ReadingMama1214 Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 Has anyone done the feingold diet for their family and if so how much change did your kids experience? My dd is having some OCD like symptoms as well as outbursts and meltdowns. Our pedi mentioned the feingold diet and I wanted to hear more experiences before jumping in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 I used to follow this years ago. My oldest has a mix of issues. Nothing we did was an overall cure, but following feingold and later doing some elimination diet led us to find things that helped take an edge of the issues. My experience is not recent --15 years old. However eary on it became clear that artificial colors were a huge issue. In all those years we've continued avoiding artificial colors and flavors. We also stick to real sugar not high fructose corn syrup. It didn't change everything, but frequency of problem did reduce. Plus I think the rest of the family did better with junk out of the house. If you can find it, you might look at the book Is This Your Child too. Good stuff on doing food elimination diets to find problems. With any diet you have to be disciplined to stick with it for a long time to see change. Healing the gut takes a while. Additionally, gut issues have a strong effect on the nervous system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 We do a modified version of the Feingold Diet. The change was like day and night. We avoid: Colorings All artificial colors, including Red 2, Red 3, Red 40, Blue 1, Blue 2, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Green 3 Annatto (a natural color) Preservatives and Synthetic Antioxidants Benzoates: any ingredient ending in benzoate; also benzoic acid Butylates: BHA, BHT, and TBHQ Gallates: any ingredient ending in gallate Nitrates & nitrites: any ingredient ending in nitrate or nitrite Parabens: any ingredient containing the word paraben Propionates: any ingredient ending in propionate; also propionic acid Sorbates: any ingredient ending in sorbate; also sorbic acid Sulphites: any ingredient ending in sulphite, bisulphite, or metabisulphite; also sulphur dioxide Note: Low-fat and skim milk contain added vitamin A, which is preserved by BHA. Use whole milk instead. Flavors and Flavor Enhancers All artificial flavors and some "natural flavors" (which are often chemically identical to artificial flavors!) Vanillin (artificial vanilla) Disodium salts: disodium EDTA, disodium guanylate, disodium inosinate, disodium 5'-ribonucleotides Glutamates: any ingredient ending in glutamate or diglutamate; also glutamic acid and MSG Artificial Sweeteners Aspartame (Nutrasweet, Equal, AminoSweet) Sucralose (Splenda) We also try to avoid ingredients which contain processed free glutamic acid (like MSG). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 (edited) MercyA, thanks for typing that all out. You're very welcome, but I just copied and pasted it from a document I keep for my reference. There's no way I could remember all of that stuff otherwise. :) Edited February 18, 2017 by MercyA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 As you go down this path understand that your first few grocery trips will be awful. They could take forever. Once you get the hang of it, you will cruise in and out of regular shopping no problem. It gets better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 My own anecdotal experience, a friend's mother did this for her son years ago. Her quote "it was a lot of work for negligible gain". She stopped after a year. Another friend, it worked great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne in CA Posted February 18, 2017 Share Posted February 18, 2017 I once babysat a pleasant child who had a horrible melt down after taking the wrong cough syrup. I was shocked at the change in him after one teaspoon of cherry cough syrup. My friend accidentally gave him the wrong cough syrup and his mother had to take off work to come get him. It was a disaster. He went from delightful to jumping up and down yelling at the top of his lungs minutes after the syrup. I am a believer, lol. That was years ago but I can still picture it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matrips Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 We've done at varying levels of strictness over the years. It was a huge help, but difficult to stick with when traveling. We have a list of the biggies we avoid, the kids read labels, and we cook at home mostly. But I have relaxed as they've gotten older. Tonight at a 4h meeting for instance, they had dominoes pizza. Overall, it's made all of us more