Getting Through Halloween - Making it Teal

Launched as a national campaign by Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) in 2014, the Teal Pumpkin Project™ raises awareness of food allergies and promotes inclusion of all trick-or-treaters throughout the Halloween season. Teal is the color of food allergy awareness and has been used to raise awareness about this serious medical condition for nearly 20 years. Food allergies are a life-altering and potentially life-threatening disease, and a growing public health issue. In the U.S., one in 13 children has a food allergy – that’s roughly two in every classroom. For these children, even a tiny amount of their allergen has the potential to cause a severe reaction.  

Join me! I’ve pledged to support FARE’s Teal Pumpkin Project to create a safer, happier Halloween by offering non-food treats as well for trick-or-treaters.   tealpumpkinproject.org 

Halloween can also be a nightmare if you or your kids have ADD/ADHD tendancies and have an intolerance to artificial colors like red 40, yellow 5/6, blue 1, artificial flavor, vanillin, or preservatives like BHT or TBHQ. These chemicals are found in many candies and gum. Try a trade in policy with your kids. I've heard it called the "switch witch".   After trick or treating help your kids go through their candy and have them trade in all the yucky chemical candy for approved candies without the chemicals, stickers, a special toy or game, maybe even a little money! In my area there are schools and dentists who will take donated candy and arrange to send it to the Troops.  Do you have a trade in policy?

We follow the Feingold Diet removing all artificial colors, artificial flavors, vanillin, and preservatives.  Check the label on your next candy bar, m&m, skittles, etc and you will see these treats are made up of dangerous chemicals. Click here to read my post about the Feingold elimination diet and symptoms commonly helped.  

Last year, households from 50 states and 7 countries participated in the Teal Pumpkin Project™.  Raise awareness by becoming part of the teal pumpkin project. We did this last year for the launch and it was very well received. Tons of parents of the little trick or treaters asked about it and some even asked questions about how we started out with Feingold. Everyone liked seeing the options of treats and non food treats.  I purchased a can of teal spray paint at Home Depot and wola!  Such a beautiful color!

As you trick or treat this year, take notice. For more information about the Teal Pumpkin Project, click here. Take the pledge to join the 100,000 households who are raising awareness for a safer, happier Halloween experience for all those who struggle with serious food allergies and side effects and interactions from unsafe chemical additives found in most US candy.

Feingold Diet Helps ADD and ADHD Symptoms

Everyone experiences some of these symptoms once in a while, but it is the intensity and frequency that can indicate when it is not a normal condition and where diet could play a part.  This material is for information only and is not intended to replace appropriate medical care.  

For my family it all started with my youngest who complained of an itchy tongue.  We have learned so much about food and follow the Feingold diet avoiding artificial colors, red 40, yellow 5, yellow 6, blue 1, artificial flavors, vanillin, preservatives, BHT, BPA and TBHQ.  These chemicals effect my kids and so many others who may not even realize it's all in what they are eating.

 If you are having problems with your childs self esteem, impulsivity, aggression, test results, reading, sleeping, mood, etc. try avoiding these chemicals.  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.  You will need to give yourself time to read labels while shopping and maybe invest in a good pair of readers!

Kids and adults who eat products containing a chemical additive that they may have an intolerance for can exhibit 1 or more of the following problems.  

	Behavior Problems
	Marked hyperactivity	Constant motion Running instead of walking Inability to sit still Inappropriate wiggling of legs/hands
	Impulsive actions	Poor self-control, unpredictable behavior Disruptive behavior / disturbs others Unresponsive to discipline Abusive behavior, unkindness to pets Destructive behaviors: throws, breaks things Little or no recognition of danger to self Inappropriate noises Excessive or loud talking, interrupts often
	Compulsive actions	Aggression Perseveration/repeating of an activity Touching things or people excessively Chewing on clothing, other objects Scratching, biting & picking at skin Workaholic habits
	Emotional concerns	Low frustration tolerance Demands immediate attention Irritability Overreaction to touch, pain, sound, lights Nervousness, panics easily Mood swings Low self-esteem Depression Frequent crying Suicidal thoughts
	Learning Problems
	Short attention span	Impatience Distraction Failure to complete projects Inability to listen to whole story Inability to follow directions
	Neuro- muscular involvement	Accident prone Poor muscle coordination Difficulty writing, drawing Dyslexia/reading problems Speech difficulties/delays Difficulty with playground activities, sports Eye muscle disorder (nystagmus, strabismus) Tics (unusual or uncontrollable movements) Seizures (if combined with migraine or hyperactivity)
	Cognitive and perceptual disturbances	Auditory memory deficits (difficulty remembering what is heard) Visual memory deficits (difficulty remembering what is seen) Difficulty in comprehension and short term memory Disturbance in spatial orientation (up-down, right-left) Difficulties in reasoning (simple math problems, meaning in words)
	Health Problems         People who have symptoms of ADHD that respond well to dietary management also frequently have health problems such as:
	Frequent physical complaints	Ear infections Asthma Bedwetting (enuresis) Daytime wetting Stomachaches Headaches, migraines Hives, rashes (urticaria) Eczema Leg aches Constipation, diarrhea Congestion Seizures (if combined with migraine or hyperactivity)
	Sleep problems	Resistance to going to bed Difficulty falling asleep Restless / erratic sleep Nightmares, bad dreams

