FAILSAFE
STORIES
Readers are invited to contribute to this section.
Please send your stories and opinions to suedengate@ozemail.com.au. Some
names have been changed to protect privacy and surnames are not used. My
mailing address is PO Box 718 WOOLGOOLGA NSW 2456
All previous
stories from Food Intolerance Network members that have been published
since February 1999 have been collected into a single PDF file (~2MB) so that
it is easier to download and search using Control/F or the PDF search function:
http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/stories/failsafestories.pdf.
[929]
Irritable bowel symptoms transformed by A2 milk (July 2010)
For the past 18+ months my wife has
suffered from an increasing problem with gut issues and chronic diarrhea and
related symptoms. She has tried various milks and milk substitutes (soy, etc). None have made any difference to her gut problems.
Her GP has not found any specific cause and has recommended a range of tests
and indicated it was probably "irritable bowel syndrome" which I'm
sure you know is one of the catch-all medical labels which basically means
"we don't really know".
On pure chance my wife (who had seen your
report a couple of years ago on A2) decided about 6 weeks ago she had nothing
to lose by trying A2 milk .
Our life has been transformed and this
happened literally overnight! Gut patterns are back to normal, a far far cry from many daily urgent dashes to the loo, usually
immediately after eating or drinking almost anything but particularly things
containing dairy products. Literally life became normal within 4 hours of her
first bowl of oatmeal with A2 milk. Absolutely amazing.
The transformation has been astounding and
we are very grateful to the people that have figured out the A2 story - Russell
by email.
[928]
Dairy free but now happy on a2 yoghurt (July 2010)
We were very excited to try A2 yogurt -
our 6yo daughter developed stomach pains last year which we finally attributed
to dairy, and were very pleased that she responded really well to A2. Our baby
son was also super-sensitive to cow's milk, while breastfeeding I had to be on
a strict dairy-free diet or he'd be in terrible pain. He's now 18 months and
the Jalna A2 yoghurt is his favourite
food - no tummy pain at all! We've had to be careful not to overdo it - forgot
that it was moderate amines - and he can only have the natural because of the
salicylate content in the flavoured ones, but he has
it either plain or with maple syrup, and thinks it's the best food ever. -
Megan, by email
[927]
Brief reports on A2 milk and rhinitis, autism and weight gain (March 2009)
My allergic rhinitis (stuffy and runny
nose, chronic cough, congestion, hayfever during
pollen season) appears to be entirely related to A1 but not A2 milk. For the
last two years I have enjoyed unlimited A2 milk after 12 years on soymilk.
A failsafe-friendly dietitian reports the
use of A2 milk during an elimination diet for a boy with autistic type behaviour: ‘I placed him on a milk-free elimination diet,
but allowed A2 milk. He consumed several cups of this per day whilst on the
diet. His behaviour, concentration and sense of humour all improved. However, when we challenged with
normal milk, concentration etc deteriorated. So it is
back to the A2 milk whilst we go through other challenges.'
The dietitian asked my skinny 7 year old
son – who tested negative for coeliac disease - to go gluten free and he felt
better but lost a lot of weight. Then three months ago we switched to A2 milk
and now he is doing really well. He has even been able to go back on gluten.
[926]
Didn’t realise my daughter
was affected by salicylates (June 2010)
I am a primary teacher with 3 children of
my own. I first heard about your book 'Fed Up' when a student in my class was
diagnosed with ADHD and his mother decided to try changing his diet rather than
medicating him. The change in this boy was amazing. I wrote down the details of
your book to recommend it to other parents in the future, but ironically I now
use your book myself as my six year old has just been diagnosed with ADHD. We
had been eating a diet low in artificial additives for years after discovering
that my children were reacting to the preservative 282 in bread but have just
recently begun failsafe eating after my son's diagnosis. In doing so we
discovered that all 3 of our children were reacting to salicylates. Even my 7
year old daughter who had been irritable all the time and difficult to get
along with has changed into a happy, co-operative child since changing her
diet. We hadn't even realised that she was affected
by the natural food chemicals. Our son who was diagnosed with ADHD has changed
so much that at a recent doctor's visit the GP looked at him sitting quietly
and said, "He doesn't have ADHD!" The doctor prescribed antibiotics
to clear his cough and after one dose of antibiotics (with preservative and
flavour) all his symptoms returned. We are now more sure than ever that food is
the cause of his behavioural problems.- Cara, NSW
[925]
220: Asthmatic son affected by illegal sulphites in mince (June 2010) [COURAGE
AWARD]
I tested the mince at my local butcher
yesterday. I bought the meat at
[924]
One-liners (June 2010)
I have been receiving your newsletters for
several years now and am impressed at the scientific rigour you apply to your
research and recommendations. It gives your work significant credibility in
this very under-recognised area of clinical practice -
a medical doctor, Sydney
I have your Failsafe Cookbook as well as Friendly
Food and have already saved money on medication for migraines that I have
suffered from all my life and which have just gone away in a matter of weeks. –
by email, Qld
After reading your article, I took the
time to check the food additives in bread and found 282 in the IGA brand cheap
bread, so I thank you for drawing my attention to this. - Silvia, NSW
We’re not ready to start our elimination
diet. However we have eliminated honey and peanut butter from our diet and the
change over a week was amazing. Our 4 yo daughter
became calmer, more animated and happy and she could feel it. - Sarah, NSW
I work with children and I see symptoms of
food intolerance all the time. You are really helping to change lives for the
better. – Amanda, Vic
I
get...really....vague.....with......salicylates......! - mother
of three,
I don't know where we would be if we
hadn't gone down the Failsafe path 5 years ago. - by
email, NT
Your books and website are a lifesaver for
me and the email groups are brilliant, thank you so much, I would be totally
lost without all of this support. – Belinda, Tas
I recently purchased your book The
Failsafe Cookbook and this has been a life-saver ... I've now got the freezer
stocked with heaps of snacks and meals and stocks and sauces, makes meal time
so much easier. You do an amazing job helping all of us "failsafe"
families. Thank you! - Jo, by email
"I have to say, ALL children that
come to our Failsafe afternoons are really well behaved!! We have more problems with the
"normal" kids that visit! -
What a wonderful network you have created
and thank you for having such a wealth of information available on your
website. – Briony, by email
635 is the mother of Ribo
Rash and in my opinion the worst food additive of all time -
When I started to really read food labels,
I was horrified by the fact that I was poisoning our whole family - especially
with 635 and annatto. Guilt quickly turned into determination to set things
moving in a healthier direction and I can already see a vast improvement. –
Rose, by email
I wish I had known about food intolerance
before - but even if I did, maybe I wouldn't have listened as it wasn't until I
saw my daughter start to react that it sparked me into trying to find out what
was ailing her. – by email, Qld
I am over my addiction to KFC! I hadn't had it since November last year, then had some last week. Apart from not enjoying the taste
at all, I felt quite sickly after one drumstick. My kids didn't like the taste
of the nuggets - "please don't make us eat here again". YAY! Score one for the HFC recipe in your book! –
Sharon, Vic
I so hope the labelling submission is seriously considered, I feel like I have gained a
chemistry degree in the five years we have been Failsafe! In just the last two
days I have been approached by another two mums embarking on this journey, and
a lot of their questions relate to their confusion over the labelling
… numbers vs words along with the issue of unlisted
ingredients! –
[923]
How to get a reluctant partner to change diet and DVD feedback (June 2010)
I had been trying to convince my husband
just to WATCH the DVD for three months, and although he was happy to go
additive free, he wasn't keen to go completely failsafe. At the end of the DVD he turned to me and
said "I think we have to do it".
We're now in week 5 of the elimination diet, with huge changes for the
whole family – Tiffany, by email.
My sister borrowed your DVD because her
partner has IBS. He had no interest in watching it, so I gave her Sue's advice
to put it on when he was around without asking him explicitly to watch it. She did, and within five minutes he was
sitting next to her, glued to the screen.
Although they haven't yet gone failsafe, he is now reading all labels
and making better choices. My sister is lost for words! – by
email
We recently bought, received and watched
your DVD (all within a week) and absolutely loved it! I also have the books Fed Up and Friendly
Food, and would like to get serious with an elimination diet. – by email
[922]
635: Epileptic seizures in a dog due to flavour enhancer (June 2010)
My dog had epileptic fits as a puppy and I
noticed that they always seemed to occur after giving him scraps from junk food
we were eating. McDonalds food in particular seemed to
cause him to have fits. The vet dismissed my theory and offered to give my dog
a highly toxic barbiturate epilepsy medication. I refused the medication and
adopted a wait-and-see approach. I researched the relationship between food
additives and epilepsy in children because there was not much information about
dogs. I found there was a possible link between preservatives in white bread
and epileptic fits in children. Based on this, I banned all artificial
colours/flavours and preservatives and my dog went from severely fitting to
having no fits at all for the past 4 years. When I told my vet he dismissed my
theory that food additives were the cause of my dog's epileptic fits and stated
he had simply 'grown out of it'.
About 2 weeks ago I let my dog lick a cup
from which I had just finished drinking instant soup. As I was doing it I
thought: I shouldn't be letting him have this. I had become complacent because
my dog had not had a fit in so many years. Within an hour of licking the cup he
had his first epileptic fit in over 4 years. I felt terrible and immediately
read the ingredients list. The instant soup contained flavour enhancer 635.
I have no doubt whatsoever that food additives caused the epileptic seizures in my dog.
I have no doubt whatsoever that giving him an all natural diet cured his
epileptic seizures. I have no doubt whatsoever that flavour enhancer 635 caused
his recent seizure.
The information on your site confirmed
that I was on the right track with my treatment of his seizures. Without sites
like yours I would be faced with the dismissive attitude of my vet and my dog
may have spent a lifetime on toxic medication for no reason. As it is - I have
returned to a strictly natural diet for my dog and he has not had another
seizure since. I would never risk poisoning him again with these additives and
I hope my experience helps someone else. – Pamela, by email
[921]
282: Acne from bread preservative (June 2010)
Just looking over your website, you are
missing one major side effect of 282 in adults - acne. I am a 50 yo adult and I always get a breakout if I eat a bread
product containing 282, either because it was in fast food and not tagged
(McDonalds use it, KFC and Hungry Jacks don't) or because the label did not
show it. – Ric, NSW
[920]
635: Headaches and aching shoulders from flavour enhancers (June 2010)
I have been having a reaction to Aldi’s Vegetable Flavour Stock
cubes. I am basically on a fresh healthy diet but stock cubes were my one
weakness and I thought not that bad as they state "No Added MSG". I
now know this is rubbish. Every time I cook with these my shoulders would ache
all night and into the next morning and I would also get a headache. I finally
worked out that it was linked to the stock cubes. The ingredients include Yeast
Extract, and Flavour Enhancers 627 & 631.
- Deb, by email
[919]
Snoring, sleep apnea, swollen tonsils and macroglossia
due to additives (June 2010)
My five-year-old daughter's two years of
snoring escalated a few months ago to sleep apnea. After three weeks of apnea,
I consulted two doctors and then decided to feed her only natural foods -
nothing out of a package of any kind. After six days, her apnea was gone. After
about a month, her snoring was minimal. After two months she rarely snores.
Tonight, after feeding her corn tortillas - with preservatives - for dinner,
she fell asleep and immediately began snoring.
It was the second doctor, a GP, who
noticed her swollen tonsils (I hadn't) and said there was no infection but that
they were chronically swollen. After I asked if he thought it could be a
reaction to contact with processed foods - because she gets a rash on her face
after contact with various sauces - he replied "possibly" and that
the darkness under her eyes was a sign of allergies. That was when I decided to
take her off all packaged foods on my own until we could have an appointment
with an allergist - usually a 2 to 6-month wait here.
We saw a Pediatric Allergist two days ago
and she was tested for all the standard things like milk, soy, wheat, dust,
cat, dog, etc. and was fine. The allergist suggested she may be sensitive to
sulphites because I am allergic to sulpha drugs.
Her face has always turned red exactly
where any sauces and liquids out of packages touched her cheeks and mouth.
Kraft salad dressings, Heinz ketchup, and canned apple pie filling, plus pear
cooler which dribbled over her bare tummy have all cause the redness. I figured
that the swollen tonsils - like golf balls - were her internal skin's reaction
to a food sensitivity because of how we saw her external skin reacting.
Before removing additives, my daughter's
face was always a little chubby-looking with a double chin, although she wasn't
chubby. It was the swollen tonsils that were causing the double chin. Now she
is more normal in appearance without chubby cheeks and an oversized swollen
tongue [macroglossia] that made her speak oddly. Even
her voice is no longer nasal. My friends used to comment that she sounded like
she had an accent. She also had darkness under her eyes. She is very blond with
blue eyes and she always had pinkish-purple bags under her eyes. They are now
gone along with her snoring right through the night!
Also, her defiant behaviour really
improved and she is far more peaceful after I was able to be very strict with
her "no packaged foods" diet. We now have real butter and cream in
our house. I make our bread and ice cream too.
I am relieved not to have to put my
daughter through surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids, which is very
common with children who have apnea. I feel strongly that everyone involved in
a child's health should do all they can to find the cause of the symptoms
rather than just treat the symptom by removing the tonsils. - Maree,
[918]
635: labelling – you think you’re making the right choice (June 2010)
Thanks to your website, I am on my way to
eliminating my three year old son’s behavioural issues. After looking at the
list of additives to be avoided, my husband and I cleared out our pantry and
found a nomination for nasty food awards - Continental Chicken flavoured rice.
The front of the packet claims to have NO artificial colours or flavours and NO
added MSG (obviously to make you think you’re making the right choice for your
family), however the ingredients listed flavour enhancer (635)!!! – Andrea, by
email
[917]
Adorable child after one week of cutting out nasties
(June 2010)
After cutting out all the nasties in our food, we have noticed a huge change in our
little boy after only a week. I was at a loss with how to handle him, and
wondering where I had gone wrong (I haven't had this problem with my other two
children) until I found your website. Now he is an adorable child and I have
even had strangers commenting on how well behaved he is!!!! I have told my
sister (who also has three children), our daycare centre and our maternal and
child health nurse about your website to get the word out!!! - Tony by email
[916]
AAaaaaaaagh! - Reaction to Colour
Free Panadol medication (June 2010)
My 5-year-old son has been kept completely
free of preservatives, flavours, flavour enhancers and colours for just over 12
months to control behaviour and it has worked wonderfully!
Recently, he had a temperature so I very
hesitantly gave him Colour Free Panadol
(and only the minimum dose.) Oh my God what a nightmare! Since giving it to him, he went back to his
pre diet ways, crying non stop, angry, and rages for the stupidest reasons -
completely irrational. It took 4˝
horrible days to get out of his system. We had periods where he lay there and would
hit, kick and throw anything he could get his hands on, till he would wear
himself out - not a nice thing to witness - and of course the night terrors
that he had in the past returned. I am reminded of how much of a nightmare my
life was prior to going additive-free. Yet other than being highly food
sensitive he is a perfectly healthy, intelligent 5-year-old.
Are there any other options for reducing a
child’s temperature that will not result in him going crazy for days
afterwards? (Katie, by email – and see Q&A)
[915]
Autistic 10 yo affected by additives in Lovan medication (June 2010)
I know that you and your group are
petitioning for food labels to be specific with regards to all
ingredients. I would also like to see
this extended to all medications.
My 10 year old son is autistic. Diet
(additive, salicylate, amine and dairy free) is an enormous help, but it is not
the only solution to all our problems and he is also on medication. We recently
swapped over to Lovan, an anti-depressant, and were
having terrible behavior. Once I did a
full MIMS search on it (only accessible to health professionals), I found that
it contained either peppermint and aniseed oil (tablets) or two artificial
colours (capsules). I suspect the behavior was due to the cocktail of unlisted
ingredients, rather than the drug being a failure. Our paediatrician
was quite impressed with the fact that I figured it out; he often prescribes
the dispersible tablets, and had not even thought of what the ingredients might
be.
We have changed over to Fluohexal (one of the generics) capsules, which we take out
of the capsule case and mix with syrup, so that way we have no problems with
the colours in the capsule case. We are
also trialling Ritalin, which as I found out today,
contains lactose! Why do they still use
lactose as a filler!!!!! Surely there are alternatives!
I can understand that capsule cases etc
have to be coloured, as this helps with
identification of drugs when not in their original containers. I just want clear labeling on boxes,
including if there is gluten or lactose in the formulation. – by email, Qld
[914]
Extreme irritability, moodiness, anxiety, nightmares, night waking due to diet
(June 2010)
I have an 8-year-old daughter, who I put
on the failsafe eating when she was 6 due to extreme irritability, moodiness,
anxiety, nightmares, night waking etc.
It worked amazingly within 2 weeks.
We had our little girl back, she was so much calmer, compliant, more
focused and so much nicer to be around.
Even her teacher at the time said "I have never seen a result like
that without drugs". She seems to react to many things, however,
salicylates, amines and glutamates are the main culprits. – Jane, by email
[913]
160b: Jack’s head banging and annatto (June 2010)
My son Jack, now aged 4, was a great baby, he slept 18 hours a day and was joy to be around
except that he would not use his bowels for days and days. We took him to
doctor after specialist after scan and no-one knew why. In the end the only way we could get him to
use his bowels was to medicate him every day.
Also at about 6 months (at the time of
introduction of solids) Jack started head-butting the cot. Honestly I am not
exaggerating when I tell you that he had golf ball sized lumps on his forehead
– again more scans, tests and drs.
No-one knew why. The professionals told me to take him out of a cot and put him
into a bed so he couldn’t forward head-butt. Great Idea – he then proceeded to
get out of bed and backward head-butt the wall. I have holes in the gyprock in the wall where he would head-butt his way
through the gyprock. One night it was that hard the
hinges in the door popped out. My neighbours could
hear it and if I was on the phone people could hear it. It would mainly happen during the night or
when he woke up from a day sleep. People told me he was hot, cold, tired, not stimulated enough, over stimulated, lonely blah blah blah.
I decided none of the professionals were
helping so I decided one by one to withdraw foods from his diet. I started with dairy – I removed 95% of the
dairy form his diet – I allowed him 1 cup of milk and 1 yoghurt a day and this
showed a massive improvement, he would use his bowels without medication - it still required a lot of effort on his
part but hey it was better than medication and the headbutting
decreased. I took yoghurt off him and amazingly enough my happy little man
returned. At the time I did not realise the importance of this find (that there was annatto
in his favourite yoghurt).
One year later I gave him his favourite vanilla yoghurt with 160B in it and OH MY
GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was up on all 4s rocking all night headbutting
the pillow moaning and the next morning he woke up with a headache. We let it go a week and then we tried it with
icecream and he was the same only this time he was
reverse headbutting the wall like he used to do when
he was a baby. – Nicolle, NSW
[912]
160b: Rash and head banging with bruises from annatto (June 2010)
From about 12 months of age, my son
developed intermittent spots, rashes and blotches on his face and around his
mouth. On 3 occasions he swelled up in the face, neck and hands (twice at daycare,
once at home). We took him to an allergist who told us it was intolerances,
gave us a list of additives to avoid, and told us he would outgrow it. The only
additive that I could definitely identify at the time was 160b. Each time he
ate it he would get develop a rash or tiny spots around his mouth and the
blotches would return. Interestingly, at the same time, he also would bang his
head in frustration on the floor. It was usually as part of a tantrum, he would drop to the floor and bang his head. He
had a permanent bruise in the middle of his forehead for several months (see
photo – it’s really a bruise upon bruise upon bruise, from banging his head on
the floor!) I cannot say for sure if the
headbanging stopped at exactly the same time as we
eliminated 160b, because I never associated them together, but am now thinking
it was related.
As it turned out, the allergist was wrong
and he did not outgrow his intolerances, they just manifested in a different
way and he became a very difficult child around 2.5 years of age... At 3 years
of age we went additive free for 6 weeks, and while this did help, it was not
enough, so we have now been failsafe since Oct 2007. He is very sensitive to sals, sensitive to amines and cannot tolerate some
additives. – by email, Vic
[911]
160b: Head banging stopped when additives were removed (June 2010)
My son is 2 and spent approx
18 mths headbanging. I
can’t say for sure, but it could possibly have been approx the time we removed
160b from his diet that he stopped. I removed 160b along with the other additives
you recommend avoiding to help manage my son’s behaviour. It has seemed to work
very well. Adjusting his diet has made being a parent so much more enjoyable
and I would like to thank you for this.
We removed the 160b (and all the other
additives) approx 5 -6 months ago. We had a major relapse at Easter. This
confirmed my suspicions and made my husband realise
that the food additives did affect our child.
On looking back, our son stopped headbanging around this time, but I can’t say whether it
was as a result of the changed diet or not. I didn't realise
until seeing your talk a few weeks ago, the headbanging
could be related to 160b. The foods my son ate that contained 160b were cheese
slices, margarine and yoghurt. I’m sure there would have been others, but these
are the ones he ate every (or almost every) day. – Heather, by email
[910]
160b: Annatto related head banging in a 2 year old (June 2010)
My two year old daughter was banging her
head about ten times per day. I was giving her ‘no artificial colours,
flavours, preservatives’ yoghurt but I didn’t know to avoid annatto. When I
changed to a different brand (no annatto), she only had one episode of head
banging in the next two days. – by email, NT
[909]
160b: Head banging in a 3 year old (June 2010)
I am a fan of your work and have been
looking at the Head Banging information, I am going to
make sure we avoid 160b because I think that causes my 3 year old son to do
head banging. My son has been eating
custard, yoghurt (I have switched to the Jalna brand
this week), and ice cream (home ice-cream treasure troves, lots of colours in
it, so stopped them). He would generally
have custard or yoghurt in the morning and either ice-cream, custard or yoghurt
around
I have taken 160b out of his diet, which I
will do for a few weeks and then re-introduce it to see what happens. His head banging can be to put him to sleep
and during the night and very early in the morning, approx 5am. He banged his
head in his cot, which was probably around the time he started eating solids,
custard and baby yoghurt.
Since avoiding annatto and artificial
colours his head banging incidents have lessened. He has had one head banging incident
this week around
[908]
160b: irritability, defiance, head and body banging (June 2010)
We adopted our son from
Our son had been seeing an occupational
therapist 2x's per month for sensory seeking behaviors. The OT recommended
looking into a link between nutrition and behavior. We met with an allergist
first. Her tests proved negative for protein allergies. She suggested that we
start saving food labels any time we suspected reactions and compare them for
common ingredients. The first food we noticed was Pepperidge Farm Cheddar
Goldfish Crackers. Our son was very stimulated and not able to nap. I saw Annatto
listed and wondered what it was. I did an internet search and found your
website and others. The next time I saw a reaction, Annatto was in the peach
yogurt I had fed him. On this particular day at naptime, he sat backwards in
his rocking chair and banged it continually into the wall.
