Trade It Tuesday: Ice Cream & Toppings

For Ben's 8th birthday this past weekend he requested ice cream sundaes.  YUM!  Our family loves ice cream (and I love toppings) so we've found the all-natural versions of our favorite flavors.  You'll be happy to know they are relatively easy to find. 

But first, here are the ingredients you can find in Dryers flavor Cookies & Cream:
SKIM MILK, CREAM, SUGAR, CHOCOLATE COOKIES (SUGAR, ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR [WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID], SOYBEAN OIL, PALM OIL, PALM KERNEL OIL, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, INVERT SUGAR, CORN FLOUR, CHOCOLATE, CORN STARCH, SALT, BAKING SODA, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, WHEY, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, SOY LECITHIN), CORN SYRUP, WHEY, MOLASSES, ACACIA GUM, NATURAL FLAVOR, GUAR GUM, ANNATTO COLOR, CAROB BEAN GUM, CARRAGEENAN, XANTHAN GUM

And here's what you can find in Dryers flavor Nestle Butterfinger (sure sounds good until you see this):
SKIM MILK, CREAM, SUGAR, BUTTERFINGER ® PIECES (CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, GROUND ROASTED PEANUTS, HYDROGENATED PALM KERNEL OIL, COCOA, MOLASSES, ANDD LESS THAN 1% OF WHEY [FROM MILK], CONFECTIONER’S CORN FLAKES, NONFAT MILK, SALT, LACTIC ACID ESTERS, SOY LECITHIN, SOYBEAN OIL, CORN STARCH, ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, TBHQ AND CITRIC ACID [TO PRESERVE FRESHNESS], YELLOW 5, RED 40), PEANUT BUTTER SWIRL (PEANUT BUTTER, SUGAR, PEANUT OIL, SALT, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED PALM OIL), CORN SYRUP, WHEY, MOLASSES, ACACIA GUM, NATURAL FLAVOR, GUAR GUM, ANNATTO COLOR, CAROB BEAN GUM, CARRAGEENAN, XANTHAN GUM.

Plus, I've already taught you that the LESS ingredients in food, the BETTER, right?  The list above scares me.

For the past two years, our family has eaten the Breyers All Natural Ice Cream in the black cartons.  However Breyers recently changed its packaging, eliminated the "All Natural" from their products, and no longer cooperates with the Feingold Association with regards to their ingredients list.  They've made it easy to assume that their product is no longer all natural.  Big bummer for us, because you can find Breyers at most stores. 

So now, here's what ice cream we buy (but there are many other brands available, just read your labels):

Fresh & Easy store brand ice cream, many flavors.
I like the small containers because they don't contain corn syrup
like the larger containers do, though all sizes I've researched seem all-natural.

Ben & Jerry's Product Mission:
To make, distribute and sell the finest quality all natural ice cream
and euphoric concoctions with a continued commitment to incorporating wholesome,
natural ingredients and promoting business practices that respect the Earth
 and the Environment.
(We all know B&J's has TONS of flavors!)

Haagen-Dazs All Natural Ice Cream
(many flavors)
Vanilla Flavor Ingredients: Cream, Skim Milk, Sugar, Egg Yolks, Natural Vanilla.
(Isn't that a nice, short list of ingredients?)

So how about toppings?  I love chocolate syrup!  Here are some options:

Santa Cruz Organic
(other flavors:  chocolate mint, chocolate raspberry)
I've found this at Whole Foods & Bel Air.

Ah!Laska Organic
They also make a great hot cocoa powder.
I usually find this at Whole Foods, Bel Air or Sprouts.

Ben loves to also put the all-natural equivalent to M&M's on top of his ice-cream, and Whole Foods carries their own brand of these great candies. 

I've barely touched the brands available out there for your all-natural ice cream craving.  Please check out the labels next time before you buy this treat, and find a brand that doesn't add artificial flavors or colors (why would vanilla ice cream need yellow food coloring anyway?!?). 

If you want more information on the artificial ingredients commonly used in ice cream, check out these links:
http://editor.nourishedmagazine.com.au/articles/ice-cream-lies
http://feedingabear.wordpress.com/2010/11/26/chewing-gum-ice-cream-and-artificial-flavors/
http://www.foodrepublic.com/2012/03/14/6-scary-things-hiding-your-food

Trade It Tuesday: Fresh & Easy

A new Fresh & Easy store recently opened up in our area.  Any new grocery store prompts at least one visit because I'm a grocery store junkie.  It's always like a treasure hunt to see what new treats the store may carry that our family can have. 

I was NOT disappointed in Fresh & Easy.  In fact, I was very pleasantly surprised.

Several factors contributed to my joy:

1. I got to cross a picket line to enter the store because the grocer's union is picketing the store's non-union status.  (Seriously, if the employees wanted to be union, wouldn't they have gone to work for a unionized grocery store?!?)
2. All Fresh & Easy store brand products are labeled right on the front if they have no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives.  
3. They have tons of prepared, chopped or portioned food, and most of it is all-natural - things like hummus, popcorn chicken, pizza, and prepared vegetables or marinated meat.  
4. Even though you check and bag your own groceries, the employees are always there to help.  They also roam the aisles and ask if you've found everything okay.  And they do this with a lot less employees than you find in a typical grocery store, which theoretically means lower prices.
5. Their prices are much lower than Whole Foods Market, although the shopping experience isn't quite the same (I'm a sucker for WFM - that salad bar!!!)
6. They have a rewards program that is easy to use and in just a couple of months has already earned me about $20 or so in cash back.   

A couple of things to warn you about beside the fact that you have to check and bag your own groceries.  First, the store near me only has a liquor license for beer and wine - so no hard alcohol.  Second, you wouldn't go there for ALL your groceries all the time, because they don't have everything a typical grocery store would have.  For example, you can't find all the cuts of meat or fresh spices that you would find at a Bel Air. I go there about every other shopping trip and fill in at Bel Air with the things I can't find at Fresh & Easy.

