Mild colourant intolerance

S

Saham

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Both my children and I are a bit sensitive to food colourants, but in a way that doesn't seem to be important for any regulators. Especially the bright colours make my brain to feel like it's stuck in quicksand and for a programmer that's really irritating. My children become combative and can't sit still. I've heard it described as a brain irritation and that about sums up what I see happening.

I'm lucky to have a wife who is a foodie because she is very willing to find natural ingredients that don't affect us. When she makes dinner she makes extra for me to take to work next day.

Artificial flavours aren't any better. Some time ago my wife took her mother to a coffee shop and they decided to try out a caramel milkshake. But next day they were both complaining of sore skin, the type you sometimes get with flu. We're careful what we eat & drink so we're sure it couldn't have been anything else.

We only eat out at places where they serve food that doesn't affect us too badly, and sometimes we get to see others display the same symptoms: a family arrives & the children are well-behaved until they've had a milkshake or some sweets, and then they become most unpleasant. Most are not happy if you try to tell them how to avoid it.
 
Saham said:
Both my children and I are a bit sensitive to food colourants, but in a way that doesn't seem to be important for any regulators. Especially the bright colours make my brain to feel like it's stuck in quicksand and for a programmer that's really irritating. My children become combative and can't sit still. I've heard it described as a brain irritation and that about sums up what I see happening.

I'm lucky to have a wife who is a foodie because she is very willing to find natural ingredients that don't affect us. When she makes dinner she makes extra for me to take to work next day.

Artificial flavours aren't any better. Some time ago my wife took her mother to a coffee shop and they decided to try out a caramel milkshake. But next day they were both complaining of sore skin, the type you sometimes get with flu. We're careful what we eat & drink so we're sure it couldn't have been anything else.

We only eat out at places where they serve food that doesn't affect us too badly, and sometimes we get to see others display the same symptoms: a family arrives & the children are well-behaved until they've had a milkshake or some sweets, and then they become most unpleasant. Most are not happy if you try to tell them how to avoid it.
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You do realise that this is all in your minds and that you are imagining these things?
 
Children can't sit still, well behaved until they'vd had a milkshake and some sweets - that's sugar.
 
maumau said:
Children can't sit still, well behaved until they'vd had a milkshake and some sweets - that's sugar.
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We can have pumpkin fritters and homemade salted caramel sauce without home becoming a warzone afterwards. With some types of colourants they're cranky the day after too. I can have cocoa (the type without additives) made with sugar and still get work done.
 
MightyQuin said:
This has also been debunked. It is all about perception.
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I'd like to see the research debunking this, especially who funded it because that part of the story can get interesting.

A local example of funding which casts a big shadow over the results from thread eTolls have made Johannesburg’s traffic much better:
Bizkit87 said:
So after about 5 mins of digging, I find 'Industry Partners' of these SSML

Anyone want to take a guess who you'll find in that 'Partners' ? I won't spoil it, treat yourself: http://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/eng/ssml/about-ssml/partners
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Is this condition rare? If so - I would say you have very bad luck OP. The chances of having it yourself and then finding somebody that also has it... and their mom also has it. And kids that have it too. Is something like this hereditary?
 
What does eTolls have to do with colourants?

Anyway, I know that in Europe they tend to only use natural and not artificial colourants. Perhaps that is an issue? I remember reading of a case of red colourant used here that was banned overseas for health reasons. Can't remember the outcome of the case.

What you really need is a double blind test, where you are unaware whether you have had natural colourants, artificial colourants, or no colourants.
 
skeptic_SA said:
Is this condition rare? If so - I would say you have very bad luck OP. The chances of having it yourself and then finding somebody that also has it... and their mom also has it. And kids that have it too. Is something like this hereditary?
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It's not as rare as people would like to believe. Once you connect up the cause & effect on this issue then you see it everywhere in restaurants & other public spaces where food & drink is consumed.
 