We started the Feingold program here in
the
We are finding it hard to identify
products with Annatto since it is not always stated by name or number in the
ingredients list. We are learning to stay away from products with "natural
flavors & colors" even if Feingold approved. There are many products
that we have since cut out of his diet after discovering the Annatto link.
Changing our son's food and skin care
products was easier than I ever imagined. He hardly notices, except for the
times I have to say no to certain foods that do not have good things in them
for him. It does take extra effort but it is well worth it. Still, I look
forward to the day when the food-behavior link is widely accepted, forcing
companies to eliminate these harmful additives from our supermarket
shelves. – by
email,
[907]
160b: agitated, uncontrollable, full of energy, hyperactive (June 2010)
I have 2 boys, aged 3 and 1 who both react
badly to annatto. About half an hour after our 3 year old has had something
with annatto in he is uncontrollable, agitated, full of energy, really full on.
Hyperactive is how someone has described it.
I had read about annatto by chance and at
first didn’t think much of it but I mentioned it to my husband who said he
reacted to red and yellow colours as a child so I stopped buying anything with
160b in it. I can’t say I noticed anything for a while but one day we had
dinner at a friend’s place and our 3 yo was offered
some ice cream. I didn’t think to check it. Within half an hour our son was a
nightmare. Kicking, screaming, purposefully doing things to annoy/upset us,
refusing to sleep and thrashing out etc. My husband and I were shocked - what
had happened to our child? Suddenly the penny dropped and I called to ask if
the ice cream had 160b in it - it did! Since then we’ve also seen reactions to
cheese, custard and yoghurt (at daycare until I asked not to give annatto to
him). – Silvia, NSW
[906]
160b: Restless legs and sleep disturbance (June 2010)
At various times over recent months I have
suffered with restless legs and a disturbed night’s sleep. Today I decided to
investigate the ingredients of the fish fingers we had for dinner last night,
and found that they contained 160b. I believe that this colour is most likely
the cause of my restless legs and sleep disturbance. I will therefore be
avoiding it at all costs in the future.
… One month later …Since I’ve stopped
eating the fish fingers I’ve had no more restless legs. I’m convinced that it
is the 160b causing them. I’ve since eaten the fish fingers without the batter
and had no ill effects.
I’ve noticed that 160b is in so many
foods. Bulla’s mini icecreams too.
What a pity. They claim to be free of artificial flavours and colours, but
still contain the natural colour 160b.I was hoping to give them to my kids
until I read the ingredients list.
Many times in past years I have suffered
with restless legs at night and hadn’t known what caused them. Perhaps it was
160b then as well. I wasn’t taking any notice of what was in my food then. Thank-you for such informative and helpful reading. – Sue C,
NSW
[905]
160b: Screaming, angry, yelling, defiant and hysterical (June 2010)
Our journey through the numbers maze has
recently brought us face to face with 160b. We have discovered through
accidental trial and error that our 5 year old daughter who can be the most
bright, fun, playful and intelligent little girl can be reduced to a little
monster by this “natural” additive. It is so horrible to watch. When I know that
she has had something with 160b, we wait for the ticking time bomb. It is
usually anywhere from a few hours later it starts and can last for a day or
more ... she turns into a screaming, angry, yelling, defiant and hysterical
little girl. It breaks my heart. She knows why she gets like that, but there is
no reasoning with her when she is in that place. We just wait for her to fall
asleep ... only to wake up in the morning like a bear with a sore head.
We first became aware of 160b about a year
and a half ago. Custard was the culprit. My mum was staying with us at the time
and she was amazed as well when we found out that the custard was the link to
her behaviour. She would have the custard at night as dessert and hey presto in
the morning the grumpy bum would awake. Cranky, whingey, defiant and tantrums. It would take around
about 24 hours for her to come back to us! Ice cream is another one. Every
Sunday we would all go down and get icecreams ...
same thing (of course this is all in hindsight). Monday morning our alter
ego/grumpy daughter would wake up and it would take until about Wednesday to
get back to some sort of normalcy only to repeat the cycle again the following
Sunday. Now we buy the Peters vanilla icecream and
natural icecream cones without colour and have our
Sunday icecreams at home. – Sarah B, NSW
[904]
160b: Sneaky poos reaction to McDonalds Soft Serve
(June 2010)
It seems every time after Soft Serve Ice
cream my 8 yo daughter has sneaky poos.
Even when we tried it yesterday without the cone. She
gets them about an hour after the ice cream. - Alison, Qld
(annatto has since been removed from the McDonalds Soft Serves)
[903]
160b: Attraction to the colour yellow (June 2010)
My 6 and a half year old daughter has been diagnosed with PDD-NOS. Since about 6 months of
age, we have given her those kids yoghurts that you
buy in 6 packs with the kids themes like Nemo and Bob
the builder. We thought that because she wouldn’t drink milk we needed to give
her a dairy substitute, and that they would suffice.
While being a generally placid child since
birth, she displayed difficulty concentrating on tasks, a great attraction to
the colour yellow, meltdowns at times such as leaving a friend’s house or upon
being denied a request, sneaky poos, bedwetting, and
poor fine motor skills. She was assessed as having a severe speech delay when 3
and a half. Her drawing was at best scribbling in a general area, and she had
great problems following dotted outlines of alphabet letters. She displayed
very poor short term memory, and repetitive behaviours.
She was also wanting food all the time, although she is not overweight. She
only drinks water, has never eaten confectionery, has ice cream on the odd
occasion, but otherwise generally eats rice bubbles, weetbix,
watermelon, grapes, apples, pears, occasionally custard, and plain biscuits.
Dinner is usually either rice, pasta or mashed potato
with steamed veggies and fish, chicken or beef with no added sauces.
Recently we were made aware of your book
and in particular, the adverse effects of the 160b colouring
additive. Upon reading up about it in the book, we also looked at the fed up
website where we noticed the link to PDD-NOS. After reading some of the
testimonials and realising that many of the other
parent’s experiences were sounding familiar, we decided to eliminate 160b from
her diet.
We initially stopped the kids’ yoghurts,
which she had been having up to 5 a day, on
[902]
One-liners (February 2010)
I've just found your Fed Up website and
want to say how amazing I think it is. I was put on the Friendly Food diet from
the Royal Prince Alfred and it has helped ...
thanks for all your hard work. I feel like I've discovered a gold mine.
It’s like finding friends who actually understand what you're talking about -
Aviva, NSW
Failsafe gave me the freedom to live and
enjoy what weren't hard kids to enjoy, just challenging at times. My best
moment would be when our 4 yo trouble child sat with
a recently broken arm, very tired waiting for panadol
and dinner, quietly no whingeing and playing a game
of junior scrabble with his brother.-
Karen, Qld
Thanks a million for all your work - our
family would not function without you! – Lisa, by email
Our dietitian only recommended Friendly
Food as a cook book and although it is a lovely cook book for adults, it is
next to useless for young families. Her comment on the Failsafe Cookbook was
that she didn't really know it (ie knew of it, but
hadn't looked at it). I wonder how many
families go through her doors and come out feeling hopeless regarding ideas for
practical cooking - by email
My 2 yo daughter
and I are still on the diet (12 months now) and are doing really well. As time
goes on I am increasingly coming to terms with accepting that this diet works
wonders for me and it is simply what I have to stick to - by email, Vic
[901]
Has his sights on the Olympic games (February 2010) COURAGE
AWARD
We began our Failsafe journey 3 years ago.
My now 9 year old was 18 months when the doctors first made the suggestion that
he should be medicated. I flat out refused to medicate a little baby, and
advised the doctors that food was triggering his extreme behaviour. On almost
every occasion I was either laughed at or made to feel a fool and told that
'food doesn't alter behaviour' - this was despite the fact that he already been
diagnosed with anaphylaxis to eggs and a severe dairy allergy and suffered
chronic reflux as a baby, and I myself had suffered food intolerance for many
years - this went on for nearly 6 years ...
As I wasn't particularly well versed in
the ways of the internet and had no idea where to turn, I took things on
myself, taking a common sense approach to removing things from my son’s diet -
if he went 'crazy', the food was removed and replaced with something else that
didn't make him 'crazy'... We discovered that wheat was a major player in
triggering offensive, violent and extremely hyperactive behaviour and insomnia
... so that was removed, and my son has been wheat free for nearly 9 years now.
Whilst the wheat free diet took the edge off his severe behaviors, he was still
an unpleasant, uncontrollable child and we tried many disciplinary techniques,
play techniques, putting him in sports, we had his eyes and hearing checked and
still had no answers.
His severe reflux started again at 6 years
old, and once again doctors wanted to treat the symptoms and not determine the
cause ... I went along with what the doctors wanted, but the reflux medication
appeared to exacerbate the behavioural symptoms. We dealt with the behaviours as they reared their ugly heads, but in addition
to the reflux, my son then continued to get more and more physiological
symptoms, such as rashes, vomiting, and severe hayfever
- I knew this certainly wasn't normal - and he was beginning to have random and
bizarre allergic reactions and I had absolutely no idea what he was reacting
to. The culmination of these allergic reactions ended up with an anaphylactic
reaction, to what has since been determined as an allergy to red meat.
Unfortunately it took an anaphylactic
reaction to have to doctors send me in the right
direction. We saw a paed who prescribed adrenalin and
promptly sent us on to an immunologist ... who explained to us that allergies
and food intolerance often go hand in hand. Following all the usual tests and
discussing at length my son’s behavioural issues we were sent to an accredited
dietitian for help and to be placed on an elimination diet.
We found the most amazing dietitian, who
was very supportive and was very eager to help. Once I knew what the problem
might be, I began my research as well ... and that is where I discovered the
fed up website. On the elimination diet and the subequent
food challenges, we have since discovered that my son is completely intolerant
to wheat, completely intolerant to amines, completely intolerant to glutamates,
colours and preservatives and we have discovered that certain brands of
shampoos, toothpaste and hair products trigger negative behaviour, he also has
a milder intolerance to salicylates, but we are very strict with what he does
have. Luckily, he has grown out of his dairy and egg allergies, which makes the
preparation of food that little bit easier.
My son went from a child who slept no more
than 3-4 hours a night, couldn't sit still, was compulsive, aggressive,
insolent, destructive, hyperactive, would make constant noises, had severe
reflux, had eczema, has issues at school with book work and reading, etc, to a
child who is pleasant, well mannered, focused and actually sleeps. And it was with
the advent of the new diet/lifestyle that we also discovered that my son has
quite a talent for sport.
Before the diet, my son didn't have the
attention span to stay between the white lines on a running track or didn't
think he had to wait for the starter’s gun in a running or swimming race.
Within the first 6 months of the lifestyle change he went on to represent his
school in swimming and athletics, in the next year he went onto represent at
regional level and last year competed at state level in swimming, cross country
and athletics, for both the school and at club level. And this year, as a 9
year old, my son has already broken records on the athletics track and is on is
way to breaking more records in the pool ... he has his sights firmly on the Olympic
games in 2020, he just isn't sure which sport he wants to compete in!!
I find that his discipline in his chosen
sport helps to keep him disciplined in his diet, and I am very honest and blunt
in explaining to him what is in the foods that he wants to eat and why he can’t
eat other stuff. We are about to begin meeting with our dietitian again to
ensure that he is receiving adequate nutrition to sustain the endurance that he
requires for his sports and to ensure that he is receiving adequate protein for
proper muscle development.
People are often perplexed as to how a
child who 'misses out' on so much food can be quite so athletic ... I explain
to them that the food he doesn't eat actually enables his sporting and academic
ability, but sadly, most people can't understand that concept. They can't
understand why my son simply drinks water and eats an apple and some rice cakes
or a chicken sandwich after a race when every other kid at a swim meet is eating
a chocolate bar or drinking a powerade or the newest
fad - pouring honey all over a banana to 'restore their energy'.
We still have bad days, and find peer
pressure a constant issue, but as a family we are positive towards all facets
of my son's limited diet and I am constantly inventing new and interesting
things to eat! - Belinda, NSW
[900]
Asthma: from one hospital admission a week to one every 8-12 months (February
2010)
First, I have to thank you for the work
you have done. It is just over 3 years since I first picked up a copy of Fed Up
with Asthma after my then 16 month old son was diagnosed. The medication did
not seem to be working as it should, and I knew there was something else going
on. He has major difficulties with sulphites, MSG and flavour enhancers (and
natural glutamates) and benzoates (although we still avoid all preservatives
and artificial colours because we are used to it now!), and after seeing an
allergist and finding a nut allergy as well, all the pieces fit together. He is
now a happy and healthy little boy about to start pre-school, whose nut
allergies have been decreasing over the last two years - in fact his peanut
allergy is totally gone - and has gone from one hospital admission a week to
one every 8-12 months. We truly thank you, because it was your book that put us
on the right track. - Clare, Qld
[899]
Really bad eczema in baby (February 2010)
I have been meaning to write for ages to
thank you for the Fed Up work and for the wonderful contacts. I am seeing your
recommended dietitian. Previous to changing to a low chemical diet our baby has
suffered from really bad eczema since 3 months of age, has been to hospital
twice and wet wrapping once. Now he has a small patch under his chin only when
I eat a suspect food (shallots, golden syrup etc) and that is all! I am a
complete convert and find the Fed Up and RPA books wonderful. It is so hard not
to run up to strangers with eczema kids to tell them to at least trial
modifying diet to low chemical.
The dietitian is wonderful and very
encouraging. I am still able to breast feed our baby, and we are alternating
challenging him through my diet and adding a new food for him. He now eats rice
and choko, and I am challenging soy first. The
limitations are tough, especially around this time of year, but so worth it for
happy healthy children! Thank you, thank you, thank you.... - Natalie, Sydney.
[898]
Wow!!!! sums up effects of diet on tics (February
2010)
(At the start) We have an appointment with
your recommended dietitian in 2 weeks, which can't come quick enough. Our
9-year-old son has had (with hindsight) intermittent tics for the last couple
of years. Last weekend he was so agitated and had particularly bad tics which
seemed to follow him having an ice cone with some terrible colouring/flavouring over it which someone bought him with the best
intentions! Traditionally, we have always had plenty of fruit and veg and I
think has contributed also. A trip to the GP resulted in being told they were
habits which we should ignore and if they hadn't gone in 2 months to go back.
So, we started failsafe last weekend and
are now on day 7 having had him off school with a cough, cold and generally
irritable. Things improved loads today until a friend of his gave him a
starburst earlier this evening at the village movies and within an hour at the
most he was incredibly twitchy...is it possible for him to have such an
immediate reaction to something?..then
improve within a couple of hours?
We have gone through thoughts of
Tourette's syndrome, some of the symptoms he seems to have - sniffing,
twitching, vocal tics, though the GP said this was unlikely ... he was
definitely agitated tonight though we don't know if it was due to the noise /
busyness of the place or could have been the starburst. His favourite
foods are orange juice, olives, mushrooms, salami all of which have been
eliminated, and we are thinking salicylates maybe the culprit
...
(12
days later) Just a quick update
on things, it's been an interesting week! Our son's tics had been improving,
but he had a terrible cough and kept spiking temps so he is now on antibiotics
for a chest infection, and is improving cough/temp wise but his tics seem to
have really worsened again. Looking at the ingredients on his meds, it's
reassuring to think we are on the right track. We have managed to stick to the
elimination diet and he has been really good at chomping his sprouts etc ... not
enthusiastically ... but eating them!
(After
5 weeks) Thought it time I put an email together
to update you on our son's progress !... wow!!!! sums it up nicely! We have been to see the dietitian twice
now and are fine tuning our failsafe eating. I would
say he is 80% improved, hardly any physical tics, occasional vocals and bed
wetting is still a problem but we are hoping with the fine tuning we may be
able to help that. He is more focused on homework, even doing extra to catch
up!! It has been a revelation and continues to be so,
my husband has lost weight (it needed to go!)and his
BP has dropped to normal limits so everyone is better all round.
(After
6 months) Another update! Things all went a bit off
track a few months ago and I think the pressure of everything all got a bit too
much, especially for our son. However, with the relapse in diet the tics
returned and so we have gone failsafe again but without the pressure and fuss
this time. Meals out and parties are relaxed and he can have whatever is on
offer! Most of the time we are failsafe at home without anyone really realising it ... it has become a way of life! Plus the tics
have disappeared which is reassuring to know that we are doing the right thing.
Another trigger we are almost 100% sure of is scented candles, we had one of
these in the lounge around the time of the return of the tics!
I cannot thank you enough for all the info
you and Sue have put together, your books and Friendly Food have to be the most
well thumbed books in our house! – Amanda, by email.
[897]
9 year update: From typical ‘naughty’ 4yo boy to different kid (February 2010)
When my son was in 4yo kinder, 9 years ago
(he is now 13) we thought he was a typical “naughty” 4yo boy - hyperactive,
restless, all the common symptoms of additive overload. I did my homework and
came across “Fed Up”. It was like you wrote the book about him. We followed the
detox diet and within a week he was a different kid. To this day we still eat
following your guidelines. I wish other parents and schools would see the
light. – Kirstin, Vic
[896]
635: Rash due to 635 in seasoning and skin of BBQ chicken (February 2010)
My son recently reacted very badly with
intense itching and a pimply pustule-like rash to the food additive flavour enhancer
635 - which I did not even know we'd been exposed to until after the event - by
eating a store-bought seasoned BBQ chicken. I phoned the store, and they said
they use the 635 in the seasoning and in a powder they sprinkle over the skin
for flavouring. - Deb, Brisbane
[895]
621: Lifelong severe migraines due to MSG and other flavour enhancers (February
2010)
I have suffered from bad migraines nearly
all of my life. My mother said I was only about 4 when they started (or when I
could tell them my head hurt).
I used to have about 4-5 per month,
usually lasting 1-3 days. They always start with my vision going first. If it
goes in the right eye, the pain will be on the left and vice versa, after that
comes I get extreme pain and vomiting. I cannot stand to be touched or be
around any noise or light, even dull light, the vision usually rights itself in
about 3 hours, I have to lie still in a quiet and dark
room with a washer on my head. I've been on various medications over the years
and had my GP sent me for an MRI last year when my vision in my left eye didn't
restore itself for 5 days.
When we put the kids on failsafe eating, I
followed it in front of the kids but not at work etc. I decided to go failsafe
and challenge myself when I realised there was
something to the foods we are eating these days, after what I'd seen with the
kiddies. I didn't get any symptoms when challenging with amines, salicylates etc, but found it's only when I eat things like flavoured
chips, noodles, those bouillon stock cubes, ham and processed meats and foods
like that. HVP is certainly one of the things that set my migraines off.
I have eaten several things while I was
challenging and I'd always end up without fail with a migraine, so it is most
definitely the food or what is in the foods.
Just before Christmas I ate some noodles
from our local noodle bar that opened up, I phoned them and asked if they use
MSG, they said no, I should have asked if they used any flavour enhancers
and/or MSG, I ended up off work for 2 days and had to get a colleague to take
the kids to before school care and my husband to pick them up. When I phoned them back and asked if they use
flavour enhancers, they after some prodding, said yes they did, "but it
was legal". I assured them I knew it was legal, but they should disclose
that to their customers.
I'm sure these people don't realise that people who suffer from migraines suffer from
disturbed vision, extreme headaches, vomiting or nausea, light sensitivity,
noise sensitivity and it impacts on all who are around them, you can't move,
you can't do anything with the kids, you can't work, you can't drive, you can't
cook, you effectively are incapacitated by the migraine until it subsides.
I've decided to eat exactly what the kids
eat, I've explained to my colleagues at work and they are totally fine with it,
I just take my lunch when we go out now, and if the restaurant or pub bucks up,
like a certain one did just last week, about me taking my own food, the other
18 of them stand up as if to leave and say "fine, we'll take our business
elsewhere, she has dietary issues". It's great support. They backed down
last week, it was great!!! - Kylie, NSW
[894]
621: MSG headaches in an 8 year old (February 2010)
My 8 yo
granddaughter was getting headaches three times a week or more. Sometimes they
were so bad she had to take time off school and lie down. After we watched your
DVD we looked at what she was eating and realised the
headaches came after she ate pies, party pies, flavoured noodles - anything
with flavour enhancers. So we stopped eating them. Now we know - if she doesn't
eat flavour enhancers, she doesn't get headaches. - Terry, NSW
[893]
Middle hear hearing loss and food intolerance (February 2010)
I’m wondering about the link between food
intolerance and middle ear hearing loss in children. Our children have been on
the diet for about 6 weeks (Friendly Food with modifications under allergist's
advice), and there have been many positive improvements in their health. We
were already largely artificial additives free.
My five year old had tested with mild
hearing loss (middle ear) in both ears prior to starting the diet. We went to
the ENT for the first time after 4 weeks on the diet, he cleaned her ears and
re-tested her, and she showed up as having perfect hearing. There had been no
other health issue at her previous two tests (eg. no
cold or infection).
The ENT said all the improvement was due
to the removal of wax. The audiometrist had previously said the wax was not a problem.
I'm willing to admit the cleaning of her
ears had something to do with it, but the improvement in her behaviour and
speech prior to this happening tells me there could be a diet effect as
well. Whatever, we are thrilled that our
little girl can hear properly now, although she did say that sounds are
"too loud" now.
We are now fully convinced that the diet
is the best way for us to eat, and our children love the changes to their
health. But it does tend to become a
major part of life!! Thanks for your
great work and the site. – Melody, by email
[892]
Wild and extremely violent behaviour due to undiagnosed coeliac disease
(February 2010)
Three years ago I stood in the bookshop
with 'Fed Up' in my hand debating whether to part with $20. Your book has
repaid itself a thousandfold. I send my heartfelt
thanks.
My youngest son's problems are a long saga, suffice to say that eliminating additives and low
amines as suggested by your book provided the answer for some time. Then at
nearly nine, out of the blue, he had some sort of breakdown. The teacher
suggested Asperger's but he soon became worse - quite autistic, wild and
extremely violent. He was off school for three months. The doctors I approached
turned their backs on me. I couldn't believe it. I can only think they thought
that as he already had a disability (Central Auditory Processing Disorder) it
was part and parcel of the condition and didn't realise
how extreme his behaviour was. I insisted that he be screened for a variety of
degenerative diseases, but they came back negative.
Finally realising
that no one else "gave a stuff", I turned
back to your book. If it was diet before, then maybe, it's
diet again, I thought. I tried eliminating salicylates, he got worse; I tried
wheat, no change; I tried dairy no change. Eventually I tried eliminating both
dairy and wheat and he improved.
He spent two years on a
wheat free, dairy free, no additive, careful about amine diet and he
could manage if he had a small dose of Ritalin 5mg breakfast, 5mg at lunch as
well. Our lives were back on track, he was progressing at school, having a go
at different sports, and excelling in his favourite
sport. But it was all because of the ritalin
- and diet.
Without the medication it was still like
living with a drunk - he could be fun sometimes, but more often silly and
tiresome, and aggressive too often. I always felt that the child that he had
been was still there deep down, intact and undamaged, although why I believed
it, I don't know. In November when he turned 11, I contemplated the thought
that maybe he did have irreversible minor brain damage, but I couldn't accept
the notion.
