FOOD INTOLERANCE NETWORK FACTSHEET
Salicylates
All foods are made up of hundreds of naturally occurring
compounds that can have varying effects on us, depending on how much we eat and
how sensitive we are. Salicylates (pronounced sall as in sally - i as in ink -
sill as in silly - ate) are compounds formed from a plant hormone called
salicylic acid and are in nearly every mouthful we eat.
Salicylates are:
·
present
in varying amounts in nearly all foods and products that come from plants
including fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, seeds, flowers and bark
·
natural
regulators of growth, flowering, ripening, senescence and defence against pests
and diseases
·
highest
in firm unripe fruit and lowest when ripe fruit is ready to drop off the plant
·
highest
in the skin zone (skin and just under the skin)
·
concentrated
by processing as in fruit or vegetable juices, sauces, pastes, powders, jams,
syrups and flavourings
·
increased
in genetically engineered plants for greater resistance to disease
·
made
in laboratories in medications such as NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory
drugs)
Salicylates in medication
The best known salicylate is aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid),
which was originally extracted from willow bark. When introduced more than 100
years ago, aspirin was regarded as a completely safe wonder drug but by now
numerous side effects have been documented (Azer 2006):
·
gastrointestinal
effects including gastric irritation, bleeding, nausea and vomiting
·
cardiovascular
effects including rapid heart rate, cardiac arrhythmias
·
effects
on liver and kidneys
·
urticaria,
hives, itchy skin rashes
·
respiratory
effects including asthma
·
(in
adults) tinnitus, reversible hearing loss, vertigo, symptoms of Meniere’s
Disease
·
central
nervous system effects including confusion, short term memory loss, aggression,
paranoia, incoherent speech, insomnia, coordination problems, tremors, anorexia
(loss of appetite) and lethargy (Courts 1996, Bailey and Jones 1989)
·
changes
in children’s behaviour (Schaller 1977)
·
urinary
and fecal incontinence (Lemesh 1993)
·
salicylate-induced
hypoglycemia (Limbeck and others 1965)
·
salicylate
toxicity in a breastfed baby due to maternal ingestion of aspirin (Haslam
1975), showing that salicylates pass into breastmilk.
Some people are much more sensitive than others but it is
not possible to predict who will be affected or when they will be affected.
NSAID-induced stomach problems are estimated to cause 76,000 hospital
admissions and 7,600 deaths each year in the
Many health professionals warn that chronic salicylism is a
common but unrecognised cause of illness in the elderly that is difficult to diagnose
because of the huge variety and subtlety of symptoms. One group of researchers
described the ‘protean manifestations’ of chronic salicylate toxicity, Proteus
being an ancient Greek god who could assume any shape. When their hospital
rewarded staff for finding cases, there was a dramatic increase in diagnostic
recognition (Bailey and Jones 1989).
Salicylates are thought to work by inhibiting the action of
two enzymes called cyclooxgenase. Normally these enzymes convert an essential
fatty acid called arachidonic acid into prostaglandins - hormone-like chemicals
responsible for pain and inflammation - and leukotrienes. When salicylates
block the production of prostaglandins, more leukotrienes are produced instead,
becoming a problem for people who are sensitive to leukotrienes. Until very
recently, research focused on the role of leukotrienes in aspirin-sensitive
asthma, but it is now realized that leukotrienes are involved in a wide range
of inflammatory conditions (Capra and others 2006). One implication of this
research is that it accounts for the protean manifestations mentioned above.
Salicylates in food
It is not widely accepted that the effects of salicylates in
medications can also be caused by salicylates in foods, probably because many
so-called ‘low-salicylate’ diets use an outdated food list and are in fact not
low in salicylates.
As long ago as the 1960s, rheumatologists noticed that
children’s behaviour could be affected by salicylates in their arthritis
medication. One, Professor Eric Bywaters, reported a patient who attacked him
with a knife while ‘under the influence of salicylates’ (Bywaters 1966). In the
1970s, American pediatrician Dr Ben Feingold noticed that children’s behaviour
could also be affected by natural salicylates in foods (Feingold 1974). His
observations were confirmed in a study showing that children’s behaviour and
learning ability could be affected by both salicylates in foods and salicylates
in aspirin (Fitzsimon and others, 1978) but overall the Feingold diet achieved
mixed results.
In the mid-80s Australian researchers published a new
analysis of salicylate contents in foods showing that there were salicylates in
many more foods than previously thought (Swain and others, 1985). For people
who had already been following low salicylate diets, the new salicylate
information was a revelation. ‘When I found the Australian salicylate lists I
was so excited,' wrote a salicylate-sensitive asthmatic from
The Australian researchers identified other food chemicals
that could cause symptoms of food intolerance, including biogenic amines and
added and natural glutamates. When they used this new elimination diet, nearly
90 per cent of 140 children with behaviour disturbance improved significantly,
of whom nearly three quarters were sensitive to salicylates (Swain and others
reported in the Lancet, 1985).
Other published successes with a low salicylate diet using
the Australian list include the following:
• Six
children with chronic asthma found to be sensitive to salicylates were asked to
follow a low-salicylate diet, but compliance was poor. Only one subject
maintained the diet for three months by which time this child was free of
asthma medication and his lung function had returned to normal (Towns and
Mellis 1984).
• In an open trial of a low salicylate, reduced amine diet
by another team of Australian researchers, 80 per cent of 516 children with
behaviour problems improved significantly (Breakey and others 1991).
• I used a low salicylate, low amine, low glutamate diet
(Clarke and others 1994) for the open trial first stage of a double blind
placebo controlled study with 27 children. One hundred per cent of the children
who completed two to three weeks of the elimination diet improved significantly
(Dengate and Ruben 2002). This is the diet that the Food Intolerance Network
supports.
