Food Dye Frustrations

Those that know our family personally know that we have "issues" with food coloring..specifically the yellows, Red no. 40 and the Lake blue. We discovered the problem...actually the Lord, I am sure led us to it after much prayer, due to some obvious behavior changes/problems in Brianna when she was just about 2. She would probably have been put on medication by now if we had not discovered it. That is another whole story -how we put her on a modified elimination diet etc (it was not difficult to find the problem)...but anyway, that is another story for another time.
This morning, I gave the girls something that we thought was dye free (we check EVERYTHING). Well, at this point I know if they have had dye...especially on an empty stomach. I saw the signs immediately in Anjolie- flushed cheeks, extreme agitation, scattered thinking, hyper, frequent urination..those are just the ones I recognize..and they continue for about 3 days unless she drinks lots of water. My frustration is that the dyes are so widely used without proper education to the public. You can google lots of info on your own if you are interested...but these are toxins that are regulated very closely, yes, but still affect our small children! I don't claim to know that all children don't need some sort of medication due to behavior problems, but I would guarantee from personal experience that at least MANY of them are from all the food coloring we feed them. It breaks my heart that parents don't know...and even scoff at the idea that it could be the red 40, red 3, yellow 5, yellow 6, blue 1 etc...that could be causing their child's behavior problems. Did you know that Red 40 is specifically 2-NAPHTHALENESULFONIC ACID, 6-HYDROXY-5-((2-
METHOXY-5-METHYL-4-SULFOPHENYL)AZO)-, DISODIUM SALT. It is a coal tar
extract some are a product of petroleum. And believe me, this is just scratching the surface of the problems I am sure- I wish I knew more! I noticed such an improvement in my children's behavior that I just stopped there. I do plan to do some more prayerful research as well ( I am not an extra-crunchy type or anything either...not that there is anything wrong with that). I just know that nothing will be done about this widespread problem unless concerned parents speak out. I would challenge anyone concerned about this to try it for just one week. Allow 3-4 days for any remaining dye to exit your child's system while drinking plenty of water and then for 1 week do not allow your child to have anything at all containing any of the red, yellow, or blue dyes (those I notice the most). After 1 week, give your child something with red 40 in it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach give it about 15-20 min -(yes, that quickly for a small child). You will be shocked as it is my theory that MOST parents will see a dramatic and sudden behavior change. Now, my children are ages 5 and under, so an older child may start metabolizing these colors better...I don't know-we will see when Brianna gets older. Are my children sin filled and disobediant? Of course, that is not what I am addressing...I am talking about dyes that act like drugs on our children...I will end here, but I just want to Praise the Lord for helping us find this out early without drug intervention. It is worth the effort to try it at least.