Here are some examples of the products we buy at Fresh & Easy.  I show a lot of store brand products, but they do carry other brands as well!

These are my kids' FAVORITE granola bar.  They can't get enough of them.

Come on, I don't always cook from scratch - especially on school mornings.

The pint sized F&E ice cream does NOT contain corn syrup, but the larger size does.
Since Breyers is no longer all-natural, this is now our go to ice cream.

Haven't tried this yet, but I thought it would be easy for busy nights
after soccer practice.

I just found these!  We tried a Thai Curry simmer sauce the other night and
really liked it.  I mixed it with chicken, eggplant and green beans
and served it over rice.  They have about eight different flavors. 
Chile Verde is on tonight's menu. . . maybe with that Spanish Rice!

I'm always excited to find all-natural bread in a store.  We like the taste
of the Nature's Pride better (I find it at Bel Air) but this is a close
second and says right on the package that it's preservative free.

As far as I know, the Feingold Association has not yet researched Fresh & Easy products.  So if you are a new Feingold Family, you may want to avoid these products until you are well established on the program.  Not all of the store brand products are preservative free - for example the sausage only says "No Artificial Colors or Flavors".  The absence of "No Preservatives" tells me there are preservatives.  But the labeling is awesome and requires a lot less reading of ingredients!

These stores are popping up all over town.  If you aren't immediately dissuaded by having to bag your own groceries like my Dad is, then I suggest you give this store a try.  You may find a few snacks, cereals, breads or other items that can replace things with artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. 

A Very Happy Anniversary

Today marks our second anniversary of being a Feingold Family.  On April 22, 2010 my husband and I made the decision to completely change the way our family eats because of the problems we were having with our five year old son's behavior.  In doing so, we changed the course of Ben's life entirely, and ours.  Even writing that sentence brings me instant tears, because I am so thankful for the divine intervention (via my Mom!) that led us to the Feingold Diet.  I can't imagine where we'd be without it.

My first blog post ever was our story about how we became a Feingold Family, and you can read that here.

This morning I took out the Feingold Symptom Checklist, and Darrin and I both filled it out for the behavior we see in Ben today.  Is our son perfect?  Well, what IS a perfect seven year old boy?  Is there such a thing?  He still runs through mud puddles, eats like a tornado, picks occasional fights with his little sister, and thinks fart noises are the funniest thing on earth.  But those are symptoms of being male and seven. So yes, our son is perfect.

Here are the major symptoms that eating an all-natural diet eliminated in Ben, and thereby changed our lives:

1. Unresponsiveness to discipline
2. Low frustration tolerance
3. Disruptive behavior, disturbs others
4. Poor self control
5. Unpredictable behavior
6. Inability to follow directions
7. Inability to focus
8. Headaches/Leg aches

There were symptoms I didn't check back then that I later learned were also due to food, like this little high-pitched scream that Ben used to make, involuntarily.  Now that I'm informed, I know that's considered a tic.  Back then I thought he was just being rude.  I haven't heard that noise in over a year.

Two years ago I checked twenty-three symptoms on the list.  Today we checked six. And even some of those, like low self-esteem, are waning by-products of the two years before changing diets.

When Ben was five, before we started the program, you could look him in the eyes, threaten punishment of the worst sort for a five year old, and he would still turn around and do the offensive behavior.  Nothing worked.  Not with us, not with his Kindergarten teacher, not with his daycare provider.  Two weeks on the Feingold program and that problem was minimal.  For the first time in a long time, you could see information sinking in.  Today, Ben is able to reason out his own consequences before doing something wrong, and usually change his own behavior before it happens.

Is some of the change due to Ben's age? Absolutely.  A seven year old boy is much more rational than a five year old.  But had we not changed our way of life, I'm not sure my five year old boy would have been able to learn the lessons needed to become the stable seven year old he is today.  I honestly believe our nights would still be filled with time outs, loss of Wii, punishments and frustration for all of us.

Two years ago, my Dad tried to stage an intervention with me because we had gone Feingold.  My family felt that what we were doing with Ben's diet was wrong - that we were causing him to be "different" from other children because he couldn't eat what they were eating.  He even handed me a book on parenting.  That day I told my Dad that if we didn't do something, Ben would be "different" anyway because he couldn't get along with other kids, was struggling in school, and couldn't focus enough or coordinate his muscles enough to play team sports.  I asked my Dad to give me a chance, support us, and see if changing our diets helped.  He did, and today my parents recommend the Feingold program to so many other families and are some of our biggest supporters.

The other day I spoke to Ben's second grade teacher, Mrs. B.  We were discussing Ben and his buddy Evan and their current problem of making fart noises in class.  I told Mrs. B I was sympathetic that she had those boys together in her class this year, but told her she was very lucky she didn't have them together in Kindergarten. She reminded me that she did work in their Kindergarten class.  She said "I'm so thankful you found the Feingold Program before I got Ben in my class - the difference in him is amazing!"    

The past two years have not been easy.  And it was a least a year of journaling food and tracking behavior before we identified many of the triggers that caused the bad behavior in Ben.  Even now, we experiment with how much Stage 2 food he can eat without reacting, trying new restaurants and hoping they use quality ingredients, or identifying foods we never knew caused reaction.  But over the past year Ben has matured so much with his diet that he no longer sneaks contraband food, isn't terribly bothered when he can't order his favorite meal in a restaurant, and completely understands why he can't eat the candy at the Little League Parade.

People ask me if this is something Ben will grow out of.  I don't think so.  He will always have sensitivities to food.  But as he gets older he will be able to deal with his reactions better.  Even now, he tells me when he has "crazy brain" and requests "magic soda", and we work on techniques to control his frustration or anger when he does have a reaction.   So I do think Ben the adult will be able to eat foods that Ben the kid can't, and food won't always control his life.