• A 27 year old university graduate had been diagnosed with
ADHD without hyperactivity and obsessive-compulsive disorder in childhood and
developed anxiety and depression in late teenage. After unsuccessfully trying
medication, he began a trial of the elimination diet mentioned above. His
symptoms improved significantly during a 4-week elimination diet and he began a
set of double blind placebo controlled capsule challenges. Within days of the
first capsule challenge his symptoms of depression and others worsened so
dramatically that challenges were stopped and the blind was broken – the
capsule was found to contain salicylates. Over a long period of time, open
challenges showed that many other food chemicals were also associated with his
symptoms (Parker and Watkins 2002).
• Preliminary results from a
Life without fruit
Most parents are reluctant to consider a low salicylate
diet. ‘How can children live without fruit?’ they ask, not realising that it is
possible to eat vegetables without fruit. Nearly two thousand years ago, the
ancient Greek physician Galen (Claudius Galenus), considered to be the
co-founder of modern medicine, wrote that his father had lived to be a hundred
by avoiding fruit.
I have spent months in remote subsistence villages in the
As income increases, households move from subsistence to
supermarket eating, buying more fat, meat, sugar, wheat, expensive fruits and
vegetables and processed foods (Griffiths and Bentley 2001). Finally, in the
Western diet, intake of whole fruits and vegetables is replaced by products
such as fruit juice and hot potato chips and, in adolescence, by soft drinks
and fast food such as pizza (Adair and Popkin, 2005).
During the transition from subsistence to supermarket diet,
our intake of salicylates increases because salicylates are concentrated in
products such as jam, juices, sauces, stock cubes, tomato paste and dried fruit
and vegetables. As well, foods are usually picked unripe for long shelf life
when salicylates are at their highest, plants are genetically engineered with
increased salicylates for disease resistance (Cipollini, 2003) and a wide
variety of very high salicylate fruit and vegetables are available all year
round.
Since food chemicals can be addictive, it is common to find
salicylate-intolerant children choosing to eat very little other than the
highest salicylate foods, especially tomato sauce, orange juice, broccoli,
grapes, strawberries, kiwi fruit, sultanas, fruit juice and fruit flavoured
yoghurts, while their parents think ‘well, at least it’s healthy’.
In addition, exposure to environmental chemicals such as
pesticides and solvents may make people, especially children, more sensitive to
other chemicals in foods and in perfumes (Miller 2001).
Very few consumers are affected by one dose of salicylates
in foods. More often, as people are exposed to salicylates many times every
day, effects build up slowly causing occasional outbreaks of symptoms and no
one realizes what is happening. The table below shows how salicylate exposure
increases with the Western lifestyle.
Salicylate (SAL) exposure in
subsistence village compared to the Western lifestyle
|
Salicylates in village life |
Salicylates in supermarket life |
|
Fruit and vegetables |
|
|
·
picked very ripe (lower in SALS) ·
old varieties (lower in SALS) ·
more veg eaten (lower in SALS) ·
more low SAL veg eaten (e.g.lentils, beans) ·
fruit and veg are fresh and unprocessed ·
Spices fresh homegrown, e.g. ginger, cardamom, turmeric |
·
picked hard, unripe (higher in SALS) ·
long-shelf-life varieties (higher in SALS) ·
more fruit eaten (higher in SALS) ·
more high SAL veg eaten (e.g. broccoli) ·
SALS concentrated in juice, sauces, flavours ·
SALS concentrated in dried spices |
|
Other |
|
|
·
Medications none ·
Skin creams none ·
Perfumes, cleaners none ·
Sensitisers none |
·
aspirin, NSAIDs ·
toothpaste, teething gel, medicated lotions ·
perfumed products, cleaners, air fresheners ·
pesticides, petrol, plasticizers |
|
Drinks |
|
|
·
mainly water, weak tea (limited) ·
rice or millet beer (lower in SALS) |
·
less water, more SAL containing drinks ·
grape wine, hop beer (higher in SALS) |
The villagers’ fruit and vegetables are picked very ripe,
often rotting within 24 hours. That is when salicylates are at their lowest,
compared to hard, unripe, long-shelf-life supermarket produce that are picked
green when salicylates are at their highest, stored, and artificially ripened.
There are thousands of traditional varieties of fruit, for example, 6000
varieties of apples in the
Villagers eat a very high vegetable to fruit ratio, and it
is interesting to note that there are many more low-salicylate vegetables than
low-salicylate fruit (approximately 30:1).
Villagers also have a higher intake of the vegetables that are at the
lower end of the salicylate scale. Potatoes, lentils and fresh and dried peas
and beans are village staples compared to the abundance of high salicylate
fruit and vegetables available in supermarkets year round, out of season and
from distant locations. In the villages, fruit is eaten mainly as small
quantities of fresh, ripe fruit in season, compared with the Western diet’s
daily intake of concentrated supermarket products. As well, villagers are not
exposed to salicylates through household cleaners and health care products or
other industrial chemicals.
How to reduce salicylate intake
·
choose more fruit and vegetables from the
lower end of the salicylate scale, such as traditional pears, potatoes, green
beans, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, celery, lettuce, leeks, garlic, kidney beans
and others, golden and red delicious apples, mangoes, carrots, corn and
pumpkin, and avoid those at the highest
end of the scale such as tomatoes, citrus, avocados, broccoli, grapes,
sultanas, plums, prunes and silverbeet.
For recipes with low to medium salicylates see the Failsafe booklet on www.fedup.com.au under FAILSAFE EATING.
