kfeusse Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 On the website (the little picture slide show) it shows that both coke and miracle whip are clean foods, how can that be????? Those both have HORRIBLE ingredients, how on earth can they be ok foods to choose from. Please someone explain this to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keptwoman Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I felt a bit the same when I came across a paleo list of foods that described sugary drinks as not OK, and artificial sweetners as preferred! Gimme a break!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaylk in tx Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 What it is, is a resource that helps you figure out which foods have artificial ingredients, especially those made from petroleum products. You can have a completely natural, nutritionally crappy diet. Sugar is a natural food, for instance. If you actually order the feingold materials, it will specifically tell you that the list of clean foods does not mean that they are health foods, just that they don't contain those artificial colors, preservatives, and flavorings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfeusse Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 What it is, is a resource that helps you figure out which foods have artificial ingredients, especially those made from petroleum products. You can have a completely natural, nutritionally crappy diet. Sugar is a natural food, for instance. If you actually order the feingold materials, it will specifically tell you that the list of clean foods does not mean that they are health foods, just that they don't contain those artificial colors, preservatives, and flavorings. so is this really helpful or not?? I am just trying to wrap my mind around this whole program and I am just not quite getting it yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 So a strawberry is not ok but Miracle Whip and Coke are! Our nephew has been on Feingold for over a year- he's much better behaved but I honestly can't say whether it's the diet. His parents have provided structure to his days that he never had before, and he's enrolled in a 5 day a week preschool that has lots of rules. Since these things happened at the same time, who knows? His mom hasn't tried to add back any foods- so he doesn't eat any apples, tomatoes, or berries, among other things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmith Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Feingold is not all natural foods. It eliminates artificial colors and flavors. High fructose corn syrup is optional, I believe. Some people combine Feingold with GF/CF, or use only natural ingredients, but that is not the basic Feingold diet. There are many people who only use all natural foods/ingredients on Feingold though, and to me it seems a natural next step.:001_smile: When my brother was young, my parents eliminated only red food dyes, and that alone made an incredible difference in him. He still ate some junk food, etc. Just nothing with red dye in the ingredient list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elfgivas Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 (edited) its a lot to take in all at once. we did end up eliminating both of those things, but for general health reasons, not behavior reasons. so not everything on the feingold diet is super healthy, it is just dye-free and artificial ingredient-free. which is a great place to start. if you decide to go on and get rid of more for health reasons, that's great. and just because it is okay doesn't mean you need to have it, kwim? hth, ann eta: we found that just eating "real foods" that we could really make ourselves at home just about solved everything...... i abandoned trying to follow feingold precisely, and just went with "real" and "home made". which we can do. hth Edited February 6, 2012 by elfgivas@yahoo.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justasque Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I just keep it simple. If I can't pronounce an ingredient, I don't buy the item. No HFCS (which knocks out most sodas), no added sweeteners (unless I add the sugar myself, so I know how much I'm using), whole grains only, no mixed juices (must be all one juice to eliminate super-sweet "juice" filled with white grape juice concentrate; at this point I don't bother with juice at all). You do end up making most stuff from scratch, esp. if you are on a budget, but the food tastes better, and everyone's healthier, so it's all good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maeintx Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Feingol focuses on removing synthetic (artificial) colors and flavorings, preservatives (BHA, BHT, and TBHQ, artificial sweeteners, and salicylates. I was a skeptic of the natural occurring salicylates but we are seeing a huge difference in our son. We also are trying to limit gluten (for a different child) and HCFS. I think it is worth a try. Slowly we are removing those other foods that are not "real foods". My dh was not on board but he is now after seeing a huge difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfeusse Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 so not everything on the feingold diet is super healthy, it is just dye-free and artificial ingredient-free. which is a great place to start. isn't HFCS an artificial ingredient??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whereneverever Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 isn't HFCS an artificial ingredient??? http://www.feingold.org/PF/cornsyrup.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kfeusse Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 thanks for this article... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Feingold focuses on the ingredients most highly correlated to behavior issues. Just because a food is approved doesn't make it a "good" food. As a pp mentioned I believe others do go on to limit corn syrup and often times gluten and casein. It is entirely up to you to try the diet but many people have had good success with it. The only way to know though is to do it. I would have never guessed salicylates were an issue here but they drove ds crazy. We eat them now but avoided and moderated them for a good while. I would say it is akin to food intolerances and allergies someone allergic to milk can drink a coke as well, that doesn't make it healthy but their body doesn't react to it in the way it does dairy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 so is this really helpful or not?? I am just trying to wrap my mind around this whole program and I am just not quite getting it yet. The Feingold diet seeks to eliminate specific things that they believe are key - petroleum in food (dye, preservatives, flavorings) and salicylates. If coke and miracle whip don't have those things in them then they are not listed for the purpose of their program. They also don't list pond sludge and tree bark, so it's up to you as a parent to decide if those would be good for your child to eat. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acadie Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 (edited) Feingold doesn't eliminate enough (both artificial and natural food chemicals) to make a difference for my kids. That's why we do the Failsafe diet. Feingold does work for some families, though. If my kids could have the occasional Coke, I'd be happy about that :tongue_smilie: As it is we just can't do about 99% of processed foods. Healthier for all of us, but lots of work, not to mention socially awkward at times. I really appreciate the few processed foods that we can do (a few brands of crackers and breakfast cereals, Glee gum, shortbread cookies, Ben & Jerry's vanilla ice cream, some types of pita and flatbread, etc). Amy Edited February 6, 2012 by Acadie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcia Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 When you see those pictures on the Feingold website, it tells you that you can have those things IF you want. There are brands that are okay on the Feingold diet. Another resource you might check out ishttp://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Feingold-Program4us/ It's not affiliated with the Feingold Association but the moderators are members and know the subject well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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