Meanwhile, we will celebrate our daily success and continue tinkering with diet and supplements.  More importantly, we will continue to share our information to help other families and I ask that you please share this information, too.  Nothing makes me feel better than to hear the hope in a parent's voice when they realize there is such a simple way to help their struggling child.

Darrin and I have always loved our son.  But there was a two year period where we didn't like him.  Nothing can make you feel worse as a parent.  Today our son can still cause us moments of frustration (because he is a seven year old boy after all) but more often he causes us moments of sheer joy and pride.  I am so thankful for the Feingold Program, my husband who has supported this journey every step of the way, my family and Ben's daycare providers and teachers who have done everything to help Ben stay on track with food, and Ben for being a willing participant.

The wrong food doesn't just cause bad days in our home, it causes a total disaster.  Clean food, on the other hand, brings normalcy and happiness to life as we know it.  

For more information on the Feingold Program, please go to http://www.feingold.org/.  

Hello Blog

Dear Blog,

I know - I've been neglecting you.  It's not personal, we've just been so busy lately.  Work, homework, baseball, gymnastics, vision therapy. . . I swear I don't know how Darrin and I handle it all sometimes.  On top of that, I've set a weight loss goal for myself that just so happens to coincide with my little sister's bachelorette weekend in June and wedding in September.  So my evenings that were usually spent with you are now spent with my elliptical machine.

Hey Blog, did you know that DIETING SUCKS!?!

While I should be at work today, I am actually home with a sick 7 year old.  So let's catch up, shall we?

Lia has suddenly turned into a teenager.  She seriously has the attitude of a 13 year old.  I'm hoping it's a passing stage.  She does have an amazing sense of humor and I am watching her develop a confidence that I worried she may never find.  She has a new best friend at school named Carole, and the blossoming of this friendship, in addition to her friendship with her bestie Ella, make Lia happy to go to school every day.  This week Lia is Star Student in Kindergarten, and she was so excited to be the line leader to the Library today.  Thanks to my bestie Shawna who carts the girls every Tuesday afternoon, Lia has fallen in love with gymnastics, and looks cute as a button in her little leotard.

Ben has started baseball season, though because of the weather we haven't gotten much practice in yet.  Opening Day is this Saturday, and we can't wait to see how Ben handles himself this year.  We started Ben back on the supplements given to him by his Naturopath doctor before Christmas.  The supplement, called Acetyl-L-Carnatine, is experimental for kids with ADHD or Spectrum disorders.  It is supposed to help with focus, but after two weeks of our trial period, we found it actually does the opposite with our son.  Ben is more hyper and silly, went from A's and B's on tests to N's (the new version of F's), and is just a little harder to be around.  So last Friday we scrapped that supplement.  NO THANK YOU!!!  Now he's back to his calm, if somewhat distracted, self.  Vision therapy is going very well, but I'll share those results with you in a future post.

Darrin has had some time off work due to rain.  But he has been working diligently on our backyard project, with the grading done, dirt imported, and making minor tweaks to the drainage.  Next step is the concrete mow strips and we will be ready for grass!  I can't wait and as always, I'm just in awe at the things Darrin can do out in that yard.  I know this yard (the 4th one he's installed for us) will be his best work yet.  

And I've been busy balancing work and home life.  The media can report that the economy is picking up, but we surely don't see it in the construction industry in California.  We are lucky enough to be getting jobs, but they are projects with little money in them, which means we are unable to hire more people to handle the work and are trying to make due with existing staff.  We feel blessed to even have this problem when many construction firms are facing no work at all.  I spend my time focused on labor law (which is a minefield in California), contract law, business development, interaction with various associations, oh yeah - and overseeing operations where needed.  Sometimes I forget our business is to build things when I am so busy just dodging the regulatory pitfalls of California and Federal law.

So, Blog, now we're all caught up.  I will do my best to keep you in the loop, although having about three more hours in each day would help me greatly.  Meanwhile, here are the spring school pictures of my two very grown-up looking kids.

We'll talk soon, Blog, I promise.
Dina

A Lesson On Food Labels

Yesterday I found myself at Nugget Market, which is not one of my usual grocery stops because of its location.  I hadn't been there in a while, so I took my time going up and down the aisles looking for new all natural treats to bring home to my family.  As you can imagine, I love this hunt, but it takes a while.

At Bel Air or Whole Foods I can run in and out of the store without my Feingold 2012 Foodlist.  I know all our usual approved items and grocery shopping is easy.  But a new store, with unknown products, requires some meticulous reading of food labels.  And you can't trust food labels unless you are totally trained on what to look for.

So here are a few pointers:

1.  If a brand is known to have SOME all-natural products, you still can't trust that it has ALL all-natural products.  For example, Ghiradelli makes all natural chocolate, but not ALL of Ghiradelli chocolate is all natural - and a lot of their chocolate candy squares (raspberry, etc.) contain artificial ingredients.  The two brands I do trust, all the time:  Annie's, and Organic Valley.

2.  You want to look for labels that say "ALL NATURAL".  Then look for the fine print that usually says something like "No artificial ingredients" and "No preservatives".  The label below is a good example.

3. Beware of misleading terms like "Naturally Flavored".  If it doesn't specifically say the words "ALL NATURAL", it's hiding something.  "Naturally Flavored" instantly tells me that the product has artificial colors or contains preservatives.  Check out the Krusteaz Lemon Bars below.  The front says "Naturally Flavored" but you can see in the ingredients that there are artificial colors.  Yuck! (However Krusteaz does make an All Natural Cornbread - which makes my point for Item #1 above.)

4.  Watch out for the gotcha term of "No added preservatives" or "No added artificial ingredients".  See what they did there?  Food companies do not have to report ingredients in the ingredients they use.  For example, if they buy cream from another company to use as an ingredient in their product, they don't have to list what the ingredients are in the cream.  That word "Added" is a dead giveaway that there might have been something gross in an ingredient they purchased and used.

