a cookbook called Mom-a-licious, and in it she has a section about what you need to throw out of your pantry, fridge and freezer.

It's all the hydrogenated corn syrup, and other various chemicals. It's about eating healthy and organic - so it sounds like a similar approach. It's on Amazon and her name is Domenica Catelli - her website is www.bemomalicious.com, if you want to check her out.

She was recently on Dr. Oz's show, and there's a link on her website if you want to listen.

Best wishes!

All the chemicals you listed are toxic. I saw elevated levels of hyperactivity in my twins when they consumed food dyes. A great website to learn more www.bluedominoes.com
I healed my twins from ADHD, tourettes and seizures naturally.
Checkout my website www.victoryoveradhd.com

D. Merlin
Mother/author

I have not tried this plan, but eliminating the chemicals has made a big difference for us. My husband was facing pollip surgery in his sinuses. He read about vegetarian lifedstyles and adopted this lifestyle. He is now pollip free and a vegan. This is hard for the cook (me) because I still have a carnivorous teenage son to feed as well. Try eliminating preservatives and processed foods first. Then start substuting ground turkey for beef, free range chicken, and even bison. Then you can go as far as you want. It can't hurt and may surprise you!

Hi T. -

We have autism in our family, which also comes with ADHD - so we implement Fiengold as well as a Gluten Free Casein Free diet. This has helped my son tremendously, and he eats better than any other 10 year old around! I have found that this lifestyle change is great for the whole family. It means you can't go out to McDonald's or order in Pizza - but is that really good food anyway?

There are some great tips about implementing diets with children on the following website: www.tacanow.org (most of the info pertains to a Gluten Free Casein Free diet, but it can be helpful).

Contact me if you want any more info.

M.
____@____.com

Hi T.,
When my son was 5 he got very hyper and even aggressive sometimes. He also started chewing food and then needing to spit it out and not swallow it. I realized that his body did not want the food. I went on an elimination diet and he got so much better. We found he was sensitive to turkey and spinach and eggs and some others. When he ate healthy he was peaceful and when he ate foods that triggered him he got aggressive and hyper.
Food needs to be organic, no synthetic, so Feingold diet will help. Also may need to avoid the main allergens and add then back one at a time to see the response. It is so worth the effort.
My son is now 23 and owns a holistic college!
Also I was just told by a colleague of 2 supplements taken together that have replaced ritalin. First do the diet, then if still need help, e-mail me.

Hi T.,
Is your home safe in general? I came across information that our homes have been 40 times more polluted than the outdoors. I guess they that women who work at home were showing a higher cancer rate! I didn't ever know it, but there are small amounts of bad chemicals in common cleaners, even in body products like lotion, soap, my cosmetics, etc. This stuff has been building up inside us since we were kids! Kids have been found to have higher amounts of chemical build up in their bodies than adults! Plus moving into our new house didn't help, with all the fumes emitting from the building materials, glues, carpet, walls, and who knows what! The doctor said that our kids are especially vulnerable, some more than others, because their little systems build up chemicals faster and aren't very good at sluffing them off at least for their first 12 years, especially first 20 months. Also, some kids have especially sluggish immune systems. Those kids are at even greater risk from this "silent" toxic build up. No wonder cancer rates, ADD, asthma, allergies and a whole bunch of sickness are showing up more every year! While chemical companies keep putting in chemicals to preserve their stuff. Big name brands that we all buy, like baby products, personal products, cleaning products, food, you name it! They don't have to tell us what's been connected to these problems because the amounts are small. We already know they're in what we eat, but they're also in everything our kids eat, touch, wear, get clean with, breathe and wash with. The really lousy thing is, those chemicals are staying in our bodies. The really lousy thing about all this, those nasty ingredients aren't necessary. They are used only because they're cheap, and increase the manufacturers' profit margin! They help fill up bigger boxes, longer shelf life, and who knows what...(money in someone's pocket, but not consumers'). We are literally buying cancer and other illnesses when we choose products with toxic chemicals.

I knew a lady who worked with Dr. Feingold at Kaiser before she retired. She would talk about the program and how it helped her with her child.
I was supprised to hear how much "junk" is in our foods and how it effects our bodies.
If you read the packaging now, you'll really be amazed what we're giving our families.
She also said it would help adults also.
Just getting away from the chemicals is an improvement.

