As we get back to school or work after the summer break, I thought I’d touch on something that affects us all, if we are eating any kind of processed food.
It would be helpful to be aware of this whenever you are purchasing any snacks or meals from a fast food restaurant, or buying any packaged items.
I have researched how additives, preservatives, and food color dyes can cause so many health problems, as well as emotional and behavioral problems in children and adults.
ADHD and hyperactivity in children and adults can often be misdiagnosed, because they can result from additives in foods. (1, 2) Numerous studies that I found on food dyes are quite alarming.
For example, “In 2007, a carefully designed, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in the journal, The Lancet, concluded that a variety of common food dyes and the preservative sodium benzoate cause some children to become measurably more hyperactive and distractible.” (3)
This wasn’t the first time such a link had been established. In 1994, researchers found that 73 percent of children with ADHD responded favorably to an elimination diet that included removing artificial colors. (4)
Increasingly since the 1960s, more people have come to depend on processed foods that contain colored dyes.
Many foods such as juices, soft drinks, candy, gelatins, breakfast cereals, baked and snack foods, salad dressings, frozen desserts, and even food you wouldn’t normally suspect, such as pickles or fresh produce, are coated in dye to make them look more pleasing.
A 68-page report called Food Dyes: A Rainbow of Risks by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, states this: In addition to considerations of organ damage, cancer, birth defects, and allergic reactions, mixtures of dyes (and Yellow 5 tested alone) cause hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in some children.
Because of that concern, the British government advised companies to stop using most food dyes by the end of 2009, and the European Union is requiring a warning notice on most dye-containing foods after July 20, 2010.(5)
Many major food manufacturers use natural dyes in European foods, while still using the chemical dyes in the
American foods, because there is still no law in the U.S. banning these food dyes.
As the Food Dyes report discusses:
Studies of the nine dyes currently approved by the FDA suggest, if not prove, that most of the dyes cause health problems, including cancer, hypersensitivity, or neurotoxicity (including hyperactivity). . . . The health concerns indicate that most dyes fail the FDA’s safety requirement ‘that there is convincing evidence . . . that no harm will result from the intended use of the color additive.’
Fortunately, numerous natural colorings could be used in place of dyes: beet juice, beta-caramel, carotene, carrot juice, chlorophyll, elderberry juice, grape juice/skin, paprika extract, purple corn, purple sweet potato, red cabbage, and turmeric.(6)
In many ways, we may be able to help both our children and ourselves by cleaning up our diets, teaching by example how to eat healthier, and waiting for positive signs of improvement, before we resort to any kind of medication.
This will benefit all of us for life.
Sources;
1. Red Dye 40: Could It Cause Kids to Be Hyper?” http://www.wltx.com/story/news/2014/02/11/1673602
2 Marvin Boris, MD, and Francine S. Mandel, PhD. “Food and
Additives are Common Causes of the Attention Deficit Disorder in Children.” Annals of Allergy. October 1994, Volume 73, October 1994.
3. Dr. Joseph Mercola. “First Ever Study Reveals Amounts of Food Dyes in Brand Name Foods.” May 22, 2014. Newsletter. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/05/22/a rtificial-fooddyes. aspx
4. Ibid
5.. Sarah Kobylewski, Ph.D. Candidate. Food Dyes: A Rainbow of
Risks. Center for Science in the Public Interest. Molecular
Toxicology Program. University of California. p. vi.
6. Ibid. p. 15.
copyright@nancyaddison2015
Click here to see Nancy’s Award Winning, Best Selling books on Amazon.
Purchase your copy today!
Leave a comment and join in the conversation!