5.  For us Feingold parents with very sensitive kids, we also have to beware of the term "natural flavors" when listed in the ingredients.  Natural flavors could mean anything, believe it or not.  As a general rule, if a product lists "natural flavors" I consult my Feingold 2012 Foodlist or I steer clear, unless it's a brand I have grown to trust like Annie's or Organic Valley.

6.  Then there are foods that I know won't be all natural, but for some sick reason I feel compelled to check out the label.  Case in point:  Sweet Tarts.  I'll translate the ingredients list for you below the picture.

Translation:  Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Chemistry Experiment that makes things taste sour, and less than 2% of chemicals used for waterproofing, petroleum, synthetic dye using hydrocarbons from petroleum, synthetic dye used to color blue jeans, dye originally made from coal tar but now made from petroleum, synthetic azo dye known to cause the most adverse affects like migraines/depression/anxiety/blurred vision/itching/general weakness/heatwaves/sleep disturbance and is outlawed in several countries, aromatic hydrocarbons from petroleum known to cause migraines/hyperactivity/gastric upset.

So there you have it.  Don't buy Sweet Tarts.  For your children.  Ever.

Something Just Occurred To Me

Tonight I wanted to write about the parent-teacher conferences I attended yesterday.  But, as much as I think through it, there is really no good material to discuss.  Nothing dreadful, nothing embarrassing, nothing exciting.

The two parent-teacher conferences I attended were rather boring. 

Do you know how liberating that is?  Two years ago, before we changed our diet, attending a parent-teacher conference with Ben's Kindergarten teacher was absolutely painful.  I already endured the daily notes home about his behavior, but to have to sit face to face with the teacher and discuss it?  Talk about a heavy load on my shoulders.

Last year, with Ben in first grade and with a few months behind us on the Feingold Diet, I was so hopeful for good news that anything less than good was depressing.  Even though Ben had improved so much over Kindergarten, he still had behavior issues and certainly learning issues.  Of course, it wasn't until the end of first grade that we realized the impact that corn syrup had on Ben's behavior and focus, eliminating it from our diet as well.

But this year, driving to their school, I felt absolutely no anxiety.  I met first with Lia's teacher, who told me Lia is doing very well in Kindergarten, and although somewhat shy, got along very well with all the other Kindergartners.  Then I met with Ben's teacher, who discussed his A's, B's and two C's, assured me she wasn't worried about the two C's, and we formulated a plan to help him.

And then she was ready to conclude the conference - WITHOUT EVEN DISCUSSING BEHAVIOR!

Is this what normal feels like?

Another Round Of Pumpkins

Today was the Kindergarten field trip to Fog Willow, the pumpkin patch in our rural area.  We first went with Ben's Kinder class two years ago, although that seems like just yesterday.  Lia was very excited for her first field trip (and Ben was very jealous that he didn't get to go). 

The field trip was fantastic.  They had lots of things for the kids to do and see - I swear every year Fog Willow puts on a better and better show.  Besides picking pumpkins and going on a hay ride, the kids fed goats, brushed a pony, learned about chickens/rabbits/llamas/pigs, sheared a sheep, stuffed a hay bale and played on the playground.  A very busy morning!

It was especially nice to spend some time with Lia's class, to get to know some of the kids that she keeps talking about.

It also made me think back on Ben's field trip two years ago, when I spent the entire time making sure Ben didn't get into trouble, held still while the other kids were trying to learn, and didn't do something impulsive like kick a pumpkin or jump off the hay ride.  These types of reminders are good for making me realize how far we've come with Ben's behavior since we started the Feingold Program.

It also made me realize, in general, how much easier girls are than boys!

Like A Canary In A Coal Mine

Ben trying to look serious while
eating an ice cream sandwich.

Today we went for a follow up visit for Ben to our Naturopath doctor.  Except this time instead of meeting with Dr. Larrow (who I love and will remain my doctor), we got to meet Dr. Morgan, new to the practice, who specializes in children - especially children with spectrum disorders and ADD/ADHD.  Because Ben's behavior has been so great these past few months (aside from the occasional Stage 2 binge, or stupid yellow cheese incidents) our main issue to work on now is the remaining "brain fog", focus and attention issues. 

I have tried for the past month not to get my hopes up that Dr. Morgan would have answers to all my questions. 

But the instant we sat down in his office, after I saw how well he treated Ben, I could tell instantly that he was the right doctor for my son.  First of all, he already knew all about the Feingold Diet, and had even prescribed it for his patients in the past.  There was no need for me to educate him on this food program.  Second, I was able to talk freely to him about the food triggers we've identified for Ben, what I was thinking of eliminating next, and the results we have been seeing. 

Usually, when I start to tell a new audience about our diet, food triggers, the fact that Ben can't eat strawberries or he turns back into the exorcist - I always speak freely but internally I brace myself.  Because usually people think I'm a freak, or that I'm blaming food for bad parenting, or that I'm depriving my poor kid of strawberries, or that I'm simply nutso.  But Dr. Morgan got it.  He understood.  Not only that but he's been there - he also has a son with issues. 

And as soon as I realized that we could speak on the same level, I stopped, and I thanked him.  Until now my only resource has been the internet, the Feingold online forum, the Feingold Facebook page - people across the country, but nobody in the flesh and blood.  Not only is he a real person, but he is someone who actually knows way more about this stuff than I do, and can actually be a resource!  Realizing this was very overwhelming for me, such a relief, and it was all I could do to sit there and thank him and not cry. 

Dr. Morgan explained some of the science to me, about why kids like Ben can't seem to tolerate even natural foods without having severe behavioral or physical symptoms.  My goodness, there is science behind it!  A rational explanation!  Music to my ears.  He also told me a story about how miners used to take a canary into the coal mine with them - and when the canary died, they knew the air was bad and they needed to move to safer areas.   Dr. Morgan said our children are the canary in the coal mine with regard to our food now days.  Their bodies are not as developed so they show symptoms much earlier than our adult bodies would. 

