Special diets...eliminating food colorings and processed foods.

Jean - posted on 10/08/2011

Dana,

Try adding lots of fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains to your son's diet preferably organic. Also add in sweet vegetables such as sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, acorn squash, butternut squash to the diet and that will eventually decrease your son's desire for candy. It is not difficult to eliminate processed foods and food dyes altogether if you just make all of your meals from scratch instead of from a box. If you plan your meals you can cook once and get several meals out of it. You can get some information from my website at www.naturalhealthyfamilyliving.com and you can also sign up for my newsletter in which I provide recipes each month.

Cynthia - posted on 08/03/2010

It is SO hard to find foods that don't have any food dyes in them, especially "convenience foods." Did you know that I have yet to find a brand of dill pickles that don't have yellow #5? I found a brand a few months ago, but they changed the recipe, and now they, too, have food dyes. I have found food coloring in tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, sweet and sour sauce, sour cream, marshmallows, a brand of juice labeled "100% juice," macaroni and cheese, even WHITE cake frosting! But, the more practice you get, the better you will get at learning brands and reading labels.
Red # 40 is banned in Europe. So, Mc Donald's creates a strawberry sauce for Great Britain's sundaes that is all natural. In the US, it is colored with red #40. It is the same for many other things that are made in the US and shipped to Europe. One formula for Europe, another for us. In Europe, they are creating legislation requiring a note to be put on foods with dyes in them that basically says that food dyes may contribute to hyperactivity.

Dana - posted on 08/02/2010

It's only been about a month. I'll admit it has not been a total elimination, but a drastic reduction. I'm finding it so hard to find things that don't have the dyes. I am hoping that soon it will be a total elimination though. I'm also going to start cutting out the high fructose corn syrup...that I'm sure is going to be even more difficult!!

Cynthia - posted on 08/01/2010

Dana, how long has he been off the food coloring? I noticed with my son, I committed to taking him off for one month before making a decision. At first we cut out red #40 completely, and yellow #5 as much as possible. It literally took a full week before I noticed a difference, and a full month before he was to what would be considered "normal" for him. I only had him off those two for about 1 1/2 years. Then, I noticed that the less he had dyes, the better he was. We have now eliminated all colors, and I see a total difference when he has them accidentally. Some stay in him longer than others, but red is by far the worst, staying in him for several days.

I don't tell him he's not "allowed" to have them. I tell others he is allergic, and if they ask that he has a severe hyperactive reaction. I tell him that he's allowed to have it, but he is responsible for his actions if he has it. He has tried in the past to be "really good," but knows that it messes him up, so 99% of the time he chooses not to have it. He also knows if he is offered a candy with food color, and there is no alternative at the time I will trade him when we get home.