·
eat
whole unprocessed fruit and vegetables rather than processed food with strong
fruit or vegetable flavours, including juice, lollies, fruit yoghurts, soup
stocks and sauces
·
peel
fruit and vegetables well to avoid the high concentrations of salicylates in
the skin zone
·
coffee
is much lower in salicylates than tea, decaf is lower still
·
we
are currently experimenting with homegrown heirloom varieties of low acid
yellow tomatoes, watch this space …
·
use
plain unperfumed soap, washing powder, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant,
cosmetics, toothpaste, skin cream, sunblock, household cleaners, no perfumes,
no airfresheners, no aerosols, no cut flowers, see a suggested list in the Failsafe Booklet www.fedup.com.au
·
avoid
salicylates in many prescription and over-the-counter medications including
aspirin, nonsteroidal antiflammatory drugs, many painkillers, oil of
wintergreen and any medications or skin creams containing salicylates or with a
warning for asthmatics in the Consumer Medicine Information sheet, arthritis
creams, sports creams like Dencorub, Vicks Vaporub, teething gel and oral gels
like Bonjela and Ora-Sed, wart removers, acne cleansers and wipes, some insect
repellants. For a useful list of salicylate in medications see the following
list but ignore the outdated advice about salicylate containing foods: www.pkwy.k12.mo.us/pierre/documents/TopicalProd.pdf
For best results with food intolerance
symptoms
·
do
the full elimination diet supervised by a dietitian, write to confoodnet@ozemail.com.au for our
list of supportive dietitians.
For some people, any amount of dietary salicylates is too
much. A common mistake on the elimination diet is to drink pear juice, which
contains pears with peel. While a peeled, ripe pear contains very low
salicylates, juice with peel will contain salicylates, so one glass per day of
pear juice can reverse the benefits of an elimination diet. This is why doctors
who advise 'do the diet but not too seriously' are effectively sabotaging the
outcome. For best results, the diet must be followed absolutely strictly for
three weeks. It is usual then to do a supervised reintroduction (challenge) to
confirm whether salicylates are a problem.
For conditions clearly associated with salicylates, such as
symptoms of Meniere’s diease, physicians recommend that challenges not be
attempted. Instead the aim is to reduce exposure to salicylate from all sources
until symptoms improve, while at the same time eating as many salicylate
containing foods as can be managed so that the diet is not unnecessarily
restricted. This is not intended as medical advice – please consult your
dietitian or physician.
Readers’ Stories
After failsafeing my children we have seen a great
improvement in their behaviour. My eldest daughter (nearly 5yrs) was diagnosed
with ODD. She is so much happier and easier to live with since being on the
diet. My youngest daughter had dry eczema on her arms that has all but
disappeared. Both of my children were on what would have been considered an
extremely healthy diet (fit for life) with very little junk food and loads of
fruit and vegetables. They have both improved considerably over the four or
five months on the diet. Thanks for the work you have done in making us aware
of what really is in our food. We have tried many things to help our eldest
daughter with little success and were at our wits end. Food has turned out to
be a big key. Now some of the other methods we had previously tried (eg. reward
charts) actually work. If we have a slip on the diet it's like a wall goes up
in her mind and she can't listen anymore. – Belinda, by email
My daughter reacts to salicylates by becoming easily enraged
and blaming everyone for everything. She is, by the way, the most un-ADD person
I've every met - highly organised, very logical, and a real old head on young
shoulders -very knowing and mature and reasonable. She is also academically
gifted. My son becomes hyper and idiotic and unable to learn when he has more
than moderate salicylates in his diet. - Qld
I was searching on the internet for some clues to my life
long digestive problems, when I came across the food allergy section on the
About.com website. The featured food allergy topic happened to be salicylates
... just out of curiosity, and for the heck of it, I clicked on the link, and
started to read about it … I first off read the list of common symptoms. As I
read it the list was all to familiar to me … I answered Yes to every symptom.
Needless to say, I started to follow a salicylate free diet. To say I felt
better would have been the understatement of a new millenium...... ALL of my
life I have suffered from very frequent urination, constipation, stomach
bloating, short temper, irritability, inability to concentrate, memory
problems, severe acne, dry skin (especially on my hands and feet), those
restless legs, and more ...<sigh>… The worst of it for me though was the
constant urination, and constipation which led to a lot of gas ... Thank you so
much for your work, and your book. Both have changed my life forever. I am
finally free of a problem which has literally ruined my life. In case you're
wondering, I'm 37 years old ... And yes, 36 years is WAY too long to suffer
with this health problem. Sometimes I don't know how I made it this long with
my sanity intact. - from the
Restless Legs Syndrome was absolutely driving me crazy. If I
forced my legs to be still, they would then jerk with even greater intensity.
While I was watching TV, my legs were constantly swinging, because of this urge
to move them. They were not itchy - it was just like there was something under
the skin driving me crazy. Apparently most sufferers go on to become
alcoholics which I can understand.
American websites about RLS basically fall back onto all sorts of medication,
which I do not want to take. Within two weeks of trying the elimination diet, I
was able to sit still at night, AND get into bed without fear of tossing and
turning all night because of this urge to move my legs. I now know the foods I
should not touch - salicylates and additives ... when I eat any of these
forbidden foods there is a definite reaction. - NSW
I am sensitive to salicylates as the result of overuse of
Ibuprofen (chemically very similar to aspirin). I developed asthma-like
respiratory symptoms when eating certain foods but couldn't figure out which
foods were responsible. Then I developed paresthesia in my left thigh when I
took a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug which was prescribed for back pain.