The best part of our visit today - we have a plan!  And not some plan that I concocted from a few hours of internet research (although I have to say I haven't done so bad this past year using this method).  Ben will take probiotics to help heal his tummy, another supplement I can't even pronounce to do something I can't even understand (but he gave me some take home reading to try and learn about it), and a stronger dose of fish oil for the important omegas. After four weeks we will meet again and tweak our doses and our plan if need be.

I'm not going to lie, having all these supplements for Ben takes a leap of faith.  Knowing that Dr. Morgan is as passionate as I am on this issue, knows way more about it than I do, and has his own child with similar experiences - it all makes me trust that this is the right journey for us to be on.  God puts people on your path when you need them, and I'm pretty sure that is why Dr. Morgan came to us when he did. 

I am so excited (but still trying not to get my hopes up) that Ben's "brain fog" may someday be nothing but a fuzzy memory.

For more on Dr. Morgan and Revolutions Natural Medical Center please click here. 

Back To School Treats

One of the hardest parts about being Feingold is knowing that kids bring treats into the classroom ALL THE TIME - for birthdays, holidays, spring parties, 100th day of school parties, etc.  Heck, even the teachers seem to hand out treats for good behavior or answering a question correctly. 

I absolutely hate the thought of Ben sitting there with no treat on his desk, watching the other kids enjoy cupcakes.  So last year I gave Ben's teacher, Mr. H, a huge supply of non-perishable treats that Ben could choose from when the kids were eating the other stuff. 

But this year, Indie Candy (the website where I buy our approved gummy candy) sells Back To School Buckets, personalized for the kids.  I was able to tell them that Ben is Feingold Stage 1, and his bucket came with all things he could have. 

Then it dawned on me that I have to make a decision about Lia now that she is starting Kindergarten.  Clearly her behavior is not food dependent like Ben's, so in theory she could eat the stuff that other kids bring in.  But do I want her to, knowing what I now know about artificial ingredients?  And do I want her coming home talking about the cupcakes she had or the candy?  So I ordered Lia a Back To School Bucket too. 

And both kids were so excited when I showed them!  Whew, one less thing to worry about with the upcoming school year. 

Stage 2 Blues

Last week while we were on vacation, Ben didn't seem to be his regular self.  Well, I'm not really sure what his "regular" self is - the newer, calmer version or the hyper angry version?  I'd like to think it's the newer, calmer version. 

Anyway, even after he calmed down from the stupid yellow cheese incident, he still seemed slightly restless and grumpy, easily bored, a little hyper.  We were outside a lot so the behavior wasn't too intolerable.  But I just wasn't sure, was it because he was tired and out of his routine being on vacation, was it food, was it just him sick of spending 24 hours a day with his little sister during summer break?

When we got home, I decided to take away all Stage Two foods.  You may remember that on the Feingold Program, you don't just eliminate artificial colors, flavors and preservatives - you also eliminate some natural food as well during Stage One.  The foods you eliminate are mostly fruits and some veggies that contain higher levels of salicylates (sals), somewhat of a naturally occurring "pesticide" the way I understand it.  Stage Two foods include berries, tomatoes, apples, oranges, bell peppers, paprika, grapes, almonds and more. 

Every Feingold mom starts out convinced that her kid will be able to reintroduce Stage Two foods at some point with no problem.  Yet most of us find out that our kids are super sensitive to Stage Two foods - although we have no idea why the connection that kids sensitive to artificials are also sensitive to sals.  Because Ben was not diagnosed with Autism or Aspergers (and only seems to have the mild problem of ADHD) I thought for sure the artificials would be the only problem. 

What we've found is quite the mixed bag.  Ben can usually tolerate organic apples without skins, but strawberries cause reactions similar to eating artificials.  He seems to tolerate tomatoes just fine (thank God because we eat a lot of pasta sauce around here) but can't handle the pectin in store bought vanilla yogurt.  Sals cause what we call a build up reaction, in that typically one serving will not cause a reaction - but repeated servings over multiple days do cause reactions.  I think this is what was happening on vacation. 

On vacation Ben was eating at least one serving of a Stage Two item per day.  So we pulled all Stage Two foods away last Saturday.  By Monday he was calm, happy, busy.  Yesterday he had a great day at daycare and was extremely helpful weeding the garden, brushed his teeth and even flossed with no arguments, and went right to bed.  And he only fought with his sister once or twice. 

I am sad that Ben can't enjoy a bowl of strawberries or have grapes everyday like other kids.  Jelly will be a hard thing to ever enjoy, as well as fruit yogurt or smoothies.  I'm sure at some point in his life he'll get tired of Stage One fruits like mango, bananas, watermelon and pears.  But the Stage One Ben is so much better off than the Stage Two Ben, and hopefully he feels this difference  too.  Meanwhile we'll keep trying different combinations of Stage Two foods until we figure out just what works for Ben (and us!).

Autism, Vaccines, ADHD and Feingold

I am reposting this from a recent Feingold newsletter.  This information is worth sharing.  Please take a minute to read it and pass it on to anyone you know who may be interested.

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EBCALA press conference

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The Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law & Advocacy (EBCALA) held a press conference on May 10, to reveal a clear vaccine-autism link based on the government’s own data. They demanded immediate Congressional action. The entire video can be seen here.

In a two-year study, EBCALA found that many claims of brain injury were approved for compensation as long as the word "autism" was NOT used; but those who used that word had been turned down - because while vaccines can cause brain injury and death, they are not allowed to cause autism. 83 clear cases were identified in which the "brain injury" is clearly autism; although considered only the tip of the iceberg, this number alone means that the rate of autism among the compensated children is at least three times higher than in the general population -- thus, the governmental claim that vaccines "cannot cause autism" is simply untrue, based on the government's own records.

