Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Food Additives and Hyperactivity

A new study proves a link between food additives and hyperactivity. Some kids are especially sensitive to dyes. The children studied were given all sorts of additives.

Parents who have kids diagnosed with ADD, ADHD or are on the Autism spectrum, would do well to remove the following from their kids diet and reintroduce the foods after three weeks to see what thing bothers the kid:
Wheat (and for Autistic kids, anything with gluten)
Dairy (except cheese)
Additives
Preservatives
Processed foods
Sugary anything (no juice, either)

I know, it's a pain. A happy, calm, unmedicated kid is worth the trouble.

2 comments:

kal said...

My sister knows all too well about the effects of red dye with my niece. She can get hopped up on the smallest of amounts and bounce off of walls for hours.

Anonymous said...

Luckily we discovered my 6 year old's red dye allergy early. It's a night and day difference and we can immediately tell the difference. When he has red dye he doesn't care about the consequences of his actions at all and he does anything he gets an impulse to do. It's really amazing... what a difference it makes to him. My younger son we don't really notice any change in behavior but just in case we don't let either of them eat red dye.

I have to wonder if more mental health issues in adults aren't related to food additives / allergies.