Tasty Petroleum?

I've been doing a lot of contemplating about my (almost) 5-year old's behavior of late. She's been short-tempered and unbearably whiny and argumentative. It seems as though her normal state of being is "irritated", and I'd like to reset that back to "happy". If I can't get to "happy", I'll settle for "neutral" or just plain "silent". Her almost constant demands and level of irritability are affecting the whole family, particularly me since I have to deal with her for the whole day and for Ben who receives the brunt of her aggressive behavior.

We've undergone a lot of changes over the past few months due to the house move. So, I had been attributing her behavior to these changes, and so we've been focusing on really getting her settled into her new room (hence the construction of the bedroom furniture, etc.). I had also worried/considered that her behavior was some kind of serious psychological disorder that is only beginning to manifest itself.

A third possiblity came to light over the weekend, at Chuck-E-Cheese's of all places. While my oldest daughter was getting over-stimulated with arcade games, sugar, puppet shows, TV, music, and pizza, I found out that one of her classmates has a high level of sensitivity to food dyes, such as Red 40. I've been doing a little reading about Red 40 and other food dyes. Scary stuff. Red 40 is derived from petroleum. PETROLEUM!

Based on studies in the EU, the chemicals used to dye food can cause a small, but measurable, percentage of children to be angry, hyperactive, or exhibit other psychological effects. These chemicals are now banned from food in many European countries. The US FDA has not banned these chemicals in food. Lovely.

So, I am now running an experiment to see whether Caroline's behavior will improve with the removal of food dyes from her diet, focusing on the main player Red 40.

Although I thought I was doing a fairly good job of feeding the kids whole foods and natural foods and limiting sugar intake, it is tough to limit these things outside the home. Also, I had never specifically focused on food dyes inside our pantry. It is frightening how many things they crop up in. So, for the past week we've avoided Fruity Cheerios, Dum-Dum Lollipops (at the bank), Sprinkled donuts (at donuts with dad at preschool), and lots of other things. All these "no's" require some explanation, but Caroline has been cooperative so far.

It's too early to say if food dyes negatively affect Caroline, and we might never really know since it's a subjective test anyway. But, preliminarily, Caroline seems more under control. I think. Maybe it's just my perception that has changed. Who knows. Regardless, things are a little better. And that is good.

Caroline is off to Grandma and Pop-Pop's this weekend to celebrate birthday #5, and I've nixed Red Velvet Cake. Caroline really wanted pink icing for the cake, so I found a brand of natural vegetable food dyes that use beets (red), red cabbage (blue), and a spice (yellow). After talking with Grandma about my concerns, she's on board with the no food dye experiment.

Regardless of the outcome of the study. We are officially finished with food dyes at the house. No more tasty petroleum here.