There are so many different ways to mom, and I like to think of myself as a Helicopter/I need Xanax kind of mom. I worry all the time about my boys and whether or not I should let them scale our fence or slide down our banister. However, whenever it has come to food, I’m not that focused. They do eat a well-balanced diet of veggies, fruits, and proteins, but I will be the first to admit I was so unaware of specific ingredients in foods and how they could affect children, especially dye.
A couple of years ago, my strong-minded middle child started to have some difficulties at school and at home. My husband was deployed and I really just chalked it up to the ridiculousness of our life at that time. Then, after our move to Texas, our son’s defiant and impulsive behavior increased. Once again, I chalked it up to a move across the country, but I was at my wit’s end. He and I were emotional all the time. We were both mentally and physically exhausted and I was willing to listen to anyone who could give me any advice.
Then I met a wonderful mom whose son played on my son’s baseball team. Our two boys were inseparable and we started a friendship and I began opening up to her about my struggle with middle boy. She asked me if I had ever thought about going dye free. My initial response was, “Girl, who has time for that?” But, she urged me to do some research and maybe just try it for a couple of weeks.
Without getting into all the verbiage and medical jargon — and in my opinion because of that — artificial food dye is horrible and I never realized how much of our food contained food dye. My son’s pediatrician even suggested we change his diet and thought that would be a better solution than medication.
Our country has a large number of children with ADD and ADHD. Eleven percent of children in America are diagnosed with ADHD and in France, the percentage of kids diagnosed and medicated for ADHD is less than .5 percent, according to Psychology Today magazine.
When I made the decision to try a dye free diet not just for my son, but for the whole family, I knew it was going to be a daunting task. My kids love juice, snacks, pop tarts, cereal, etc, so I was sure how they would react to the change. There are so many foods out there that contain food dye and I was shocked, but was willing to take on the task of reading labels and educating myself.
I obviously started with anything organic; organic juice, organic mac and cheese (family favorite), organic fruit snacks, you name it. I looked at the label. I found with some of the organic food/snacks, my kids just did not like the taste. Of course, I made them keep trying, and after awhile they just refused to eat or drink it. Here is a list of some of our go-to favorite foods that do not have dye:
- HEB’s Macaroni & Cheese
- Black Forest fruit snacks
- Honey Nut Cheerios
- Capri Suns Roarin’ Waters
- Goldfish
- Target has a lot of organic candy that is dye free and my son loves it
We have been doing a dye-free diet for about a year now. Are there times where they get a treat that contains food dye from the gas station? Sure. Or I let them eat a pop tart? Yup. But, I cannot deny the fact that when my middle boy has been without any food dye for a lengthy amount of time his behavior is much better. Now, other things have been put into place for him to be more successful at school and at home, but I wholeheartedly believe that food coloring removal has played an even bigger role.
Deciding to go dye free was a great decision that I made for my kids, and now it has become second nature for me. He knows that he shouldn’t have it and sometimes when we are searing/investigating a new snack he will ask me if it has red in it. I have been honest with him in terms of why we are doing this and he truly has been a willing participant. But, on those days that Daddy stops at the gas station, I always apologize to his baseball coach when I arrive to his practice and I see that Cherry ICEE mustache.