Terry

After only one weekend of the Feingold diet (eliminating synthetic colors, flavors, preservatives, salycilates, and also natural salicylates), my 9 year old's verbal tic (coughing, throat clearing, humming, sniffing) and his head toss tic are perhaps 50%-75% diminished. holy moly. Praise God! His tics had been progressing ever since age 5. I have several younger children, and I thank God that we now protect all our young ones from the poisons that manufacturers put in our foods.
Prior to the Feingold diet, we were already "organic", since we bought all organic milk, butter, veggies, fruit, and veggies -just to stay away from pesticides, antibiotics, and other chemicals. However, our family just likes candy and treats, oreos, Haribo gummies, popsicles, fruit by the foot, sprinkles, etc. We were known for our candy stash, and found such joy in it. How dense and almost idiotic of us not to realize the harm in the synthetic stuff. I guess we just trusted that FDA or whatever powers that be wouldn't let anything be put in food that was dangerous. I can't wait for Stage II of Feingold so that we can reintroduce the fruits gradually (identifying and eliminating those which are allegenic to our children).
Well, we're off to find natural candies, because we're still a very candy loving family. Someone suggested naturalcandystore.com. Just bought some organic Central Market milk chocolate from HEB last night, and I don't think Dove chocolate even compares. seriously. i wish we could find more unpoisoned (unsynthetic) candy out there.
We heard about the feingold program from a friend whose child was diagnosed with Tourettes syndrome. You could never tell from looking at this child. The parents totally manage the symptoms (tics) of Tourettes simply by tweaking diet, Feingold style. They said it took them a few weeks to see a difference. For my son (totally the opposite of hyperactive, but does have a tic) the difference one weekend made has been phenomenal. I cannot wait to see what happens after a month.

There are people who responded here who wrote their background and implied that some behavioral problems are due to negligent parenting. I do admit to previous negligence in diet. But for the purposes of clarity: My own background and degrees are in: science, liberal arts, theology. Our parenting: dad extremely involved with children, mom always has been home with the children, most dinners made at home, the one year we didn't private school was spent homeschooling, extremely active and athletic with the children, have always followed the parenting philosophy as described in a book called "Parenting With Fire" by Shmuel Boteach. Seriously, the only problem for us (such an obvious one, alas, and yet so long ignored!) was our trust in synthetics in our abundant sweet treats.
must go take care of the little ones, but just wanted to write something hopeful out there.

I really am for taking all the artificial color preservatives etc out of our diets. It does mean more work for you but I beleive our children grow up healthier and with less allergys asthma, colds, etc. the results are remarkable.

hi T.. I have tried this program and am still doing it... To me it has made such a huge difference. I myself even do it and everytime we splerge and go ahead and have something that isn't on the diet it reminds me of why I went on it in the first place. It has also made it so my hyperactive children do not have to have medication. Like yesterday was my oldest daughters birthday and her aunt sent over a cake, of coarse it was made with a boughten cake mix and storebought frosting and then her grandmother brought over some ice cream. of coarse how could I say. "sorry we havent eaten things like that for over a year now." So we all enjoyed it. though to me it kinda tasted nasty. but within 15 minutes, my children wwere all 3 all of a sudden all over the place jumping and laughing and throwing things and even starting to hurt each other. I tell you, even if your children don't seem to be really bad hyperactive. the chemicals in the processed foods today are taking a toll on their bodies and some can handle it more than others.. I love this program and yes, I can tell you right now, the first steps are so hard when you have to tell your children, no we caint buy that because it isn't on our diet... I got to where instead of saying that I would say. hey lets go find us something yummy that is good for us too. We love to make home made candy and things like that and no we aren't deprived of all the stuff like popsicles and things like that. yes when you start the diet you go off alsmost everything but it is really for just a short while and then you start to introduce things back slowly and if you notice a reaction then it goes on the NO list, but it is so worth it. not only are your children able to focus better and are calmer and more obedient, but their bodies aren't being fed all those chemicals that will cause cancer and other terrible health problems down the road.

good luck and best wishes
E.

Hi T. I haven't tried this specific program but my hubby and I did the Halleluja diet. You can find it at Hallelujadiet.com It cuts out the synthetics but it also cuts out a lot more then that. My hubby had REALLY high blood pressure and cholesterol and now it is text book my sugar was so low I would get hospitalized and now it is balanced out too! We both lost more then 20 lbs and we are both a ton healthier. I would suggest that there is nothing it can hurt and to get your kids started on it now would be wonderful! We are afterall responsible for teaching them good, life long habits. :) Good luck!

Hi T.,
My aunt used the information in Feingold's book when raising my cousin (who is now 40, has his masters, and is the father of two little boys). It worked wonders. As long as he didn't have artificial flavorings, colorings, preservatives. or salicylates he was calm, focused, happy, and easy to teach and to deal with. One time on a trip we stopped to get ice cream, though, and it had vanillin (an artificial flavoring) in it. He almost immediately began to wiggle and kick, not to be mean or naughty. It just made him really wiggly. He had big feet for a six year old and I got kicked hard. It took 72 hours to get the chemicals out of his body and get him back to his sweet self. He was a very frustrated little boy when he wasn't on the diet. He wanted to control his body, but he just didn't know how. His self esteem went way up when he was on the diet and he began to do so well in school. He is a very smart person with encyclopedic knowledge, and I was always in awe of his intelligence when he was able to express himself clearly and not get fidgity (sp) and distracted. My aunt is my mentor in parenting, and my cousin turned out to be a responsible, well educated, genuinely caring man and a great dad to his two young sons. It takes lots of work, but it's so worth it. I'd love to hear how this all turns out with your son. Good luck.
L.

