Artifical Food Coloring

So as some of you know, I have wild children. :-) I love them with all their crazy, independent tendencies, but it would be SO nice to have them calm down just a bit. After a few very long days (and a few tears shed) I have started opening up the possibilities that maybe their craziness is not "just who they are". I am a normal mom so therefore I make excuses for my children's behavior at times. Anyways, I came across some interesting information that I thought may help.

We all know that snack foods and artificial ingredients are not healthy or beneficial, but what we don't always consider is that they may actually be detrimental to our health and our children's well being. Studies have suggested artificial food colorings, mainly Red 40, contribute to brain excitement in children and in those children with ADHD symptoms, it may actually create outbursts and exacerbate behavioral problems. Here's one interesting link. So I did a little digging into what Red 40 actually is. The chemistry behind Red 40 is pretty simple. They take petroleum products, refine it, create the azo bond through nitrogen bonding, and ta-da: Red 40.

Red 40 is everywhere it seems. It is the #1 food dye used in the US and just recently, the EU (the European version of the FDA) has begun banning certain food dyes due to their health impacts. However, here in the US, big money is to be made off health problems so nothing is ever done unless enough people make a big enough fuss. But I digress...

So, now I have my afternoon cut out for me. I will be on a quest for every food item in my house with artificial food dyes and getting rid of it. Can you tell I'm getting desperate for an answer to the behavior problems? I just hope I can get W's focus better before I fly completely off the deep end. Wish me luck!!!