  

Where do food dyes come from?

Those pretty colors that make the "fruit punch" red, the gelatin green and the oatmeal blue are made from petroleum (crude oil) which is also the source for gasoline.

You will find them on the ingredient labels, listed as "Yellow No. 5," "Red 40," "Blue #1," etc. The label may say "FD&C" before the number. That means "Food, Drug & Cosmetics." When you see a number listed as "D&C" in a product, such as "D&C Red #33" it means that this coloring is considered safe for medicine (drugs) and cosmetics, but not for food.

What are artificial flavorings?

They are combinations of many chemicals, both natural and synthetic. An artificial flavoring may be composed of hundreds of separate chemicals, and there is no restriction on what a company can use to flavor food.

One source for imitation vanilla flavoring (called "vanillin") is the waste product of paper mills. Some companies built factories next to the pulp mills to turn the undesirable by-product into imitation flavoring,

What are BHA, BHT and TBHQ?

Those initials stand for three major preservatives found in many foods, especially in the United States. Like the dyes, they are made from petroleum (crude oil). Often, they are not listed in the ingredients.

These chemicals may be listed as "anti-oxidants" because they prevent the fats in foods from "oxidizing" or becoming rancid (spoiling). There are many natural, beneficial anti-oxidants, but they are much more expensive than the synthetic versions.

There are other undesirable food additives (MSG, sodium benzoate, nitrites, sulfites, to name a few) but most of the additives used in foods have not been found to be as big a problem as those listed above. 

Food additives are not new. Artificial colors have been around for more than 100 years. (Originally they were made from coal tar oil.) And children have been eating artificially colored and flavored products for decades.

But then . . . most children ate these additives infrequently. They got an occasional lollipop from the bank or barber shop. Cotton candy was found at the circus. Jelly beans were given at Easter, orange cupcakes at Halloween and candy canes at Christmas.  Today . . . the typical child growing up in the United States is exposed to these powerful chemicals all day, every day.

What the child growing up in the U.S. in the 1940's got:	What the child growing up in the U.S. today gets:
White toothpaste	Multi-colored toothpaste, perhaps with sparkles
Oatmeal	Sea Treasures Instant Oatmeal (turns milk blue)
Corn flakes	Fruity Pebbles
Toast & butter, jam	Pop Tarts
Cocoa made with natural ingredients	Cocoa made with artificial flavoring, & some with dyes.
Whipped cream	Cool Whip
No vitamins (or perhaps cod liver oil)	Flintstone vitamins with coloring & flavoring
White powder or bad-tasting liquid medicine	Bright pink, bubble-gum flavored chewable or liquid medicine
Sample school lunch: Meat loaf, freshly made mashed potatoes, vegetable. Milk, cupcake made from scratch.	Sample school lunch: Highly processed foods loaded with synthetic additives, no vegetable. Chocolate milk with artificial flavor.
Sample school beverage: Water from the drinking fountain	Sample school beverage: Soft drink with artificial color, flavor, caffeine, aspartame, etc.
Candy in the classroom a few times a year at class parties.	Candy (with synthetic additives) given frequently.

Environmental Chemicals

Artificially colored, flavored, scented, or preserved non-food items can also cause a reaction when inhaled or absorbed through the skin.

Pesticides

Pesticides used outside the home are easily tracked inside and are readily inhaled and absorbed through the skin.  Children are at high risk of exposure since they are more likely to crawl on the floor and play in the grass and on the school playground.

Perfumes/Plug Ins

Today, fragrances are made primarily from petroleum, and can be just as harmful as petroleum based food additives.  When inhaled, they go directly to the brain, where they can trigger an immediate reaction. 