Then, by chance ("Mum, I don't want
Rye bread this morning, I want Rice cereal") we realised
it was the GLUTEN. I never suspected it, because I'd known a baby who nearly
died of coeliac disease and the symptoms were quite different from my son's. I
followed up your footnote in Fed Up and read Professor Duggan's article in the
Aust. Med.Journal. My son was diagnosed with Coeliac disease a month ago and I am absolutely delighted by
his response to the gluten free diet.
As you can see I am much indebted to you.
It was only fine reading of your book that has helped me tease out my son's
difficulties. I shudder to think where he'd be now (at a special school, I'm
sure) if it hadn't been for your persistence in acquiring all this knowledge
and for passing it on - Anne, Qld
[891]
Excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) due to food (February 2010)
I had previously been to the doctors on a
few occasions regarding a problem I had with excessive sweating. I would hop
out of the shower and dry only to be literally dripping with sweat. It didn't
matter what I did I couldn't find any relief from the
sweating. The doctor advised me to use a very strong anti-perspirant,
but I have enough problems with supermarket products!
When I went onto black coffees I noticed a
gradual decline in the amount of excessive sweating. I went back to white
coffees and lo and behold: excessive sweating again!! I have noticed that since
switching to rice milk, my cravings for cheese, etc, have reduced. –Nicole, SA
[890]
160b: Head banging and annatto (February 2010)
I have removed the additive 160b from my 2
year olds diet and had the most amazing result. A friend attended one of your
talks, came to work the next day and told me about the additive 160b because of
my daughter’s head banging - mainly on all fours and banging the forehead on
the ground, sometimes against a wall, but not often, mainly the floor. I then
proceeded to check the foods I gave her and eliminated anything with this
additive in it. Within 1 week the head banging stopped. She would get in the
position when have a tantrum, but there was no head banging. After four months
with not having this in her diet, by accident, she had 3 teaspoons of custard
(at Grandma’s) and was head banging within 1/2hr. I think this is proof enough
for me that this additive is the cause. – by email,
NSW (described by the friend in story #583)
[889]
160b: Sooky (complaining, whingeing,
sad) behaviour after annatto (February 2010)
When I first started eliminating additives
I noticed the change in behaviour of my two year old daughter and her five year
old brother after eating 160b. They would both be very 'sooky'
for want of a better word. The slightest thing would have them cry and get all
emotional. I noticed it would happen within an hour or two of eating something
and could last for a full 24 hours, very frustrating. Before that I had no idea
what 160b was and thought that yoghurt, processed cheese slice and plain
vanilla icecream were healthy food. My daughter is
now six and we just avoid stuff like that, we always get the same old things
that we know are safe - Emma, by email
[888]
160b: Defiant, teary, mega tantrums after annatto (February 2010)
I have had great results with my daughter
now 4 with a generally additive free, low chemical diet with improvements in
behaviour, going to sleep etc (used to have many major tantrums, defiance, took
2 hours to go to sleep). 160b is a big culprit. It makes my daughter extremely
defiant, teary and she throws mega tantrums. (It’s so hard to educate my mum -
as 160b is in so many "healthy foods" yoghurt, icecreams,
etc). Our friends’ son is a headbanger
when he eats annatto. – Tamsin, Vic
[887]
160b: Behavioural reaction to vitamins with annatto (February 2010)
I first noticed the annatto connection
with my son specifically with processed cheese singles, so I try to keep him
away from those and generally don't have a problem, or if so, it is only small.
Recently, we were away for almost a week, and when we came back, he started
taking these "gummy vites" children's
vitamins ("all natural" and sure enough colored with all natural
annatto) he hadn't had for some time, and it was like a switch went off and the
symptoms were back full force.- Anna, USA
[886]
160b: Totally hyperactive due to annatto in cereal (February 2010)
I’m pretty certain my 9yo son reacts to
160B -after a week spent at my mother’s where I’d stupidly, and innocently
bought Cheerios when I was in a hurry. I didn’t notice the word annatto,
looking just for numbers. He had it every day for breakfast and was TOTALLY
hyperactive every night – it took me a week to work out the link! – Karen, by
email
[885]
One-liners (November 2009)
I have told everyone who listens about the
website and book. It has been like a Godsend for me, because it has helped me
not only understand the effects of food on my child but also on my husband. He
has always been seen as a picky eater but he was actually eating what didn't
make him feel ill or affect his moods. I
wish more people took the food we eat more seriously, instead of people seeing
it as being precious - Suzanne by email.
I used to think that corn chips were good
and safe to eat, in the days before I read and understood labels. I could not
understand why I was so sick. I found a Doritos Cheese Supreme Corn Chips
ingredients list on the internet (http://www.smiths.com.au/nutrition/nutrition-doritos.htm)
with three flavour enhancers (621, 627, 631) and two
artificial colours (129, 110). – Monica by email.
I tried my kids with MacDonalds
nuggets and fries and no soft drink to see if it was any better. Well we won’t
be doing that again for a long time. I am convinced people who think their kids
are OK don't wait long enough for the reaction. –
Anne, Qld (Fries contain BHA 320, see ingredients
list at
http://mcdonalds.com.au/sites/mcdonalds.com.au/files/images/Ingredient%20Listing%20-%20aus-%208%20October%202009.pdf)
We have been failsafe for 18 months and
remain grateful for your work, every single day. - Rachael, Vic
Can I just say a big thank you for helping
my little girl to be the best version of herself? You
have changed our lives. – Rachel, Qld
[884]
160b: Marlene's story: annatto 160b and IBS (November 2009)
First, may I tell you my husband is a
retired Allergist and Immunologist and he observed my IBS experiences then
elimination of them. For more than 40 years I had
diarrhea and severe intestinal pain. The symptoms changed as the years passed.
It went from occasional to frequent and from mild to severe. This leads me to
believe it is dose and frequency related. The four years prior to my discovery
that annatto was the problem for me, it was daily and severe. I would get an
excruciating stomach ache with bloating after 20 minutes of ingestion of an
annatto product. After another 20 minutes I had an emergency run to the WC and
a long bout with painful diarrhea followed by many more trips to the WC. Then,
I was enervated and just wanted to do nothing and sometimes for days after. I
wasn’t lactose intolerant nor did I have Celiac Sprue
(which the doctors considered). In 2005, after a colonoscopy, my GI diagnosed
me with IBS. The symptoms continued until 2006, when I was able to pinpoint
what caused my IBS symptoms.
On a 37 day trip to
[883]
160b: Another report of annatto and irritable bowel symptoms (November 2009)
I am a 43 mother and have done the RPA
elimination diet twice. I have Colitis and my big 3 "no-no's" are:
annatto 160b, synthetic antioxidants such as BHA 320, and sorbates.
Of these, annatto is the worst. – Kate, NSW
[882]
160b: Yet another report of annatto and irritable bowel symptoms (extract from
[464])
Seven years ago at the age of 55 I had a
very nasty gastro-intestinal virus which led to CFS and IBS. Because of the
severity of the IBS, I had many tests - some nasty, with scary implications.
Finally, a very helpful dietitian (who works closely with the RPAH allergy
unit) put me onto the elimination diet nearly 2 years ago. We have found that I
have numerous intolerances: lactose, gluten, salicylates, amines, soy, MSG,
sorbitol, sulphites, benzoates, annatto - to name a
few.... – by email
[881]
160b: Week-long rages from annatto 160b (November 2009)
Our family has been (mostly) failsafe
since our older son was diagnosed with autism and multiple food intolerance in
2003.
Last year for some months I was allowing a
chocolate coated icecream on a stick containing
annatto 160b, once a week I bought a box to share with the kids after shopping.
I had thought it would be ok as our very
food sensitive older son didn't react noticeably to the 160b challenge.
Our now 5 year old younger son's behaviour
rapidly went downhill until he was a truly horrible little boy, who physically
attacked his siblings, flew off the handle at the slightest little thing,
roaring and shaking with anger, things were broken in our house including a
glass door and a bucket over his brother's head which drew blood! The behaviour
followed a pattern each week of a couple of truly horrible days slowly getting
less awful over the course of a week. So I had already figured out it was a
food eaten once a week, around shopping day, but still hadn't thought of the icecream. Of course as soon as I woke up to it, the icecream was out the door, and our lovely boy and calm home
returned. I've since tested annatto 160b a few times both deliberately and
accidently and the horrible week long rage returned. Annatto 160b would have to
be one of our family's most hated baddies! - Karen, Qld
[880]
160b: Autistic symptoms due to yellow and annatto colorings in the
We were told by pediatricians and
individuals in the child development field that my son was autistic when he was
2 1/2 years old. He was extremely sensitive to certain fabrics and clothing
against his skin. He could not speak so that we could understand him (he had
his own language) and would display fits of anger when we could not understand
him. He would close himself into his own little world at times and not want to
socialize with our family or other children. He could not jump,
he could not run or do simple movements that most children his age had already
mastered.
We enrolled him in a special program for
children who were developmentally delayed - he was in speech therapy,
occupational therapy, and physical therapy 4 days a week.
He progressed well in the program but
continued to have additional setbacks. He developed asthma and eczema and the
fits continued. He started kindergarten with an IEP (Individual Education Plan)
that continued to include the different therapy sessions and also added
intervention for him with regard to the regular classroom activities.
I would find cheese wrappers behind our recliner, his favorite food was ANYTHING with cheese. We
continued to work with different therapists and the school system up until he
was in second grade.
By the grace of God, I was in my
chiropractor's office waiting to be seen and I picked up a book in his waiting
room that was about ADD, ADHD, ODD and Autism in children. I randomly opened it
to a chapter that described my son in every sentence. Until I read that chapter
I had never even paid attention to Annatto or Yellow food colorings. It was
worth a shot.
It took me almost 6 weeks to clear my son
from any artificial yellow food coloring. It was like living with a child drug
addict. He craved anything yellow and would cry uncontrollably, throw temper
tantrums, and sleep and sleep. A short while after we cleared his diet (I even
packed his school lunches) his teacher asked me in for a conference. His
reading score had gone from a kindergarten level to a second grade level in
almost 9 weeks!!!!!
My son is now 12 years old and will be
going into the seventh grade. He no longer has an IEP or any therapeutic
intervention. He is an Honor Roll student, plays football and is active in the
Boy Scouts. He no longer needs any medication for asthma and his eczema is
gone. He knows that he has an addiction/allergy to annatto and yellow food
coloring so he also is very aware to read every label and "just say
no" when offered something that he can not have.
The yellow food colorings cause him to be
hyperactive and then he crashes. The Annatto however, seems to be the additive
that causes him to have the addictive symptoms. I read once that the annatto
seed was once made into a paste and used as war paint in a particular tribe.
Well, after watching my son once he has had the annatto I can see why warriors
would be successful in battle under its influence.
In addition to affecting him through his
food colors also affect him through medications and hygiene products. We
noticed that once when he used shampoo with artificial yellow the skin on his
neck broke out every time he showered. Also, chapstick
or other products that go on skin make him itch.
This school year my son begged me to let
him eat some things that our school cafeteria
provides. I reluctantly agreed, after all he is going to have to make his own
decisions about what he puts in his body as he gets older and is out without me
more. It isn't that he was eating things
that contained yellow or annatto but he was eating foods that are processed. He
has had the stomach flu twice and has had headaches more frequently, plus his muscles
have begun to cramp more and more. Last week we made the decision for me to
resume packing his lunch and I think that we both already notice a
difference.
There is no doubt in my mind that the rise
in autism, ADHD, ADD, etc. is a direct consequence of our trend toward
processed "quick" food. I feel
so blessed to have read that chapter and found my son. Thank you for making a
difference. –
[879]
Miraculous change in extreme sleeping problems (November 2009) COURAGE
AWARD
I was a single mother living alone away
from family support, breastfeeding and juggling a wonderful son who at 12
months was barely sleeping 4 hours a day. Most days he looked as if he had
drunk a can of "red bull" - eyes rolling, twitching and distant - and
sleep only ever seemed to come lightly for short periods once he was beyond
exhausted.
He had a rash all over his body that just
kept spreading and it made me cry watching him tear at it all day and all night
without any relief.
At 12 months I put him into a local day
care centre for 2 days a week for some sort of break (sleeping sometimes in the
car just around the corner too tired to make it home to sleep after dropping
him off). He was a real handful there as he would not settle and ever sleep and
would upset all the other babies with his screaming.
I was beside myself by the time I
swallowed what pride a new sleepless mum had left and sought every kind of
assistance I could - my baby health nurse, my local doctor, and then another
doctor all said it was normal (as they all shrugged their shoulders) and the
eczema was a lifetime hereditary thing ...
I was even assessed at a local government "sleep clinic" on the
gold coast - an awful experience with him not sleeping at all for them and them
saying 20 hours without sleep "may be normal for him " - (bugger me
!!)
After my lowest darkest point whereby at
about 14 months he barely slept in 40 mins increments
I was sent to the state children's sleep school in
It was a 5 day hellish event I would wish
on no one. He screamed and cried for the first 3 days solid and set new limits
in sleep deprivation - made easier the 3rd day only because he totally lost his
voice and his screams couldn’t be heard !!! By day 4
he slept (passed out) from sheer exhaustion - so that was apparently a success
and I was sent home day 5!!
After only a day or two at home it was
obvious there was no improvement.
The next few weeks as I contemplated our
future without support, sleep or potential for work as things stood really took
its toll, until I was blessed to come across a pharmacist in our local
pharmacy. She sat me down and really talked me through the failsafe approach -
and really took the time to make it sink in. I was an unwilling participant as
when you are so exhausted anything new seems to be insurmountable.
It took 4 days!!! only
4 days !! from having someone waking 8 times a night
to 2 times a night!!! from sleeping 4 hours a day to 8 hours - and 10 hours by
the end of the week. Once I switched to A2 milk the loop was complete and he
started sleeping the night through by the end of week 2. The change was nothing
short of miraculous.
For my son to go from the least favourite boy in his kindy to the
favourite almost within a week!! It was like someone
had handed me a new son.
He became an affectionate loving
inquisitive boy that every mum would be so proud of - no tantrums, no fits of
rage, renewed energy and able on concentrate on things so much better he simply
bloomed, like watching a wilted flower come back to life after rain.
His rash completely healed -
completely!! He is now 2.5 years and it
has never returned!!
When I tell people about all the positive
changes we have had on the diet, they seem to think the diet I fed him before
failsafe was really poor. They assume it was full of red cordial, McDonalds, coloured commercial lollies etc but I was aware of colours and MSG and he NEVER had
those. At the time I was following the diet recommended by the child care
centre. It was the sulphur dioxide in dried fruits, the hidden nitrates in
meats, and natural colour 160b I wasn’t aware of, that were our biggest
problems, also I was breast feeding at the time and was having more "junk
food" and stimulants from comfort eating to keep me functioning so he was
getting it that way. I realise my mistake in
overdoing a "healthy diet" mostly consisting of a mega high
salicylates, high amines and glutamates!! and although
I was careful about colours and some preservatives, my son’s biggest and most
immediate reactions came from fish/ meats/ and preserved fruits.
Having followed all the information you
have put out there in the Failsafe Cookbook my son has thrived!! He has come from behind to be the tallest and
fittest in his class. The effect this failsafe lifestyle has had on Patrick has
been evident to all who knew him "before diet" as we call it.
I often have people ask me about your
work, especially from his childcare centre as they have followed his progress
and it’s so rewarding to see the individual but still dramatic change it has on
other babies, toddlers and children.
I get angry when I think of the torment
and the lost first 12 months of his life - and that a children’s hospital in a
week could not assist or pick up what a pharmacist did in seconds - but promise
in my own prayers of thanks for you and the pharmacist that I will do my best
to help those similar suffering mums that cross my own path. Thank you. -
Patrick's proud mum, Qld
[878] Sleeping problems solved - thanks to sleep webinar
(November 2009)
Calvin was an easy baby, slept well,
settled after feeds beautifully and was just lovely. Once we started solids,
things started changing for the worse. By 12 months he was waking 3-6 times a
night screaming and was impossible to soothe. Only sheer exhaustion put him
back to sleep. I looked into all sorts of options for sleep training, but none
of them sat well with me as I was sure it was a pain issue, not a sleep issue,
so I resisted urging from friends and family to control cry and looked into the
possibility of food intolerance.
At that same time, Sue was advertising a
webinar on sleep and food intolerance. I registered and joined in on the night.
I listened and took notes, but still wasn't convinced this was us, I just hated
the idea of a restricted diet for Calvin.
By 14 months things were desperate and my
husband and I were chronically sleep deprived. We booked into a failsafe dietician
and started the elimination diet. Calvin improved a little, and then had
textbook withdrawal after a week and a half. In week 3 he slept through the
night for the first time in 15 months and then slept through for another 3
nights after that. We have had some up and down nights since then, but nothing
like the screaming fits he used to have. 7 weeks on, he has slept through 10
full nights and only woken once or twice for a pat most of the other nights.
Now we are slowly introducing challenges, but our need for sleep catch up and
Calvin's age has meant that we have opted for the slow route rather than
overload challenges. This means we still have a long way to go, but have felt
very encouraged by the Fed Up website, book and cookbook - Thanks Sue for all
your hard work!! - Pippa, by email
[877]
621: Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis – pain free when avoiding MSG (November
2009)
SUCCESS!!!
Our 12 year old daughter with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis is pain
free!!
We have finished all challenges on the
elimination diet and have discovered glutamates - MSG and all 600 numbers to be
extremely bad for our daughter with arthritis. Within 8 to 12 hours of having
MSG our daughter went from no pain to all the symptoms of arthritis, swollen
joints, very sore, trouble walking, and lots of pain. We continued the
challenge for 48 hours and by then she had problems with all her joints,
soreness, swelling and was absolutely miserable! Within 12 hours of stopping MSG her symptoms
settled and she was back to "normal" – no pain! We now totally avoid
MSG, all 600 numbers and unspecified 'flavour' listed on any product!
It has been 7 months now since we began
the elimination diet and took our daughter off all arthritis medication. She is
fantastic! We had a check up with the
rheumatologist recently and she was amazed.
We don't need to see her for another 6 months and she has classed our
daughter as "in remission"!!!!
No pain, No symptoms and No medication!
I hope this is of assistance to other
sufferers of arthritis! It has made a
huge difference to our daughter's life. Thank you for your wonderful
information, without this we would be further down the track of a life of pain,
misery and medications with nasty side effects for our daughter. To look at our
daughter now, you would never know that she suffers from a chronic,
debilitating condition, she is full of energy and her love for life is back
again!
We completed all food challenges in this
order: milk, wheat, bread, salicylates,
amines, MSG, propionates, sorbates, antioxidants, colours, benzoates, nitrites and sulphites (all food not
capsules). The only challenge our daughter reacted to was MSG, 600 numbers and
naturally occurring glutamates. She had no reaction to any other challenge.
Once we had completed all the challenges we challenged tomatoes, broccoli and
those foods high in natural glutamates separately. She came out in an itchy
rash if she ate too many tomatoes or broccoli (at least
We saw the dietitian you recommended. She
was very helpful, knowledgeable and thorough in what quantities etc to
challenge. She was very interested in the results. She suspected MSG from early
on because we had commented on how over the Christmas holidays (before
elimination diet), our daughter had eaten CC's and was so sore the next day she
could hardly walk. We kept a daily food diary and I also kept a dated scrap
book with labels of products we had eaten so I could check back as a reference
if needed.
For the MSG challenges we used "Coles
Farmland" packet chicken noodle soup, about 500 mls
to a litre a day (contains 621, 627 and 631) and soy
sauce about 4+ tablespoons a day. (Need to check labels for soy sauce because
not all list MSG or 600 numbers).
We are amazed at how many foods with
unspecified 'flavour' (but no MSG or 600 numbers listed) affect her. We have
found this with tomato soups, tomato pastes etc where they list 'flavour' and
our daughter has been sore after having this. We have completed our own
challenge with some of these products and her reaction varies. We avoid any savoury type products that have 'flavour' listed with no
specific ingredient numbers on labels. The unknown is not worth the soreness
for our daughter.
Foods previously eaten which we avoid
completely now include: All packet
soups, cup of soups, packet stocks, stock cubes, any chips or corn chips that
have a flavour, BBQ shapes and all shape/savoury
biscuits with flavour, tomato and BBQ sauce, some
mayonnaise and dressings, packet pasta mixes (ie
continental pasta packs), sausage rolls, pies, breads with savoury
toppings, pizza, concentrated tomato paste, tomato soup - most have unspecified
'flavour' - and lots of other savoury foods. We never
used to eat a lot of these foods, but even having things once to twice a week
was enough to have our daughter in continuous pain.
She now is totally pain free, medication
free and living a very active, sporting life. She plays
netball weekly, has participated in the school athletics and cross country team
this year and is currently in weekly training with the school volley ball team
to go to Nationals in December. All of
these activities were completely impossible 12 months ago! The difference is
amazing! We are so thankful that your
website and information has led us to finding an alternative to medication, and
a way to manage our daughter's condition and allow her to live a very active
life. I hope that there will be others out there that will try the elimination
diet and find an alternative to medications and a life of chronic pain. - Sandra, Vic
[876] Our
tonsillitis and diet experiment (November 2009)
About 3 weeks ago we decided to do a
"mini" salicylate challenge with our 5 year old twin boys as it had
been 8 months on the diet, and we thought we'd just give it a go, just to see
(salicylates are our biggest difficulty when it comes to things they really
WANT to eat). So they had things like a bowl of berries with icecream, a few Pink Lady apples, some pineapple etc over
the week. By the end of the week one had tonsillitis (had not
had it since we began the diet) with a vengeance. He hit a high temp of
40.1 degrees, and his tonsils were bigger, and more pus-filled than ever
before! Three days later, his brother came down with it ... same, worse than
ever before (he hit a new record high temp in this house of 40.3 degrees).
Anyway, thought you'd be interested. I'm
convinced that the salicylates caused a shock to their immunity ... and hello,
back to tonsillitis. Thankfully our GP is now convinced that the diet has made
a huge difference also ... and was very glad to help us find alternatives for
medication that did not have preservatives in them.