aware of what we eat, and eat healthier. And gave us all good excuses to avoid junk food and candies etc. We've also made cooking our own foods a priority since we can't grab fast food. The kids have always been on board and have always been my best label readers! Dh, not so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snickerplum Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 We do a modified version of the Feingold Diet. The change was like day and night. We avoid: Colorings All artificial colors, including Red 2, Red 3, Red 40, Blue 1, Blue 2, Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Green 3 Annatto (a natural color) Preservatives and Synthetic Antioxidants Benzoates: any ingredient ending in benzoate; also benzoic acid Butylates: BHA, BHT, and TBHQ Gallates: any ingredient ending in gallate Nitrates & nitrites: any ingredient ending in nitrate or nitrite Parabens: any ingredient containing the word paraben Propionates: any ingredient ending in propionate; also propionic acid Sorbates: any ingredient ending in sorbate; also sorbic acid Sulphites: any ingredient ending in sulphite, bisulphite, or metabisulphite; also sulphur dioxide Note: Low-fat and skim milk contain added vitamin A, which is preserved by BHA. Use whole milk instead. Flavors and Flavor Enhancers All artificial flavors and some "natural flavors" (which are often chemically identical to artificial flavors!) Vanillin (artificial vanilla) Disodium salts: disodium EDTA, disodium guanylate, disodium inosinate, disodium 5'-ribonucleotides Glutamates: any ingredient ending in glutamate or diglutamate; also glutamic acid and MSG Artificial Sweeteners Aspartame (Nutrasweet, Equal, AminoSweet) Sucralose (Splenda) We also try to avoid ingredients which contain processed free glutamic acid (like MSG). This is quite interesting. Do you mind giving examples of things you do eat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minuway Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 (edited) Yep, we did it a while back (6 years ago), and while we weren't the best at getting out salicylates (in oranges, berries), we cut out everything else for a time. My kid's main sensitivity is artificial coloring, but artificial flavors are also an issue (including vanillin, which is often listed as natural). Knowing what to look for is huge. It hasn't solved all our problems, but it was one piece of the puzzle. We later found out that the same kid is also gluten intolerant (stomach and mood issues). Edited February 19, 2017 by minuway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted February 19, 2017 Share Posted February 19, 2017 (edited) This is quite interesting. Do you mind giving examples of things you do eat? Sure! I am lazy and don't like to cook and still manage. :) Any plain fruits and veggies, fresh, frozen, or canned (I read labels to avoid preservatives and flavorings) Any unprocessed meats (chicken, beef, etc.) Eggs Rice Plain pasta Potatoes Nuts Oatmeal and dry cereal (we buy from the regular store and the natural foods store--I read labels) Most unprocessed cheeses not colored with annatto (for example, string cheese, mozzarella, white American) Homemade bread machine bread or bread from the natural food store Tortillas from the natural foods store Homemade baked goods and desserts Whole milk and Rice Dream Original rice milk Plain juices (also good mixed with carbonated water) Cooking oils and butter Spices and herbs (I check the labels) Some processed foods from the natural food store, like Annie's Shells & White Cheddar, Late July Mini Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers, Ian's Chicken Nuggets, Annie's ketchup, 365 Cinnamon Grahams Some processed foods from regular grocery stores, like Walker's Shortbread, Lay's potato chips, Fritos, Rhodes Warm N' Serve dinner rolls, some varieties of Oscar Mayer Natural sandwich meat, Wholly Guacamole, some brands of marinara sauce and salsa, Home Run Inn pizza, Smucker's Natural Fruit Spread, Blue Bunny Vanilla Bean ice cream, generic natural peanut butter, some Pepperidge Farm cookies, Tostitos, Snack Factory Pretzel Crisps Hope this helps. ETA: Forgot a few things, including some of my favorites! Beans, Larabars, some KIND bars, Ghirardelli baking chips (chocolate and white), coffee, tea, homemade lemonade, Choceur chocolate bars from Aldi... ETA: We can eat out at steak houses (baked potatoes, plain veggies, steak), some local Mexican restaurants, some local coffee houses, and Panera. Edited February 20, 2017 by MercyA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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