Red Dye #40 and behavior?

Lindseyjarenjayden · 12-01-2008, 08:31:55 AM

Ok my kiddos are almost 4 and 2 next month. They are normal active kids I mean ACTIVE.

Ok I have an Aunt that swears by what you put in them is what you get out ok.

I had already changed the sugar in take since my oldest had a cavity last year. They get everything sugar free,they were still bounceing off the walls so I went to the older ladies in my family begging for help.

They ALL told me Red Dye #40 is what gets them crazy and all sugared up. So I said what do I have to loss so I started checking labels and making sure they don't get that dye and you would be shocked how much stuff has it in it.

Well it's been about a month and I would like to tell you I can tell a HUGE difference and if they get something by someone else I can tell (but trust me that would be the only time cause I hurry up and inform that person) So now they actualy play and are normal little boys (of course that has up's and down's) I can take them places with me shopping and they are not the loud kid everyone talks about.

So I was wondering if anyone else has taken dye from their kids and what were the results?

CoffeeMom · 12-01-2008, 08:41:12 AM

Wow, I hadn't heard about that before but I will definitely keep it in mind when the kiddos are older. Thanks! I'm really glad it worked for your kids

chitownmelli · 12-01-2008, 08:42:56 AM

YES! My brothers were evil little children until my mom took red dye out of their diets. Quite often food allergies can make kids nutso, I only know this because except for me, my mom's kids, the other 8 anyway all have some bizzare allergy that makes them crazy. My 19 year old brother.... Root Beer. Makes him act REALLY strange.

So yeah, red dye seems to really bother a lot of kids. Mom wouldn't allow anything red in the house for years!

shelleyf · 12-01-2008, 08:56:46 AM

the red dye didn't affect my kids at all but I have heard it reacts differently in each person. Glad you found out what caused it.

kykidzmom · 12-01-2008, 08:58:33 AM

Not just red dye, but all dyes. We loosely follow the Feingold program here. No dyes and avoid artificial additives as much as possible. My 3 year old is really sensitive to dye.

erinerinerin · 12-10-2008, 10:17:04 PM

my dd's head spins and she sprouts devil horns when she eats too much of ANY food dye, particularly BLUE. *shudder*
awful behavior. just awful.

MrsPinecone · 02-03-2009, 06:53:34 AM

Foods Containing FD&C Red Dye #40

mrsjschultz · 02-03-2009, 06:57:30 AM

This is a great post. TY!! I'm bookmarking it for later.

jkelstaten · 02-03-2009, 07:46:15 AM

I've been working at eliminating as much of the fake stuff as possible. Especially HFCS and dyes. (Especially the red dye). I haven't watched them closely, but to me they do seem to be calmer and easier to handle since then.

To the OP, I know this post is about the dyes, but I hope that if you are still following a low sugar diet for your kids that you are using natural sweeteners and not artificial ones. The artificial ones carry a set of issues all their own. (Consider that they are ingesting chemicals on purpose). There are some good natural sweeteners to substitute instead. Stevia, agave nectar and I know there are others as well.