15.  Does your child eat foods that contain preservatives, additives, flavorings, or food dyes (such as some candies, chips, pastries or carbonated drinks)?

Occasionally some people are sensitive to chemicals in these products and react to them.  Some of these reactions can appear to be ADD, ADHD, dyslexia or autism.   If you feel this could be an issue, eliminate one thing at a time and monitor the effects, if any.  Wait a couple of weeks and try to eliminate something else.  Keep records to establish what your child is sensitive to, if anything.

Please read the labels on the foods you buy.  Look for preservatives, additives, flavorings, and food dyes prior to buying.  Usually, products without these “inclusions” (e.g., “All Natural”) will promote this on the front of the box.

The Feingold Program and Dr. Jeff Bradstreet’s program provide dietary guidance and  supplements that possibly can help.

Also, it may help to buy eggs, cheese, meat, or poultry from “organic” farms or grocery stores.    The website below “Local Harvest” gives a map on which you can click your area to find a local  organic farm to buy produce. Not all the farms in this website have organic foods.  If you cannot find an organic farm in your area, there are chain grocers located in places across the country, such as Whole Foods, that carry organic.  In the Southeast, there is a grocery store chain called Harris Teeter that has started stocking organic produce and goods.

www.localharvest.org

www.wholefoods.com

www.harristeeter.com

www.feingold.org

www.icdrc.org