The one thing I will say is that we feel
particularly vindicated regarding this diet. We know we are now doing the right
thing, and certainly have some 'proof' now for all of those who don't
understand or believe why we are doing this with our children. - Jenny M, by
email
[875]
Onset of depression, aggression and hyperactivity in a 6 yo
linked to school canteen food (November 2009)
My six year old son was diagnosed with
asthma/allergy at 2 years old. Several medications were diagnosed for him. Not
wanting to go down this path I consulted a naturopath, who managed his
condition with vitamins and restricted diet. But this year upon starting school
my normally bright, happy child became depressed, aggressive and hyperactive. A
pattern of school canteen usage emerged at which point I requested a list of
ingredients for some of the things he was buying. To my horror, the slushy he
was ordering contained two artificial colours and two preservatives (benzoate
preservative 211 and potassium sorbate 202). The lady
who runs the canteen said that this product is known as an AMBER school
product. Apparently you are allowed to
sell it in canteens as long as you do not have too many other AMBER products on
the menu. – Leesa, by email
[874]
Sick and tired of asthma – now have so much energy (November 2009)
I have been failsafe for over 4 years now
and my life has changed dramatically because of it. Before I tried the diet I
was constantly unwell with chronic sinus and hayfever,
period problems, varied stomach problems and lethargy. The worst thing was the
asthma - it was getting so bad I couldn’t read a book to my children or talk on
the phone for very long. Every day was a struggle to get through.
I have found out that I am intolerant to
gluten, salicylates, amines, preservative etc. Since starting the diet, I
haven’t had asthma medication for over 4 years - it is wonderful to be able to
breathe.
Other things the diet helped me with are:
changing a constant huge amount of phlegm to a small amount; getting rid of my
permanent blocked nose; no more constant colds and infections (sinus and
chest); changed daily headaches to rare ones; improved PMT and periods a large
amount; got rid of my constant indigestion and reflux; removed the permanent
frown from my face and changed it to a smile!!
I now have lots of energy and do Boxercise classes which I would never have been able to
manage before. Going up a hill on my daily walk is no longer a problem. It is
great to have so much energy.
I want to thank you so much for your book,
it has changed my life. I just wish doctors would tell you about trying
different diets to help asthma - I could have done with knowing years ago! – Rosemaree, SA
[873]
635: Flavour enhancers and labile blood pressure (November 2009)
I have been suffering from extremely
labile blood pressure since 1995. The worst problem associated with this has
been raised BP within an hour or two of going to sleep. I wake feeling unwell,
head hurting, cold extremities, always need to urinate, and at times, shivering
uncontrollably. I used to suffer from palpitations with it - but in recent
times this is rare. I've been investigated for everything possible over the
years. I am inclined to eat organic food and always watch the labels on any
packaged food.
About 5 weeks ago I decided to join Jenny
Craig as I felt I needed to lose up to 10 kilos and have been struggling to get
this weight off. In the first week I was appalled to see how many 'numbers'
were listed in the food. I could not eat things like their packaged snacks -
with colours, flavours etc in them. At this point I consulted with them and
asked for the food to be adjusted to suit not eating some of the colours that I
know are not good, any sweeteners and Nitrates/Nitrites. This gave me a very
limited list - and I could not avoid some Sulphites and Flavour Enhancers. I
began to notice 635 coming up in many of the foods - and even most of the
dinners.
By about 3 weeks into the food I woke
feeling really bad with the old symptoms - including a feeling of pressure in
my chest (which had been vaguely there the night before) and blood pressure
that measured 217/114. As it did not reduce after a short while of sitting up
(my usual method of allowing my bp to lower) I went
to the local hospital. They did an ECG and gave me 1/2 Anginine
and O2 which eased the symptoms. When the doctor found that my mother had
Angina he suggested a Thallium Stress Test. This has been completed and the
results are normal.
I have often since 95 suffered from a
slight 'pain' in the chest - once definitely after eating a very tasty bowl of
Chinese soup. I lived in
A few days after my recent visit to hospital,
I thought - how dumb can I be?! ... it's the food! I
stopped the JC food and within 36 hours began to feel well again. When did they
begin to put 635 in food? It keeps being called a 'newer' flavour enhancer and
I wonder if it appeared roughly in the mid nineties. I believe it may be a
combination of 627 and 631. Some of the JC food has these two listed together
and some has 635 listed. Many of the foods also contain the hidden MSGs such as
HVP.
I now have a letter from my doctor to say
that there is evidence that I am highly sensitive to vaso-active
food additives ... and will be given a refund by JC. This has been an
'interesting' exercise that may finally give me the answer to my very labile BP
and all the odd symptoms that seem to go with it.– Roslyn
by email. (Yes, 635 was approved in the mid-nineties and is a combination of
627 and 631- S)
[872]
635: Increasing episodes of tachycardia, arrythmia
and ectopic heart beats (November 2009)
I had been suffering increasing episodes
of tachycardia, arrhythmia and ectopic heart beats - two to three episodes a
day. Despite escalating testing with various cardiac specialists over the past
6 months, nothing was determined apart from the fact I had high blood pressure
and was placed on a low dose of appropriate medication for that. No known cause
for my cardiac anomalies.
Last Tuesday (tis Wednesday of following
week now) I ate a delicious bowl of my home made potato and leek soup for
lunch. I experienced my usual (but scary and increasingly strong) palpitations
and (frustrated, a little frightened and upset), I broadly Googled
"heart palpitations" on Australian sites. Up came your website that
mentioned 'soup' in the first Google lines that came up. Thinking "that's
funny, I just ate soup, I'll have a look at that one before I find what I'm
really after", I looked at it. Well, that's what saved me. What I found
there were countless, comforting, case studies of people just like me,
suffering consequences to MSG (635 in particular), just like me, who didn't
know what was causing it. Just. Like. Me.
For me, it was a revelation, an epiphany.
I was euphoric. My God, what have I been poisoning my family with, for so many
years? Weekly, particularly in winter, I lovingly make risotto, casserole, beef
in red wine, soup, etc, etc. Thinking I'm making healthy foods for my husband
and my children, I've made all these dishes with more than a liberal dash of
commercial stock (cube and/or liquid), all of which (no exceptions, I find) are
loaded with MSG.
I stepped, willingly, into the world of
chemical additives, flavour enhancers, neurotoxins, excitotoxins and ribonucleotides.
To cut a long story short, I have
strenuously avoided any flavour enhancers (particularly 635) and all MSG in its
myriad disguises since that bowl of soup on Tuesday. I did not expect things to
settle immediately, but I've gone from having 2-3 cardiac episodes a day and
thinking I was going to die like my father, at 46, to NOT ONE EPISODE IN
Gotta be something to this and I'm sincerely and eternally
grateful for the information you have on your website and the comfort and
advice it gave me. I think you saved my sanity and my life. –
[871]
635: Severe asthma-type reaction to 635 (November 2009)
I have been aware of an
intolerance to MSG (621) for many years and mainly suffer with severe
headaches, dehydration and nausea. I steer clear of any preservatives and
flavour enhancers wherever possible, particularly those with #6 at the
beginning. My diet rarely incorporates any packaged or prepared canned foods, I
have eaten take away food but not on a regular basis. In a previous life, I did
eat packaged and prepared foods!
A few years ago, whilst a friend was
cooking a store bought, marinated chicken dish, I suffered blocked nose, mucous
throat and headache, not from eating, but being in the surrounding area.
A few weeks ago I suffered another episode
of severely blocked nose, thick mucous in throat and tightness in throat/chest,
almost wheezing like an asthmatic. The symptoms started within 10 minutes of
eating a
[870]
635: Ribo Rash in a 7-year-old (November 2009)
My 7 year old daughter has reactions to
flavour enhancers which cause a rash across her body. Her first reaction that I
could pinpoint was to Chinese food that she ate around 5-6 months ago. She has
been getting small rashes for the last couple of years, but I have never been
able to pinpoint what was causing them. We had Chinese one night and a couple
of hours later she had a severe rash all over her body. My first reaction was
something in her bed, so I put her in my bed and the next day the rash was
gone. That day we had left over Chinese for tea and the rash appeared again. So
I looked on the internet about what may cause it and everything pointed towards
MSG. Once I cleaned out my cupboards of flavour enhancer foods, the rashes
stopped. She has had a few reactions since such as hamburgers from Woolworths
which said flavours on the packet, but no codes.
Your site helped me to pinpoint what was
happening to her, and her doctor thought your site was very useful.
Two
months later:
For about 4-5 years my daughter has
suffered a lot of constipation, normally to the extreme where it would be days
that she would go without a bowel motion, and when she finally did she would
take ages and be in a lot of pain. Since taking flavour enhancers out of her
diet, the bowel motions are normal. - by email, SA
[869]
Salicylate reactions to Vapouriser and Vicks chest
rub (November 2009)
I have two boys aged 4 and 5. We are two
and a half weeks into the diet and I had been starting to get very excited
about improvements in the boys behaviour. Until yesterday.
The boys share a room and during the night my younger one woke up snuffly so I rubbed some Vicks Baby Balsam (contains Petrolatum, Eucalyptus Globulus, Parfum, Rosmarinus Officinalis, Cocos Nucifera, Paraffinum Liquidum, Aloe Barbadensis, Lavandula Augustifolia) on his chest.
Wow! When they woke in the morning it was
just like the bad old days. They pulled their room apart looking for a toy,
they were demanding and silly and unreachable (wouldn't listen!). Could this
have been caused by the Vicks? Even though the older boy
didn't have it on his skin, just spent a couple of hours in a closed bedroom
with his brother.
A couple of months ago we were regularly
using a vapouriser, with fluid containing menthol,
camphor, methyl salicylate, pine oil and eucalyptus oil. Could this have caused
some of the behaviour that lead me to try the diet in
the first place? – Jane, by email (Yes! – those
products are like a salicylate challenge due to inhaled salicylates, also
absorbed through the skin. They are considered to be ineffective, dangerous and responsible for
children hospitalized each year, see warnings from Poisons Information Centres: http://www.health.qld.gov.au/poisonsinformationcentre/seasons_dangers/sd_winter.asp)
[868]
Extreme screaming: from terrible to angel (November 2009)
You have saved my son's life quite
amazingly. He is a completely different child. He has gone from terrible to
angel.
I saw your
I am sure that if I did not see your DVD
he would have ended up on some kind of horrible medication and under some
private psychiatrist. I could just see him being exactly like the juvenile
offenders in the DVD or worse but he is now a normal child and a perfect angel.
I am so surprised at how much difference
it has made, this diet really works if you just do it properly. It is really
hard at first to know what to put on sandwiches etc ... but it gets a lot
easier as we go along. I never really understood diet affecting behaviour
before and thought it was only really applicable to those who just persisted to
feed their children fast food all the time. - Charmaine,
[867]
Another behavioural reaction to McDonald's Soft Serve
Cone (November 2009)
My 6 year old son has had the same
reaction to McDonald's Soft Serve Cone as posted on your website. It started
about 20 minutes after eating and lasted about an hour. It was not the thing to have before a
swimming lesson. He was behaving as the mother noted on your website (Story
[850] – “our normally quiet son bounces, jumps, shouts, makes silly loud
noises, blows raspberries, uses nonsense words, and generally just can't sit
still”) and appeared to be on a planet of his own! – Trina, NSW
[866]
From extreme ADHD & mild autism to ‘normal,
healthy, well behaved child’ (November 2009)
My sister is a devoted fan. Her daughter
was in serious trouble with her health and behavioural problems before she came
across your work. She has met you at
talks and has your books and has her entire family on a low chemical diet.
Her daughter needless to say has gone from
being diagnosed as extreme ADHD with mild autism to being a perfectly well
adjusted, normal, healthy, incredibly well behaved child, who is doing
extremely well in school now.
Depresses me when I mention food as a
cause of ADHD to other mothers who won't listen, or say "maybe for your
child, but it won't help mine!" People prefer to be ignorant! – Stuart,
NSW
[865]
Severe facial rash due to allergen in supplements (November 2009)
I'm 80 years old and I have been suffering
from a very bad rash on my face.
Altogether I saw five different doctors and all of them said to use a
cortisone ointment but my face got even worse. Everyone who looked at me would
say 'what on earth is wrong?'
When I was young (oh so many years ago), I
worked for a private detective and he always taught me to check everything. I
bought a book and began to write down everything I ate, what makeup I'd been
using and even the vitamins I took. My doctor had advised me to stop using
makeup and buy 'natural' makeup. I did, at a cost, but then I stopped using
that too. I then decided to don the reading glasses and get out the magnifying
glass to read everything on the labels of my supplements. To my horror, I saw
on the Glucosamine with Condroitin, if you have a
shellfish allergy, do not take them. I had previously been taking the old
Glucosamine.
In the past I have eaten prawns without
any problems but last year I had a nasty reaction to the IV Contrast Dye when I
had to have a CT scan of my pelvic area. I felt quite sick and both my legs
from the knees down, went bright red and were very
hot. It took ages for the redness to
disappear and then the skin peeled off. I stopped taking the supplements and
over about four weeks the redness improved then the skin peeled off and my skin
is now back to normal. At 80 years, I am totally
amazed to think I've maybe developed an allergy to crustaceans. That won't
worry me at all but I will most certainly now read everything on the labels I
eat. - by email
[864]
200: Severe contact dermatitis reaction to sorbates
(200-203) (November 2009)
My son is now almost 4. He has always eaten happily from a wide range
of food groups. We generally try to avoid feeding him (much) processed food,
but since we travel a lot, it is inevitable that we also eat on the run. He was
just under 12 months when he had his first reaction - to eating cream cheese.
The effect was instantaneous and obvious: raised, red rashes on mouth, face,
fingers, belly - anywhere that the food made contact. Other common allergens
(like dairy, wheat, soy, nuts) clearly were no problem, so it only took another
couple of incidents for us to figure out preservative 202 was the culprit.
Since then we have mostly been able to avoid it, but it does crop up when we're
not expecting it: like in some yoghurts (in NZ), margarines and so-called some
100% orange juices (the 100% claim is on the front of the bottle, but
preservative 202 is listed in the ingredients). Again, the reaction is obvious
- and although it causes some discomfort, the reaction doesn't seem to pose any
obvious health risk.
As an aside, after spending some time this
evening trying to research 202 allergies on the internet, I am surprised how
very little information is available on it. Your website was one of the few to
contain any information. Thanks for the tips about sorbates
being also present in pharmaceutical products, since I had no idea about this.
– Kate, by email (It is illegal to say 100% juice if there is a listed
preservative! The ACCC has prosecuted several companies over that,
see http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/343977.
If you'd like me to act on it, let me know the name of the company. It is only
through consumer complaints that change will occur.-
S)
[863]
ADHD and diet – surprised by lovely behaviour (November 2009)
Our doctor thinks our son may have ADHD
and wants us to try an elimination diet. Reading through your website it sounds
just what we need. We have swapped the bread to Bakers Delight, swapped the
margarine to Nuttelex. Stopped the
juice (which only had every 2 days). Stopped chocolate and any other
snack like that. Stopped the Vegemite and peanut butter.
Plus more changes. Today we went out and I was very surprised at both my boys'
behaviour. They were lovely. I know it's still early days but it's nice to see
an improvement already. I am really looking forward to the changes for the
better. My husband and I are also doing it too. Lead by example. - Shelley, NSW
[862]
Bedwetting and behaviour problems due to Ibilex (Keflex)
with artificial colour and flavour (November 2009)
Just writing to tell you about my son's
reaction to an antibiotic called Ibilex (keflex) suspension, for a recent chest infection.
On the elimination diet we have discovered
a new child. Finally able to sit still in class and concentrate, no shouting
out or disruptive behaviour and dry at night!
While he was on the antibiotic, the
teacher informed me that our son’s behaviour had deteriorated. He was
oppositional, loud, unable to sit still and disruptive. At home the bedwetting
started again and his behaviour had also deteriorated but I had not made the
connection, I put it down to him being unwell.
As I was giving him his dose one morning I
was staring at the pink mixture and it finally dawned. I rang the GP
immediately and sure enough it contained Allura Red.
It took about a week to get him dry again and his behaviour to settle. – Helen,
by email (Allura red is artifical
colour 124; also contains bubblegum flavour. A compounding pharmacist can
provide medication without nasties, see our Medication factsheet - S)
[861] 6yo saved from ADHD medication (November 2009)
I would just like to thank you for saving
us from having to put my nearly 6 year old daughter on ADHD medication!!
I was already known as the food nazi mum, and Lilly wasn't allowed any preservatives,
flavour enhancers or artificial colours, but all too often I was seeing
behaviour that I knew was a reaction to additives - I just couldn't work out what!!! Life
in our house was hell most of the time, and I was days away from taking her to
our GP to get it sorted. A friend suggested reading Fed Up, which I've looked
at your website many times in the past but didn't know where to start - the
idea of cutting more food seriously caused me so much anxiety that I just
couldn't do it.
I only had to read a couple of pages to
realize that Lilly's diet was REALLY high in foods naturally high in glutamates
and bad antioxidants - I knew how badly she reacted to MSG, so I cut those
foods right back (her lunchbox used to have a tasty cheese and Ourmate sandwich plus a little tub of cherry tomatoes, then
a dinner of Nonna's tomato/mushroom pasta sauce!!)
When ever we had takeaways I was fairly careful but it always consisted of hot
chips, which I've now realised just how much that
nasty antioxidant affected her ... the poor thing, I thought I was doing the
right thing but I was just making it worse.
Over the last 5 weeks we have seen our
daughter turn into a wild crazy thing twice, once was exactly 48 hours after
eating hot chips twice in one day aaaghhh - we had to
lock her in her room, she was OUT OF C
Oh and the whole family have switched to
A2 milk, and I have now just realized how sick and bloated normal milk makes me
feel!!!
Anyway thank you again!!! After the last
mega tantrum my husband was so amazed at the difference it has made he has
decided to cut out lots of the bad foods he eats at work, he was also a child like her and figures it
must be affecting him now in much the same way!! (He is quite the stubborn one that if I
had suggested it there is no way he would have made the changes, hehehe!!!).
Update…
The difference in Lilly’s behaviour is
that she has gone from throwing major tantrums over very small issues which
used to result in her being locked in her room until she calmed down - mostly
for our sanity because she was just wild, it could last anywhere from an hour
to half a day sometimes!!!! She would disagree with everything, talk back,
never do what we asked- including simple things like going to the toilet, so
she used to constantly wet her pants instead, or she wouldn't get dressed for
school- even though she absolutely loves going.
Before diet everything was a battle - I
used to look at her and think if she was someone else's kid I would avoid
spending time with that person because of how hard she made everything, so I of
course have been carrying around a huge amount of guilt from having thoughts
like that. I also couldn't work out why my 2 kids were so different, so I've
spent a few years blaming myself for this thinking it must have been something I
did whilst I was pregnant or breastfeeding etc. Its
been really hard, I've been on medication for anxiety for the past 6 months -
surprising I didn't start taking something years ago considering how badly I
felt I was coping with these issues!!!
Now we have an ange
l- the transformation is truly amazing!!! If she does misbehave it actually
only takes a 1-2-3 and she usually does what needs to be done or said, the few
time she has gone to time out, its been for her ten- tens (our timeout rule is
she has to calmly breathe and count to ten, ten times- she can count to 100 now
so its changed a bit- good counting practice lol) and
then she comes out calmly and apologizes etc.
It’s going to be harder to get my in-laws
on my side - I gave a list of what she shouldn't eat last week, and Nana
returned her with a list of what she ate, AA
[860]
Incredible reaction to lip balm (November 2009)
We are currently in the midst of an
incredible food reaction, brought about by less than a week's worth of
lip-balm! About a month ago my daughter had developed a cold-sore as part of
the withdrawals associated with going back onto the very basic elimination diet
after we'd let a few too many fruits and veges creep
back into our diet. Once it healed I decided to get her some lip-balm, as the
cold sore was followed by cracked lips. Her behaviour started deteriorating
after about three days, culminating on day six (yesterday) in difficulty
following instructions, defiance, extreme sensitivity (tears, screaming,
sulking), kicking and attempting to isolate herself when upset. Also, a very sore and red vagina (poor little thing). The
only thing I had changed was the lip-balm, minute amounts, twice a day (I'd
kept hold of it so I knew she wasn't slathering it on). The ingredient list -
Coconut oil, beeswax, sweet almond oil, peppermint oil, Vitamin A, lanolin,
comfrey root extract, rosemary extract. I had realised
that all bar the Vitamin A and lanolin weren't Failsafe, but made the mistake
of thinking it was such a small amount it wouldn't matter. Luckily, once we had
figured out what was making her feel bad (I always get her to work it out with
me, even at four) she decided that she'd give the lip-balm away (literally -
"but I love it! I want someone in
my family to have it, I'll give it to Uncle Ian..”). I'm going to try pure lanolin, and hopefully
that will work out better.
It really high-lights that one small
mistake can make all the difference! – Hannah, by email
[859]
A lifetime of food intolerance (November 2009)
After reading an article about Sue's talk and
browsing the website I purchased the Failsafe Cookbook. I cleaned out my
cupboard on the weekend only to discard 6 items, the others all being failsafe,
so feel that I am on the way already as
I have had a lifetime of intolerances recognised only by me.
The cookbook answers all those questions
that no one else can (like why I love over ripe fruit that no one else will
eat) and I am extremely grateful. My husband now accepts that I am not
mental.....
I am also extremely grateful for the
recipes as I wake up some days and wonder 'What the hell will I eat today'. I
have already tried several over the weekend and of course my husband is happy
to have me 'back in the kitchen' so to speak. – Irene, NSW
[858]
282: crumpets with 282 changed my sweet two year old into a monster (November
2009)
I have a 6 yo
son who is intolerant to additives. 282 in particular changed my beautiful
sweet then 2 year old into a monster. Luckily, because he was basically born
with eczema, I had been very careful about introducing foods. I started giving
him crumpets for breakfast when he was 2. He would be fine after eating them,
however when he woke from his sleep he would be screaming and hitting me, very
violent and uncontrollable. I initially thought it was hunger, as I found that
when I gave him something to eat he would calm down. Anyway, to cut a long
story short, I found out about 282 (in all crumpets and some breads)
and cut it out completely. He was normal again!! – Michelle, NSW
[857]
Nitrates and ‘growing pains’ (1999)
My 4 yo son used
to wake up complaining of pains in his legs, sometimes they were so bad he
would be sobbing with the pain. The doctor said it was just growing pains but
after reading your website we tried an additive free diet. We found that he
only gets these pains if he has been eating ham and devon (with nitrate/nitrite preservatives). – by email, NT
[856]
Hotdog headaches from school (2002)
I was wondering if you could shed some
light on how to rid my 9yr old daughters headaches
that she has had nearly every Thursday all year, sometimes so bad she has to
stay home from school. The doctor said does she hate school but she doesn’t.
(Answer: It is very common for people to have recurring headaches on a
particular day of the week. What do they eat the day before? In
this case the school canteen sold hotdogs only on Wednesdays. When the
hotdogs stopped, the headaches stopped.- S) – by
email, SA
[855]
Ham sandwiches cause behaviour, eczema, concentration problems (October 2009)
A few months ago we went over to
After about 1 week everything had improved
dramatically. I waited about 4 weeks before I introduced nitrates (ham). He
went pretty nutty after eating it, not violent, just manic. The next day he had
bad eczema and was unable to read or write properly when I asked. The teacher also
mentioned that he was having trouble concentrating again. He was also crying
and clinging to me when it was time to drop him at school. The effects lasted
about 5 days. I realized of course that when we had come home from overseas he
was having ham sandwiches (not something he would normally eat). I then went
back to the additive-free diet again. Michelle, by email
[854]
A GP’s opinion about salicylates in foods (August 2009)
My son’s preschool required a letter from
a doctor confirming that Charlie couldn't eat salicylates (because lunches were
provided).
