Physician, Heal thyself

In my quest to help kids and families, I committed a cardinal sin- I ate red dye number 40!..  And OMG I paid for it.  I was aware of a sensitivity that I have had to red-colored food in the past.  I've had a few minor reactions to red and blue sports drinks containing red 40 in the past.  Yesterday, I ate a huge red pop-ice at my daughter's summer camp.  I have never had such a severe food reaction.  Literally ever fiber of my body paid for it.  Within about 10 minutes, I felt weird and weak.  Later, I felt dizzy, nauseated, and had a continuous migraine that did not remit until about 24 hours later.  I had migrating joint pains for several hours and became incredibly sleepy within about two hours of ingestion.  This was a big wake up call that even a single exposure to red 40 can be incapacitating.  Interestingly, my daughter had an orange pop-ice, also containing red 40, and she had a similar reaction that happened much quicker and was over with sooner.

Artificial food dyes are in a ton of our food supply.  Several have been shown to increase growth of tumors in mice.  Elimination of artificial food dyes has been shown to improve symptoms of hyperactivity in ADHD children.  Many children with behavioral reactions to artificial food dyes would also benefit from elimination of other foods such as soy, wheat, and dairy.  Children with preexisting environmental allergies may benefit the most from elimination diets.