Red 40 And Behavior Issues

[jen2651]

Ok, here is the background on this story and I was just hoping to see if anyone else had any input/thoughts.

Started care FT for dg sept 6. She will be 5 in nov. We had great days and we had horrific days. The bad ones were so bad. I'm talking 2 hour completely out of control fits...almost as if she was possessed. Tried everything..thing was, it was like someone else had taken over her body and mind.

Last week I did LOTS of research. I came to the conclussion these outbursts may be due to red 40. Sure enough, I started really reading labels, and realized the worst days I had fed her red 40 for breakfast...one of a parent testimonials was what got me thinking...when in a tantrum, she would blink a lot. There were a few parents who said their kids would do that too.

So, upon eliminating red 40, I have a wonderful dg...going on a full week with not one outburst...coincidence?

[Kaddidle Care]

So glad you pinpointed it - but it's sad that her own parents didn't find this out first.

Diet and behavior go hand in hand.

Have you discussed this with her parents so that they don't feed her red dye on the weekends?

[sharlan]

Possible, but if it works for you, continue to ban it.

I've not seen any evidence that it makes a difference with my kids.

[cheerfuldom]

the only families I know that are big on the red 40 ban are families that have very little structure and poor diets to begin with. I have a hard time seeing that the red 40 is "causing" more behavior issues than the poor parenting. It always seems like it is easier to blame something than to address an issues from every area possible. I hope it makes a difference for you, it has just been my experience that it doesn't. I have noticed though that a lot of the red 40 stuff is junk food anyway and that is a good enough reason to me to not feed it to the kids.

[SilverSabre25]

Yes, red 40 can have horrific effects on people. I doubt it's a coincidence. Red 40 is awful...well, all food dyes are.

[jen2651]

the only families I know that are big on the red 40 ban are families that have very little structure and poor diets to begin with. I have a hard time seeing that the red 40 is "causing" more behavior issues than the poor parenting. It always seems like it is easier to blame something than to address an issues from every area possible. I hope it makes a difference for you, it has just been my experience that it doesn't. I have noticed though that a lot of the red 40 stuff is junk food anyway and that is a good enough reason to me to not feed it to the kids.

It is everywhere! Betty Crocker blueberry muffin mix, strawberry frosted miniwheats, most jellies (not palner sp?), some tortilla chips...I think you all may be surprised.

Parents are great...they seem to have the ability to minize the effects tho

[Meyou]

Yes, red 40 can have horrific effects on people. I doubt it's a coincidence. Red 40 is awful...well, all food dyes are.

I agree. My dd reacts horribly to it. My doctor first suggested eliminating all dies when she was less than 2 because she would have bouts of extreme hyperactivity. It was life changing. Some people are severely, severely reactive to food dyes and additives.

[Kaddidle Care]

My son gets that way from too much Kool Aid (red, of course.) I always assumed it was the sugar but it could be the red dye as well. Needless to say, he doesn't have it often.

[Country Kids]

I have a friend that if your son has anytype of red dye he get horrible migranes. He will have to go to bed for days till it is gone. They finally figured it out and he never has them now.

[kitkat]

When I ran a Community Ed after school program we had a little guy who has autism and we had to avoid red 40 and yellow. We avoided those colors like the plague! It's been 6 years now so I've forgotten how much stuff it's in, but I totally buy into it having an effect on behavior.

[SilverSabre25]

the only families I know that are big on the red 40 ban are families that have very little structure and poor diets to begin with. I have a hard time seeing that the red 40 is "causing" more behavior issues than the poor parenting. It always seems like it is easier to blame something than to address an issues from every area possible. I hope it makes a difference for you, it has just been my experience that it doesn't. I have noticed though that a lot of the red 40 stuff is junk food anyway and that is a good enough reason to me to not feed it to the kids.

this statement has been bothering me since yesterday and I'm not quite sure how to handle it, but I feel like it needs addressed.

"the only families I know that are big on the red 40 ban are families that have very little structure and poor diets to begin with. "
May I ask exactly how you come to this conclusion? I don't know ANYONE who is even aware of a push to ban red 40/all food dyes, that isn't a family of people who tend to be very into eating healthy, natural, organic, whole food, etc. This may be unfair on my side--but as far as I can tell, most people who have poor diets (in this case, dye-filled) are not going to CARE about the dyes, or use the arguement "but it's in my food so it's safe" etc.

I have a hard time seeing that the red 40 is "causing" more behavior issues than the poor parenting.
In some people, yes, the dye is going to cause major issues. It's like an allergy--your body reacts to it in an unfavorable way. Like some people can't have dairy, or gluten, or peanuts for the same reason. Some people are fine, some people are not. Unless you are going to say that an anaphylactic peanut reaction or horrible gas from milk is caused by poor parenting, you should think about accepting that some people are "allergic"

It always seems like it is easier to blame something than to address an issues from every area possible.
No offense, but...you are doing this very thing. You are blaming the behavior on the parenting rather than addressing every area possible, in this case, food dyes.

The sad thing with food dyes is that they have been (if I remember correctly) banned in Europe, and many of our common products have dye-free version being sold in Europe. The cost difference is minimal. Most of us would barely notice a difference if everything switched to being dye free.

[littlemommy]

At the daycare I worked at a couple years ago, there was a 4 year old boy who was autistic and had ADHD. His parents took him to a more natural minded doctor, who said to look at his diet. They eliminated gluten and red #40, and within days he was like a different kid. He could actually sit still for a couple minutes rather than bouncing all over. His parents noticed a big change.

I think most parents that eat packaged foods, fast food-the convenient type things, aren't going to care about what's in it. If they cared about artificial dyes, you'd think they would also care about GMO's and pesticides being in their food.

I try to do research on these things so I am aware of what I am putting into my family's and my DC kid's bodies. I know most of the families I care for couldn't care less what their children eat, but it means something to me.

[cheerfuldom]

well I stand by what I said. Thats my opinion and I am entitled to it. I did support the OP in her research to find out the cause of this behavior which she felt included additives. I always applaud anyone who is proactive for the safe and well being of a child. My experience comes from several families that removed food dyes and did not have the life changing behavioral changes they were expecting. I am sure there are different experiences out there but this is mine.

[Pammie]

I am sure there are different experiences out there but this is mine.

Well, I'm one with a different experience! I've had 2 dc children officially diagnosed with red dye allergies by medical doctors - children's allergists through our city's children's hospital. Their behavior is significantly different when they've consumed even the smallest amount of red dye and when they don't. It's truly torture for these kids to **try** and behave normally with the dye in their system.

[Meyou]

well I stand by what I said. Thats my opinion and I am entitled to it. I did support the OP in her research to find out the cause of this behavior which she felt included additives. I always applaud anyone who is proactive for the safe and well being of a child. My experience comes from several families that removed food dyes and did not have the life changing behavioral changes they were expecting. I am sure there are different experiences out there but this is mine.

I'm one of them too. My youngest has ADHD and is very sensitive to most food additives including red and yellow dyes. My dad gets migraines from red and yellow dyes plus aspartame, MSG and nitrates.

I think part of the problem these days is that there is a heavy overuse of parents wanting medical reasons for their children's bad behavior. Which WE know is most often bad parenting. People would rather have a good excuse ready like "it's the dye! It's the dye!" than say no and enforce the rules at home. I can see where the line can be blurry and one person may have all naughty kids while another could have a couple with real dye allergies.

Believe me when I say it's AMAZING to see the immediate change in a child with a dye allergy once it's gone. It's remarkable and jaw dropping. Really. But only if the food additives are the REAL issue.