Going dye free
I have this friend, A, who is super crunchy when it comes to food- no dyes, no gluten, no dairy, no refined sugar. I have no idea how she does it or what the heck they eat, but it works for them and improves their health. I am not that girl. HOWEVER, she has a son about a year younger than Gabe who is also very high energy, and she was really struggling with him, which is what started some of the elimination. She swears that eliminating food dyes made a big difference with his behavior. I have other friends that swear the same thing, so I did research.
According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, scientists have been researching the effects of dyes on behavior since the 70s, and even the FDA now admits there can be a link, at least in kids with hyperactivity and ADHD, and possibly other kids as well. European countries have been banning or substantially limiting artificial dyes for years. Special-education-degree.net has a whole fact sheet about the potential adverse effects of artificial dyes. Anyway, when I was completely at my wit's end with Gabe and his out-of-control outbursts and outright meanness to his brothers sometimes (which is so not him normally), I decided to give it a shot. What could it hurt, right?
There are lots of major brands out there that don't contain artifical dyes, so I just started using them and foregoing others. I rarely have to buy organic just to avoid dyes, with the exception of mac & cheese, but I can get organic mac & cheese at Costco for around $1/box. We only use Yoplait yogurt now, because they have no articial ingredients. We buy goldfish crackers and only 100% juice drinks and popsicles and non-colored cereals and brown sugar and cinnamon Pop-Tarts (on the rare occasion we get Pop Tarts). It's not really that big of a change as far as our grocery shopping, but boy is it a HUGE change in behavior. The outbursts are much fewer and further between now. He still has lots of energy, but he's not climbing the walls. He can get through a book or two without rolling around and kicking his legs and bouncing. The hardest thing to find without dyes are drinks when we're out. Pretty much all sodas, slushies, fruit punches, even lemonades contain dyes. So he basically has to stick to milk or water, and a lot of places don't have milk.
Now, I'm not going to be super militant and say that if he goes to a birthday party, he can't have a piece of cake with colored frosting, or a cupcake that someone brings into school for their birthday, or a few M&M's in trail mix at church. I'll just have to brace myself for the onslaught. But I am not buying products with dye for my family, or putting them in his birthday cake. In fact, I'm on the hunt for natural food coloring that's not crazy expensive, so if anyone knows of any, let me know. And if anyone wants to sneak me some contraband Fruity Pebbles when he's not around, I won't tell. ;-D But if you give my kid a slushie when I'm around, be prepared for my wrath, or I'll just drop him off at your door when he's having a massive meltdown.
According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, scientists have been researching the effects of dyes on behavior since the 70s, and even the FDA now admits there can be a link, at least in kids with hyperactivity and ADHD, and possibly other kids as well. European countries have been banning or substantially limiting artificial dyes for years. Special-education-degree.net has a whole fact sheet about the potential adverse effects of artificial dyes. Anyway, when I was completely at my wit's end with Gabe and his out-of-control outbursts and outright meanness to his brothers sometimes (which is so not him normally), I decided to give it a shot. What could it hurt, right?
There are lots of major brands out there that don't contain artifical dyes, so I just started using them and foregoing others. I rarely have to buy organic just to avoid dyes, with the exception of mac & cheese, but I can get organic mac & cheese at Costco for around $1/box. We only use Yoplait yogurt now, because they have no articial ingredients. We buy goldfish crackers and only 100% juice drinks and popsicles and non-colored cereals and brown sugar and cinnamon Pop-Tarts (on the rare occasion we get Pop Tarts). It's not really that big of a change as far as our grocery shopping, but boy is it a HUGE change in behavior. The outbursts are much fewer and further between now. He still has lots of energy, but he's not climbing the walls. He can get through a book or two without rolling around and kicking his legs and bouncing. The hardest thing to find without dyes are drinks when we're out. Pretty much all sodas, slushies, fruit punches, even lemonades contain dyes. So he basically has to stick to milk or water, and a lot of places don't have milk.
Now, I'm not going to be super militant and say that if he goes to a birthday party, he can't have a piece of cake with colored frosting, or a cupcake that someone brings into school for their birthday, or a few M&M's in trail mix at church. I'll just have to brace myself for the onslaught. But I am not buying products with dye for my family, or putting them in his birthday cake. In fact, I'm on the hunt for natural food coloring that's not crazy expensive, so if anyone knows of any, let me know. And if anyone wants to sneak me some contraband Fruity Pebbles when he's not around, I won't tell. ;-D But if you give my kid a slushie when I'm around, be prepared for my wrath, or I'll just drop him off at your door when he's having a massive meltdown.
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