Hi T.:

As you are interested in the Feingold Program, I thought you would also be interested in learning about naet (Nambudripad allergy elimination techniques). an naet certified doctor can eliminate your son(s)' allergies (sensitivities) to various foods, etc. I suggest you visit naet.com and order "Say Good-Bye to ADD and ADHD." You can also visit narfnet.com which is the site for the allergy research foundation. There is a physician locator service on the website in the event you want to consult with an naet certified doctor. I go to Dr. David Karaba in Fullerton and think the world of him. (2 of my grandchildren go to him also).

Here's info from the book for your perusal:

Say Good-bye to ADD and ADHD
By - Devi S. Nambudripad, M.D., D.C., L.Ac., R.N., Ph.D.

This book explains how ADD and ADHD are related to food, chemical, environmental factors, vaccinations, drugs, and other factors. In Say Good-bye ADD and ADHD, Dr. Nambudripad, the developer of NAET® (Nambudripad’s Allergy Elimination Techniques), provides an innovative and natural solution to ADD and ADHD, the most common problem plaguing many children and adults today. This book will provide guidelines to help self-evaluate and recognize the symptoms of ADD and ADHD or educate the parents to observe and evaluate the child’s behaviors from a very young age by guiding through a list of abnormal behaviors or patterns in the child. If any abnormality is suspected, then the parent could seek appropriate medical help at an early age. This book show you how certain commonly used foods and environmental substances can cause attention deficit and hyperactive disorders in your child; how you can test your child and detect the culprit causing the child’s sudden abnormal behaviors in your privacy of your own home using the Nambudripad’s Testing Techniques described in the book. This book will educate you how your child’s health problems can relate to allergy and, how allergies can manifest in myriad symptoms that might seem unrelated. The author also provides a few effective home-help procedures that might temporarily get your child out of trouble. The book also helps you find the help in assisting your child find the help he needs to reduce ADD or ADHD or even eliminate permanently and help the child lead a normal life. The book is supported by case studies from NAET® practitioners, and testimonials from patients who have been treated successfully by NAET®.

Yes my mom tried this diet on me when I was a kid. She said it worked with me. I am not sure how long it took to see results. Good luck.

I have never heard of this before but wanted to introduce you to Melaleuca: The Wellness Company. We have been very concerned about harmful chemicals since 1985 and manufacture wellness products. Are you open to hearing more?
C. ____@____.com

Last summer I tried the Feingold Program for my son who has bi-polar disorder. We didnt do the diet completely, we did it as much as posible...I didn't want to throw out food we already had. Anything we needed was purchased according to the book. We went wheat and dairy free for the most part (but my husband didnt agree with the dairy free so they were still allowed to drink milk). I made everything fresh every day. It was a lot of work, and fun for about 2 months. After about 2-3 months, I didnt think the effort of doing the diet was worth it--we didnt notice much of a change at all. (I also had to go back to work after those two months and it would have been really difficult to make breakfast, lunch and dinner for the whole week on the weekends while working 80 hours a week, so the sitter could feed them dinner)
I have heard since, that wheat takes 6 months to get out of your body...and the kids were still drinking milk and having some chemicals in foods that we hadnt replaced yet. and dad would take them out for the day and buy them sodas.
But from the experience, my three boys now read labels. They all want to eat healthy, even though they still love and crave sugar and cant stop eating it once they start.
I am now taking my bi-polar son to Naet therapy, which I think is helping a lot. You can read about it at www.naet.com
Good luck
M.

Hi, I haven't tried the Feingold program per se but I'm doing
what he suggests as much as possible because I have Celiac
disease, which is an allergic reaction to flours made from
wheat, barley, rye, oats. The reason I bring this up is there
seems to be a link to childhood problems. Go to Celiac.com
and read up on it. I think I would not have had the respitoray problems I had as a kid and adult if I'd known about this disease earlier. My mother believes she wouldn't have had colon cancer if she'd known earlier. It is a geneic disease by the way. Good luck. PS my son has it also.
A.

Hi, I tried the Feingold diet for 3 months. My 7 year old has ADHD and I head alot of rumors on the internet about this diet and how it can control the symtoms of ADHD and that ADHD is merely an allergy to certaion dyes, etc.

Well, it had absolutely no impact on my child whatsoever. It took me forever to grocery shop, reading every ingredient and checking the approved list for each item. I could literally only shop at totally organic stores, not even trader joes or any other mainstream stores. I was often found in some mom and pop shop in the middle of the sticks that smelled like patchouli and the owners had bloodshot eyes because it was the only place I could get the approved items on my list. haha Frequently, a product we found that my kids wouldnt mind eating would become "banned" from the approved list due to recipe changes from the manufacturer, in the 3 months we tried it there were at least 8 approved foods that were changed to banned. It was very difficult to control what he ate at school. The school knew he was on a special diet and followed it, however I caught another child sharing an orange with him at school one day. (oranges are banned!) In my opinion, there is so much effort put into this diet, the whole house has to change, the kids will not like the food (neither will you) and your food bill will more than double because natural organic producers gouge the american public, and if your child truly has ADHD it will not work.

I do believe it may work for kids who do not have adhd, however it has not been proven medically to work at all, only by the feingold association.

The only other alternative to medication that is proven to be even half as effective as medication is behavior modification therapy.

One last thing, it costed 80 dollars or so just to get a copy of their foodlist.

Good luck!