Each speaker, and each parent of a vaccine-injured child, was careful to say that they were not anti-vaccine; one added she wanted safer vaccines. Several said parents had the right to know all possible dangers in advance, and one parent (a psychiatrist) said it was "immoral" not to take care of children injured "for the public good" by the vaccine program. Her child is being taken care of, of course, so I assume she means those whose case files included the word "autism" and were turned down because "vaccines cannot cause autism."

Another point - almost said but somehow missed - is that with at least 83 children admittedly suffering brain injury/autism following vaccinations, no study has been done to find the common thread among them; to identify what piece of DNA or family history or metabolic difference could be used to identify other children at risk for damage -- to identify and protect children BEFORE they are injured. Where is that effort being made? Who is doing it? Nobody, apparently. To know some children will be sacrificed "for the public good" and yet make no effort to identify those children at risk in order to protect them -- THAT truly is immoral.

We hope that this press release will result in a Congressional investigation, and that all these points will be clearly and loudly made - and dare we hope acted upon?

After the press conference, Mary Holland of EBCALA was also interviewed on Fox News, and you canwatch it here. 

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What's the connection between vaccines & the Feingold diet?

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Back in the 1950s and 1960s, when Dr. Feingold was using what later was called the "Feingold diet," he didn't talk about autism. As an allergist, he dealt with children and adults with asthma, hives, and rashes of unknown origin. He paid attention when parents began to inform him that a "side effect" of the diet was an improvement in behavior - a side effect never noticed before, probably, because children were not getting much in the way of additives until the 1960s. At that time, autism was rare with only one in 2,000 babies becoming autistic (compared to more than one in 100 today - and one in 38 in a recent survey in Korea!). And sure, there were vaccines back then - but they were also relatively few, with the measles vaccine only first introduced in 1963.

Over the years, parents of children with autism began to ask us if our diet could help. We told them we didn't know. Many parents tried it anyway, and found that the Feingold diet and the gluten/casein free diet together were so effective that they began to ask us to include gluten/casein free products in our Foodlist, and track them in our product questionnaires. It was a major paradigm-shift for us, but today this information is available in our Foodlists.

A haunting question, however, has always been, "Why should the diet help autism?" Why should a perfectly normal child, apparently poisoned by mercury or aluminum, or colonized by a measles virus - or suddenly attacked by a rogue gene, according to some - now need the Feingold diet?

Research has shown that children with autism are often low in an enzyme called phenol sulfotransferase (PST) which is needed by brain neurons as well as for processing salicylates and food dyes in the gut. It is suspected that people with ADHD are also low (or borderline) in this enzyme, but it is not something generally measured by doctors in the US. Dr. Stephen McFadden back in 1986 found that many chronic diseases, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimers, involved a decrease in sulfate metabolism, and he claimed that the success of the Feingold diet was due to it being low in compounds requiring the PST enzyme.* Since salicylates actually suppress this same PST, as well as requiring it, eliminating salicylate makes sense too.

What this means, apparently, is that the damage done is somewhere in the system involving sulfate metabolism or PST production -- so taking the stress off this metabolic system begins to make perfect sense.

Almost 12 years ago, Dr. Mary Megson, MD, claimed a G-protein deficiency (often indicated by night blindness) in parents makes the child more susceptible to vaccine injury. She was also one of the first to say that ADHD - not just autism - may be related to vaccine injury. See her testimony before Congress in 2000.

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* See McFadden study abstract or full text. Username/password = myfile/4Studies. 

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Dear DOA . . .

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Last month, we asked you to write the Department of Agriculture to ask them to include banning food dyes as part of their planned improvements in school lunches. Many of you copied me on what you submitted - and I thank all of you for your caring and effort. There were so many great letters!

Below I want to share with you the very special letter submitted by Dr. Richard Carlton, expressing his experience as a doctor treating ADHD:

"I am a physician who routinely treats children (and some adults) who have ADHD. For 35 years now, I have observed that food additives make the ADHD symptoms profoundly worse, for a very high percentage of the children I treat. I have also seen them provoke seizures. I also saw one case where they provoked encopresis (accidental BMs).

"I think the FDA is totally off base when it states that additives only affect a small percentage of children, and therefore they are OK to leave in the food supply in general, and in the school lunches in particular. The double-blind studies that used dosages of additives that TRULY reflect the amounts that children ingest on a daily basis typically show 80% and more of the children reacting. These are drugs! Dr. Rappoport at the NIH showed that some of the dyes caused rat synaptosomes to release dopamine. These are drugs! You do an injustice to our nation's children when you allow these "esthetic" products to remain in the diet, in the face of considerable evidence that they disrupt many children.

"Some critics say that the additives affect "only 10%" of ADHD children. There are an estimated 4 million ADHD kids in the U.S. Even ten percent of 4 million is 400,000. That's far greater than the number of active troops we have in our armed forces!" 

They Let Me Down

I have been so grateful to everyone over the past couple of days for sending me links to all the press surrounding the FDA's sudden interest in artificial food coloring.  Organizations like Feingold and CSPI have been trying to get the FDA to take action against artificial colors, flavors and preservatives for a very long time.  Because of the FDA hearings this week, the issue of food colorings that was known by very few is now a mainstream topic of conversation.  That in itself is a big win!  I especially liked this footage of a Feingold mom at the FDA hearing explaining her experience - she could have been telling our story. 

However the FDA voted 8-6 to not take any action at this time.  No warning labels on food containing artificials.  No ban on artificials.  All the FDA agreed to do is request more research.  In Europe, warning labels saying "May cause behavior and attention problems in children" are required on any food with artificials.  In many countries these additives are banned altogether.  But there is big money in the food/chemical business and big money in the pharmaceutical business so in this case, it sure doesn't seem like the FDA is representing the people.  They let me down. 

