Synthetic Food Dyes & Hyperactivity

By Midlife Army Wife, on January 14th, 2011

I came across an article in Eating Well magazine from their Nov/Dec 2010 issue discussing food dyes.  I already knew that synthetic dyes are scary stuff, as we have been avoiding them in our family for 3.5 years now, but it’s nice to see more studies being done.  In some countries, these dyes are banned completely, but that hasn’t happened (yet!) in the United States.

In this particular study mentioned in the article it was found that,

“children who consumed a mixture of common synthetic dyes displayed hyperactive behavior within an hour of consumption”

We’ve seen plenty of evidence of that in our daughter, that’s for sure!

We are talking about the dyes listed in the ingredient list as a color followed by a number such as: Blue 1 and 2, Citrus Red 2, Green 3, Red 3 and 40, Yellow 5 and 6.  Do your own research on the ingredients and dangers of these toxins.  Did you know they are made from tar and petroleum? Yuck! Who wants to eat crude oil?

One thing to note as you are looking at the labels is that the terms “artificial color,” “artificial color added” or “color added” indicate that nature-derived pigments were used since synthetic dyes must be listed by their names.

Start watching the ingredients of the foods you buy, and I bet you will be surprised how many of them contain these synthetic dyes.  Vanilla pudding, and even white marshmallows contain dyes to get it “just the right shade”.  M&Ms, cereals, chewing gum, Kool-Aid, Jello, maraschino cherries, Doritos, Sun Chips – it’s everywhere!! Some blueberry waffles don’t even have blueberries in them – just blue colored bits.

Good News! There are healthier alternatives available.  We’ve been able to find comparable dye-free substitutes for just about everything (Except candy corn! Someone make an organic version, PLEASE!).  If you are looking for some dye-free candy alternatives for your family and you don’t have a Whole Foods Market nearby, check out NaturalCandyStore.com!  We shop from them frequently, stocking up on things like candy canes for Christmas and cotton candy before we go to the fair.  Right now they have lots of cute natural Valentine Candy available!

If you are looking for other suggestions to replace dye-filled foods in your pantry, let me know and I’ll point you in the right direction.  We’ve had no trouble having cupcakes with sprinkles, ice cream sundaes with cherries, or even cereal with marshmallows – it’s just about finding the right products.

Obviously, this isn’t a problem when eating meat, veggies, fruits, and whole grains.  That’s why I only focused on all the sweet treats in my suggestions.  I find that a lot of parents are afraid to make the change because their kids are used to having these treats and they don’t want to take them away from them.  You don’t have to – just switch to a better product.  For their sake – and yours!



2 comments   Dye-Free, Info & Ideas, Kid Friendly, Sweets & Treats

We fell off the Gluten Free wagon

By Midlife Army Wife, on December 1st, 2010

Gluten Free or NOT Gluten Free….That is the question!

We put Lovebug on a Gluten Free diet a few months ago.  At first I thought I was seeing some changes, but the more we progressed I’m not so sure anymore.  I think we were just in a “season” of hers.  See, ever since she’s been very young, Hubby and I have noticed that she has cycles.  6 months on, 6 months off.  She tends to have half the year that is easier for her, and then the other half is more…well…challenging.  Physical changes I’m sure play a big part in it as she’s growing.  It seems that she is often learning a new skill or going through a change and it all plays a part.  So, sometimes I find myself thinking we are in a really challenging time with her and trying to figure out what’s wrong and what we should do.  Other times I’m thinking “Wow, this is easy sailing…is this the same child?”.  All to realize we’re on one side of the 6 month cycle.

So, a couple weeks ago, I stopped avoiding the gluten.  Just to see how it goes.  I let her have pizza.  Regular bread.  A sausage roll.  I haven’t seen any negative effects yet.

I know some will argue that I should give it a whole year ON the diet to really see any changes.  But the truth is, I don’t wanna.  I’m just not sure that she needs it.  I don’t know that it would cause a noticeable improvement.  I’m not sure that her struggles are “bad” enough to warrant the effort required for a GF diet.  It’s also VERY expensive and has put a serious dent in our grocery budget.  I’m frugal, so this is painful.

Now, of course I would do ANYTHING for her if I thought it would help.  I would spend whatever I had to in order to help her health.  But if there is a cheaper option that works just as well, I’ll choose that first.  We already avoid HFCS, artificial colorings, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and we eat mostly organic.  I KNOW those things have made a WORLD of difference!  I wouldn’t go back on these things, ever!  I just don’t know that we have that much more room for improvement.

It’s also REALLY hard on her emotionally to be GF.  We already avoid so many things, that to add to that list was hard for her to take.  Sure, she got excited when she saw so many things in the store labeled gluten free.  She has also, many times, cried in the grocery store when I had to tell her she couldn’t have an old favorite food because it wasn’t gluten free.

It would be one thing if it made her noticeably sick or in pain.  But she doesn’t have Celiac Disease.  She knows that artificial coloring alters her behavior and her ability to focus, so she has no problem avoiding that.  But she also knows that she feels no different ON gluten or OFF gluten.  So that makes it harder to enforce or explain.

I’m still a huge fan of all-natural and organic eating as well as finding healthy, fun, kid-friendly foods, so I’ll continue to do that and pass on gluten free recipes that I find.  I have so many friends that are gluten free that it’s definitely an interest of mine.  And who knows….we might go back to it.  But first, I’d have to find a way to make more things from scratch because I just can’t handle the price of pre-made, gluten free bread/pizza/muffin/cupcake products!

That said, I think that I’ll be careful not to overdose on gluten, if there is such a thing.  But I’m also not going to avoid it.  We might revisit this at a later time, but for now we’re off the wagon.



3 comments   Gluten Free, Info & Ideas