Ironically, all of the muscle pains etc. disappeared once I removed everything
from my diet that I was sensitive to. - USA
On advice from our paediatrician (believe it or not) we took
our 3.5 yo son off salicylates from the beginning. I typed in this unknown word
and got your website and cried and contacted you and you recommended a
dietitian … we have the most unbelievable son now as long as we stick close to
his 'food plan', we don't call it a diet. …I just can't express our gratitude
enough - life is completely different within our household and for our son
himself. – Qld
Around the middle of last year I realised that I generally
felt unwell. But worst of all was my bloated stomach, which most times looked
like I was 7 months pregnant, and the related bowel problems. Looking back I
had been gradually getting worse for a couple of years … I went on the strict
diet for several weeks. I tried the challenges and narrowed my causes down to
dairy and salicylates (both of which I had normally in large quantities). I
then got caught up in a round of end of year work functions and lunches, so I
was not able to be so strict with myself. I went backwards quickly …
Now I avoid all processed foods, eat failsafe at home, and
make informed choices when out. I love wine but have cut down to a couple of
glasses per week, have decaf coffee, soy milk etc. The result has been a new
zest for life - new role at work, back to studying part time and lots of
activities. I'm back to size 12 clothes (have bought lots of new ones). I turn
50 next week and feel like 40. I'm a bit evangelical when I tell people why
I've lost so much weight. – NSW
We are doing the elimination diet for my three children. I
have been on the diet too and on the two occasions I had chocolate with my
husband, I had a huge headache the next day. I have been a chocoholic all my
life!! I also had a headache for the first week due to withdrawals, I presume.
The best thing is I am not craving sweets and the weight is dropping off me!! I
am losing about half a kilo a week (except during the salicylate challenge). –
by email
My friend has followed your diet and had only one small
reaction (and she admits to "cheating" some that day) in the last 11
months. Before that, she was speeding to the hospital in an ambulance about
every 10 -14 days. Now she has not done that in nearly a whole year - THANKS to
your book and food lists. She has also reduced the antihistamines that she
takes by more than half ... Her own allergy doctor is very impressed with her
current health and has sent for "Fed Up" also. It seems weird that
she has had to find her own help and that doctors seem to have little knowledge
of her allergy to natural aspirin. Thanks again for your help. She is my close
friend and lives alone but now I don't fear for her safety because the life
threatening reactions have disappeared. Her overall health and energy levels
have greatly increased. Without your website, current correct information, and
books, coping was so difficult. - reader's friend,
I have a near 7 year old with an intolerance to salicylates.
Your book "Fed Up" helped us realise what his problems might be
caused by, and since he has been on a low salicylate diet, his behaviour,
school work etc have improved dramatically! - reader, email
Our family has been largely
failsafe for the past couple of years due to our daughter’s behaviour, but an
added side benefit seems to have emerged. My husband has a rare disorder called
Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia (HHT) which causes his capillaries to
balloon and bleed easily. His blood count is always very low and like all HHT
sufferers, nosebleeds have always been part of his life. He has had far fewer
nosebleeds since he's avoided salicylates and that's the only change that he's made.
I wonder if it could be that the lack of salicylates decrease the bleeding? He
can't ever take aspirin, so I suppose it makes sense, but if my suspicions are
correct, then other HHT sufferers might benefit as well. I would think that
it's worth investigating and I will certainly share it with anyone who is
interested or concerned. – Chris, NSW(vwilder@optusnet.com.au)
Some years ago now, I remember reading a message from a failsafer who’d had a
gastroscopy before he went failsafe, which showed scarring and evidence of
reflux, and he was put on strong antacids and told he might eventually need an
operation (presumably to repair the gastric sphincter).
Exactly the same happened to me. I get the neurological
symptoms (depression, paranoia, neurosis, ADD, visual discomfort and dyslexia -
which improves but hasn't been resolved), but I also had years of gastric
symptoms and had had two gastroscopies before I discovered failsafe eating. The
first one showed no ulcer but that the lining was inflamed. After the second I
had exactly the same diagnosis as in the story above. I remember the
gastroenterologist telling me that although the symptoms weren't typical, the
problem was definitely reflux, and suggesting the operation.
After I had been on the diet for some years, I had another
gastroscopy to investigate the possibility of coeliac sprue. This wasn't found
(thank heavens) but it did demonstrate that the scarring and inflammation that
had previously been there was now gone. The diet had resolved about 10 years of
painful gastric symptoms for me. I'm just wondering whether there might be
other adults or children who have had the same experience. As people are so
keen on physical evidence, maybe someone could pool the results and put out a
paper? - reader, NSW
My son has an intolerance to salicylates and
My sister is finding life much easier with her baby thanks
to modifying her diet. She removed very high salicylates and amines and it
seemed to have an immediate affect on his behaviour. They now have much more
settled nights. She found that every time she ate even a small amount of
tomato, wine, chocolate etc, that they had a difficult night and that it just
wasn't worth it! Thank you for your information and support. It was also very
helpful for me as a breastfeeding counsellor to be involved with a particular
case and to see that diet can have an effect. I feel more able to suggest to
mothers that this might be something to look into if their baby continues to be
unsettled. - reader, Qld
My daughter Rosie is now 14 months old. She continues the
elimination diet, and still loves her food. We finally tried some challenges.
Salicylates were a disaster, (pumpkin twice a day for 2 days and a granny smith
apple core), she became irritable, clingy, whingy etc, then vomited, with no
associated illness. – NSW
Birth - Chris is born nearly 2 months
early. We stay in hospital until Chris is a month old. Staff regularly comment
on the huge amount of crying he does and his restlessness. They put this down
to a consequence of being prem and assure me he will be more normal and settled
by the time he was due to be born.
2 mths - Chris doesn't settle - he gets
worse, screaming and crying all the time all day and night. Regularly passes
out from lack of oxygen.
3 1/2 mths - I am totally exhausted and can
not cope at all anymore - sick of the lack of support and everybody telling me
that babies cry and I should just get over it. They all think I am a
hypochondriac. I start colouring behaviour charts showing his
screaming/crying/grizzling and sleep. I now know I am not exaggerating or
pulling things out of proportion - the charts show he is worse than I thought.
He is crying and screaming for about 18 hours out of 24. When he does sleep out
of exhaustion it will be for one or two hours only - generally throughout the
night. He rarely sleeps during daylight hours.
