Apples Might Make You Go Bananas
Did you know that certain foods you eat can change your feelings and behavior? You've probably heard that sugar can make you hyper and that eating a massive feast can make you sleepy. But even "healthy" food choices can have a negative impact on some people.
Some people are sensitive to salicylates, which are chemicals that occur naturally in many fruits, as well as almonds, peppers, and wintergreen leaves. You may have a salicylate sensitivity without even knowing it. Sensitivities do not always show up with physical symptoms the way allergies do. If you're someone with a sensitivity to salicylates, salicylates can make it hard to focus and learn. They can make you irritable and easily upset. They can make you impulsive and explosive, losing your temper at every little thing. Salicylates can plague your mind with thoughts you don't want for hours on end with no way to escape.
If you're someone who has experienced any or all of the above symptoms, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have a sensitivity to salicylates. But it's something that's worth checking into. Read the sections below for more information.
Some people are sensitive to salicylates, which are chemicals that occur naturally in many fruits, as well as almonds, peppers, and wintergreen leaves. You may have a salicylate sensitivity without even knowing it. Sensitivities do not always show up with physical symptoms the way allergies do. If you're someone with a sensitivity to salicylates, salicylates can make it hard to focus and learn. They can make you irritable and easily upset. They can make you impulsive and explosive, losing your temper at every little thing. Salicylates can plague your mind with thoughts you don't want for hours on end with no way to escape.
If you're someone who has experienced any or all of the above symptoms, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have a sensitivity to salicylates. But it's something that's worth checking into. Read the sections below for more information.
The Feingold Diet
The Feingold Diet removes all artificial ingredients from a person's diet. This includes FD&C certified colors, artificial flavorings, vanillin, nitrates, and preservatives such as BHT, BHA, and TBHQ. It also temporarily removes all foods with problematic salicylates. Since not everyone has the same level of sensitivity to each salicylate food, after several weeks on the diet a person can start adding salicylate foods back, one at a time, and testing to see whether they have a reaction.
Here is an incomplete list of the salicylate foods removed by the Feingold Diet: apples, almonds, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, prunes, grapes, oranges, tangerines, clementines, bell peppers, tomatoes, wintergreen, aspirin, black pepper, coffee, and all berries. Alcohol should also be avoided as it can exacerbate symptoms.
Here is a list of foods that are allowed to be eaten by someone on the Feingold Diet: pears, bananas, coconut, pineapple, mangoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, lemons, limes, grapefruit, dates, sugar (no artificial sweeteners), almost all vegetables, dairy, soy, wheat, all meats, all nuts except almonds.
The Feingold Diet was established by Dr. Benjamin Feingold in 1976. Since then, it has changed the lives of countless people with ADHD, autism, Tourette syndrome, night terrors, oppositional defiance, aggression, anxiety, depression, irritability, and more. I'm not promising that it will be the magic cure to all of your problems, and it may work better for some people than for others, but I have personally seen what a difference it can make, and I think it is worth checking into. You can find out more at www.feingold.org.
Here is an incomplete list of the salicylate foods removed by the Feingold Diet: apples, almonds, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, prunes, grapes, oranges, tangerines, clementines, bell peppers, tomatoes, wintergreen, aspirin, black pepper, coffee, and all berries. Alcohol should also be avoided as it can exacerbate symptoms.
Here is a list of foods that are allowed to be eaten by someone on the Feingold Diet: pears, bananas, coconut, pineapple, mangoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, lemons, limes, grapefruit, dates, sugar (no artificial sweeteners), almost all vegetables, dairy, soy, wheat, all meats, all nuts except almonds.
The Feingold Diet was established by Dr. Benjamin Feingold in 1976. Since then, it has changed the lives of countless people with ADHD, autism, Tourette syndrome, night terrors, oppositional defiance, aggression, anxiety, depression, irritability, and more. I'm not promising that it will be the magic cure to all of your problems, and it may work better for some people than for others, but I have personally seen what a difference it can make, and I think it is worth checking into. You can find out more at www.feingold.org.
My story
Okay, disclaimer, this story isn't really about me. But it's about someone very close to me, someone who I watched grow up, and everything written here is from my personal observations or the observations of him and his family.
Dan (fake name) was a sweet little boy with a few issues that his parents assumed were just part of his age and personality. He would often wake up screaming in the middle of the night, and when his parents tried to comfort him, he didn't even notice they were there. It would often take several minutes to an hour of his parents trying to talk to him before he would finally "wake up" (even though he'd appeared to already be awake) and calm down. In the daytime, although he was kind and intelligent, he was extremely hyperactive, threw frequent tantrums, and displayed oppositional behavior to the point where his grandmother was afraid to babysit him. When he was 6, he started experiencing multiple motor and vocal tics, and was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome.