Sources:

http://www.feingold.org/

http://www.oneaddplace.com/adhd-diet.php

http://www.everydiet.org/diet/adhd-diet

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/lunch/

http://www.red40.com/

ADHD? Say Yes to Vanilla, No to Vanillin

This is the first of a series of posts about additives and potential effects. If you are dealing with ADD / ADHD, have a child with or know someone with adhd, you may be interested to know consuming artificial vanilla could have a nasty effect.

In the early 1970s, Dr. Benjamin Feingold, then chief emeritus of the Department of Allergy at the Kaiser Foundation Hospital and Permanente Medical Group in San Francisco, reported a link between diet and several physical and allergic conditions. Thirty to 50 percent of Feingold's hyperactive patients said they benefited from diets free of artificial colorings and flavorings, and certain natural chemicals called salicylates which are found in apples, berries, tomatoes, and other foods.
The Feingold Diet is based on the premise that allergic reactions or sensitivities to certain types of foods cause or contribute to ADD/ADHD symptoms, such as problems with:

• Behavior (marked hyperactivity, impulsive and compulsive actions, emotional concerns)
• Learning (short attention span, neuro-muscular difficulties, cognitive and perceptual disturbances)
• Health (physical complaints and/or sleep problems)

Artificial flavorings are made up of hundreds of combinations of chemicals, both natural and synthetic. A popular flavoring agent is "vanillin", also listed as "vanilla flavoring".

Most chocolate chips contain it. Most store bought chocolate cake contain it, (many contain Red 40 too!).  Candy bars contain it and lots of other sweet foods have it too.  The chocolate and ice cream industry together make up 75% of the market for Vanillin flavoring.  Vanillin is also used in the fragrance industry to add hints of vanilla to perfumes, the wine business to smooth the flavor of wines,  the pharmaceutical industry to neutralize foul tasting medications, and in the process of chromatography where it is used as an all purpose stain.

VANILLIN

Why is it used so often, simple...it's cheap!
Today, a small amount of synthetic vanillin is made from with lignin wastes, a by-product of the paper/wood pulp industries. However, most of the synthetic vanillin is made from guaiacol, which is a petrochemical precursor.

Petrochemicals are important...for my car, for my plastic lawn chairs, maybe even for something I wear, but I do not want to be ingesting petrochemicals.  I prefer the real thing, pure vanilla to add flavor.

Read the ingredient label.  If you see Vanillin, put it back.  Look for pure vanilla.

This year I'm making several batches for holiday gifts!

Vanilla beans - 9 You can use less or more.
1.75 liter of Vodka or try Rum 
You can make the vanilla right in the liqueur bottle.  Keep it in a cool dark place but handy because everything settles at the bottom and you will want to give it a shake every few days.  The vanilla will soon take on a darker color.
If you want to make small separate batches, use 1 cup liqueur to 3 vanilla beans.  Make sure your jar is clean and has a tight fitting cap.

Using a sharp knife, slice the beans open lengthwise to expose the seeds. Put the beans in the bottle. The mixture will get darker and darker over time.
You can start using your extract by the end of the eighth week. After you have used say 20% of the extract -- top it off with more liquor (preferably of the same type) and shake again.  A tip--drop the beans in with the stem (hooked end) up. That way, if you need vanilla seeds in a recipe, you can use a little piece of wire with a hook on the end, to 'catch' one of the beans to remove it from the vodka.

Get yourself some dark or amber colored bottles and make some cute labels.  Pour your homemade vanilla into the bottles, cap, slap a label on and you have the perfect gift!  You can also leave some of the vanilla bean in the bottle and all your recipient needs to do is top off to keep the gift going indefinitely!

A Whole Foods Dye Free Easter

We were given a gift card for Whole Foods and wanted to use it for the family in a special way so we decided to wait til now and buy a few goodies for the kids Easter baskets.   Whole Foods is one store that has a nice selection of dye free candy and treats.  We found a big bag of lollipops and gummy bear treats that the kids can share with their friends.   We also picked up a dye free Easter egg dye kit!   Looking forward to comparing this kit to my homemade dyes.

We are a Feingold  family and avoid artificial food dye, artificial flavors, preservatives like BHT, MSG, Vanillin (this is a big one for us to avoid) and high fructose corn syrup.  It's not as hard as it might seem but I still do struggle with artificial flavors and preservatives.  If preservatives are used in the packaging, the companies are not required to disclose that. And I am learning about the dangers of GMO's.  This year we will add an itunes gift card, sleep pants and some art and Spring toys to the baskets.  But NO fake grass!

What are you doing for your kids Easter baskets?  Are you making them?  Do you use Easter grass or something else?