I ring my doctor in desperation. I am afraid I might hurt
Chris if I don't get some sleep soon and get him sorted out. My doctor admits
us to hospital. The staff take over Chris and I get to sleep. Staff are amazed
at the amount Chris screams - at first they think it is just because he is away
from me and home but I assure them he is the same at home. His crying continues
non stop even after being in hospital over a week and in my arms a lot of the
time. The doctor suggests we try the elimination diet. We see our local
dietitian. I start the diet.
4 1/2 mths - Chris is getting a lot better. He
isn't screaming near as much though is still crying a fair bit. We really
notice it when I eat anything on the no go list - we have to cope with his
screaming within 24 hours.
5 1/2 mths - My behaviour charts show that
Chris is improving a lot. He is now crying more than screaming. I still can't
get him to sleep during the day. (The diet is not as effective as it should be
because I am making salicylate mistakes like drinking way too much lemonade and
eating lots of carrots and pumpkin - but I don't find that out for another 10
months.)
14 mths - Chris goes off all carrots and
pumpkin - makes it really hard for me to find foods to get him to eat as he
eats a huge amount of each of these. We notice a big change in Chris - he stops
grizzling altogether and is suddenly really easy to manage. He is a lot more
agreeable!! Have a look through my books and discover that pumpkin and carrot
are moderate in salicylates - I thought they were low!! No wonder he wasn't
100%. He was obviously getting too many salicylates!
19 mths -
Chris is now fantastic. We are really enjoying him. -
I have Samter's Triad syndrome, also known as Aspirin
Induced Asthma (AIA). About 10 per cent of people with Samter’s syndrome also
get urticaria (hives) and/or angioedema (swelling of the lips, tongue, neck
etc). Angioedema can be so severe as to cause death by suffocation, so it is
considered a medical emergency. …
When I was 18, I went into anaphylactic shock when I was
given the wrong pain medicine (Darvon - containing aspirin) by accident. I took
one pill and within 15 minutes was unconscious. I was in intensive care for a
week, then in the respiratory wing for another week. During that time, I was
given a gingerale soda and went into another anaphylactic reaction. That is
when they figured out I was sensitive to salicylates in foods and yellow #5 dye
and was diagnosed with what they called Triad Asthma back then.
Since that time I have tried just about every low salicylate
diet that the doctors or I could find. I know now they were not complete nor
correct. I was ingesting many foods like broccoli, cauliflower and onions on a
daily basis, under the impression that they were safe. I had what they called
mini-anaphylactic reactions nearly every day and was put on prednisone, asthma
medication and an antihistamine on a daily schedule to control reactions.
Salicylates kept building up in my system until the daily prednisone wasn't
stopping the reactions and I would end up in the hospital again …
When I found the Australian salicylate lists I was so
excited. I could finally understand what was happening. I was inadvertently
eating salicylates every day. - from the
My son is 3 ½ and was diagnosed with Autism at 2½. He also
presented with almost all of the criteria for the hyperactivity side of ADHD.
The diagnosing doctor gave us very little information to go ahead with. By good
fortune my husband picked up Sue Dengate's Failsafe Cookbook the weekend after
our son was diagnosed, when I was still reeling and had no idea which direction
to head in. We went looking for triggers for our sons hyperactive bouts, he was
always active, preferring to permanently run rather than walk, and he had no
attention span, but sometimes he would just go off, usually for about two days,
where he would literally climb the furniture, sitting on top of the bookshelf,
watching TV upside down, while lying on top of it, and he was causing his older
sister, not to mention his parents, huge amounts of grief.
Early intervention has proved a godsend, but even so, we
couldn't get him to sit still, or even sit down! and ADHD drug trialling was
mentioned, if we couldn't improve his behaviour. This made me very nervous
because previously any medication, bar panadol, for more than 3 days, sent him
berserk. I now understand this to be the flavourings in all children's
medication (I thought I was covering my bases buying colour-free!) Before I
went to RPAH I had done quite a lot of work on his diet myself, and we had
discovered a lot ourselves, but after I'd read Sue's book and been to RPAH I
was able to make a real difference for our son. His biggest problem is
salicylates and colourings - why didn't anyone know to tell me that bad nappy
rash is always a sign of salicylate intolerance? That sign was present from
when he was a baby. I always put it down to teething - how wrong I was! What a
huge amount of grief we could have been saved if we'd known.
Our son is a typical limited Autistic eater. We were told
that he was eating a good nutritious diet and we shouldn't interfere. After
RPAH and Sue's book, we learned that almost everything our son was eating was
bad for his intolerances ….
We are only in the second month of the elimination diet,
with several mishaps already under our belts, but I really wanted to encourage
anyone who is thinking about the diet, dealing with Autism or ADHD - give it a
go - you'll learn a lot. It has lowered the stress on our family, particularly
his five year old sister, considerably, and has made our son far easier to deal
with. Also, when he is not affected by a food infringement, his eye contact
improves, he is coming out with new words every week, and is approaching other
teachers, apart from his regular carer, something he's never done before.
Interestingly, before we went to RPAH, Sue Dengate told us
the main problem would be salicylates but I couldn't face it, I thought it was
too hard. It really wasn't that hard, and the fast results were well worth it …
I hope I can encourage others out there to give it a go. - from the failsafe2
discussion group
My son was experiencing behavioural and learning problems.
Through diet (eliminating 282, other additives and some salicylates) I have
seen some wonderful changes in him, especially in his sleeping. For the first
time in his five years of life, he is sleeping 12-14 hours a day. - email, WA
I'm starting to get on top of this diet but it has taken
ages because I've only just got around to eliminating the things I didn't think
I could do without - like a cup of tea with breakfast. Sometimes you just can't
believe something that feels so good, so right, can be so bad - but I seem to
react (with migraines) to both salicylates and amines. I also react to milk -
not incredibly sensitive, but more than about half a cup and I'm gone - and it
took me quite a long time to admit that. - email, NSW
I'd like to tell you what your diet has done for my son. He
used to be on Ritalin. I talked with our doctor about you and how I was going
to do the diet (our whole family is doing it). We felt the claims may have been
a bit exaggerated but have some benefit possibly. So I thought 'I have tried
everything else with Sam, I may as well give this a go. I have nothing to
lose'.
