Red 40 And Behavior Issues

[Kaddidle Care]

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 was convinced by another Mom (whos children were allergic to citrus) to start a food diet journal for my ADHD son. Peanut products jumped off the page when he had behavioral problems. He is not allergic to it but he reacts to it.

I thought we had it down pat until one day he had a Nature Valley Granola Bar as a snack prior to going to Boy Scouts. He stared into space and zoned. My husband remarked that he acted like he had peanut butter. I took a harder look at the ingredients and there it was - peanut flour. Oops!

Nowadays packaging makes it easy for those watching for many allergens - Milk, Wheat, Egg, Soy. Red Dye... you've got to search for.

My oldest is now 20 and is very conscious of the way peanut products make him feel and react. He loves Butterfingers - but won't have one unless he has no classes the next day. The reaction lasts a good 18 hours with him.

[Unregistered]

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.

I agree with the person who had issues with this. Hello....... Most families that have very little structure and poor diets, don't give a hoot what is in their food. Do you realize how many products have red 40 in it? Do you know how it is made? Do a google. It's made from bugs, ground bugs. It does effect people that have real allergies or sensitivity's to it, along with a lot of the other junk that is in our foods. Citric Acid is another one. Not all red 40 is junk stuff. Read your labels, you would be surprised. The reactions to these additives are seen in behavior, and not just rashes.

I agree with addressing issues, but for some people, this is a true issue. UGH!!!

[mom2many]

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.

So VERY true!

[cheerfuldom]

Meyou, you said exactly what I was trying to say. I realize that some people legitimately have dye sensitivities. I am only saying that in my experience, the only parents I knew that were discussing dye issues seemed to be using this as an excuse for bad behavior or did not seem proactive in researching a multitude of avenues to solve issues, they just clung on to the thought that it was the dye even when removing dyes did not make a change for them.

[jen2651]

It is in fruit ****tail for petes sakes!!

[SilverSabre25]

It is in fruit ****tail for petes sakes!!

yep that would be the BRIGHT RED maraschino cherries.

Cheerful, I know that you are entitled to your opinion, trust me. But, as a (not poor parent, better diet than most Americans, not using it as an excuse for squat) person who is adamantly for the banning of the food dyes, I felt very offended by your comment. As I said, it stuck with me, nagging at me. I didn't comment back right away, I did sleep on it. It still made me feel like I needed to respond--I did not mean to make you get defensive or anything.

I guess it's just that as someone who cannot have gluten or dairy, I am hyper aware of all the dumb, pointless additives in food in this country, and I'm opposed to it. There's no need for neon red cherries...regular colored cherries would be just fine. And the green cherries, good grief I don't even WANT to know how they're made. Food in this country is nasty, plain nasty. Did you know that canned mandarin oranges are soaked in lye to get the membranes off the sections? Ew!

Europe has already banned food dyes--the FDA hasn't. I hope you don't think that an entire continent is full of poor parents with no structure and crappy diets? The fact that they are banned over there says TONS about their effects, safety, and necessity in our foods. The manufacturers found natural acceptable alternatives--for the same skittles, starburst, granola bars, and mac n cheese that we eat over here. Some things are almost indistinguishable between the European and the American version, except the dyes. And, there's not much cost difference (fractions of a penny per oz)

[WImom]

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?

My DD (almost 7y) is this way and we don't eat dyes or HFC's, etc. BUT I can't control other peoples houses, school, grandma's etc. I always know that when she goes to a birthday party, it's a holiday with candy, she had a cupcake at school, etc. that we are going to have a hard time that night. Now, she can get this way somewhat when tired too but not near as bad. I'm going to watch for the blinking. If you happen to still have some links to your research I'd love to see them. Atleast she is an angel at school.

[Country Kids]

What about the kids though that eat none of the dyes and eat only very healthy things. I have a couple of children like this in childcare. Bring all their own food-nothing packaged-and they are the hyper, always in trouble, can't settle down kids. Takes at least an hour to settle down for naptime and can't sit still for circle time, story time, etc.

[Blackcat31]

What about the kids though that eat none of the dyes and eat only very healthy things. I have a couple of children like this in childcare. Bring all their own food-nothing packaged-and they are the hyper, always in trouble, can't settle down kids. Takes at least an hour to settle down for naptime and can't sit still for circle time, story time, etc.

Sounds like they need more active things to do to burn off that energy. Maybe they are getting to much screen time at home?

[SilverSabre25]

What about the kids though that eat none of the dyes and eat only very healthy things. I have a couple of children like this in childcare. Bring all their own food-nothing packaged-and they are the hyper, always in trouble, can't settle down kids. Takes at least an hour to settle down for naptime and can't sit still for circle time, story time, etc.

No one is saying that food dye is the sole cause of issues like that. They are A cause, nothing more. Look to the previous poster who said that peanut products exacerbated her son's ADHD symptoms. And some kids really are just plain and simple wired differently to where they have ADHD.

[jen2651]

So ijust wanted to give a quick update. I know this isn't the answer for everyone and every situation. But in this situation I truly am a believer. Different kid 100%. So kind and respectful and eager to please.

I will try and post my research but one of the issues is nothing in the US is documented regarding behavior...all I found was testimonials. As for the eye blinking thing, when she is in a rage/manic episode, she blinks a little bit faster and more pronounced than normal, like she is trying to clear her brain. She has no idea we changed anything at this point...but she refers to the fits as the old ******...the naughty one who wanted to make everything stop. As she was banging her head in my kitchen floor and I recorded her to document for my safety I felt something was really wrong. I watched it afterward,and she truly was not present in that body.

So for us, this is the way to go...just wanted to throw it ou there as a possible behavioral cause.

[Meyou]

My dd has trouble focusing her eyes when she's reacting to a dye or preservative. If I ask her to look at me you can see her straining but her eyes just roll all over the place. She can look for a sec and then they're rolling, sometimes so fast they seem to be going in different directions. Along with eye blinking. It's actually how I tell now if she's just super hyper (too little time outside running around) or if she's gotten into something that she's reacting to.

When she's hyper she can look me in the eye even if the rest of her can't stay still. If she's reacting she can't and she'll often tell me she can't control herself even though she's trying. She's 7 and starting to recognize the signs in her body when she's reacting to something and will verbalize it. She feels as out of control as she's behaving. She says it feels like the gas won't stop in her engine and her brakes won't work.