"But he didn't eat that much of that candy, I'm sure it did not affect him."
I hear this usually after my son has ingested some candy outside of our home. It seems to me that while others either don't believe me, are defending their choice of food, or just can't imagine that a small amount of red dye 40 could change my son's behavior. My son's self-esteem has been challenged. You see, my son wouldn't have acted that way at all if he did not eat anything with artificial colors. I am usually left to defend my son and to deal with his behavior. The affect of the dye for my son usually gets out of his system by the next day or in the evening (depending on when he consumed the dye).
It doesn't take very much of the dye to induce the undesirable behavior. I know first hand that this is true. When I take over-the-counter medicines like Pseudofed, Exederin, or Advil that are colored with red-dye 40, my mood is affected and I find myself getting angry, irritable, and a bit emotional over things that normally wouldn't affect me. My husband can attest to that. The amount of the dye is very minimal, but it does alter my behavior regardless of the low dose. It doesn't take much. I found that I can take Pseudofed if I wash all the red color off under running water.
I think because of my understanding about how little needs to be consumed in order to see the adverse affects of the red dye, something wonderful has happened though - my son's self-esteem has blossomed. He now knows that he is a good kid who won't act in unacceptable ways if he stays away from the dyes. He knows that I believe in him and that he is a sweet boy. He is doing very well in school and his teacher emailed me to say how proud she was of him. At the same time her class has been dye-free since a mishap with Lucky Charms on St. Patricks Day. Sometimes it slips into his diet because it is found in so many things that most people might not think to check the ingredients for it.
Since we have eliminated artificial food coloring from our diets, we have seen very positive results.
I feel the same. I never used to know why cold medicines left me "wired." I also have to be careful about certain OTC medications.
ReplyDeleteIt is such a blessing when you can see your true child behaving well, it helps you find more patience to deal with the food slips because you know it is only temporary. Convincing the rest of the world, well, one family at a time I guess.
It's amazing to see the change - particularly in my now six year old son. I remember when I was younger and suffering from migraines. I used to take the red coated excederin. My head-ache would clear up, but I was very emotional, irritable, and unable to handle myself well. I told my husband, years back....."I always feel like I'm so sensitive after I take Excederin." I tried to stay away from it. It was good to figure out why I was feeling like that - red dye 40.
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