hyper Kids/food additives

Zziggi

Just after some advice really....

We stick out kids (4 1/2 & 3) to a pretty healthy diet and cook almost everything from scratch. Eat plenty of fruit, veg and right proportions of pasta/rice/fish/meat/fats etc etc. I let the kids have some milkybar white chocolate drops on sunday afternoon - only a mini packet out of a tube you can buy that has about 1/2 a dozen packets in (from granny). Within about 10 mins of eating it DS (4 1/2) was running round, being silly, naughty etc etc and there appears to us to be a link between the chocolate and his behaviour.

What puzzles me is that i thought it was E-numbers and additives that send kids hyper. Can a small amount of plain old white chocolate do that too them? Is it the sugar boost?

P.S. DS has suspected aspergers (just mention it incase it relevent)

Danni

I'm also suspected Asperger's, and have discovered that it takes less sugar for me to have a sugar rush than most people. For me the sugar normally just results in an inability to concentrate- but I am 20 years old and female

loveandlight

It really does depend on the brand of chocolate. Quite often its the chemicals that are used in the chocolate. Milky Way Stars are generally very good for causing little or reaction. The Hyperactive Support Group are excellent for guidance on foods and drinks.

Salicylates in fruit i.e. oranges, over ripe apples and other fruits can also trigger hyperactive behaviour in children.

Counting_Pennies_2

For me I do find if I do a day of any processed foods his behaviour gets worse.

I think the more homemade and from scratch things can be made the better.

But I also guess I am going to have to get used to this, as I can't go through life without opening a tin of raviolli for a quick meal.

For me jelly has always been the worst! Granny insists on giving it to him each time.

D&DD

I am mum to a wonderful little boy who has autism and when he was diagnosed we looked in to a lot of different 'treatments' to help alleviate some of his symptoms..I use eyeq to help with the hyperactivity but have also found a huge difference with implementing a GF/CF diet,along with removal of (hopefully) all other additives,sacilytates etc.He goes 'off the planet' after having milk :eek: Its a personal choice we arrived at after an awful lot of reading,research and listening to other parents.There are a great number of websites about the diet so might be worth a look when you have time.HTH

Zziggi

D&DD wrote:

I use eyeq to help with the hyperactivity but have also found a huge difference with implementing a GF/CF diet,along with removal of (hopefully) all other additives,sacilytates etc.He goes 'off the planet' after having milk :eek:

Actually, come to think of it, DS is nice and calm, winding-down for bed then he suddenly goes hyper just before bed (every night). Now i think about it, it is shortly after he has had his bedtime milk......

GF/CF diet? what is this please?

loveandlight

Originally posted by D&DD
I am mum to a wonderful little boy who has autism and when he was diagnosed we looked in to a lot of different 'treatments' to help alleviate some of his symptoms..I use eyeq to help with the hyperactivity but have also found a huge difference with implementing a GF/CF diet,along with removal of (hopefully) all other additives,sacilytates etc.He goes 'off the planet' after having milk

My son ( he'll be 10 next week) displayed a lot of signs of Autism when he was born. He also had allergy induced Hyperactivity. I put him on the Feingold diet and found some superb vitamins recommended by the Hyperactive Support Group that worked wonders for him. Sadly they are not made any more now. He didn't smile, couldn't bear being touched and his eyes were expressionless. Like the lights were on and there was no-one in? After doing all this and a lot more most of his symptoms went away. He used to hallucinate alot at night and wake up every two hours after he had cows milk. It stopped when I switched him to Soya Milk. Even now he's older, if he goes over his dairy product tolerance level he will keep sitting up in bed at night even though he's fast asleep.

Ted_Hutchinson

Zziggi wrote:

GF/CF diet? what is this please?

Gluten free Casien free is my guess.
here are some other parents reports of success with this diet and autistic spectrum disorders

D&DD

loveandlight wrote:

He didn't smile, couldn't bear being touched and his eyes were expressionless. Like the lights were on and there was no-one in? After doing all this and a lot more most of his symptoms went away. He used to hallucinate alot at night and wake up every two hours after he had cows milk. It stopped when I switched him to Soya Milk. Even now he's older, if he goes over his dairy product tolerance level he will keep sitting up in bed at night even though he's fast asleep.

Ooh thats just spooky L&L..my son was the same! I find now as we are getting more into the diet though he's becoming more ingenious in 'sniffing out' a hit :rolleyes: .

GF/CF is the gluten free casein free diet.There are many websites explaining the theories behind this but it is advisable to seek medical input if you are thinking of embarking on it,I will say its not for the fainthearted!!
My son can sniff out a 'banned substance' at 100 paces :rotfl: There are many other things we avoid too like certain toothpastes,shampoos,chemical cleaners..the list is endless but once you get into it and see(hopefully) some results its worth all the effort All our children are different and sadly what works for some may not for others.They are their own little puzzle and we're just starting to find all the pieces.

AnnieH

My daughter has Aspergers and she goes really hyper if she has anything like sweets or fizzy pop. You can really notice it just a few minutes after eating the stuff. I hate birthday parties and the like cos they're choc full of rubbish to eat. Luckily (for me anyway) she doesn't really get invited to many parties.