Feingold Week

So, my husband left home last Thursday for a hunting trip with "the boys." I'm very happy for him that he has gotten a whole week with no cell phone, no laptop, no children, and no grumpy wife. And actually, the week hasn't been that bad.

But to make things more exciting, I decided on the spur of the moment (this is the normal way in which I decide things) to try the Feingold Diet out on my family. This is a no artificial flavor, no artificial color diet, also no apples, oranges, and tomatoes (and other things we don't eat much of.)

Things I learned:
There is food coloring in butter, syrup, deodorant, and even canned tomatoes!
Lots of canned things have preservatives
My favorite canned mushroom soup has MSG, which my hubby is allergic to, and I never knew it!

Things I've noticed:
My kids eat ALOT of candy. This diet totally cuts out candy because all of it has coloring. And even though I don't ever buy candy (except for one insane moment when I bought a bag and kept it in my car for "rewards"), the kids are having candy almost every day. My first grader gets candy for finishing her DAILY reading. My 3rd grader gets candy for being a helper at school. There are birthday parties, holidays, candy during art class, candy from the bus driver....
It's AMAZING! Then there's church. For the preschooler they are better about serving gold fish and graham crackers, but once you reach Kindergarten you graduate to CANDY.

Note: I am not really a health nut. I love to bake. I adore chocolate. And I often feed my kids sweets so that they'll let ME eat sweets. But at least then I am in charge of the amount of sweets they are getting, not their educators.

What has changed:
I was hoping for a great awakening of kindness, gentleness, and wisdom sprouting from these newly detoxified children. On exactly Day 3. Didn't happen. Instead, at random intervals I noticed my 6 year old being...kind. Twice she asked a brother if she could help him. This is unusual for her. I think there has been a few less tantrums in the 4 year old, but not a huge change. A blogging friend of mine who has walked this path before suggested that

1)I have not found all of the triggers: I know I am still using vanillin in my baking. I know we are still using colored toothpaste. There have probably been a few more lapses that I didn't notice.

2)It might take longer to detox if they have had high dosages of....CANDY.

So, tonight or in the wee hours of the morning when my husband arrives home from "huntin" (cue the music) I will let him know about our trail run, and see what he thinks. If he decides to join us I will be absolutely FLABBERGASTED, because he would lose his Mountain Dew (Yellow #5!) and the privilege of eating out for lunch. We will see!