This post started out as a St. Patrick's day post, but now it is taking a turn to something I have wanted to post for a long time...
Before you roll your eyes, and say yeah right hippy mom... I was right there with you before I witnessed it first hand. I used to roll my eyes at mom's who would say don't give my kids food coloring or fruit snacks with dye... but now I KNOW!!
It is not a physical reaction, he does not break out in hives, he has an emotional or I guess a behavioral reaction. He cannot focus, he throws TERRIBLE fits. He is disobedient etc etc. And some of you may say "well... he IS 3." And yes, 3 year olds do this. But when you can tell a distinct difference between his behavior when he has had dyes and when he has not, it is something more than a bad case of toddlerness.
I have read studies (again I know they are not always accurate) that say that children were tested before given dyes and they got considerably higher scores than when they were given food dyes. They are more able to focus on a task and are less cranky. Even adults have dye intolerance's, but are better able to control their emotions, but it has been proven that they focus better without all that artificial dye in their system.
I know... I know... it sounds crazy, but when you see a perfectly sweet 3 year old who is normally very well balanced throw a screaming tantrum over absolutely NOTHING after he has had a blue icee, you will believe me.
{now back to our regularly scheduled program}
I like to have themed food. I like cookies shaped in holiday decor and food that is color coded with the holiday at hand... So I wanted to do green food for st. patty's day. No dye for us, so I had to get creative.
SPINACH macaroni and cheese... and they ate it... and they liked it.
Maybe green food is not just for st. patricks day.
All I did was puree some spinach with a little milk and add it to our mac and cheese (which by the way has dye, so I buy annies mac and cheese.... IT IS SOOO GOOD.)
I know I sound crazy with all the dye stuff, but really if you could see the difference... you would totally do it too.
And I am adding some spinich to some cupcakes for later... shhh don't tell the kids what it is... its just green for st patty's day ;) I will let you know how that goes over.
8 comments:
I'm telling you, some of that hippy craziness is for REAL! Good luck figuring out what works and doesn't work for you :)
p.s. Add spinach to your fruit smoothies!
Right there with you!! I have been doing a TON of research lately on food. We are doing the "no dye" thing and also we are trying to eat less processed foods and eating more organic. It really is scary what is in our food, like even the food that we think is healthy for us really isn't. I want to shout it to the world, but I am pretty sure that people think that people like us are crazy. Because I was one of them not too long ago :)
Right there with you! Payt is the same way with lactose. I feel like people do not take me seriously, but he is AWFUL emotionally when he has lactose. It is above and beyond normal, crazy 2 year old behavior. Foods truly do dictate how we act/feel.
I am becoming a full on hippy mama, and although my hubs even rolls his eyes at times, I know it's for the best. I feel better when I eat well (less meat, more organic, more fresh), and I can tell my family feels/is better too.
Oh--the biggest thing I've found for Payt besides the lactose is to make sure he's not having anything processed. I really like 100daysofrealfood.com for ideas on how to cut out processed ingredients.
I've never heard of that before so thanks for the heads-up! You should send me some of your links so that i can read up!
Cute pics!
Good for you! It just seems silly to be putting dyes in our kids bodies, anyway, so I say the less the better no matter whether that research is true or not. I'm glad your kids ate the spinach! I might have to try green macaroni and cheese.
I'm sold on the mac and cheese, yum! I haven't heard about dyes and whatnot, but I rarely buy junk only because the PRICES are INSANE. So anyway, good to know...
I have a foster kid client who is intolerant of red dye. He goes crazy. He's too young for ritalin (thank God) which I'm sure doctors would have put him on without properly diagnosing him. It makes me sad to think of all these kids hopped up on psychotropic drugs who don't need to be if their parents just fed them properly and cut out the food dye.
-Annette
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