When I told him Charlie reacts to
salicylates in food with eczema, asthma and behavioural problems, my GP said
that made sense, since people with asthma are told not to take aspirin because
it is high in salicylates.
I was astounded. "Then why don't you
tell them not to eat high salicylate foods?”
He replied honestly and from the heart
that as doctors, they weren't trained in nutrition and so they didn't know
about salicylates in foods. - Helen, NSW
[853]
Additive-free, but favourite foods were tomatoes
(August 2009) COURAGE AWARD
We're 3 weeks in to Failsafe, and I feel
as if I've won the lottery!!! 3 kids aged 10, 8 and 5, all extremely active and
slightly frenetic. The oldest was diagnosed with Aspergers
and ADD at about 6 years of age, but concerns were noted since he was about 4 -
very fixated on certain activities, difficulty being aware of his environment,
very impulsive etc. He repeated
reception as he was really struggling, very highly strung. We cut down on additives with some
improvement, but he was still very hooked into his own thoughts and obsessional
in thinking and behaviour, talking out in class, struggling academically. He
was still incontinent of number ones and twos, as he had such poor awareness of
his body, and inability to attend to more than one thing at a time (ie concentrating on schoolwork or a game, and bodily
sensations).
He was placed on Concerta
(a type of Ritalin) at 8 years of age, which led to a very noticeable
improvement in ability to concentrate in school, and less impulsivity. This was the very thing we had not wanted to
do with our child, but we couldn’t continue with daily sneaky poos, constantly spacing out at school, and that level of
impulsivity was taking its toll on the whole family. While I do believe
medication is over-prescribed and should only be a last resort, we had done
everything we could, and it did help. I strongly believe parents should not
automatically be judged for medicating their children, we are all doing our best,
with whatever information we have.
He began to really shut down about 18
months ago, becoming very isolated, spending every school break time alone
reading, and not even responding to questions at home, instead preferring to
read alone. He was very sullen, on bad days yelling at schoolmates who tried to
engage him. He had no friends, and swung between a sullen and angry boy, or a
highly impulsive, giggly and inappropriate "in your face" kid.
We had been additive free for some time,
and he had a blood test which showed he was intolerant to wheat, strawberries,
dairy and cocoa so those were out also. We had done the rounds of psychiatrist,
psychologist, social skills training, occupational therapy, etc.
He is now in year 4 and just prior to
commencing diet, he dirtied his pants at school and then told a classmate about
it! I panicked, I could not pinpoint any
additives that would have led to the behaviour, and I felt desperate. I went to
the Autism SA resource centre where I found "The Failsafe Cookbook",
and I haven’t put it down since!
Our oldest son's favourite
foods were tomatoes, and Nonna's pasta and meatballs
- he would scoff a whole punnet of cherry tomatoes in
one go if he could. Our second child
could have best been described as a fruit addict, regularly eating 5 apples
after school (I would find the cores littered around the house). He is an academically capable kid, but could
be very oppositional, and was diagnosed as having an auditory processing
disorder. He was very hyperactive also. Our youngest daughter had an almost
normal diet, I think because I was so exhausted from meeting the needs of the
older two that I didn’t have the energy to say "No", to be
honest!! I did notice that she was much
harder to settle to sleep than the other two, especially after eating raisin
toast (even with "no preservatives on the pack!), and flavoured snacks,
which were given by friends etc.
Since the diet, the improvements have been
extraordinary! I had to have a meeting at home with a colleague, and my
children played lego together, without arguing mind
you, for about 1.5 hours!!! My oldest
has dry pants at the end of the day, responds when asked questions, engages in
appropriate conversation, and most heartwarming of all, has had several
successful playdates with a boy from school. I was
able to leave all three with my mother last week while I worked without her
having a breakdown. She was shocked at the difference, and my father reported
that my oldest pruned a whole row of grapes for him!
The "fruit addict" is the most
changed! He is polite, helpful (someone
pinch me, please!). Our daughter is
sleeping better, still has made an artform of
irritating her brothers, but our home is overall much more harmonious, and I am
so grateful.
My husband and I are
both southern European, and it seems strange that our children could be
intolerant to tomatoes and the like. I'm
still a bit puzzled, but I chatted about it to my dad, who migrated from
southern
It makes me incredibly angry that even
basic foods are laced with additives that are harming our children. I see
parents at breaking point and children whose self esteem and learning are
compromised, and it is incomprehensible. I for one am TIRED of it.
Thank you so much for your care and
compassion in the important work that you do. -
by email,
(Natural Confectionery Lollies
are NOT failsafe due to sals and amines in flavours they are
only suitable for people who are additive-free)
[852]
One-liners (August 2009)
A year has now passed since we went
Failsafe and I just thought I should drop you and note to say...... Thankyou! The difference this diet has made to my boys is
amazing...it was like taking them back and getting them exchanged for ones that
worked 'properly' - Miriam by email.
When strictly failsafe, we have a
wonderful loving attentive child. Your works have been as no doubt you have heard
before life saving for our family. Although considered a little weird at times
for his diet, I’d rather him known as weird than that naughty kid, shoved in
the too hard basket. - Peta, Vic
Just wanted to inform you of another
success story in regards to my 9-year-old. We’ve been on failsafe for 7 weeks now and my son is
now calm, settled and an absolute delight thanks to your books. I’ve spread the
gospel around my local area with many parents and teachers genuinely interested.
His teachers are all very supportive as they’ve seen the metamorphosis right
before their very eyes – by email,
My story is similar to many on your
website: a 5yo
boy and a 2yo girl. We had concerns with our little boy, realising
he did not seem happy, energetic, compliant,
everything was negative, and a drama. After many bad bad
evenings and lots of screaming / crying and being upset that my child was not
happy we decided to watch the
I was pretty annoyed when I checked the
yoghurt ingredients and found 160b in the vanilla. I had been buying the
yoghurt for my 4 year old as it is no preservatives, artificial colour, flavour
etc. His behaviour can definitely be seen in the side effects outlined in the
book! - Cassandra by email
[851]
Salicylate mistake with Chinese cabbage (August 2009)
I have been mostly sticking to the low
salicylate veggies but had snuck in some Chinese greens last week, and we had
some reactions. I had assumed that Chinese cabbage (wombok)
was like other cabbage … Never assume! Vera, by email.
((Previously all classified as moderate salicylates, Chinese cabbage (Wombuk) is classed as low in the new RPAH Elimination Diet
Handbook (2009), but other Chinese greens now range from bok
choy and pak choy (moderate in sals) to
Chinese broccoli (Gai Ian, high in sals & amines) to Chinese spinach (Kang Kong) and some
others (all very high in sals & amines) - you can
request our Salicylate Mistakes information sheet: suedengate@ozemail.com.au)
[850]
Reaction to McDonalds soft serve (no cone) (August 2009)
We avoid McDonalds soft serve since our 5 yo son had a reaction in the evening after eating a soft serve
with cone in the afternoon. It had been the only thing he had eaten that day
that we could think had caused it. After reading Failsafe Newsletter #60, we
tried the Maccas soft serve again without the cone
(in a plastic cup - upside down sundae lid). The reaction was less severe but
still there. He was affected about 4 hours after eating the ice-cream both
times (with and without the cone). This, for him, is typical for colours. Our
normally quiet son bounces, jumps, shouts, makes silly loud noises, blows
raspberries, uses nonsense words, and generally just can't sit still. The acute
reaction generally lasts about an hour. The icecream
without cone caused a shorter period of the acute reaction, with less volume
and intensity. Probably lasted about 35 minutes and was more bearable but still
consistent with the typical reaction he gets from colours. Peters Original and
other failsafe varieties (eg Sara Lee and the organic
ones) have never caused the same reaction. – Susan, Qld
(Can you help: we would like to hear from
any failsafer who has observed a reaction to
McDonalds soft serve (no cone) – same day or next day? suedengate@ozemail.com.au)
[849]
282: 282 and growing pains (August 2009)
My youngest daughter seemed to be the only
one that reacted to the 282 (calcium propionate) challenge.
By the afternoon of the first day of the challenge she was once again complaining
of aching legs. She had not complained the whole time while we have been on the
diet, and she used to wake up crying, we had previously put it down to growing
pains. – by email
[848]
Not only behaviour but also tonsillitis and asthma improve on diet (August
2009)
I would like to thank you for your
wonderful book and website supporting the diet. Now we are in the full swing of
it and have seen the difference, we share your horror at the unnecessary
chemicals that are in our diet. I have become the crusader amongst our group of
friends (many with preschool aged children) for feeding families "like
Grandma used to".
My favourite
line at the moment is "You have to think, when our parents were young,
they ate apples, pears, maybe the occasional orange. All the other stuff - like
Watermelon, Strawberries, Grapes - was a luxury and MAY have been eaten on
special occasions". The other is to point out to people that the
"Healthy Food Pyramid" that is drummed into us at every turn, that we
should be eating, only suggests 2 serves of fruit a day. If this is, for the
majority of the time, two pears or a pear and a delicious apple, I am sure my
children (day 3 reactors!) will 'survive' in this world!
Update
…. You will be pleased to know that we are
now almost 4 months into the diet, and are so happy with the change in our
children. Not only has their behaviour changed we have now noticed that we have
had two other (surprising!) results:
·
The boys
had recurrent tonsillitis (once every five-six weeks for the past 18 months)
which they have no longer have ... we had refused the operation before
Christmas (to get tonsils and adenoids out) because we didn't want them to go
under a general anaesthetic and were hoping the diet
would help. And yay! It has!
·
Our boys
normally start preventers for asthma at the end of Feb and go through until at
least November ... We haven't used preventers, or even
relievers once since starting the diet.
So ... whilst we started mainly for
behaviour, we have so many great other effects. - Jenny, NSW
[847]
Pictures worth a thousand words (August 2009)
I cannot begin to thank you for all your
work!! I am only nearly 3 weeks into our
Elimination Diet (sal, amines and glutes)
and was suddenly confronted with this!!!
The first picture is an example of my 6 year-old daughter's regular colouring, perhaps 2 months ago. The next 2 are in the last
couple of days. I don't need to explain this to you, do I! I was not paying much attention while she coloured and I suddenly realised
what I was looking at. Complete, solid colour. Thought
put into which colour she'd use. I would hardly have believed she did it, but I
saw it happen!
To be picky, if you look at Spot's hat and
the horse's head, you can see that she gets a little 'fast' there. This was on a day when she was 'out-of-sorts'
and she finally told me she'd had a chocolate muffin at school. As she sat down to colour I was disappointed
she'd chosen to finish this one because I felt that she'd now wreck it. But I see it serves a good little
'illustration' for me.
Something this tangible was fabulous to
have as I think I may have converted my in-laws!!! They felt she just needed more vegies. ha ha. – by
email,
[846]
Pain like gout from milk (August 2009)
I have written before about my husband
drinking milk and getting a pain like Gout in his foot. Now we just have A2
milk but he had a coffee one morning with Woolies Lite Milk (that’s all he
could get and left the A2 for the kids) still got a pain in his foot, next time
tried with A2 and didn’t have any pain.
Tracey, by email
(The medical recommendation for gout used to be avoidance of
purine-containing foods - essentially
failsafe foods with a few exceptions - but this has been disproved. I wonder
whether gout is just another symptom of food intolerance because failsafe
families often report the father’s gout improved when they changed their diet.
I’d love some more reports: suedengate@ozemail.com.au)
[845]
Eczema and additives (August 2009)
Nearly two years ago you referred me to a
dietitian. My daughter Zoe was under her for approx a year for eczema problems.
During that year she did the elimination diet and then the many food
challenges. Zoe will soon be 3 and today she is a different child. Before doing
the diet the pediatrician had talked to us about doing wet dressings. The diet
showed that sulphites, nitrates and food colours both artificial and some
natural affected her eczema badly. Sunscreen is also a big challenge for us.
Anyway, I wanted to let you know how great the diet has been for Zoe and we can
only hope that the manufacturers out there are able to find other alternatives
for preservatives and colours. I find the biggest challenge is the byproduct
sulphites like glucose syrup and vinegar. People always say to me how hard this
must be for her. We are so incredibly lucky that she is not anaphylactic and
that she has responded to the diet so well. She may only be 2yrs old but she
always comes to us and asks if she can eat what is put on tables at parties and
gatherings etc. Thank you once again for helping us out with Zoe and for
getting the message out there. My girlfriend showed me the book and if it was
not for that then I would still be following conventional medicine to combat
the eczema. – Kirsten, NSW
[844]
129: Reaction to allura red (colour
129) in Ibilex antibiotic (August 2009)
Just writing to tell you about my son's
reaction to an antibiotic called Ibilex (keflex) suspension, for a recent chest infection.
On the elimination diet we had discovered
a new child. Finally able to sit still in class and concentrate, no shouting
out or disruptive behaviour and dry at night!
However, while he was on the antibiotic, the teacher informed me that
Charlie’s behaviour had deteriorated. He was oppositional, loud, unable to sit
still and disruptive. At home the bedwetting started again and his behaviour
had also deteriorated but I had not made the connection, I put it down to him
being unwell. As I was giving him his dose one morning I was staring at the
pink mixture and it finally dawned. I rang the GP immediately and sure enough
it contained Allura Red (colour
129, CI16035). It took about a week to get him dry again and his behaviour to
settle. – Helen, by email (colours do not have to be listed on the label. You
can do a Google search for Ibilex Consumer Medicine
Information – it also contains bubblegum flavour! - S)
[843]
Diet or Testing for ADHD (August 2009)
I have a five year old boy who is
currently going through the diagnoses and testing for adhd,
but who also displays mild asd symptoms as well. I
decided about a month before we saw the specialists to try the failsafe way of
eating, but I did not put him on the strict diet, I simply printed out the list
of additives that are no-go and completely stopped buying anything with them in
it. Within two weeks his behaviour still
needed (and still needs) a lot of work but has drastically improved. - Anthea, by email
(children who improve on an additive free diet may do even better if they
reduce their salicylates and/or amine intake too - S).
[842]
Non-allergic rhinitis from salicylates and dairy (August 2009)
Some years ago I was suffering from severe
sinus headaches, so much so that I saw an Ear Nose and Throat specialist who
diagnosed non-allergic rhinitis and referred me to a neurologist for the
headaches. The neurologist referred me back to the ENT specialist, so I was
left nowhere to go. I continued to suffer from these headaches as well as
several bouts of sinusitis each year. It turns out that for me salicylates and
dairy are probably the culprits and I have not needed any antibiotics since
last September, when I started failsafe. I thought it might worth telling you
this, as I was just reading your factsheet about hayfever
and allergic rhinitis. I think it applies equally to non-allergic rhinitis -
Joanne by email. (see updated Factsheet http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/factsheets/Facthayfever.htm)
[841]
Eczema-type rash linked with rosemary extract in Farex
(August 2009)
I started our 5 month old on solids. She
had a few days of farex (ingredients: ground rice,
vegetable oil, vitamin c, antioxidant (rosemary extract), mineral (iron)). I
noticed that she came out in a rash on her legs, the bubble eczema type rash.
She has always had some form of redness behind her knees under her chin and in
the creases (wet areas I call them) but this was much more obvious and red. I
stopped the cereal and it settled down. I started again yesterday and the rash
is back. I am worried that she will have skin problems that may be food
intolerance and I want to do the best thing for her from the start. I have a
friend whose daughter has such severe eczema and I just don't want to go down
that path of creams etc. If I can do the right things for her from the start I
will try. – by email (Rosemary is high in salicylates;
salicylates are commonly implicated with eczema. You can make your own baby
rice cereal: cook plain white rice with water, breastmilk
or formula and puree in a blender)
[840]
635: Ribo rash and cold urticaria
(August 2009)
A few months ago, my son developed a
sudden, allergic rash that came and went with seemingly no pattern. The rash
starts as unbearable itching and then quickly develops into raised welts, like mossie bites, over most of his body, or sometimes, only one
part of it, such as his hands. When it starts, as you might imagine, he is
considerably distressed by it and often the only sure remedy is to put him into
a bath of warm water. This takes away the itching within about fifteen minutes.
We thought of all the usual suspects –
things that had been applied to his skin, pool water, clothing, plants and
more. We talked to our doctor who couldn't explain it either without going
through the full allergy testing drama. Then a friend of mine told me how she
had been to see Sue Dengate and directed me to the Fed Up website. We read a
bit about ribo rash and thought 'Ah-ha!'.
The week prior to the development of the
rash was an odd one for us. We normally eat a mostly organic diet, which began
out of concern for the environment as well as health. We still ate occasional
takeaway and treats like any family. That particular week, the organics were
out the window as we helped our friends renovate – it was a busy week and a lot
of convenience foods were eaten. We ate, as it turns out, something with ribonucleotides every single day that week. These included
Fantastic rice crackers, ready roasted chicken (several meals), hams and other
deli meats, sausages, chips (hot and from a packet) and probably more.
Then our son had the rash for three or
four weeks, on and off, while we figured it all out (and of course continuing
to unknowingly eat some of these foods). We had to keep him away from school,
as the itching was unbearable, came on without warning at any time of day and
the only solution was a bath.
The rash also appeared on the place on his
body where he was cold, e.g. hands and feet at the beach, at a home pool and in
a paddle pool filled with rainwater. The weirdest one was the paddling pool -
he only got the rash up to his waist - that was the part that had been in the
water.
Finally, when we made the connection, we
cut out all foods containing 'the dreaded 600s'. It took almost a week and a
half for the rash to completely stop appearing. It appeared less and less
severely each day.
I thought that it would be good to try
cutting all the artificial stuff out for a short time to see if there was any
merit in it. Wow. What a discovery! We thought that his hyperactive moods at
the end of each day were due to being 'overtired', in fact, they only happen on
the days that he has eaten chemical food additives. Many behaviours that we had previously thought to be
'normal' have turned out to be brought on by chemicals in foods:
·
Preservatives:
tears, moodiness, unable to be happy, as well as hyperactivity and babbling –
usually next day reaction.
·
Preservative
282 in bread products – hyperactivity and babbling - about 30 minutes later.
·
Synthetic
Antioxidants: irritability, opposition to small things, unable to be happy,
tantrum like behaviour – about 8 hours later.
·
Colours:
hyperactivity, babbling, bouncing – about four hours later.
·
Flavour
Enhancers: rash, itching, recurring up to 10 days later.
We would never have found these reactions
without cutting all artificial food chemicals from our diet. We would never
have connected a white, McDonald's soft serve (2 colours) with bouncing off the
walls four hours later. We certainly would never have figured out that terrible
tantrum-like moments were due to eating chips (synthetic antioxidants in the
oil) the day before. Since cutting all the 600 numbers out, our son has only
had one more episode of the rash – following prescribed medication for croup,
which turns out to have several nasty additives and which changed his behaviour
too. We are very careful now and can even tell if he has been out with his
grandparents and had a milkshake!
The numbers that are a total no-go for us
are 620-625 as well as 627, 631, 635. These 'ribonucleotides'
are added to most barbecue, chicken or other savoury flavoured things like rice crackers, chips and other
snacks, to some hams and processed meats, to sausages, to ready cooked chicken,
to hot chips (think chicken salt), even to some brands of 'plain' crackers and
more.
A more full examination of failsafe eating
has led to the discovery that my son is also intolerant to high salicylates,
although moderate consumption is ok. A snack of strawberries or a glass of
orange juice is enough to lead to behaviour changes - mainly oppositional. We
were all fine with amines and natural glutamates. - Susan, Qld
(More about cold urticaria -hives
associated with cold - at http://allergies.about.com/od/urticariahives/a/coldurticaria.htm)
[839]
Eczema related to salicylates and wheat in a breast-fed baby (August 2009)
Our baby suffered severe eczema for 8
months and was in wet bandages for 4 months straight. We were also using advantan cortisone cream on her every night. At 7 months
old both my breastfed baby and myself (mother) did the RPA Elimination Diet
which made no difference to her skin condition. She has allergies to dairy,
soy, egg and peanut which she never consumed herself and which I stopped eating
when she was 6 months old and still breastfed. After the dermatologist from the
RCH said that it was most likely a food intolerance causing the eczema (she was
13 months), I contacted you again and then tried removing salicylates from her
diet again as she was no longer breastfed. Within about 5 days she went from
being in wet bandages, very itchy, irritated and hyperactive to skin almost
completely clear and requiring only tiny amounts of cortisone. She also became
a much happier baby. We have since discovered she also gets eczema from eating
wheat. She is on a very limited diet because of her food intolerance and
allergies but we are giving her some Neocate to try
to make up for what she’s missing out on. Thanks so much for the tip on
salicylates, although it is hard feeding her on a limited diet, it was much
harder seeing her suffering, using steriods on her
skin and keeping up with the constant bandaging. – by
email, Vic
[838]
Toothpaste for sensitive teeth (August 2009)
I’ve been doing a little research about
the ingredients in the available toothpaste options for sensitive teeth – they
all contain colours and flavours, and about half also contain two benzoate
preservatives (which give me throat clearing/coughing for at least an hour
afterwards). Most of them contain Potassium Nitrate as the active ingredient. I
think this chemical is causing me to feel extremely unmotivated, disinterested
in life, sometimes depressed.– by email, Vic.
(Potassium nitrate is preservative 252, one of our nasty additives to avoid. It
is even used in a particular brand of sensitive toothpaste labelled
rather misleadingly “no added preservatives”. See the Nitrates - Alzheimers link in Research, Failsafe Newsletter #61. For
prevention of sensitive teeth, see http://www.saveyoursmile.com/healtharticles/sensitiveteeth.html.
[837]
Feedback on the salicylate and amine mistakes info (August 2009)
Thank you, these information sheets are
most helpful. I have been doing the diet with my son for almost 4 years and
there is always more to learn. He has been having trouble at school of late and
I see where I may have been exacerbated things with my slip ups. I did not realise that not all pumpkin was moderate in sals and that chat potatoes were high. There were also a
few other tidbits that was a great help. – Dianne, by email (you can request
these updated information sheets from suedengate@ozemail.com.au)
[836]
Headaches just stopped dead after 9 years! (July 2009)
For 20 years I have suffered headaches,
daily. Rarely a day goes by when I haven’t had one, often quite severe. There's
not a practitioner or therapist that I have not seen or test that hasn't been
done. Pain management is what I accepted my life to be. I trusted that all
these experts knew that there was no identifiable cause. No one ever suggested
it may be diet related!!! I didn’t consider it either as I ate a healthy diet!
Even after reading Fed Up and the Failsafe Cookbook, I wasn't expecting my
world to be turned around.
