ChristineW Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Any one here tried it? Does it work? We'd been avoiding food coloring for the past six months until DS had birthday cake and a slurpee (thanks DH; can we switch places until the blasted stuff is out of DS' system) this weekend. I can't believe how horrible DS has been--completely moody, out of control; no impulse control and defiant. Its been really hard on both of us. Now I'm wondering if I should try the whole diet since clearly food intolerance is causing some of the behavior issues. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in OK Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 We do a modified Feingold. Several years ago I noticed some behavior issues in my second dd (not able to sit still, not paying attention well, etc). First I suspected a gluten sensitivity but then learned about Feingold and eliminating food colorings and preservatives (BHT, TBHQ, etc). So we tried it. The difference was absolutely amazing!!!!! I'll never forget looking at dh after dinner and saying, "She sat still and ate her dinner!". We have continued to not do food colorings and I try as best as I can to avoid preservatives. On occasion the kids have colorings and it's obvious in my younger two but we just prepare for it. lol The behaviors (similar to the ones you listed) usually doesn't last too long. But it's not a part of their daily diet. We've never done the entire Feingold diet. I just read what was available online and tried it. If eliminating food colorings solves the issues you may not need to eliminate anything else. But if there are still behaviors going on it might be worth looking to eliminate more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliya Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 (edited) After reading about the Feingold diet we eliminated all artificial coloring and most preservatives. It's hard to live by it 100%, but when my kids' diets are clean, life is so much better. My older DS in particular becomes very angry and downright mean when he's eating the bad stuff. Even my super-skeptical DH realizes what an enormous difference it makes. We made the change a few years ago, and have no desire to go back. My kids are very good about reading food labels. Here's an interesting article (on FB) that is related: https://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/healthy-child-healthy-world/us-vs-uk-mac-n-cheese-smackdown/10150181028187799 ETA: I try to make it really clear to my kids that this is not a punishment. Everywhere they go (church, little league games, etc) snacks that are given out are FULL of all the chemicals that they can't have. I've told them all they need to do is hold on to it, give it to me later, and I'll give them something yummy that they CAN have. Edited June 15, 2011 by aliya Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Occasionally Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 So we tried it. The difference was absolutely amazing!!!!! I'll never forget looking at dh after dinner and saying, "She sat still and ate her dinner!". If eliminating food colorings solves the issues you may not need to eliminate anything else. But if there are still behaviors going on it might be worth looking to eliminate more. How long do you think it would take after eliminating these things to see a difference? (assuming that the difference was due to the coloring/preservatives that you eliminate) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracieT Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 We only do dyes. It takes about 2-3 days to notice a difference. And when they get a hold of something they shouldn't the affects seem to last about 2-3 days. My ds is 4-1/2 and off dyes since just before his 3rd birthday. He would actually vomit from red dye. The child vomited on a regular basis before we figured it out. :( So I was doing it to stop the vomitting and realized how his behavior changed. At Christmas this year someone gave him one of those tiny candy canes. I was stupid and let him eat it. The next day the old child was back and I was in tears trying to deal with him. I absolutely couldn't believe the difference. I mean, I knew it, but having the old kid back seriously smacked me in the face. Oh and last summer he ate like two yellow Nerds and vomited. He is VERY sensitive. One person I spoke with told me to look into heavy metal toxicity being the reason he can't tolerate dyes. I still need to look into it. It would make sense because he was exposed to drugs and cigarettes before birth, which contain heavy metals and toxins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmith Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 We've been avoiding dyes, especially red, and are getting ready to try the full diet in a few weeks. I have to reread all my literature. We were recently away, and ds had some red dye. His tics became so bad, literally every 20 seconds he was ticking. I felt so bad for him because it was driving him nuts! Also, at night he was moody and irritable. This was a big plus for getting dh on board though. Sometimes the doubters have to see really drastic evidence.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracieT Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 It took my dh like a year to believe me. One day he went to ds's class at church because they were doing snow cones and dh had to just get some pop and make ds's snow cone so he wouldn't get dye. He saw the kids when he got there and then after the snow cones and was like "Wow. There really is something to this dye thing." For once it was all the other kids literally climbing the walls and not ours. Hehe. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SweetMissMagnolia Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 we try to do the feingold--I know apple juice can be a trigger for zach...we TRY to stay away from food colorings as much as possible and as many additives as we can....I'm not doing it all but I'm doing what I can.....I would say TRY IT--can't hurt..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfgivas Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 we just cook from scratch using real food. the difference is astonishing. and after a year of it or so, all of us found it really hard to eat out, as we now noticed that things didn't taste like "food". many years down the road now, we mostly don't even want it anymore. fwiw, ann Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kchara Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 I talked my DH into springing the money to buy the Feingold supplies. It was a waste, I didn't learn anything I didn't already know. Food dyes, additives and preservatives are bad. We had already been eliminating those. We are actually working on being more strict than Feingold, with no HFCS, and no processed sugar and flour, among other things (both are OK on Feingold). When we stick to eating clean, there really is a difference, although for my DS, it's not as extreme as I've heard of it being in others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissad2 Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Red #40 is the devil!:cursing: It makes my 4yo unbearable and it can be found everywhere! I haven't eliminated all dyes because this one seems to be the biggest offender. I actually made the connection after he was on amoxicillin (the pink kind) for an ear infection for 2 wks and I thought we would all go crazy. The next time he needed meds for an ear infection I spoke to the Dr about a different antibiotic and he said that I definitely wasn't crazy and some dyes have quite an effect on kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracieT Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Medicine has been the only thing we couldn't avoid. Ds was on amoxicillin a year and a half ago and threw up every time I gave it to him. :( What products are you all having trouble finding without dye and I can probably tell you some alternatives. We eat NO dye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristineW Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 DS is allergic to amoxicillin (rash first then hives the second exposure) so that won't be an issue. He's much better today--3 days since exposure and I expect it will be even better tomorrow. Up until that point we'd been pretty successful avoiding dyes--thanks to a nearby Trader Joes. He's always been a little hyper and emotional even without dyes but nothing worth seeking medicine for. The past three days have made me want to pull my hair out--my boy has been cursing, angry and destructive--frankly, I'd never seen him like that before and it frightens me. The kid loves strawberries so it would be really hard for me to go full Feingold, but if it helped him calm down, I'd consider it. Christine W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TracieT Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Trader Joe's is a life saver! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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