WELL, within 2 days !!!!!!! my feral son DID in fact become
an angel!!! just like - no, better - than on full medication with NO side
effects and it has lasted. It has been two weeks now. I don't know yet what he
is intolerant to until we start the challenges.
It's not as though we had an unhealthy diet. We used to check
the labels for artificial food colours, preservatives and other additives
because we already found out that made him ten times worse.
I'm excited about it. I never dreamed it would work SO well!
We did put him on the medication for Sunday morning at church but that was the
only bad time on the diet. He cried the whole morning till it wore off, so we
won't be giving it to him anymore. He is so much better. I can't wait till his
next appointment with our doctor - he wants to know the results. I will sing
your praises. I have stuck to the diet like the Bible. None of us have
compromised in anything, although I desperately crave pizza, Diet Coke and
tomatoes and hope I'll get over that soon. I have attached a photo of Sam
before. The picture says it all. Thanks so much.- Lisa. (Footnote: So far, Sam
has reacted to both salicylate and amine challenges.)
I tried the failsafe diet several years ago unsuccessfully.
I realise now that I was not strict enough with the salicylates and additives.
So, once again I've turned to the book, this time with new vigour. After three
days, my child who has learning difficulties and is repeating year 1 has been
praised by three different teachers and is receiving an honour certificate at
school (a positive reinforcement program). My older son (9) received an award
on the same day for the 'most improved Mathematician - Years 4-7'. They do a
fortnightly maths test (same test each time -they have a copy at home to
practice) - he doubled the number of questions answered in the allotted time
and got nearly all of them right with only one short trial at home. I am
determined to continue this time. Thanks so much - we may have finally found
the answers. - email.
When I was around 4 years old I had quite severe behavioural
problems, so my mum went from doctor to doctor looking for a possible solution.
Eventually one doctor suggested the Feingold diet. I started the elimination
diet in 1986, and my parents found an immediate improvement. One day my
grandparents gave me red cordial which pretty much confirmed the effects of
food additives. My parents and I found that I reacted to salicylates, and lots
of artificial colours and flavours.
I went from a kid who everyone said would grow up to be a
juvenile delinquent, to a better behaved kid who is now 21, studying for an
Information Technology Bachelors degree. I also finished a 12-month employment
contract not long ago and started a new job.
I'm surprised that it's only recently that people have been
talking about the link between food and behaviour. – student,
We started our salicylate challenge on a Sunday. By Monday
afternoon, my son was climbing the furniture more than normal and told me he
felt silly. He was very giggly. On Tuesday afternoon he was again climbing the
furniture and not responding to me when I talked to him. He was very happy and
giggly again and it was actually kind of nice. His writing has improved so much
lately, I was astounded when we sat down to do his homework and he started
writing badly again. About 75% of his letters were backwards and he couldn't
work out how to spell easy words. This is what really shocked me and what will
make me avoid salicylates. When he got dressed he even put his clothes on
backwards! - failsafer, by email
Our latest mistake was when our son was given a
"special treat" of a glass of orange juice by his well meaning
grandparents. Aaaaaargh. Since then his speech has gotten worse. We noticed his
speech worsened when we did the salicylate challenge. The speech problems come
into play when he is hyper, which is days 1-2 post salicylate and slowly improves
from there. - by email
I have been using your book like a bible for my
four-year-old and have had wonderful success. Without it I don't think our
family would have survived. Our little boy has salicylate sensitivity and is
also affected by a lot of preservatives and colours. He previously suffered
from severe bloating, diarrhoea and stomach cramps which are controlled with
this diet. His severe rages and tantrums also went away almost instantly when
we started failsafe eating. My son is very grateful because he doesn't like
having stomach cramps. He said to me one day when he was only three, 'Mummy
what are we going to do about my tummy, it really hurts' and that was when I
found your book.
I am a nutritionist and have studied through natural health
colleges. I have found that trying to help my son and myself the naturopathic
way only makes us much sicker, as you stated in your book. My son cannot take
herbal supplements or eat lots of fruit and vegetables. - NSW.
Since we discovered salicylates, my daughter doesn't need
preventative medication anymore although I have made a few slip ups with her
diet. Every time she has a reaction I look at what she has eaten and it is
always salicylates. For example, she had a reaction to rissoles in the early
stages of the diet before I had your books to help me. My dietitian said, 'Did
you put pepper in the rissoles?" I hadn't realised pepper was high in
salicylates and used it automatically. Last year I bought some "Kids
Bananas" from Coles because my daughter never ate more than half of the
usual big Cavendish bananas. Two days later her eczema had flared up and then
she got asthma. By this time she had eaten three of these bananas. They must
have been sugar bananas which are high in salicylates but I didn't know that at
the time. During that attack she had to go back on her preventer medication as
well as Ventolin but she hasn't needed it since. - Qld
I have an aspirin intolerance and it took me ages to work
out that my chronic mouth ulcers were being caused by beta hydroxy acid in my
face cream because it is easily absorbed through the skin.- by email
What you say in your book 'Fed Up with Asthma' about food
intolerances making the airways sensitive to triggers like viruses is what
happened to my daughter. She is intolerant to salicylates, although it took a
long time for me to find out. When she was two years old, I had noticed that
her eczema seemed to flare up a day or two after eating spaghetti. I mentioned
this to a dietitian I was seeing for other health problems. She said that it
could be salicylates, so I stopped giving my daughter spaghetti and tomatoes,
but she still had eczema. Then when she turned three, she started getting
asthma. The doctor always said that the asthma was triggered by a virus but
there were times where she would get asthma without having a virus first.