After 3 weeks
failsafe: I haven't had a headache since
last Thursday. It has been nearly 9 years since I went a whole week without a
headache. Given my history, there's no way that this is coincidental especially
given that my headaches have been quite severe for a couple of months. They
didn't just lessen in severity slowly, they just stopped dead! …Failsafe is no
sacrifice. I am not missing out. For the last 20 years I have been missing out
and making sacrifices to my quality of life … almost everyone I know now knows
my brief experience and I will continue to spread the word! I keep saying to
myself if only more people knew
After 16 months failsafe …Without a doubt,
food is the cause of my headaches! I am now trying to find the main culprits
and find a balance as my tolerance threshold is very hard to determine. I
completed the elimination diet as recommended by the RPA Allergy unit. The
Failsafe Cookbook and Friendly Food cookbooks were great. For inspiration and a
bit of variety, I also modified many cookbook and magazine recipes. It took me
ages to do the challenges because I felt so good and didn’t want to upset the
apple cart. I was completely Failsafe and felt really good. One day however, I
met up with an old friend and I decided “what the heck, I’ll have that piece of
chocolate cake and wash it down with an iced chocolate!” The next day I woke up
feeling sluggish and I had a headache! I decided to do the challenges so I
could determine what the real cause was so I could resume eating anything that
didn’t affect me. Firstly, I challenged salicylates with no adverse
affects. I was expecting amines to be the culprit after what I had read
and because of my chocolate cake experience. The next challenge was amines. I
indulged in large amounts of chocolate and other amine rich foods as per the
RPA diet recommendations. To my surprise and disappointment, there was no
immediate reaction. About a week or two later, the headaches came back with a
vengeance and lasted for about a month. (Incidentally, I have always had different
and worse headaches with my periods. While Failsafe, the period headaches were
minor to insignificant.)
After the amine challenge and returning to
failsafe, the headaches eventually disappeared. I reintroduced salicylate foods
to my diet. I began becoming less strict with amine rich foods as well, like
the occasional use of tomatoes in a pasta sauce with a sprinkle of cheese,
eating nuts, drinking cola, beer and champagne. The problem is that I don’t get
an immediate reaction after eating something so I don’t know exactly what or
how much is too much. I figure that I have a threshold that I can build up to.
Once that threshold is reached however, the headache can be weeks long, even
though I feel that I have just tipped the scales. The good thing is that I know
I can go out and not have to make a special off the menu order. I choose the
least risky, but if it’s going to contain amines, I just keep to low amines at
home for a while to balance things out. Chocolate, cheese and red wine seem to
be definite no-nos, but most other things I can
handle in small amounts stretched over time. We recently went on a holiday to
Now that I have control over my headaches,
I have returned to study and recently completed 80 hours of work experience as
a Teacher Assistant in a noisy classroom. I feared that the stress and noise
would make my head sensitive and more prone to headaches, but I was so
surprised to reach the end of the day and think “I didn’t have one today!”. There were only 2 afternoons that I had to resort to pain
relief. Before Failsafe, I could not have contemplated study or work outside
the home. Now I am considering going beyond being a Teacher Assistant and
returning to uni to complete a Dip Ed and teach. – Sharyn, by email.
See updated Factsheet on headaches and
migraines http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/factsheets/Factmigraine.htm
[835]
Alzheimers, asthma and apnoea
(July 2009)
I thought I would share with you briefly
my experience of treating my wife who was diagnosed with early onset
Alzheimer's. Apart from the Alzheimer's diagnosis, she suffered from asthma, sleep apnoea, was unable to speak
more than one word at a time and was going down hill very fast. After a lot of
research I decided to put her on to a 90% raw food diet and after one month,
she started to speak the odd phrase. This was marvellous
and only encouraged me to continue. However the amazing thing was after a few
months her asthma symptoms began to disappear and she was able to reduce her
dependence on puffers. After six months even the preventer puffer was reduced
to almost zero and a year later in consultation with the doctor stopped using
puffers altogether. Two and a half years later, she has been symptom free for
two winters so confidently predict it has gone forever. Oh by the way her sleep apnoea
has gone as well. This experience of curing asthma with raw food is not unique
as I have subsequently found out. When visiting your website I realised the raw food diet was eliminating additives.
Commercial raw food has other problems i.e. pesticides, growth promoters etc
but the experience of using commercial raw food has been worthwhile. Would like to eat organic but currently
that's not possible. When visiting, we eat normal food and don't expect others
to provide the food we use at home. - by email
[834]
deleted duplicate
[833]
Apnoea – brief reader reports (July 2009)
·
A nine year old boy from the NT suffered from snoring
and sleep apnoea.
The elimination diet revealed that a few food additives were responsible sunset yellow (110), the bread
preservative (282) and MSG (621). When he later developed the problem while
avoiding his food triggers, fumes from a new mattress turned out to be the
cause.
·
A forty
something father who had struggled with sleep apnoea
and narcolepsy for twenty years discovered through the RPA elimination diet to
his surprise that his problems were due to dietary amines.
·
My son
had chronic apnoea, at 4 we had his adenoids out and
ears cleaned in hospital, fixed the apnoea straight
away, little did I know I could have fixed that with taking him off cows milk. He now has fresh goats milk from Woolworths.
[832]
duplicate deleted
[831]
282: Runny nose due to bread preservative calcium propionate (July 2009)
My fourth baby had the same terrible
broken night sleep pattern as the other three. After struggling for eight
months, she did start to settle down, waking perhaps once a night. This was great until I started her, at 10
months on bread. She immediately returned to night waking - for no apparent
reason- and also had a clear runny nose.
I found that the bread had preservative 282 in it so we stopped feeding
it to her. Within a couple of nights (I guess it had accumulated in her system)
she again settled down to a peaceful nights' sleep! AND her nose cleared up! I
can't believe that it could have been that simple!
[830]
duplicate deleted
[829]
Rhinitis - brief reader comments (July 2009)
·
Some of
the things that have improved on diet: morning cough and rhinitis virtually
gone.
·
I can’t
believe the improvement I’ve had over the last few years since starting the
diet – especially getting away from the constant runny nose.
·
Our two
year old reacts to milk with night cough, dribbling, restless nights and runny
nose +++ - it is hard to avoid milk but is easier than always being at the
hospital or the doctors and having a sick child!
·
I went
through 3 courses of antibiotics for sinus problems before I realised they weren’t helping. When I read your book, I
started the elimination diet the next day. Within three days the sinus problem
completely disappeared - I had had a runny nose, and
headache for seven weeks prior to that! It was clear proof to myself and my mum that something pretty big was happening
when I ate certain foods.
·
My son
had an allergic rhinitis type of reaction with red swollen eyes and nose and
really bad sneezing attacks to some fenugreek capsules I gave him once because
it was suggested that they would help with his allergies. Talk about irony. He
also reacted similarly to a chickpea falafel from the kebab shop. This was
before I knew anything about salicylates.
[828]
621: 635: Better sleep and behaviour without glutamates (July 2009)
I have been a huge fan of your diet, site,
book, cookbook and dvd since
it helped us sort out why our 2 year old girl was misbehaving. We did the full
elimination diet very strictly and passed sals,
amines but failed glutamates. We also avoid the nasty additives but haven't
formally challenged those.
My little girl is now 3 years old. Her
behaviour, sleep and eczema are so much better when she doesn't have glutamate
or additives, however I have felt recently that there
must be something still in her diet that is affecting her as she sometimes has
mood swings, defiance, silly behaviour. I have been giving her home made stock
and slow cooked casseroles thinking they are OK because she passed the amines
challenge and I thought it was just amines that increased with ageing and
cooking time but I recently read in Friendly Food that glutamate does too. –
Michelle, Vic
[827]
635: Tachycardia, arrhythmia and ectopic heart beats (July 2009)
I had been suffering increasing episodes
of tachycardia, arrythmia and ectopic heart beats -
two to three episodes a day. Despite escalating testing with various cardiac
specialists over the past 6 months, nothing was determined apart from the fact
I had high blood pressure and was placed on a low dose of appropriate
medication for that. No known cause for my cardiac anomalies.
Eight days ago I ate a delicious bowl of
my home made potato and leek soup for lunch. I experienced my usual (but scary
and increasingly strong) palpitations and (frustrated, a little frightened and
upset), I broadly Googled "heart
palpitations" on Australian sites. Up came your website that mentioned
'soup' in the first Google lines that came up. Thinking "that's funny, I
just ate soup, I'll have a look at that one before I find what I'm really
after" I looked at it. Well, that's what saved me. What I found there were
countless, comforting, case studies of people just like me, suffering consequences
to MSG (635 in particular), just like me, who didn't know what was causing it.
Just. Like. Me.
For me, it was a revelation, an epiphany.
I was euphoric. My God, what have I been poisoning my family with, for so many
years? Weekly, particularly in winter, I lovingly make risotto, casserole, beef
in red wine, soup, etc, etc. Thinking I'm making healthy foods for my husband
and my children, I've made all these dishes with more than a liberal dash of
commercial stock (cube and/or liquid), all of which (no exceptions, I find) are
loaded with MSG.
I stepped, willingly, into the world of
chemical additives, flavour enhancers, neurotoxins, excitotoxins and ribonucleotides.
I have strenuously avoided any flavour
enhancers (particularly 635) and all MSG in its myriad disguises since that
last bowl of soup. I did not expect things to settle immediately, but I've gone
from having 2-3 cardiac episodes a day and thinking I was going to die like my
father, at 46, to NOT ONE EPISODE IN MORE THAN A WEEK.
Gotta be something to this. I'm eternally grateful for the information you have
on your website and the comfort and advice it gave me. I think you saved my
sanity and my life.
[826]
621: 635: Headaches from 621, asthma-type reaction to 635 (July 2009)
I have been aware of an
intolerance to MSG (621) for many years and mainly suffer with severe
headaches, dehydration and nausea. I steer clear of any preservatives and
flavour enhancers wherever possible, particularly those with #6 at the
beginning. My diet rarely incorporates any packaged or prepared canned foods, I
have eaten take away food but not on a regular basis. In a previous life, I did
eat packaged and prepared foods!
A few years ago, whilst a friend was
cooking a store bought, marinated chicken dish, I suffered blocked nose, mucous
throat and headache, not from eating, but being in the surrounding area.
I recently suffered an episode of severely
blocked nose, thick mucous in throat and tightness in throat/chest, almost
wheezing like an asthmatic. The symptoms started within 10 minutes of eating a
[825]
Weird dreams due to green food colouring (July 2009)
After I eat green food colouring,
first it gets to my head. It confuses my brain and I can’t get to sleep until 9
or half past 9 (usually I go to bed at
[824]
Vivid dreams reduce on diet (July 2009)
For more than 20 years I had dreamt
vividly and had woken each morning exhausted until I started on the diet and in
the last couple of months I have had about 10% of the dreams I used to have.
Shona, by email
[823]
Salicylate dreams ‘like war movie’ (July 2009)
I started on failsafe ten years ago when I
was a teenager. Salicylates are the worst for me. They cause what I call
'salicylate dreams'. They’re like watching a war movie, and I am unable to stop
it. – by email
[822]
Lying awake half the night from megavitamins (July 2009)
I am a 68 year-old with no health problems
except the beginning of muscular stiffness. I’d like to know if [a certain all
natural megavitamin supplement with bioflavonoids and strong fruit extracts]
contains any additives not noted on the labels. I honestly cannot note any
difference except that my sleep pattern has changed. Previously a 'go to bed
and drop off' person I now find myself either lying awake half the night or
going to sleep and waking in the small hours of the morning– from Questions in
Failsafe Newsletter #59 . (It is common for natural vitamins especially when
chewable to contain very strong fruit extracts that can cause this kind of
salicylate reaction. In a similar report to the same supplements a mother
wrote: ‘all four kids reacted for a week - silly jumping around, wouldn't
listen, couldn't concentrate, fighting with each other
- the little ones were the worst - I couldn't believe it, just from one tiny
little pill’)
[821]
Snoring and sleep apnoea due to foods and new
mattress (July 2009)
A nine year old boy from the NT suffered from
snoring and sleep apnoea. The elimination diet revealed that a few food
additives were responsible
sunset yellow (110), the bread preservative (282) and MSG (621).
When he later developed the problem while avoiding his food triggers, fumes
from a new mattress turned out to be the cause. – from
Failsafe Newsletter #1. See http://www.chem-tox.com/beds/frame-beds.htm for
hundreds of reports of health problems mostly in adults due to chemicals in new
mattresses.
[820]
Sleepwalking from synthetic antioxidants (July 2009)
We’d been failsafe for several years when
we ate some hot chips (BHA 320) several times while on a holiday. My son’s
sleep talking and sleep walking which had stopped on the diet came back again
the nights we had chips. – by email See also Failsafe
Story [596]
[819]
Night terrors gone in two weeks on diet (July 2009)
“My sister’s 3 yo
son suffers from night terrors. He is a bright, happy boy during the day but
his constant inconsolable screaming at night is distressing. He eats large
amounts of fresh fruit and vegies.
3 weeks later: “My sister cannot believe
the difference. She is making everything failsafe. Her son has had his first
week in more than two years, without waking, screaming etc.” – by email
[818]
Apnoea, Alzheimers and
asthma (July 2009)
I thought I would share with you briefly
my experience of treating my wife who was diagnosed with early onset
Alzheimer's. Apart from the Alzheimer's diagnosis, she suffered from asthma, sleep apnoea, was unable to speak
more than one word at a time and was going down hill very fast. After a lot of
research I decided to put her on to a 90% + raw food diet and after one month,
she started to speak the odd phrase. This was marvellous
and only encouraged me to continue. However the amazing thing was after a few
months her asthma symptoms began to disappear and she was able to reduce her
dependence on puffers. After six months even the preventer puffer was reduced
to almost zero and a year later in consultation with the doctor stopped using
puffers altogether. Two and a half years later, she has been symptom free for
two winters so confidently predict it has gone forever. Oh By the way her sleep apnoea
has gone as well. This experience of curing asthma with raw food is not unique
as I have subsequently found out. When visiting your website I realised the raw food diet was eliminating additives. Commercial raw food has other problems i.e.
pesticides, growth promoters etc but the experience of using commercial raw
food has been worthwhile. Would like to
eat organic but currently that's not possible. When visiting, we eat normal
food and don't expect others to provide the food we use at home. - by email
[817]
Nose full of swollen tissue – now sleeping better (July 2009)
My 6 year old son is allergic to dust,
cats, and sensitive to some food additives. So far we have had reactions to
621-635 and 160b and are looking at 282 now. Just wanting to
thank you for putting us on the right track to start with. Our son's
nose was 90% full of swollen tissue. He was working 20% harder to breath giving him terrible headaches etc. He is now starting
to feel better, sleeping better, behaving better (prev
we were told it was adhd - have my doubts now) and
generally feeling better - by email
[816]
Rhinitis due to dairy foods (July 2009)
A nine-year-old was taking medication for
rhinitis that was so bad that he couldn’t breathe or talk properly. When this
boy eliminated milk as the last stage of going failsafe, both his behaviour and
rhinitis improved dramatically. His mother explained: ‘Our paediatrician
was really surprised. He said he could tell the rhinitis was better, because
the hairs in his nose have grown back.’
- from Fed Up!
(included on the Rhinitis factsheet because
rhinitis can contribute to snoring)
[815]
Runny nose due to salicylates including mint flavoured
toothpaste (July 2009)
Three years ago I started the RPAH
elimination diet and discovered I was suffering intolerance (to dairy as well
as other food chemicals. Although other symptoms cleared up) there were a few
niggling things, particularly the blocked and running nose, always having my
sleeve or back pocket loaded with tissues, ready for the inevitable moment. I
had always suffered this morning and evening ritual of a running nose so 'just
lived with it'. (Trying the diet again 3 years later) after a week of full
elimination, the runny nose persisted. I read and re-read through your
checklist of common mistakes and decided to try plain toothpaste which I never
did 3 years ago as my dietician at the time said, 'oh you don't have to give up
toothpaste if you don't want to - everything else though' and I never really
considered it could cause me such suffering.
Well well well. A truly amazing change has occurred for me.
No more nose blowing at breakfast time or when I'm
settling into bed at night. The tap has officially been turned off! (included on the Rhinitis
factsheet because rhinitis can contribute to snoring)
[814]
Depression and anxiety due to processed foods (June 2009) COURAGE
AWARD
I am total agreement with your stories
regarding depression etc due to food intolerance. I suffered for about ten
years trying all sorts of things. I was depressed, anxious and had a host of
strange sensations and numbness, foggy, bad tempered, the list goes on.
The diet I followed was basically to eat
non processed foods, and I believe what I was actually eliminating was flavour
enhancers, including HVP and other hidden enhancers. I have felt that MSG has
been my downfall, although things like other additives are excluded.
I continue to work now at 66, with a clear
head and vitality. I am angry at the time I have spent seeing doctors and
withdrawing from society due to low esteem and negative feelings. Angry is a
little strong and just relieved that I have found relief without
drugs/medication of any sort.
As with some of the other people who have
written in, I found relief by my own experimentation. Dangerous, but I did it.
And it worked. I have relayed my story to many people and doctors, and I would
say most of them don’t really believe that this will work, and that is the
problem. I understand that, because in my earlier days I would have thought the
same.
Following my diet was very difficult with
only a little change in the early stages (like the first week), and in the
early days, I didn’t think it would work. Luckily I stuck to it. I try to
impress people that the diet appears boring but in the end one’s sanity is the
objective. It took me about two weeks for a reasonable and significant
improvement, and two months for complete and total freedom from symptoms. –
Ralph, by email
[813]
Amines causing a ‘locked in’ reaction in a 2 yo (June
2009)
I had to email you to say THANK YOU for
saving my sanity!
My 2 yr old was having some terrible
behavioural problems, in the form of waking up either from her day sleep or
night sleep in an absolute distraught state. She would be inconsolable and it
would go on for nearly an hour until I could somehow ‘break’ it. I could never
predict what mood she would wake up in and I dreaded it every day. I described
her as being ‘locked in’ and I couldn't reach her. Her eyes would glaze over
and nothing I did could snap her out of it.
All I could do was let her burn out. I knew something wasn't right
because why should any child wake up in a tantrum? But it was worse than a tantrum.
Thankfully I mentioned it to the right mums
at playgroup who got me onto your book.
What an eye-opener!!!! I think
every mother should be discharged from hospital with their baby under one arm
and your book under the other arm!
After educating myself with your book, I
ransacked our pantry and threw away about 50% of what I had. I found the Vegeta seasoning I used nearly every night on our dinner
was full of MSG. I found the cheesy rice crackers the girls were having every
day were also full of MSG. This was not
good.
However, I finally pinpointed what it was
that made her so volatile - amines!!!!
She was having bananas and grapes every day, some days she would even
have two bananas. I quickly banned these
two foods and the difference in my child was amazing. She now wakes up a happy child! Recently I let my guard down and let her have
bananas again and saw the effects after about 4-5 days of having one each
day. I even suspected she was having
night terrors. And then I remembered the amines! After three days of no
bananas, she was back to her usual self.
Thank you!
Thank you! Thank you! – Pauline,
QLD
[812]
Asthma researchers ignore the evidence - breathlessness, sleep apnea,
tachycardia, pins and needles, anxiety from
preservatives (June 2009)
What is amazing to me is that the
researchers don’t seem to be aware that some preservatives and flavour
enhancers can also give you asthma or make symptoms worse. I've experienced
this first hand. I regularly consumed a so called healthy cereal every day that
contained dried fruit which was laced with preservatives. My symptoms of
breathlessness, sleep apnea, tachycardia, pins and needles, anxiety etc. kept
getting worse. I ended up in casualty at the local hospital several times, but
they could not discover the cause. I had heart checks, x-rays, stress tests and
still no answers. Finally at a party one of the guests refused certain food and
proceeded to tell me about her allergic reactions to food additives. As she was
describing her reactions, I realised her symptoms
were identical to mine. She told me about your website. I went home that night
and threw out everything in my pantry with food additives and I slowly
recovered. I'm very careful now, but eating out is a challenge and that is
where I get caught out, even when I choose healthy options such as a salad or
sandwich. At the airport I had a turkey and salad sandwich and within 20
minutes I was really struggling to breath - Miryana
by email.
[811]
Terrible debilitating headaches/migraines from salicylates (June 2009)
I have always suffered terrible,
debilitating headaches/ migraines! After several brain scans the doctor
recommended I take medications as a preventative measure, this would be a life
long therapy. Not being keen I went armed with your books and stated I wished
to try this failsafe diet first. My doctor supported my wishes with some
skepticism. My success has been life changing! I have lost 8 kilos (not that I
was looking towards this goal), no headaches until my salicylate challenge and
a healthy and happy family all round. Thank you for your time and efforts. –
Tania, QLd
[810]
635: My sister’s reaction to 635 in Thai food (June 2009)
My sister ate Thai food 3 days in a row
(Fri, Sat, Sun). On Monday morning she had an itchy
rash and face that looked like she had been hit (red, swollen, hive type rash).
Over the next 4 days the rash only got worse. It moved from head to chest, to
legs, all over her body – a different spot every day. Antihistamines had no
effect. Eventually she went to the Emergency Department and a doctor thought
"not food related" but a nurse suggested it might have been.
They prescribed a corticosteroid (I think)
which began to make an impact. But reading the info on your website re ribo rash - it all made sense. She has since noticed the rash on a smaller
scale after eating CC's with 621 and 635. – by email,
Vic [The 635 in Thai food can be in the soy sauce or fish sauce]
[809]
Failsafe holiday on the road (June 2009)
We've just finished a great 3 1/2 week
driving holiday around
The trip was great - it would be fantastic
if other people could pass on their experiences about how they maintain their
diet when travelling - especially those going gluten-free. – Jodie, by email
(send other failsafe holiday reports via suedengate@ozemail.com.au
[808]
From multiple daily tantrums to none in two weeks of
failsafe eating (June 2009)
I have five children aged 1, 7, 8, 10 and
11. It was the behaviour of my 8 year old daughter which prompted me to try
FAILSAFE. Since about the age of 2 this daughter has had what seemed like
multiple daily tantrums – consistently over 10 per day. Prior to this she was an extremely easy going
toddler, but a reflux baby (as were all my children). She was so easy in fact
that I used to call her my calming factor in the family and her daycare carer once described her as a little pot plant that you
just placed in the corner, fed and watered her and watched her grow.
Earlier this year I reached a rather scary
place where, even though I love my daughter to death, I often didn’t like being
with her because the tantrums would start the moment she got up and seemed to
go on until she finally went to sleep at night. I dreaded picking her up from
school as it inevitably meant her storming out to me at the car and immediately
complaining about something which soon resulted in constant sibling rivalry
with my 7 year old daughter increasingly becoming the victim of my 8 year old s
assault. The entire household was on edge and her behaviour was extremely
disruptive to all of us.
