My hair stands on end when I think about all of the chemicals and food dyes that sneak into our foods and drinks. Unfortunately, foods that contain these hideous ingredients manage to score premium shelf space in our modern-day markets. Think about the most popular kiddo foods, and you get the idea.  

This is when the “Tiger Mom” in me appears. When it comes to irresponsible promotion, we need to expect more and ask for more. We deserve it, and so do our kids.

Recently, a woman was telling me about some issues she was having with her child. I’ve been a “last-stop” doc for about 20 years for many of my patients, so I quickly was able to discern the child’s “issues.” As soon as she started telling me his symptoms, a drawer labeled “food dyes” in my mental filing cabinet popped open.

She followed a protocol called the Feingold Diet  and in just one week, every single symptom disappeared. She stopped giving her son any food or drink that contained food dyes and voila … issues gone. She was AMAZED!

Stories like this get me revved because this is typical! Amazing things happen when you put real foods first!  

Here’s why her son turned the corner in a New York minute:

No more salicylates, which cause hyperactivity or sleeplessness.

Salicylates are chemicals that occur naturally in many plants (they are a natural pesticide)  to protect the plants against insects and diseases. Salicylates are just one group of the hundreds of compounds in foods that can affect us, depending on how much we eat and how sensitive we are.

Some people improve just by cutting back, and others have to avoid high-salicylate foods completely. Reactions are related to dose —  the more you eat, the more likely you are to be affected.

So what do food dyes have to do with this? 

Food Dyes and Food Preservatives produce the man-made form of salicylates. One of the side effects of salicylates is that they stimulate the central nervous system (CNS). This means they: 1) increase the risk for hyperactivity, such as ADHD/ADD, and other mood disorders, such as anxiety, depression or aggressive behavior and 2) make it more difficult to fall asleep at night.

The Signs Are Pretty Obvious When you eat foods high in salicylates, you often can’t sit still or get increasingly antsy and wired.

Watch For Food Preservatives such as sodium benzoate, BHA and BHT. They often produce the same results as food dyes, emitting the chemical salicylate into the body.

These Preservatives Are Found in cereal, crackers, packaged oatmeal, breads, soda pop and certain juices — just about anything packaged. These chemicals are used to increase the shelf life of our processed foods.

These preservatives and dyes can also be found in sports drinks.

What’s a Tiger Mom to do? If you have kids who play sports, you must feel my pain. You want to be sure you’re giving them what they need on those hot days playing for hours out in the sun. Both of my sons are on travel baseball teams — they often play three games in one day!

After seeing one too many “food-dye mustaches” from my little athletes, I knew what I had to do: Start making RocketFuel all natural energy drinks!

My RocketFuel drinks are all-natural, dye-free and, the kids tell me they taste betterthan any popular sports drink! RocketFuel … Click here for Recipe.

Drink up …. and …

Keep thinking big and living bold!

-Dr. Kellyann