The problem is that there aren't enough studies to "scientifically prove" that these additives cause behavior and attention issues.  The Feingold Association has looked into the studies that have been done in the past, and until recently, many of the studies were done by the food companies themselves, who have incentives to prove the less costly artificial flavorings cause no harm.  These studies also gave very small doses of artificials, maybe 28grams, and saw no significant difference in behavior.  But today's children eat an average of 300-400g per day!  Also, the studies looked at the additives separately, but more recent studies have shown that combinations of additives produce much stronger reactions. 

I don't need a scientific study to know what these additives did to my son.  I am reminded of it every time he eats something off diet.  Over the past year my family, friends, Ben's teachers, have seen the difference in my son when he stays away from additives.  But even with the testimony of thousands of Feingold parents just like me, the FDA is not convinced that these additives hurt the population in general -  although they are on the verge of admitting that they are harmful for children with ADHD.  I guess it's a start. 

But here's my two cents:  Read below to see what these additives are made of.  How can anyone read this and think it is a good idea to have these things in our food?  Most are not only petroleum based, they ARE petroleum.  And, the effects on children with ADHD is visible, but what are these additives doing that we can't see?  Ingesting petroleum certainly can't be helping combat the increase in cancer rates, can it? 

For the next few days, check out the products in your house.  Your toothpaste and vitamins most likely contain additives, your Honey Maid graham crackers contain vanillan (artificial vanilla), your Yoplait yogurt has additives, your milk may be enhanced with Vitamin D that has preservatives (and these aren't even shown on a label), your cereals are almost guaranteed to have additives, as well as your mac & cheese, hotdogs, chips, cookies, cake and frosting mixes, lunch meats, cheeses, fruit snacks, shampoos, cleaning products, room fragrance, etc.  How many additives are your kids consuming each day?  Even if they don't have ADHD or behavioral issues, what are these toxic products doing to their little bodies that you can't see? 

I used to be a person that trusted foods that the FDA approved.  But now, if I read an ingredients list and I can't instantly tell how that ingredient is found in nature - I put it back on the shelf.  I want my family to eat food, pure and simple.  In Europe, where warning labels are now required, companies like Kellogs, McDonalds, Wrigley - all use naturals colors and flavors in their products - and yet they still sell the artificial additives in our country.  It just doesn't pass the smell test, does it?

Just for fun, check out these Wikipedia links to see what artificial colors are made of:

Blue 1 (Brilliant Blue) - produced using aromatic hydrocarbons from petroleum.  US production exceeds 1 million pounds annually.

Red 40 -  was originally manufactured from coal tar, but is now mostly made from petroleum.   

Yellow 5 - also known as tartrazine, but hard to figure out what the heck that is.  Check out the material safety data sheet on what to do if exposed to tartrazine.  And yet, we can eat it? 

BHT -  is a lipophilic organic compound (huh?!?) that is primarily used as an antioxidant food additive as well as an additive in cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, jet fuels, rubber, petroleum products, electrical transformer oil and embalming fluid.  It  is prepared by the reaction of p-cresol (a major componant in pig odor) with isobutylene (a colorless flamable gas) catalysed by sulfuric acid.  Yum!

TBHQ - tertiary butylhydroquinone, which is an antioxidant that comes from petroleum and is related to butane. It is often used as a preservative, applied either to the carton of fast food items or sprayed directly onto them, as well as in various other prepackaged food items.

"Lake" - Lakes are made by combining dyes with salts to make insoluble compounds.  (So for example you would see Red Lake 40 instead of the dye Red 40.) 

I am so envious of Europe, that I would be able to walk in any store and find natural foods for my children.  That my children could eat the snack handed out by the team mom at baseball games because the off-the-shelf granola bar only contained natural products.  I shouldn't have to search several stores to find food that really is food, with ingredients that once grew in soil and had to be harvested instead of chemically compounded.  It just shouldn't be that hard.

May I Brag A Little?

So after two weeks of complete hell with Ben's behavior from eating contraband foods I had thought we finally had a breakthrough last Sunday (see here) and boy was I right.  This week Ben worked really hard to not eat bad food.  Two days this week he brought home contraband food his friends gave him so he could exchange it for $1 as I promised him. 

Ladies and Gents, I have to tell you that this week at home was AWESOME!!  On Thursday night I gave Ben a big hug and said "Ben, do you realize that you and I have not argued one time this week!?!"  He gave me a big giant grin.  Homework was a breeze this week, there were no meltdowns during vision therapy, he was able to play video games and air hockey without losing his mind when he lost, he frequently did nice things for his sister, and he was just generally great to be around. He also told me that he had no cards pulled this week. 

And then yesterday, he even achieved the coveted Super Star Student Award in Mr. H's first grade class.  Ok, I admit I cried again when I found out.  So Ben got to pick our dinner for the night (homemade pizza) and Darrin and I took Ben and Lia to Toys R Us to celebrate.  Each of them had a $25 gift card left over from Christmas, and Darrin and I told Ben that because he had worked so hard this week and was such a joy to be around, in addition to earning Super Star Student, we matched that $25.  You should have seen Ben's eyes pop out of his head when he heard he had $50 to spend at Toys R Us! 

His choice:  The Imaginext Toy Story 3 Landfill.  Right now it's filled with the Toy Story Characters, Lego men, army guys and maybe even a princess or two.  He's in heaven - and so am I. 

An Amazing Surprise

At the end of every month Mr. H sends an email to all the 1st grade parents to applaud the children who didn't get any cards pulled that month.  It's like torture every month for a couple of reasons.  First, he puts "Behavior" in the subject line.  Being a parent of a child who is frequently in trouble and getting an email entitled "Behavior" makes my heart drop.  Then I open the email and realize it isn't about my kid, but it's about all the kids who had no trouble at all.  Oh, isn't that just swell.  And it's the same kids month after month. 

Today when I got the email I seriously almost sent a reply that said "Unsubscribe". 

HOWEVER . . . no, Ben's name wasn't on the email.  BUT. . . . Ben did bring home his monthly list of pulled cards.  Here is what I am used to seeing (this is August through January, and only the green cards - but yes, he pulled yellow and even one red before).  My favorite is 1/11/11 for "Jumping in front of overhead lights".  Yup, that's Ben.