Over the years I have read several
parenting books and tried many approaches: reward charts, time outs,
consequences, firm approach, soft approach and nothing seemed to work. The
bigger she grew the worse her tantrums became, reaching a climax earlier this
year when she started to throw any item she could find at any of us. I should
also add that over the years my daughter has developed several food aversions.
The turning point for me was when I saw
her behaviour change before my eyes after eating food at a party. It suddenly
dawned on me that perhaps the food she was eating was affecting her behaviour.
That’s when I conducted some internet research and stumbled across your
website. Despite my family eating what I would call a well balanced healthy
diet, I was surprised to learn that there were still several healthy foods
which could affect behaviour. The most fantastic thing about your website for
people in my position was that I could download The Failsafe Booklet which
provided me sufficient information to try the diet out without having to spend
money on purchasing books upfront when I didn’t know if it would work or not. I
started the whole family on Failsafe following this booklet to the best of my
ability.
To my absolute surprise, within 24 hours I
had a totally different daughter. After 2 weeks of no tantrums my husband was
forced to agree that the diet made a huge difference also. I reclaimed my calm,
happy and pleasant daughter which was very emotional for me because I had
forgotten how sweet she could be. The entire household was calmer (mainly down
to my 8 year old’s improvement but I did notice a
slight improvement in behaviour in my other children in terms of them being
less irritable and more cooperative) and I not only looked forward to picking
up my daughter from school again but she would actually skip out to the car and
greet me nicely - what a transformation. Her teacher reported her concentration
in class was better and the sibling rivalry was what I would call normal. At
this point I purchased the books and DVD. The recipe book is fantastic and gave
me a larger variety of meals and baking options to choose from, plus a much
more detailed shopping list.
I have struggled to keep my family
Failsafe, mainly due to time constraints, but there are a few dietary changes
which have stuck. For example, I bake my own bread now, my 8 year old daughter
drinks magic cordial instead of commercial cordial and uses 100% maple syrup on
her toast instead of honey, peanut butter or vegemite/promite,
and I purchase Failsafe grocery products whenever I can. She doesn’t consume
much fruit as this is an area where she has developed several aversions over
the years. Overall, we seem to have reached a happy balance whereby we are no
longer 100% Failsafe but my daughter’s behaviour has improved immensely.
Thank you for your wonderful website and
all the incredible insight into the world of additives. I truly had no idea. – Nikki, by email
[807]
The ‘anti-inflammatory effect’: back pain and
arthritis helped by low salicylates (June 2009)
I am 60 and since March 2005 (4 years)
have been avoiding salicylates and wholemeal bread to
help with arthritis and back pain. I have noticed a really big improvement in
the long term. I no longer have pain or
jangly nerves and no trouble with stairs. The pleasure is back into walking.
When my back gets sore it doesn't seem to go into that spiral that it used to,
laying me up for days. It complains a bit, but doesn't seize up anymore. I call
it an anti-inflammatory effect. Somehow
the vicious circle seems to be interrupted.
I think keeping muscles strong is also
very important for backs and health in general so I bought myself an electric
bike (you have to pedal but you can turn on the oomph if you need it). That
represented a big increase in activity as I did two very big hill climbs a
couple of times a week over the summer. – Helen, by email
[806]
Story [342] Part 2: Helpless, hopeless depression five years on (June 2009)
I wrote story 342 (Helpless, hopeless
depression due to salicylates: I have suffered depression since at least age 15
and am 38 now …) five years ago when I was relatively new to Failsafe, about a
year and a half in. It has taken me a long time to figure out all the finer
points, and I'm probably still learning. But it's a journey back to myself. I am now not the same person I was even five years
ago, discovering new parts to me all the time, as I take back control. The
secret for me is to keep looking, recording what I eat, and asking questions.
When I have too much of the chemicals that
I react to (I can tolerate a bit more of the three natural chemicals now) the
following happens: amines make me angry, like ODD. Salicylates (now) make me
vague and panicky, uptight with others, because I can't think straight.
Glutamates make me cry, uncontrollably sad. Synthetic antioxidants make me very
anxious, but it's a build up effect. I didn't realise
this for a long time, as I very rarely have too much of things like take away
hot chips, until a recent long holiday. I also suspect soy and dairy as having
a build up effect on my mood, and must be totally gluten free. I only took out
gluten about 1.5 years ago, as I still had some unexplained joint pain. Didn't realise it was connected with my moods, till I came off it
and had severe withdrawals - headaches, depression, diarrhoea.
On challenging it, I had severe depression, disconnection with reality, had
trouble making my body respond to my brain, like I couldn't make a decision to
move, and terrible anxiety. So even though I was doing very well on Failsafe
and not gluten free, I'm doing even better off gluten. My body just doesn't
want it back now, and I sure don't either! – by email,
Vic
[805]
Depression and preservatives (June 2009)
I do wonder if what mainstream media call
the epidemic of depression is in fact an epidemic of food
intolerances/sensitivities (or if I want to be more inflammatory, the poisoning
of modern mankind!) And
ADHD? I can only assume that a
large proportion of children diagnosed with this in fact have the same kind of
intolerances as our daughter.
When our 9 year old has consumed nitrates
or other preservatives she becomes what I could only describe as deeply
depressed, highly irritable, intolerant to noise and these days, self
destructive. Any errors we have made in food the last months have led to her
to:
- Attempt to jump off a balcony
- Scratch her nails deeply into her legs
- Bang her head on the refrigerator
- Threaten to kill her self.
No one who knows this child at school
would believe that this is what we endure at home when she accidentally gets
the wrong ingredients. Interestingly she will hold onto this behaviour at
school and explode with it at home, if her diet has a hiccup earlier in the
day.
Failsafers will know the rest of that story - tuck shop is off
limits, birthday parties are a no no, all the other
children in the family complain about the items (ice cream) that they can no
longer have. - Amanda, by email
[804]
Fragrance free spray on deodorant for fussy hubby makes a difference (June
2009)
Just a quick note to say thanks! I react
very badly to any synthetic style fragrances and hubby refuses to use a roll
on. My pharmacy ordered in the QV unscented spray deodorant you recommended and
fussy hubby has used it no problems. I also bought the Schick sensitive shave
gel (unscented) that was mentioned in the newsletter (Big W stocks it). No more
headaches, watery eyes and sneezing for me in the morning now. WooHoo! – Danielle, by email
[803]
‘After failsafe kicked in he started to make friends’ (June 2009)
Thank you so very much for doing all you
do. You have improved my family’s life immensely. My 5 yo
son is now at school, and if I hadn’t found failsafe when I did last year, I’m
sure that he would have been in the principal’s office on a regular basis for
behavioural problems. He had spent three terms of kinder year not making a
single friend at kinder, and having anxiety about going there, not to mention
the tantrums he threw while he was there. After failsafe kicked in, he loved
going and started to make a couple of friends.
He is at the end of his second term at school, and has done so well,
made a number of good friends, has learned heaps and - has never been sent to the
principal’s office!! There is still a way to go in educating the teachers in
schools, but I am taking this one day at a time. - Joanne, Vic
[802]
One-liners (June 2009)
"I thought I would let you know that
one of the dietitians recommended on the list you kindly mailed me was
extremely helpful and was exactly the help I needed with the elimination diet I
had begun. I cannot recommend her highly enough. I think it is too difficult to
complete an elimination diet with just an outline of the diet from the doctor
(as it was in my case) as your only guide" - Donna, Qld
"Failsafe (in a nut shell) saved our
daughter and family! Thank you for the change in our family and quality of life
for our daughter!!!! It means so much to
have people like you out there!!!" –
"We have been following failsafe
since November last year and the changes have been wonderful. If there is an
occasional slip-up then we know about it! My son doesn't have violent tantrums
any more. He still gets upset over things, but we can reason with him and he
calms down quickly. My daughter doesn't wet the bed unless she has salicylates
so we can minimise that." - Alison, NSW.
"Your work is very admirable and I
personally thank you for educating me about food and their effects on our
health / behaviour. You both deserve an award for what you do!" - Kelly,
QLD is this one too many Your work type comments?
“It's of comfort (and inspiring) for me to
know there are others doing FS, GF, DF and low fructose” – by email - see our
new fructose
malabsorption factsheet
“Regarding chemicals not food: my son had
an allergic reaction to the current Auskick brown and
yellow striped socks. I forgot to wash the socks before he wore them (as
recommended by the manufacturer). He got hives on his feet and ankles” – Lara,
by email
“Your books and the Failsafe Network are
huge lifelines for me with my 2 year old daughter who has IBS reactions to a
wide range of foods and food chemicals” - Janelle by email
[801]
Potassium sorbate makes my son clingy, crying (June
2009)
I have a 6 year old son who I already knew
was intolerant to some foods. He has periods of eczema (which we have been able
to control with his diet) and we have avoided these things for years. Luckily,
because he was basically born with eczema, I had been very careful about
introducing foods. I started giving him crumpets for breakfast when he was 2.
He would be fine after eating them, however when he woke from his sleep he
would be screaming and hitting me, very violent and uncontrollable. I initially
thought it was hunger, as I found that when I gave him something to eat he
would calm down. Anyway, to cut a long story short. I found out about
preservative 282 and cut it out completely. He was normal again!!
On and off over the years I discovered
other things that affected him, so I added those to my list of things to avoid.
A few months ago we went over to
[800]
200, 160b, 320: Big “no-no’s” cause cramping and diarrhea (June 2009)
I am a 43 mother and have done the RPA elim diet. I have Colitis that was triggered by a single
episode of food poisoning ten years ago. It took a long time to get a diagnosis
of microscopic colitis. For a long time I was told that it was irritable bowel.
Finally a colonoscopy and biopsy showed it - a very under-diagnosed condition.
My big 3 "no-no's" are: annatto 160b, synthetic antioxidants such as
BHA 320, and sorbates. All of those cause cramping
and diarrhoea. – Kate, by email
[799]
Warning: Perfumes in masks for kids’ anaesthetics
(June 2009)
I work in an operating theatre. One day
last week we had a few kids on the list and I asked what the awful smell was.
The result after process of elimination was, it was
the oxygen masks. It seems that the kid size oxygen masks now come scented. I'm
referring to the masks they hold over the face as the patient is going to
sleep. I asked why they are scented and apparently it's supposed to be less
stressful for the kid if it can smell something nice.
SO, to the parents of kids that are
sensitive to smells, make sure you ask the anaesthetist
about the masks if your child needs an operation. I don't know if we've still
got unscented ones, I couldn't find any (but that doesn't mean anything). I
made a point of letting them know it could cause major issues for kids with
problems and all I could get as a response was, "but it's non
allergenic". AARRGGGHHHH!! We've
got cherry and strawberry, which don't really smell like they should. - Jane,
by email (Like the fruit they represent, strong fruit flavoured perfumes will
be high in salicylates).
[798]
2 years of behaviour problems related to unlisted artificial colour in fluoride
tablets (June 2009)
On
We have been involved with your network
for some time now, whilst trying to overcome our daughter’s intolerance to the
numerous additives found in foods and other products. Although we have worked
with a dietician and followed all the recommended advice in relation to
elimination diets and food challenges, we never seemed to achieve the results
we hoped for.
It was only a fortnight ago that it
occurred to us to check the ingredients of the fluoride tablets. There was no
information on the actual bottle and no information available on the
manufacturer's website, so I called their Consumer Information Service. I
requested they forward a list of ingredients to me, to which they promptly
refused, stating such details were confidential for ‘proprietary reasons’. Only
through sheer persistence was I able to get the ingredients list ... it was not
sent to me, it was read out over the phone.
I was initially given the colouring agent as CI 15985. I complained that this number
was used within the industry but not widely known by consumers. They
reluctantly told me CI 15985 was also known as FD&C yellow. Further
prompting was required to get the equivalent term Sunset yellow. Finally they
told me Food additive 110 is also another name for it.
We can see we had been making a huge
mistake and stopped the tablets immediately. Over the past two weeks we have
seen our daughter’s behaviour and learning abilities progressively improve to
the point where she is a different little girl; happier, more co-operative and
less oppositional.
We are now very angry that we mistakenly
trusted a recommended pharmaceutical product that effectively has contributed
to diminishing our daughter’s general well being.
Since the launch of the Kids First
Campaign calling for the phasing out of additives such as 110, I was curious to
find out if I could get the same information from the manufacturer and called
their Consumer Information Service once again.
This time I was not so successful. I asked
the representative where I could find information about the tablets on their
website. I was pointed to another website which listed the product (copy of
page supplied) but still no declaration of ingredients. When questioned, she
replied that the tablets do not contain sugar or alcohol. I told them I needed
a full list of ingredients to be emailed to me. Only after much persistence and
placing me on hold to check with her ‘colleague’, did she take my email
address, agreeing to forward the information I had asked for.
She also asked me for a contact number
should the need arise. Sure enough, about two hours later I received a call
from the representative, informing me that she had since been advised by her
‘supervisor’ she was not allowed to send the information after all.
Next I asked to speak to her supervisor. I
asked the supervisor why the representative was told not to send the information
after saying that she would. The supervisor replied "oh she's just new
here and didn't know." The supervisor went on to say that their product is
listed with the Therapeutic Goods Administration and they are not required by
legislation to reveal the ingredients. After pursuing that matter further with
her I was informed the only way to get the information is to go to a GP or a
registered health professional who can then request the information from the
manufacturer direct. She informed me that our GP could request the information
by writing to her (the supervisor).
Despite the fact that we were able to
source the ingredients in the first instance and have since stopped using the
tablets, there is an underlying major issue that clearly needs addressing. As
parents we are continually battling to find out the necessary information about
such additives and preservatives to ensure the health and well being of our
children, only to find that manufacturers hide behind terms such as
‘proprietary information’ or ‘trade secret’. I hope you find this information
equally disturbing. I would like to know what we can do to evoke change in the
regulations around the labelling of food and medicines. – Darren, Vic
[797]
Behaviour and night terror induced by potassium sorbate
(202) in Panamax (June 2009)
When my son had a nasty chest
infection/bronchitis I gave him crushed up Panamax paracetamol 4-hourly for a couple of days, as well as the
inners of amoxil capsules.
A couple of days later, his behaviour was
absolutely shocking and it culminated in him having a night terror one evening,
the most severe one he has had since being failsafe since last September.
I knew something was going on, and I
decided to check up about Panamax – and discovered it
has potassium sorbate (202) in it. We have not yet
done any challenges on additives as we already avoid dairy and salicylates, so
decided to pretty much stay additive-free. However, we do seem to be okay with
moderate amounts of pure MSG and amines.
I strongly suspect that his behaviour and
night terror were induced by the preservative 202. What angers me more is that
I was completely unaware of the existence of the preservative in this product,
due to the lack of these medicine companies having to label their products. Our
kids are already sick when we need to give these drugs to them, and they need
to get better, but how can they when their body is also trying to fight against
an artificial preservative?
Even when I asked at the chemist for a
preservative-free paracetamol, they were not able to
tell me what was in the products they sold. If only we could have good
information about what is in these medical items, ie.
through labelling. I don’t accept the excuse that
there isn’t enough room on the packaging – if a box of soap can list its
numerous chemical ingredients, so should a box of pain relief or any other
medicine.
Please use our experience in your endeavours to fight for better information labelling on
medicines – it’s our kid’s future. – Joanne, Vic
Update: this reader was using an old box
of Panamax. The formulation hasn’t changed but the labelling has: Panamax boxes now
list potassium sorbate on the label. For young
children, ask for our recipe for additive-free children’s paracetamol.
(We would like to hear any other reports of reactions to sorbates
– email suedengate@ozemail.com.au)
[796]
Kids get thrush from salicylates (June 2009)
My kids (3-year-old and 15-month-old) get
thrush as a sals reaction … Many thanks for all of
your work. I just can’t thank you enough
for the difference in my kids – M from NZ
[795]
Thrush from a supplement (June 2009)
I have been wondering why I was regularly
getting thrush despite being on a low salicylate diet. Then I challenged with a
multivitamin I had been using until recently (not one recommended by RPA) and
it gave me thrush immediately. – Lea, NSW
[794]
Thrush and a preserved herbal drink (June 2009)
I am interested in the possible effects of
sodium benzoate. I note that this
preservative is used in an aloe vera drink. When I
increased my dose of the aloe vera drink, it was
around the same time that I developed a case of candida. [Aloe vera contain
salicylates, so it could be a combination of the salicylates in the drink drink as well as sodium benzoate preservative which is
chemically very similar to salicylates.] -
by email
[793]
Urinary urgency in a nine-year-old (June 2009)
I have a nine-and-half-year-old daughter
who has a day and night time bladder problem (urinary urgency) since the age of
3. I have seen all the specialists, psychologists, and natural helpers
available. By the age of 8 she was, as it seemed, growing out of it. But after
reading your book, Fed up, I linked it to preservatives, flavours and colours.
Coincidently I was cutting down after our son had behavioural problems, and I
heard you speak around that time. I took your advice and cut out the bread
preservative first and then other things, but I didn't take salicylates
seriously yet, especially with our daughter because she is so thin and a fussy
eater. Her bladder problem seemed to creep back when Grandma was buying
strawberries for her alone, as she knows our son could not have them.
Then when her brother was doing the
salicylate challenge she was indulging in all these foods too, and of course
her bladder problem is so evident now. – by email.
[792]
Cystitis and diet (June 2009)
I had suffered repeated attacks of
cystitis and infections which damaged my kidneys. ‘If you don’t take these
antibiotics, you won’t live to be forty,’ my doctor had warned me, and talked
about kidney transplants.The antibiotics made me feel
sick all the time, didn’t prevent the attacks and probably set me up for irritable
bowel symptoms later on. I stopped taking the medication, changed my diet and
never had another attack. I had noticed that red wine and citrus seemed to
cause my attacks although my doctors ignored this observation. ‘Your condition
resembles analgesic abuse,’ commented one specialist. I had rarely taken
painkillers but I had eaten a diet very high in salicylates which are part of
the same family as aspirin. – from Fed Up by Sue
Dengate
[791]
UTIs, cystitis, interstitial cystitis (IC) and painful bladder syndrome (PBS)
(June 2009)
I have had painful bladder syndrome for
over four years now. I have no damage to my bladder lining so in Australia it
is not called Interstitial Cystitis but I have hypersensitivity of the bladder
nerves which gives me constant bladder discomfort. Diet could not control
completely so now I take Lyrica and Endep to calm the nerve pain. In the
My symptoms presented after a series of
bad
[790]
A case of cystitis – “OUCH” (June 2009)
I recently had a case of cystitis (or
urinary tract infection) - fairly mild but still uncomfortable.
I didn't want to try herbal remedies
because I knew they weren't failsafe but in the end I did because I was so
desperate!! "OUCH" is all I can say about the whole experience. None
of the herbs or naturopathic remedies I tried did anything at all to help
relieve the infection and as expected, a fresh herbal mixture from a naturopath
made me feel terrible - fuzzy head and a terrible night's sleep with lots of
weird dreams!
Luckily, after some frantic research, I
found info on d-mannose and it was the only thing that finally worked for me.
Once I got some of the powder, I started taking a dose every two hours for a
few days and it gave me relief very quickly and cleared the problem within
days. Having been an IBS sufferer (pre-Failsafe) I was worried I might get some
adverse reactions from it but it didn't seem to bother my tummy.
I'm also staying well clear of the
salicylates too. I definitely agree that they are a contributing factor (they
really do cause their fair share of problems don't they!) – Jodie, by email
[789]
Failsafe plus low fat for peri-menopausal symptoms (June 2009)
I am a woman
in my mid 40s and have been failsafe for 5 years or more. I notice I am
starting to have a little more insomnia, and irritability, and some other
symptoms which I attribute to peri-menopause. Thank you so much for your extra
information about low fat diets for menopausal symptoms. It really makes sense.
I know when I indulge in a big steak with potatoes, lots of butter and whole
milk I get extreme breast tenderness the next day and feel warm all over. I
will keep you posted, but I really think this could greatly help some of my
symptoms. 6 months later: Thank you for your information regarding menopause,
it seems to be working - by email,
[788]
Coeliac diagnosis results in pregnancy (June 2009)
I attended one of your talks 12 months ago
where you mentioned a link between coeliac disease and infertility. Since we
have been trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant, I had a test for coeliacs and it was positive so I went gluten free and am
now the very proud mother of a new baby. I just wanted to say thank you! – by email, Vic
[787]
Unexpectedly pregnant after starting failsafe (June
2009)
Is pregnancy a side effect of going failsafe ? because that’s what
happened to me. We had been trying for a while and had sort of given up. I
never thought that changing my diet would help but I fell pregnant within a few
months of going failsafe. – by email (failsafe but not
gluten-free)
[786]
Unexpected pregnancy when food issues sorted out (June 2009)
I have become pregnant unexpectedly. At 41
too, yikes! I think once I sorted out all my food issues somewhat, my fertility
increased, whoops! Jane, by email [failsafe, gluten free, dairy free, and most recently reduced fructose]
[785]
Morning sickness and intolerance to lactose, salicylates and amines (June 2009)
I have been failsafe now for 4 1/2 years
and am very sensitive to salicylates, all of the artificial additives I have
challenged, lactose, and especially amines. In my first two pregnancies I had
strong cravings for cheese, cheese flavoured snacks, and cola soft drinks, I
also had horrendous morning sickness (actually all day sickness for the whole
pregnancy), and during the second pregnancy I was hospitalised
for dehydration due to non-stop vomiting. By my third pregnancy I had become
more aware of my lactose intolerance and did not touch any dairy products or
cheese flavoured anything (by luck I stuck to failsafe soymilk), thereby
unwittingly eliminating almost all amines from my diet and a lot of the
additives I normally consumed. I was so well throughout the pregnancy, compared
to the first two. I stumbled across the Fed-Up book when my youngest child was
12 months old and as we worked out our intolerances I slowly realised why I had had such terrible ‘morning’ sickness.
Now that I am so much healthier it is almost tempting to conduct a Failsafe
experiment and have another baby just to see what a completely Failsafe pregnancy
would be like. However three is enough right now. –
Jen, NSW
[784]
Morning sickness and salicylates (June 2009)
I am 15 weeks pregnant with my fourth child
and once again I've had a big problem with toothpaste and morning sickness. It
was the worst with the first pregnancy, basically, I would feel a bit queasy
before brushing and as soon as I cleaned my teeth I would throw up. As in the
other pregnancies I've also gone off a lot of my favourite
high salicylate foods and am completely unable to handle caffeine and chocolate
(makes me very anxious and heart palpitations). – Julia
[783]
Morning sickness and salicylates 2 (June 2009)
I suffered from terrible morning,
afternoon and evening sickness when pregnant with my son (now 7). The only
foods I could eat that didn't cause problems were cheese on toast, bananas and
chocolate milkshakes.[these foods are all low in
salicylates although not failsafe due to amines] We also had problems with
breastfeeding - he would throw up most of what I fed him. Perhaps he was
sensitive to salicylates passing through the breast milk. Needless to say we
gave up on that after struggling for two months. (he
was far happier on solids at 2 and a half months). Later down the track when
trying to solve his behaviour and asthma issues, we tried (as a last resort)
failsafe eating, and guess what? we are both sensitive
to salicylates but not amines. If I'd known then what I know now... by email
[782]
Morning sickness and other symptoms in mother and children due to diet (June
2009)
We only found out about "Fed Up With Food Additives" when Maternal & Child
Health nurse suggested we look at a possible problem with food chemicals for
our youngest child’s (14 months) eating disorder. However, now that I think
about it, I was violently ill during my pregnancies after eating high
salicylate foods - particularly broccoli, cucumber and citrus fruits – even the
smell of these foods would make me queasy.