Ancalagon said:
What does eTolls have to do with colourants?
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That was an example of funding making the outcome of the research totally suspect.

Ancalagon said:
What you really need is a double blind test, where you are unaware whether you have had natural colourants, artificial colourants, or no colourants.
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You don't need to get that technical, we eat out at Ocean Basket sometimes, so for the children we order milk / appletizer / grapetizer, kiddies platter (halloumi, chips, hake, prawns, calamari) with NO sauces, just lemon juice & salt, and optionally for dessert just kataifi or baklava. We prefer a Real Food diet and we find that if the children don't eat much bread, pasta, rice, or anything with artificial sweetening then they get back their taste for fruit, vegetables and seafood.

If that experiment made an improvement then try it again. And next time try a milkshake as starter and see what happens. We know a few people who tried it and were amazed enough to start the process of finding replacements. We're trying to improve the quality of our lives here and we've had enough cases of well-meaning friends & relatives giving them sweets without our knowing, but when they start getting all irritated we start asking questions & get familiar answers. Consistently. We know about mind-over-matter but this is no longer it.

A few times we've found that what used to be OK is no longer, and on reading the label we can see they've added a new ingredient. Some brands just list "flavourant" but I've yet to come across an unspecified flavourant that's OK for me. The Bournville cocoa I used to love now has artificial flavouring, & what for? My wife now gets the cocoa from a local baking supplies shop & surprisingly that's still fine, considering all the other stuff they sell.
 
Saham said:
It's not as rare as people would like to believe. Once you connect up the cause & effect on this issue then you see it everywhere in restaurants & other public spaces where food & drink is consumed.
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Are you serious??

Kids run around in restaurants and public places, 'cos they're kids...not because the colour of the sauce is too orange FFS's.

OP while writing here.png
 
Mild colourant intolerance
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So you ok with the Vivid colourant? Just the mild ones you have issues with?

Eating jelly make my legs twitchy. That normally contains colorants.
 
Saham said:
We only eat out at places where they serve food that doesn't affect us too badly, and sometimes we get to see others display the same symptoms: a family arrives & the children are well-behaved until they've had a milkshake or some sweets, and then they become most unpleasant. Most are not happy if you try to tell them how to avoid it.
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I find it's the sugar in the milkshake and sweets. Giving my 4 year old an ice cream, milkshake or fanta is like giving her crack. Soon figured out she is hypersensitive to sugar. Most kids will get a bit rowdy but she's guaranteed to lose the plot.
 
GforceD said:
So you ok with the Vivid colourant? Just the mild ones you have issues with?
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The intolerance is classed as mild because it is not life-threatening or debilitating enough to pressure regulators into action. The Europeans are a bit more enlightened on the subject, that is why they regulate artificial colourants more stringently.
 
Go see a homeopath. They'll definitely sort out your very special kind of affliction.
 
Sensorei said:
I find it's the sugar in the milkshake and sweets. Giving my 4 year old an ice cream, milkshake or fanta is like giving her crack. Soon figured out she is hypersensitive to sugar. Most kids will get a bit rowdy but she's guaranteed to lose the plot.
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I'm in no way disputing that some children react like that to sugar.

It's just funny that my wife's homemade desserts don't do that to my children. We're talking apple pie, coconut pie (equal amounts sugar, ideal milk & coconut), my caramel sauce, and pumpkin fritters (cinnamon & sugar on top).

But just try to find a sweet in the shops that doesn't have artifical colourants in it. And then the savoury flavoured crisps & shop-bought soup mix have the same effect as restaurant milkshake. That's why we've latched onto the colourants instead of the sugar.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Go see a homeopath. They'll definitely sort out your very special kind of affliction.
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We are seeing a naturopath, and the reaction to my complaint: good, it's best to avoid them anyway.

I'm not looking for a solution, I've found it in the Real Food diet, I just wanted to help spread the information that this could be happening to others.
 
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