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My son, Rick, had many problems in school, with difficulty reading and paying attention. When his class had a test he was taken out of the room so an aid could read the instructions to him because his teacher did not believe he would be able to read and understand them.
Rick was an unhappy child, and considered himself to be “dumb.”
He also suffered from frequent rashes, which the allergist dismissed as not significant.
One winter we had been house-bound for several days after a big snow storm, and all four of us were eager to get out. So we took our 4-wheel drive car to the mall, where a few of the stores were open. My son’s favorite place at the mall was the popcorn stand, so we headed for it.
The woman who was working at it was not the regular employee, and she ended up putting far too much “butter” flavoring on it. I thought the popcorn’s bright neon yellow color was odd, but Rick was delighted with the strong buttery taste.
Before we left the mall he began to get that familiar rash and I gave him some Benedryl that I always kept in the car. By the time we returned home his body was covered with red welts, and we realized that it was somehow connected with the popcorn. I already knew that Tang gave him hives, but didn’t know how that was linked with the popcorn. I did know that he was not allergic to corn, popcorn or butter.
This episode of hives was so bad, Rick missed two weeks of school.
When I told the allergist about the popcorn/Tang link he recognized that tartrazine (yellow dye No. 5) was the common ingredient. As I checked the labels of foods Rick loved it seemed like yellow 5 was everywhere! I went on the Internet to research this, found the Feingold Association and got rid of all the dyes. (www.feingold.org)
Rick used to hate school, but now he loves itl
My husband and I started seeing changes in rick just four days after getting rid of tartrazine. After two weeks with no dyes there was an obvious change in his schoolwork. Rick has always hated school, but four weeks later, he loved school! His mood changed and the gloom we had always considered to be a part of his personality was gone. Even his older sister commented, “I feel calm, and happier.”
Our 12-year old is now considered to be gifted and this summer he completed an esteemed gifted camp where he learned 11th grade chemistry. He used to hate math, but loves it now and helps his older sister with her math homework.
Rick didn’t want to have his picture and identity included in this letter. He used to worry that the other kids thought he was dumb, but now he’s worried that they will know he’s smart and will treat him differently!
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