My IBS symptoms have cleared up since I
have reduced the number of high salicylate foods in my diet (I was doing it for
the kids so also have adjusted my husband's diet and my own). I used to think I was doing the right thing
by eating a huge fruit salad every day, and wondered why my digestive system
was so messed up. I have also suffered
from a hives-like rash all over my thighs for the past few years and couldn't
work it out - I now have long rash free periods after avoiding dried fruit as
much as possible, as well as msg, yeast extract, 627,
635 etc. We avoid additives as much as
possible but occasionally I slip up and we really notice the effects now.
My 9 year old daughter seems to become
very vague and forgetful with amines - especially cheese - and we have found
our 3 year old son to react badly to glutamates - he becomes quite aggressive
and uncontrollable. The other thing we
have noticed is the effect of colours - my daughter becomes very silly and
hyperactive - for example, today she had a ‘slushie’
at the local shops that a family member bought for her - tonight she is jumping
all over the house, falling off chairs, making silly noises and facial
expressions etc. But I'm sure you've
heard all of this before!
I have found the effects on my kids
particularly interesting, as when I was a child, I was unable to have food with
MSG (I got severe migraines including vomiting) and red-coloured
foods/cordial made me vomit badly. Thank
you so much for really making a difference to our lives. – Michelle by email
[781]
Morning sickness and amine intolerance (June 2009)
It has taken 8 years for me to find out
why certain foods made me so sick during my last pregnancy and still do! I had
constantly complained to my GP that even the smell of cooking meat made me feel
ill during pregnancy. If I touched anything with even a small amount of banana
or avocado in it, I would be in bed for 24 hrs feeling like I was going to die.
I also found chocolate, ice cream and coffee made me sick. My GP’s response:
‘that’s strange’! It wasn’t until last year when my 8 year old daughter became
unwell, that it was all figured out. Initially she had a lymph node biopsy for
lymphoma and then was tested for lupus and referred to a paediatric
rheumatologist. It was through chance that my middle daughter who is lactose
intolerant was referred to a dietician due to a flare up of her irritable bowel
symptoms. I happened to discuss my eight year olds symptoms with the dietician
as I was convinced there was something wrong with her gut that may have been
causing all of her other symptoms and sure enough, after 4 weeks on an
extremely restricted elimination diet, her symptoms disappeared. The dietician
also informed me I have amine intolerance. I find it interesting that with my
two other pregnancies I had no issues with foods at all and that the child I
had after developing the symptoms myself ended up with such severe chemical
intolerances that she was investigated for cancer and lupus. Sondra, by email
[780]
Amenorrhea (June 2009)
My almost 15 year old daughter who has had
monthly cramps but no period for 4 years suddenly got her period. We have been
on the elimination diet for 3 weeks. Is this a coincidence?
[729]
Period pain completely went away (June 2009)
I have always suspected my period pain in
the past was due to me eating all sorts of additives and high natural food
chemicals. Since eating failsafe with my boys I NEVER get period pain anymore,
however still very heavy periods. We need to keep in mind I had three children,
which in itself can help, but the pain did return after my third (not as bad as
previously) and then completely went away when I went failsafe (haven’t had
pain for about six years now – no PMT either!!!). - by email
[728]
Needed to be failsafe and reduced fructose for full
results (June 2009)
I am still struggling a bit here trying to
deal with fructose malabsorption and failsafe, plus
other malabsorptions (raffinose
and sorbitol) that mean I don't tolerate well any fruit, veges
or legumes except for potato, celery and lettuce. If I increase my salicylates
then I get anxiety and other symptoms. Basically pears, onions of any sort and
leeks are on the banned list (as well as other veges
and fruit) - which I have been eating a lot of ! This
explains why I wasn't getting full results on failsafe eating. Jane, VIC
[727]
IBS from fructose malabsorption plus defiance from
salicylates and amines (June 2009)
I have 2 kids (2 and 4 yrs)
with fructose malabsorption and my daughter has
irritable behaviour and defiance from salicylates and amines so we are looking
at a combination of low fructose and failsafe eating. – by
email, VIC
[726]
Fructose intolerance diagnosis not the whole answer (June 2009)
My eight-year-old daughter has been
diagnosed with fructose intolerance and while we have seen a dietitian it seems
that we have recently hit a brick wall and she is constantly getting tummy
aches. I am exploring other causes at the moment but was wondering if you could
give me any information about preservatives and spices (which I am suspicious
of) that could help me manage her better.
The attitude I have had from doctors is here is the diagnosis good luck
and seeya later, I really wonder how much they really
know. I am literally alone doing my own
research and homework …
Three years on: Together with your help,
our dietitian and the web, our daughter is growing, is a lot happier
and not as sick as often. As well as fructose, we avoid flavour
enhancers (MSG 621 and others) and suspect sulphites
(220-228), salicylates and cheese are an issue for our daughter too. All in all
we as a family are a lot happier, family and friends are now more understanding
and accepting of our daughter and her food issues and we are constantly
learning. We have also learnt that the
key is “listen to your body”. by email, SA.
[725]
635: Ribo Rash in a diabetic (March 2009)
I have attached a photo of this rash that
I developed over the period of a week. It started on my arms and legs first and
gradually took over my whole body. A
friend had seen this rash on your website and asked me what different food had
I eaten lately, and I realised I had been eating
cheese flavoured rice crackers for 5-7 days previously. I had been on phenergan
and antibiotic injections as well as cortisone to try to reduce the rash, as I
am a diabetic. However after stopping the rice crackers and anything else with
possible flavour enhancers (my husband went through the pantry!!!!!! and
removed all products with 635), the rash SLOWLY disappeared. - by email, NT
[724]
635: Our first and only run in with ribo rash (March
2009)
We had our first run in with ribo rash last week.
My husband and I were both running late to get home and my mother in law
had collected all the kids and was minding them until we got home. She was
going out but needed dinner before she left so we decided to break our
additive-free diet [for children's behaviour] that night and purchase takeaway
chicken from a chain for dinner. We knew
there would be consequences because of flavourings in
the chicken, antioxidants in the oil for the chips, not to mention the flavour
enhancers that would surely be there. We woke the next morning to no
behavioural reactions at all but later that day my eldest son, the most
sensitive of all, broke out in a rash on the backs of his hands, backs of his knees,
his face and up his arms. My 2 year old daughter broke out in large blisters
like chickenpox and my other two sons both broke out in what looked like heat
rash. It didn't even occur to me what could have caused that reaction until
several days later, the day after I had spent a wasted appointment with our
doctor who said the rashes didn't look like anything and not to worry. My eldest son still has the rash a week later
although my other kids' rashes have slowly resolved. It makes sense as he is the most sensitive.
I rang the outlet to find out about 635
but they said they would have to research it for me and get back to me but I'm
pretty sure that would have been the culprit. We will not eat there again, no
matter how strapped for time we are! - by email, Qld
[723]
One-liners (February 2009)
Your book and your website have saved us
the agony of months (perhaps years) of trial and error. Our beautiful
8-year-old is back to normal after a year in the wilderness where we wondered
if she was depressed, had an eating disorder or a mood disorder. I am certain that you have heard this story a
hundred times over. – by
email, Qld
I react to salicylates with pain in my
joints, also I get very tender, raw skin in my genital area and intercourse
becomes very painful. I saw you mention sore vagina in children - makes me
happy to know I'm not the only one - I have always felt like a freak - so thank
you for your books - they have helped me tremendously! - by email
My partner is pregnant at the moment, and
we worked out that what gives her morning sickness is
foods high in amines. It’s amazing hey, how at important times (or when very
little) our bodies are capable of sending us clear signals that say "This
is poison. No more please"... it's even more amazing that people seem so
unbelievably blind to these signals.- By
email (we would like to hear from anyone else who has seen a link between
food intolerance and morning sickness: suedengate@ozemail.com.au)
Our allergist said there are billions of
dust mites living in the mattress and vacuuming it is like ‘taking a bucket of
water out of the sea’. I highly recommend the Allergend
all cotton anti-dust mite mattress, pillow and doona
covers. Using these helped my four kids a lot.' - Heidi from the failsafe eczema group
I recently saw the dietitian who entered
my son’s typical daily diet into a computer program - it turned out that he is
getting very adequate nutrients in his diet except for calcium which was quite
low. However, he is now enjoying rice milk and I add calcium powder to
milkshakes so I am not concerned about his nutrition. – Louise, Qld
"I have been living with Sue's
Failsafe Cookbook for the last 18 months and it has changed my two-and-half
-year-old's happiness in his daily life. His eczema
on his face, arms and legs went a few days after stopping salicylate and amine
laden foods. I stumbled on the book by accident in my shopping centre as I was
on the look out for anything that could help with my son's symptoms. Thanks to both of you for your work" - Jane by email.
Our children have been failsafe (with a
few slip ups) since Jan 2008. To make it brief, remarkable change, still work
to be done a few mistakes still being made by me however. An example of change,
our pediatric neurologist doesn't feel the need to medicate our son as
previously thought and doesn't need to see him anymore due to your diet. He
congratulated us on our efforts and to my shock he said 'make sure I look at
his amines and wheat!' - Leesha, Qld by email.
[722]:
“By god she is a ratty child!” (February 2009) [COURAGE AWARD]
My step-sister is 3 years old, and by god
she is a ratty child! Her language skills are very under-developed for someone
her age, and she very rarely does what she is told. She is extremely loud and
boisterous, cannot sit still or quietly, is very destructive, swears, yells,
screams, and cannot play nicely with other children as she is very rough. A
clean room can quite easily become a disaster zone within minutes. We have
given up cleaning her room, as she pulls clothes and toys out as soon as we
have finished. She is also up to 10-11 o’clock at night.
She often dances and sings and often makes
references to people's private parts as well as other embarrassing things, and
we have cause to believe that these actions are done for attention (even though
it is the wrong kind of attention).
I have cause to believe that food
additives have a strong part to play in this due to her lax diet. She is spoilt
and gets what she wants, from chips, lollies,
chocolates, ice creams, and soft drinks. She has quite a lot of milos everyday, I once counted 4 in one morning! If she is not
drinking milo, she is having soft drink, cordial or juice. She very rarely eats
any un-processed foods or drinks any water.
Our dinner times are healthy, generally
consisting of vegetables, a salad and some source of meat, or sometimes
spaghetti bolognaise. She refuses to eat any of it, and shortly after dinner
demands some kind of snack-type food.
My mother is finding her daughter’s
behaviour extremely unbearable, even becoming embarrassed to take her out in
public. My mum’s struggle to keep her sanity has increased since recently
giving birth, making it extremely difficult to look after the baby and put up
with my sister.
I need your advice to convince my parents
that my sister’s diet is not ok, and drastic changes are needed. – by email from a
teenager who wins a copy of our
[721]
Her staple snack foods have artificial colours banned
in the
Most of the time my 5-year-old daughter is
a nice sweet girl but then sometimes this monster will emerge. When she is in
one of these moods she will start grinding her teeth and make monkey type
noises and get frustrated very quickly especially with her little brother who
has to put up with a lot of punching and intimidation. We get an amount of this
behaviour usually every day but sometimes she will be worse than usual and be
completely irrational with inconsolable crying and screaming. When we get one
of these more severe episodes we can usually trace it back to something with
bright colours like doughnuts with sprinkles etc. After reading your website I
have realised that a lot of her staple snack foods
have the food colours that have recently been banned in the
[720]
635: hives from French onion soup (February 2009)
Thank you so much for your factsheet on
food additive 635! I have numerous food sensitivities and am very careful to
avoid MSG in particular as it causes a more severe case of hives than most
others. I live in the
My parents live in
For the last year and a half, I've been
avoiding MSG almost entirely - I'll occasionally take a calculated risk and
allow myself some flavoured chips or ranch salad dressing. My most recent bout
of hives was the 635 reaction, which began about 8 days ago, within 12 hours of
eating the soup mix. Today is the first day they've been completely gone since
then. The hives appeared in all my usual places - fingers, hands, arms, chest,
neck, back, stomach and face. The reaction was definitely more severe than my usual
MSG reaction - more/bigger patches of hives, more intense itching, longer
lasting, resistant to my triamcinolone ointment, and faster to appear.
Normally, I could eat a single-serve bag of flavoured corn chips (such as
Doritos) and it would take 24-36 hours for a reaction to occur, and most often
only the backs of my hands, fingers, and face reacting. The hives would usually
go away within 2-3 days unless I had an additional dose of MSG. Thank you for
helping me to identify more items to add to my "do not eat" list! –
[719]
635: E635: 5 year nightmare rash in the
About 5 years ago I started getting severe
skin rash / hives and after a year of investigations (blood tests, strip tests
and food diaries) by the Immunology Department at Kings College Hospital in
London, it was suggested that I maybe allergic to white flour; though this
couldn't be proved. The only medical evidence that the professionals could
prove was that I was of an 'allergen type' and had proven allergies to
grass/tree pollen, dust, and cat hair. They provided me with medication that is
normally used to treat ulcers and reflux (ranitidine, Zantac), to use in
emergencies, as it would help to switch off histamine receptors in the body
that are working overtime to get rid of the allergy.
For the last 5 years I've avoided white
flour, which resulted in a lot of weight loss and I never had the severe skin
reactions again. Although I would always get the odd marking and often have
irritable bowels very quickly after eating some food, I put this down to there
being white flour in some ingredients from time to time and just put up with
it.
Last night I had a return of the severe
skin reaction that I've not had for years, which began to cover my arms, neck
and groin - exactly as it had 5 years ago. Having being in the
I'm more shocked that every story and
photo on your website relates to me, and to what I thought was a white flour
allergy. If only I'd have been able to show this evidence to my doctor five
years ago!
The product that I ate before the onset of
the rash was Knorr Chicken Stock granules, which contained E635 and I have
since discarded soy sauce and Oxo cubes, which were the only other things in my
kitchen to contain those additives.
I'm now going to actively avoid the ribonucleotide flavour enhancers
you list and see if I can eat white flour products, as long as they're not
filled with additives. It's as if someone has just switched the lights back on
and just wanted to say thankyou, as well as sharing
my relief that I am not alone with my allergy, as I had long thought I was.
Six weeks
later: The rash came back a couple of times,
until I cut out every type of food that was manufactured, so anything with E
numbers, flavourings etc. Since then I've not been
ill at all and have introduced foods that have additives but avoided anything
with any flavourings at all, so thus avoiding MSG and
other E600 numbers. This seems to work well for me.
I tried the white flour test [plain water
crackers and pasta] and was fine, I even tried cakes, pastries and fresh white
bread that didn't have any flavourings
and was fine.
By the way for
Thanks for your interest and helping me
solve a 5 year nightmare! –
[718]
Oppositional defiance: eliminating oranges from her diet has reduced her
symptoms (February 2009)
I can't thank you enough for your website,
for bringing this important information to public awareness. I am an Australian
currently living overseas, mother of 2, expecting again. My 3-year-old has always
been a 'difficult' child, with some days better or worse than other. In recent
times her oppositional behaviour escalated so much that I was on the brink of a
nervous breakdown. She was screaming non-stop, day and night, always looking to
fight me on every little thing. I just didn't know what to do with her anymore.
I have always been a firm believer that when something is wrong, look at diet
first. But I didn't know what the problem was exactly. I searched high and low
for info, until I found your website. What a Godsend! A simple thing like
eliminating oranges from her diet has reduced her symptoms significantly. She
is almost sleeping through the night. I am new to this, and still have a lot of
reading and learning to do, but you give me hope. Thank you! – by email
[717] Oppositional
defiance: violence settled (February 2009)
Thank you for your wonderful work, time and love you have put into
helping families like ours. Truly if I had not found your book, I believe that
my husband and I would have split up and gone our separate ways as this stress
was just too much for us. We got no help from doctors or specialists at the
Royal Children's Hospital. Our 17-year-old who is doing year 12 this year is
living with his grandmother as living with us was not possible due to our other
son’s impossible behavior. My sister who
is a Primary School teacher visited us a month ago and said that if I do not
medicate this son, he will not be able to go to a school. His behaviour was so
bad. My husband and I still have marks on our bodies from his bites.
He was violent, kicked and hit us. We had to put him in the bathroom as
it was the safest because any other room was trashed. We needed time out sometimes. After a week on
the elimination diet, family and friends asked if I had sedated him. His
behavior had settled so much. He still is not there yet, however we are now on
track and I can see light at the end of the long tunnel.
Also may I recommend the ladies buy the DVD to show your men as they
will rarely read the book. Watching an hour of a DVD
is more comprehensible to the male brain. That is how I got my husband to
finally understand our son’s behavior and to support what I am doing with him.
He now has the book in his van and every spare moment he has, he reads it. He
has even told his family and his work mates about this. You would think that he
was the one to have worked out our son’s problems. Never mind, as long as he is
with me on this everything else does not matter – Irene, VIC.
[716]
Ear infections, stuttering, rash, IBS linked to milk (February 2009)
We initially started my three year old son
on the diet because of his hyperactivity, defiance and rough, impulsive play
with others. Once we started the diet these symptoms slowed down but he
developed new symptoms of increased emotional state and abdominal cramps. What
we didn't realise at first was that we had increased
his milk intake and so although the diet seemed to work it bought with it new
problems. In hindsight I now have a list of symptoms such as stuttering, pale
stools, abdominal cramping, poor appetite, face rash, ear infections,
hyperactivity, defiance, dribbling, thumb sucking, rough play and itching head,
that I can now link to cows milk as these have all gone since we eliminated it
and its derivatives from his diet. I had
been to doctors about these individually but was never taken seriously so never
connected them all together.
At this stage we think that too many
amines make him nasty and too many salicylates make him hyper and we haven’t
tested additives. Since we took him off the cows milk as well and got over the
withdrawals my son now no longer needs speech therapy, has a great appetite and
is putting on weight, is able to enjoy play dates, is calm, doesn't complain of
tummy ache etc and our life is much easier.
We are a much happier family. I think we have further to go in our
adjustment to the new diet but we are definitely leaps and bounds ahead from
where we were pre-failsafe days. We saw your Kids First campaign launch
interview on TV, thanks for being a voice for all us parents out there wanting
to scream the same message! -
Kylie, by email [Although rarely mentioned by doctors, milk is
strongly linked to ear infections (otitis media) Juntti
H and others, Cow's milk allergy is associated with recurrent otitis media
during childhood. Acta Otolaryngol. 1999;119(8):867-73.]
[715]
Success with eczema (February 2009)
I started the elimination diet with my
daughter two weeks ago and for the first time in I can’t remember how long her
eczema has finally settled down and she is so much calmer and happier. My husband and I are just so thrilled with
the results we have got in such a short space of time.
3
months later: my daughter is
fantastic, the diet has been a huge success for us and I honestly can’t share
it with enough people. I was just looking back at photos of her the other day
and I couldn’t believe how bad her eczema was, in the recent photos there was
none at all. We now know that salicylates are a real problem. Additives seem to
have an impact as well but I am happy that they are no longer part of her diet
and never will be.
Since our success a number of our friends
and acquaintances that have tried it with the same results. As far as I am
concerned the more people who know about this the better. Before reading your
book I honestly had no idea of the real effect food had on us.- Abi, by email
[714]
Salicylates: this time we are 100% committed and the results are clear
(February 2009)
My 7yo son suffered from asthma, and my
5yo daughter was borderline ODD, complete with sneaky poos,
bedwetting - the whole rack of symptoms.
We removed preservatives and colours from their diet with fantastic
results - mainly from the removal of propionates and sulphites. I noticed,
though, that my daughter's behaviour seemed to deteriorate when she had certain
foods such as vegemite, soy sauce etc.
We did not do the elimination diet
correctly the first time. We made the usual mistakes - not enough commitment,
cheating, coming off it too quickly – and were misdirected in our conclusions -
thought salicylates were fine and amines were the baddies. We decided to put
our daughter back on the elimination diet after she failed to improve when we
removed amines.
This time we are 100% committed and the
results are clear. Our daughter was fine the first day of the salicylate
challenge, a bit iffy the second, and by day 3 she was back to pre-diet days,
even resorting to deliberately (in front of me) urinating on the lounge room
floor. Add to this a constant headache,
tummy pains and a small rash on both legs. I promptly cleaned out the fridge,
and removed all salicylates from the house. Two days on and we are gradually
improving, but what a shock!
An even bigger shock was my son's
reaction. He was always 'the good one' and didn't seem to have any behavioural
issues apart from asthma, which has improved greatly since we removed additives
from their diet. By the end of the second day, he had stolen a can of coke from
the fridge (dad's stock - banned for our kids) and drank it outside when he
thought I couldn't see. Screaming, shouting, fighting, defiance - completely unexpected
from him. Two days on and he is
quite remorseful - and determined to stay away from 'those foods'. He has also woken up today with big black
rings under his eyes, and a wet bed. No
coincidence, I think.
I never imagined that food chemicals could
have such a significant effect on health and behaviour. My daughter starts
school next year, and we can now look forward to a future with more enthusiasm
and positivity than we did 3 months ago.
– by
email, NSW
[713]
Salicylates: Mood swings, irritability, white face, no energy in a six year old
(February 2009)
My six-year-old son Noah’s problems were
moodiness, irritability, not really being there, and for years the white face
and no energy that you described in your book. My husband and I did not know
why Noah was going down the path of these mood swings and this year at school
he just could not comply with what was expected of him. About two months ago I
was handed a copy of your book Fed up and it was such a relief to think we may
have found the answer. It is plain to
see that Noah must stick to a low salicylate diet cutting out all the naughty
numbers. Unfortunately over the last few weeks with Xmas, we let the diet slip,
and we now see the effects. Back on to the good food now for the entire family,
and hopefully a good year for Noah at school.
I just had to write a quick note to say
thank you - the work you do is so good and so important. I tell anyone who will
listen about this information, it must be spread around for people to be aware
of, mums and dads and teachers. – by email, NSW
All previous
stories from Food Intolerance Network members that have been published
since February 1999 have been collected into a single PDF file (~2MB) so that
it is easier to download and search using Control/F or the PDF search function:
http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/stories/failsafestories.pdf.