I am curious about your experience with the effects sugar/dyes/HFCS/preservatives/chocolate/etc. on certain children. If it affects your child or someone you know, how does it affect them?
Last month we put my oldest on an elimination diet of the common allergens to see if any of them were having an effect on his behavior. After a week of cranky withdrawal, he started to improve so we knew we removed something right from his diet.
Well, almost two months later we have tested everything and it seems as though it is preservatives, HFCS, dyes, sugar and chocolate that make him irritable, hyper, aggressive and mean. He could never carry on conversations with people and now he is looking them in the eye and conversing!
I was sort of surprised it wasn't something like gluten or casein. I mean, I knew that those items listed could affect behavior and we pretty much kept them out of the house (except sugar when I baked and food dye for cookies and cakes) but that they could affect just him so negatively.
So I am curious to know about others who have removed it completely from their lives. Sugar has been the most difficult. It is in everything.
Last month we put my oldest on an elimination diet of the common allergens to see if any of them were having an effect on his behavior. After a week of cranky withdrawal, he started to improve so we knew we removed something right from his diet.
Well, almost two months later we have tested everything and it seems as though it is preservatives, HFCS, dyes, sugar and chocolate that make him irritable, hyper, aggressive and mean. He could never carry on conversations with people and now he is looking them in the eye and conversing!
I was sort of surprised it wasn't something like gluten or casein. I mean, I knew that those items listed could affect behavior and we pretty much kept them out of the house (except sugar when I baked and food dye for cookies and cakes) but that they could affect just him so negatively.
So I am curious to know about others who have removed it completely from their lives. Sugar has been the most difficult. It is in everything.
) but recently saw the effects for himself. He offered DS1 a whole bag of candies, which had tartrazine and other colours listed. DS went from calm and happy to just a mess within minutes of eating the candy. He's now a believer... I don't think sugar affects his behaviour much because we bake a lot from scratch and some of the goods we make do have a lot of sugar, but it's the good ol' stuff, not some HFGS crap.