At the Child Care/Kindy Christmas Party, the only thing they
had to drink was cordial. My daughter had never had any fruit juice or cordial
to drink up to this time, only water or milk, but we gave her half a cup of
cordial to drink because she was thirsty and we hadn't brought any drinks with
us. That night she had asthma. About a month later her father gave her a Winnie
the Pooh Raspberry fruit drink and she also had asthma that night. When I told
the doctor about this, she said did I think it was the colour? but didn't do
anything, just told me about treatment.
My daughter was now getting asthma every month and needing
stronger medication so I went back to the dietitian who prescribed vitamin
supplements and took her off dairy foods. My daughter continued to get asthma
and her eczema got worse, and this is how I found out about salicylates. The
dietitian had told me to mix the powdered supplements in fruit juice and one of
the child care centre workers mentioned that oranges can be a problem. It
finally 'clicked'. I had been mixing the vitamins in orange juice. I got the
dietitian to send me a list of all the foods that were salicylates so I could
avoid them. After a few weeks my daughter's skin started clearing up and she
has never had asthma again, even when she had a bad flu this winter. Dairy
products give her the odd ear infection, less than once a year, but they don't
affect her asthma.- reader, Qld
I have suffered depression since at least age 15 and am 38
now. I self medicated on huge amounts of
alcohol over the years, and was always very emotional and explosive. Either very
'up' or totally down and in a complete mess.
When I fell pregnant at age 29, I sank into a deep
depression that only worsened with a long labour and breastfeeding
difficulties. I was prescribed Prozac and stayed on this medication for seven
years during which time I tried to come off twice with very bad results.
I did a lot of counseling and support group work regarding
childhood abuse issues, relationship and communication counseling work with my
husband, and received the assistance of a social worker with trying to manage
mothering my child. My daughter was three before I received this assistance and
also started to work through my own emotional issues. It took until she was six
before I came across Sue's information about diet. My daughter always had Oppositional Defiant
Disorder behaviours and was not interested in learning at school or at home,
but it had been presumed that it was I who was not coping. Which I wasn't anyway, to top it off! ODD people can appear so normal to others
making me seem quite neurotic.
I came off antidepressants again at the beginning of last
year after having felt very level for quite a few months in a row. It was a
very rocky 12 months. At times I was OK and at others I thought I would not
survive unless I went back on the drugs.
At least my husband was far more understanding at this point, but I
wouldn't have called it a life.
I know now that we (my daughter and I) had been bouncing off
each other for years. Her behaviour and
concentration improved enormously on the diet. It has changed our lives. We
laugh, play, cuddle and talk together instead of constant aggression and
fighting. I cannot remember ever being
so level and calm and capable. I cried
with joy (or over the loss?) one night when she was just so caring towards
me. Of course we still have bad times.
Everyone does after all. Now we have good times too.
When we tested salicylates, as soon as I woke the next day I
could feel the return of my helpless, hopeless, awful black depression. I
wanted to strike out at others in my pain. Once again I couldn't think straight
to make even the simplest of decisions. I hated myself and anyone that I loved.
It took about five days before I started to come up again. I don't ever want to
feel like that again and I know what causes it now. To be able to say that
feels so good. I have some form of control over a life that was totally out of
control. I find the diet very hard in some ways, but I know which I prefer. To
maintain my life in any reasonably happy form, I need to be failsafe. - reader,
Vic
We've always been a "really healthy" family with
me doing heaps of home cooking (baking biscuits, all wholefood type
ingredients, homemade casseroles and everything). Everyone commented on it. But
they also noticed my two boys who have become increasingly unbearable to live
with. Thank heavens that I have two other children who are near-perfect, otherwise
I think I would have sunk into a deep depression over my "obviously
inadequate" parenting skills!! As it was, I've gotten pretty depressed
about living with these dreadful boys and their seemingly illogical,
self-destructive behaviour and foolish choices. They are both so different with
their problems but the results are so similar - my stress levels have just
climbed over the past couple of years.
Anyway we started our elimination diet 5 weeks ago. I am
really organised and exact when I am strongly motivated and I can swear I did
it perfectly from day one. Results so far? What a change in one child (8yrs).
From a monster that we (almost) hated to a lovely pleasant human. And without
having to be horrible disciplinarian parents! The other child (10yrs) is a lot
more canny about what we were looking for, and incredibly stubborn. He has
worked out that a positive result could spell disaster for some of his
favourite foodstuffs so he has been playing dead, claiming headaches, stomach
aches etc and being totally miserable, despite rewards etc.
Then we did the salicylate challenge. The child I did not
suspect for salicylates reacted so strongly, I couldn't believe it ... so did
the other one, but I suspected him. Then the amines - again, reactions but different
ones - I can actually link specific mood types to these substances. I am a
normally suspicious and sceptical person but this is incredible. I feel so
stupid that I didn't think of this before ... but it seems everyone says that,
so I don't feel alone.
We still have more challenges to do, but I didn't want to
wait any longer before saying "thank you" so very much for your work.
I cannot say how much this means to me - I was expecting the 8 year old to be
in remand school by the time he is 12, and now I know I can change his whole
outlook on life! I'm not depressed about my family situation anymore but
feeling really positive and hopeful even though it means a lot of hard work.
Only looking back do I realise how depressed I was about the constant battles
with the boys. - NSW
After the birth of my first son I was diagnosed with post
natal depression (PND) and had a few months on an antidepressant (Seroxat also
known as Paxil and Aropax). I was soon pregnant with my second son and while
pregnant avoided alcohol (this later turned out to be important). During both
pregnancies I ate well, although not failsafe, and felt great.
After my second son was born I was again diagnosed with PND
and went back on Seroxat and I was on varying doses of that or similar
medication altogether for 6 years. I needed them and they helped me. I could
not have coped the first three years with all the stress going on in our
lives. My second son had been a very
sick baby, I was stressed with him and an overactive toddler, and when things
did balance out for the boys – when we went failsafe – we had a big move and I
had a huge amount of stress again with that life change.
