In 1973 Dr. Benjamin Feingold presented extensive documentation to the American Medical Association linking food additives to hyperactivity in children (1). Although researchers tried to disprove Feingold's theories, many of the parents who tried his dietary approach reported success. Just over 25 years later, after many pro and con studies, allopathic medicine has proved Feingold's hypothesis: Children are sensitive to the many chemicals that wind up in their foods.
Although each additive has been deemed "safe" for food use on its own few prominent studies exist on the cumulative effect of food additives. Despite this schools in the City of New York eliminated sugar and two synthetic food dyes from their lunch program in 1976. Children's scores on standardized tests went up 8%. After eliminating all synthetic dyes and flavours, test scores rose another 4%. In 1983 all foods containing synthetic dyes and flavours along with the preservatives BHA and BHT were eliminated and standardized test scores rose yet another 4% (2).
Feingold's documentation and the New York City experiment are old events that are still cited today as main examples of the affects of additives on children. For more information on recent studies, visit the Feingold Association website at www.feingold.org.
Synthetic dyes are manufactured from petroleum or coal tar and are known carcinogens that have been approved for use in our food (3). It is estimated that by age twelve children have consumed about 3 pounds of these dyes (4). Apparently only about 10% of the food consumed in North America contains synthetic dyes (5), however, it seems that a lot of that is marketed toward children. They are encouraged to eat orange cheese, blue candy, and red hotdogs. Children are also faced with an ever-growing amount of synthetic preservatives.
Children are being brought up in a world of pink window cleaners, blue laundry soap, and green dish detergent. Plastics contain a fair amount of synthetic colour, as do drugs (both over the counter and prescription) and hygiene products. The problem is that more dyes and preservatives are approved for use in household and hygiene products than are approved for food and drugs (6).
Hygiene products like coloured toothpaste, fun soaps, and blue sunscreen are meant to entice children to ask for - nay demand - baths. The dyes in these products, especially sunscreens and other topical lotions, soak into the skin and enter the bloodstream just as the dyes in food do. The skin is a big sponge and the medical world knows this. How else do you explain the success of topical creams and nicotine patches?
Children are getting a double-whammy of synthetic colours in their little bodies from food and hygiene products. Synthetic dyes and other chemicals like preservatives become concentrated in less body tissue than in adults. We also have to remember that children are not little adults but young people whose minds and bodies are still growing and developing. Synthetic dyes and preservatives may be interfering with that.
Avoiding additives in your child's diet means preparing all meals from scratch and eating whole foods. Be wary because whole foods can be dyed for consumer appeal. It's best to shop organic. Keep uncoloured cleaning and hygiene products in your house. Avoid orange cheese or purple cereal. Let your children see the naturally bright colours of whole food.
The time will come when your children begin to envy the strangely-coloured 'gross-out' foods of their playmates. You can make 'gross-out' foods too. Try adding green drink powder or blueberries to smoothies for healthy drinks that are strangely coloured. Serve mashed sweet potatoes or cook rice in turmeric or beet juice for unnaturally coloured foods.
These food dyes and additives are in just about every packaged food on supermarket shelves. They are also the most often tested and related to ADHD and other behavioral problems.
Also known as Yellow Dye No. 5, Acid Yellow 23, Food Yellow No. 4, and E102 this food dye is found in orange soda, baked goods, and candy. Tartrazine is linked to deficiencies of Vitamin B6 and the mineral Zinc both of which are needed to metabolize Essential Fatty Acids (7) (8). Many hyperactive children are deficient in Zinc and Essential Fatty Acids (9). Tartrazine is supposed to be marked because aspirin sensitive people often react to tartrazine.
Also labeled as sodium benzoate, this preservative is found in fruit juices, carbonated drinks, pickles, and jam. A derivative of Benzoic Acid, Benzoyl Peroxide is used to bleach flour. It is also the active ingredient in some acne medications. Benzoic Acid depletes B Vitamins (10) in the body which are needed to metabolize Essential Fatty Acids and maintain a healthy nervous system. Benzoic Acid is considered safe because it is found naturally in cranberries, prunes, cinnamon, and apples.
These common preservatives are formally known as Butylated Hydroxyanisole and Butylated Hydroxytoleune. Originally used as antioxidant preservatives for rubber and oil products, they are now found in fatty and oily foods like vegetable oils, potato chips, and cereals. They can also be found in the packaging of oily foods and may leach into the foods they are designed to protect (11). BHA and BHT are suspected carcinogens. Some suggest that they may interfere with Essential Fatty Acid metabolism.
1. ---, Feingold Hypothesis - Food Additives Cause Hyperactivity, www.Healingwithnutrition.com/adisease/add-adhd/feingoldstudy.html, --
2. ---, Food Additives and Hyperactivity in Children, www.trufax.org/research/f13.html, 1996.
3. Harte, Holdren, Schneider, Shirley, Toxics A-Z, pg. 316, University of California Press, 1991.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
6. Ibid.
7. ---, Health in the News, www3.sk.sympatico.ca/benzk/Healthnews.html, 1999.
8. Galland M.D., Leo, Superimmunity for Kids, pg.10, Copestone Press, Inc., 1988.
9. Lazarides, Linda, ADHD, hyperactivity and behavioral problems, www.health-diets.net/research/hyperactivity.html, 2000.
10. Roehl, Evelyn, Whole Food Facts - The Complete Reference Guide, pg. 83, Healing Arts Press, Rochester, Vermont, 1996.
11. Harte, Holdren, Schneider, Shirley, pg. 241.
Copyright 2001 - 2003, Kelly Reith BA RHN