Food Dyes and AD/HD - fact or fiction ?

The idea that food aditives, dyes in particular, cause behavioural changes is not new at all, it's been around since the ~1970s.

more recent findings such as

this one

British researchers found removing food additives from the diet of a group of 3-year-olds caused a reduction in the children's hyperactive behavior reported by their parents. And when the food colorings and preservatives were added back into the children's diets, the parents reported an increase in hyperactivity.

Based on these parental reports of behavioral changes, researchers estimate that if the current 15% of children thought to have hyperactivity-related behavior problems were to go on an additive-free diet, the prevalence could be reduced to 6%.

here's another

renew these claims, while the official stance is still the same, that there is no credible evidence.

Source f-ex. ific.org
..
Although this theory was popularized in the 1970s, well-controlled studies conducted since then have produced no evidence that food color additives cause hyperactivity or learning disabilities in children. A Consensus Development Panel of the National Institutes of Health concluded in 1982 that there was no scientific evidence to support the claim that colorings or other food additives cause hyperactivity. The panel said that elimination diets should not be used universally to treat childhood hyperactivity, since there is no scientific evidence to predict which children may benefit.
..

so, which is it? would be nice if thngs were that simple, of course.

what strikes me is the diametric opposition of the two camps, i mean if a study was easily discredited, they'd simply do it. instead, adverse findings are universally ignored and quickly slip beneath the waves.

ORANGE FOOD COLORING

My daughter has ALWAYS had a thing about orange food coloring. Whenever she had any kind of food that had that in it, it would be like someone gave her 3 double shots of expresso. Now that she's older (entering puberty with body changes), if somehow she gets the orange food coloring (or whatever you want to call it) in her food, the hyper activity is gone but she breaks out in hives.

I DO think that perhaps ADHD and/or ADD MAY have some food links in some kids. My daughter doesn't have either of those, but she did, and still does, have problems with orange food colorings.

Food coloring is definitely a cause of ADHD. And actually, ADHD can easily be cured with a healthy organic diet.

"When you eat processed foods containing additives and artificial colors, you are introducing toxic chemicals into your bloodstream," Adams' article states. "Those chemicals find their way into the brain and alter brain function, and in the case of children who have been diagnosed with ADHD, it alters their behavior to make them restless or to have a shortened attention span. It can also cause children and adults alike to display other problems derived from their mental state."

Source: While scientists clash over the dangers of ADHD drugs, the U.S. government does nothing to protect children

There is another article that states that the combination of aspartame, MSG and two food colorings causes neurological damage.

Fitzgerald: We looked at some of the studies done in the later part of 2005, examining the synergistic reactions between aspartame -- the synthetic sweetener that is found in thousands of products now -- and MSG, along with two common food colorings. This was a study done in England at a university in the later part of 2005. The result was found that when MSG, aspartame and these two food colorings were mixed together, they create a synergy that kills nerve cells. It causes neurological damage. We are only now at the threshold of medical science beginning to do any systematic examination of synergies.

Mike: Just to put in a real-world example of that, I would like to add that you can get that combination by drinking a Diet Pepsi and eating a bag of Doritos.

Fitzgerald: Absolutely. It is a children's meal. In fact, these researchers, at the University of Liverpool, wanted to examine what children commonly consume every day. That is why they picked aspartame, MSG and these two food colors, because they are so commonly found in all of the junk drinks and foods that children consume. The results should alarm us all.

Source: Interview with Randall Fitzgerald, author of The Hundred-Year Lie, on the prevalence of toxic chemicals