His parents were reluctant to put him on medication at such a young age, so they started researching alternative options to treat his Tourette's. They found the Feingold diet and decided to try it. Within a few weeks, not only did his tics and hyperactivity minimize greatly, but his tantrums, aggression, night terrors, and oppositional behavior all went away!
After a few months, Dan's parents started re-introducing some of the natural salicylate foods that had been removed from Dan's diet. It was discovered through a series of trial and error that apples and bell peppers had HUGE effects on him, while tomatoes had no effect at all. The other salicylate foods fell on a spectrum in between, with some having significant effects on his tics and behavior, and others having minimal effect / being okay in small quantities.
Dan is now a young adult, a brilliant high school graduate with a mechanical mind and a passion for inventing and creating. He did not follow the Feingold diet perfectly for most of his growing-up years, and still doesn't now, because he enjoys a lot of the foods that the Feingold diet removes. However, he can feel the differences in his body when he eats the foods he shouldn't. When he has been mostly following the diet, he is enthusiastic and easygoing, full of great ideas and motivation, and has very few tics. When he has been eating a lot of food that affects him, he is irritable and easily angered, has more tics, and experiences symptoms of depression. When he was 16, he ate two small apples (his worst trigger) and spent weeks experiencing full-blown depression, intrusive thoughts, and explosive rage. Once the salicylates were finally out of his system, he reverted back to his usual cheerful, personable self.
I share Dan's story with you because I can't imagine what he would be like today if his parents hadn't discovered the Feingold Diet, and he still ate all his worst trigger foods on a regular basis. It breaks my heart to think that there are thousands, maybe millions of people out there who experience the same depression and explosivity as Dan, and have no clue that these feelings and behaviors that they consider normal could be the results of the orange juice they drink every morning or the tomato sauce from yesterday's slice of pizza. I'm sure that there are also people whose symptoms are not caused/exacerbated by food. But if you have life-impacting mental/neurological/behavior challenges, there is a chance that the Feingold Diet could change your whole life.
Go to www.feingold.org to learn more. I am not sponsored by or in any way an associate of the Feingold Association. I am simply speaking from my heart and sharing my personal experiences in the hopes that this information will help someone else.
Dan (fake name) was a sweet little boy with a few issues that his parents assumed were just part of his age and personality. He would often wake up screaming in the middle of the night, and when his parents tried to comfort him, he didn't even notice they were there. It would often take several minutes to an hour of his parents trying to talk to him before he would finally "wake up" (even though he'd appeared to already be awake) and calm down. In the daytime, although he was kind and intelligent, he was extremely hyperactive, threw frequent tantrums, and displayed oppositional behavior to the point where his grandmother was afraid to babysit him. When he was 6, he started experiencing multiple motor and vocal tics, and was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome.
His parents were reluctant to put him on medication at such a young age, so they started researching alternative options to treat his Tourette's. They found the Feingold diet and decided to try it. Within a few weeks, not only did his tics and hyperactivity minimize greatly, but his tantrums, aggression, night terrors, and oppositional behavior all went away!
After a few months, Dan's parents started re-introducing some of the natural salicylate foods that had been removed from Dan's diet. It was discovered through a series of trial and error that apples and bell peppers had HUGE effects on him, while tomatoes had no effect at all. The other salicylate foods fell on a spectrum in between, with some having significant effects on his tics and behavior, and others having minimal effect / being okay in small quantities.
Dan is now a young adult, a brilliant high school graduate with a mechanical mind and a passion for inventing and creating. He did not follow the Feingold diet perfectly for most of his growing-up years, and still doesn't now, because he enjoys a lot of the foods that the Feingold diet removes. However, he can feel the differences in his body when he eats the foods he shouldn't. When he has been mostly following the diet, he is enthusiastic and easygoing, full of great ideas and motivation, and has very few tics. When he has been eating a lot of food that affects him, he is irritable and easily angered, has more tics, and experiences symptoms of depression. When he was 16, he ate two small apples (his worst trigger) and spent weeks experiencing full-blown depression, intrusive thoughts, and explosive rage. Once the salicylates were finally out of his system, he reverted back to his usual cheerful, personable self.
I share Dan's story with you because I can't imagine what he would be like today if his parents hadn't discovered the Feingold Diet, and he still ate all his worst trigger foods on a regular basis. It breaks my heart to think that there are thousands, maybe millions of people out there who experience the same depression and explosivity as Dan, and have no clue that these feelings and behaviors that they consider normal could be the results of the orange juice they drink every morning or the tomato sauce from yesterday's slice of pizza. I'm sure that there are also people whose symptoms are not caused/exacerbated by food. But if you have life-impacting mental/neurological/behavior challenges, there is a chance that the Feingold Diet could change your whole life.
Go to www.feingold.org to learn more. I am not sponsored by or in any way an associate of the Feingold Association. I am simply speaking from my heart and sharing my personal experiences in the hopes that this information will help someone else.