And here is what I found when I looked at Ben's card this month:

And I just need to say, on February 7th, there was a substitute teacher.  Isn't some bad behavior expected?

Seriously though folks, my eyes watered when I saw this card.  I was more proud of that kid in that moment than I have been for many other things.  He worked very hard to have such a "clean" card.

In other great news, Ben brought me a contraband cookie today that he got from a friend at school!  Not only did I give him a dollar for that according to our deal, I gave him some extra dollars to reward him for his behavior in school this last month.  We are making progress, people.  We are making progress.

A Money Making Endeavor

After the Valentine's week from you know where, with Ben eating contraband candy every day, I went into last week thinking things would get better.  Boy was I wrong.  It seemed like Ben decided to eat unapproved food every single day.  Chips from his friend at lunch, someones cookie at recess, on and on.  Not wanting to dwell on the negative, I tried to reinforce the positive. . . with bribery.  On Thursday night I told him that I understood how hard it was to say no to food that tasted good, but that I wanted him to make the healthy choice and say no.  So I made a deal with him that if he brought home whatever it was that he wanted to eat, instead of eating it, I would pay him a dollar.  He got very excited so I thought my plan would work.  And then on Friday, he ate someones chips.  UGH! 

You have to understand that even two chips of the unapproved variety can result in three days worth of bad behavior - especially when it's an every day occurrence.  Ben gets extremely angry and has almost zero frustration tolerance.  Things like homework, brushing his teeth, vision therapy, and any other small instruction can result in a horrible angry mess of a six year old.  And there is no reasoning with him when he's in a rage.  We have learned techniques to deal with his rages, teaching him how to isolate himself when he's in one so he can calm himself down.  Once he's out of it you can talk to him about what happened and try to help him learn from it.  I learned these techniques in this book:  The Explosive Child.  I highly, highly recommend this book to anyone who has a child that rages.  You know who you are. 

So we dealt with his reaction from the chips on Friday, and then on Saturday, and Sunday morning.  By Sunday afternoon he was pretty much back to his good self.  I call that "Fun Ben".  (Instead of "Angry Ben").  Last night after we did some homework together (Darrin and Lia were in another part of the house so we had no distractions), I calmly talked to Ben about him eating unapproved food.  I explained to him that as much as I loved him, I did not like to be around "Angry Ben".  I told him that what he ate at school was his choice, because I wasn't there to watch him.  And I said that if he made bad choices, and ate unapproved food, and "Angry Ben" came out, that I was not going to take "Angry Ben" anywhere with us.  I told him that he would stay home while Darrin, Lia and I went out to do something fun. 

This hurt Ben very much and he actually started to cry.  I told him that I wasn't trying to make him upset, but he needed to understand how bad it was for the rest of us when he decided to eat bad food that makes him angry.  And that we choose not to be around him when he's like that.  Then I told him that he could help me decide what he wanted to have in his lunch, and that if there were any foods he saw his friends eating at school, that he could tell me about them and I would try my best to find or make them in an approved version.  This made him perk up a bit and he said he thought that was a great idea.  I felt like we really had a break through last night and I crossed my fingers and toes that he would make the right choices today. 

When I got home this evening, before I could even get in the door, Ben yelled to me "MOM!  I brought home COOKIES!!!"  And he ran and grabbed a bag of animal cookies that his friend had given him.  He also told me "Mom, I even ate a chip from my friend, but then I remembered and I spit it out RIGHT AWAY!".  The funny thing is, I believe him.  I could just tell that he was telling me the truth.  You can bet I gave him his dollar right away.  I hope this week I get to pay him four more dollars so we can do something fun together this weekend.  It's worth every penny.

The Evil Of Valentine's Day

I had totally planned ahead.  I knew there was a Valentine's Day party in the first grade on Friday the 11th, so I prepared.  I made Ben's favorite peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, ordered approved candy from Indie Candy, and took off work early to attend the party myself.  Mostly, it went according to plan. 

A first grade party is a pretty casual affair.  The kids decorated bags to collect their valentines, they all passed out their V-Day cards with assorted treats, the room parents passed out the brightly colored sugar cookies, cupcakes with neon frosting, fruit punch to wash down the other toxins.  I was so incredibly proud of Ben as he said "No thank you" to all the treats, sorted the unapproved candy out of his bag and gave it to his friend Jacob, and offered peanut butter cookies to the rest of the class.  When the party was over, and Ben knew he still had his daycare party to attend, I asked him if he wanted me to drive him to Mrs. P's, or if he'd prefer to take the bus with his friends.  He decided to take the bus since it was Jacob's first time, so I kissed him goodbye and headed to the grocery store. 

And then it hit me.  Like a serious ton of bricks.  HE WENT ON THE BUS WITH JACOB SO HE COULD EAT THE CANDY!  CRAP!  Sure enough, after my grocery shopping I picked the kids up at daycare and immediately noticed Ben's red ears - a dead giveaway of a reaction.  He admitted to me that he ate valentine fruit snacks, but only one pack.  He promised me he wouldn't do it again.  And then on Tuesday he did it again.  And promised me he wouldn't do it again.  And today he did it again.  UGH!!!  All this trouble that we go through to keep his diet clean and one little piece of candy ruins it all. 

So this whole week we've been dealing with rages, emotional outbursts, not listening, aggravating his sister.  It's so frustrating that I just want to put him in a bubble.  My dilemma is that if I punish him, then he won't admit to me when he's eaten off diet.  If I don't punish him, he will obviously continue the behavior.  I truly am just not sure what to do. 

Granted, things would be SO much worse if we weren't eating right the rest of the time - these rages don't last very long and he can usually calm himself down if we remove him from the situation.  Pre-Feingold they would have lasted all night.  So I guess progress, even without perfection, is still a great thing.