In addition, I visited psychologists on a regular basis, had
light therapy, and tried other sorts of complementary therapies such as
vitamins and herbal therapies but nothing that "replaced" the
medication. All helped in various ways at different stages, particularly the
first two.Then eighteen months ago I went totally failsafe and regained my
life! I felt like the "old me", pre-children me was back. I had
energy, wasn't continually tired, didn't have continual body aches, headaches
and wasn't depressed. I didn't "need" red wine and cheese comforts (amines
overloads, not to mention other preservatives). After about 5 years of lacking
normal energy, and being down, this was and is cause for celebration.
So I celebrated with red wine and realised that this was a
primary cause along with the amine overloads that had been causing MANY of my
problems. I'm not a big drinker, but had
fallen in the habit of sharing a bottle of wine once or twice a week with my
husband.
I still find it hard to believe the difference I have gained
in myself from mainly the diet change. I respond to high salicylates and medium
amines, but the things that affect me worst have combinations of both, such as
wine, cheese, and local hot dog sausages.
At its worst, with the depression I could and would burst
into tears over nothing and worst of all lost all my energy. I needed afternoon
sleeps as I couldn’t survive a day without them and just achieving half an
ordinary persons daily tasks was a huge achievement for me. I don’t know what others thought of me, but I
had a big battle coping over my body’s responses and why I couldn’t do more
than make the beds and vacuum half the house in a day. If I did manage to do
more on a good day then I wrote myself off for a couple of days afterwards.
The biggest difference and what constantly surprises me is
the return of energy. I had just thought I was overweight and unfit, which was
partly true. But now since being failsafe, I can ride the three km into town
and home again without a huge effort, and without training! It is just an
example of the things that over five years I just took for granted that I
couldn’t do – I had huge problems trying to keep to regular exercise, even mild
walking programs as when I became depressed I lost all my energy. I notice it
now when I challenge the amines. I am managing well so long as I keep failsafe.
- Reader,
I've kept my 12 year old's asthma at bay for most of his
life with dust mite control, no additives etc. Since the Christmas holidays
started he's had a virus and then constant asthma. I visited a doctor two weeks
ago and he put my son on a wheat free, dairy free, additive free diet (all of
which I've done before) as well as salicylate free diet for which he gave me a
list of good and bad foods. He also recommended steaming eucalyptus twice a day
for mucus control as well as some supplements.
After 10 days there had been no improvement so I sat down
and reread your book as well as Friendly Food from RPAH. I found his list had
been quite misleading and probably the worst thing has been the twice daily
sucking in of eucalyptus oil!
There must be a lot of doctors out there like this who send
people off with half-baked lists and advice and consequently end up with very
spurious results. Most of the population treat doctors as gods and never
question them but, as I have proven on many occasions, they are not infallible
and people need to be a lot more aware and questioning. It is has been hard yakka
trying to get my son to give up so many different foods and all for nought as
now we will need to find somebody who really knows what they are doing and
start again. Had I not had your book, we could have come to the conclusion that
the problem is not salicylates, whereas there is a possibility that it is. - by
email.
When my 8-year-old daughter was diagnosed with ADHD late
last year the doctor suggested I read Dr Green’s book, which I did, and she
also suggested that I cut out some artificial colours, flavours and
salicylates. She told me that salicylates are in cheese. I did this for about a
week. Most of the food I had in my home was "no artificial colours"
etc and avoiding cheese made no difference. The doctor didn’t tell me that
salicylates are mainly in fruit, she didn’t tell me about 282, and she didn’t
give me any reference to your work or that of the RPAH diet. Therefore, I
thought my child was not a "foodie" (as I call her!) and gave it no
further thought. My husband is dead against ADHD medication and basically my
daughter got worse over the next six months until I was at breaking point with
her behaviour at home, socially, and at school.
About 3 months ago, I went into a bookstore in desperation
one day just looking for anything that would help me. I had been in tears for a
week not knowing what else to do with her. I bought a copy of "Fed Up With
ADHD" and I admit I didn’t place much hope in it because of my previous
experience. I read your book in a day and a half. The third page got my
attention when you mentioned all the things food intolerance can be responsible
for - handwriting, co-ordination, bowel control etc which are all things my
daughter has been struggling with for years. She has never finished a task at
school and she is in year 3. She is currently having occupational therapy for
her co-ordination and she has always had bowel problems which are ongoing.
That week I took all my children off commercial bread and
bought Bakers Delight which is the only bread I have bought since. I thought
about two days later that my home was slightly calmer, but told myself that I
was just looking for something. After three days I started my children on the
diet, much to their total disgust! Within another three days I could see a
difference in my daughter.
Since then, I have been having daily communication with her
teachers and frequently the Principal, and although she is still quite slow and
disorganised, her attitude is much better and she is not anywhere near as
emotional as she was. She has gone from crying hysterically ten times a day to
only having hysterics if she has eaten something wrong. I’ve established,
unfortunately, that she is severely sensitive to salicylates, and even pears
seem to make her a bit vague. While I am still struggling with this (I mean
after all, how can a child not eat any fruit!!), I am learning what I can give
her and when.
Basically, it is very hard work (which I realise you of all
people know!), and a very big learning curve, but we’re getting there.
Everywhere I go now and mention it someone says something along the lines of
"Oh yes, my friend has a sister who’s done that and apparently the kid is
like a different person". Sue, the word is spreading! I just wanted to say
thank you for all the work and time and effort you have put in to this. Without
your advice I would probably be on antidepressants by now. - Tracy, NSW
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The information given is not intended as
medical advice. Always consult with your doctor for underlying illness. Before
beginning dietary investigation, consult a dietician with an interest in food
intolerance. You can find a supportive dietitian through the Dietitians
Association of
© Sue Dengate update August 2006
