Think Food Doesn’t Affect Behavior? You’ve Got to Read This.
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Are food and behavior connected? Some say that’s nonsense, that food has nothing to do with behavior.
Others say that there is a clear connection. What does the evidence show?
Food and behavior is a big topic these days. Folks are talking about gluten-free diets, paleo diets, candida diets, and more.
Does it all matter? Does food affect things like autism, ADD, ADHD and just plain old defiance?
So many behavioral issues can be traced to gut health. We need to all inform and empower parents to make a difference in their children’s (and their own) lives.}
It’s common to joke about kids being on a sugar high after a party, so all of us know, on some level, that food influences how kids behave.
But how many of us realize the extent to which our children’s day-to-day actions are shaped and molded by the foods we feed them?
Food and Behavior
An experiment on the effects of food on behavior done by the British TV series, The Food Hospital, produced shocking results. Party food loaded with sugar, artificial coloring, and other additives have the power to turn your lovely, cooperative child into a badly behaved, physically aggressive youngster.
Before we get to the study, let’s talk about some of the WORST things that you (and your kids) can eat.
Three Food Ingredients that Might Affect Behavior Negatively
1. Artificial Coloring
There’s evidence both for and against artificial food coloring causing behavioral issues in children.
More and more evidence is pointing to artificial food dyes as a major cause of ADHD in children. While this hasn’t been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, the facts are strong enough to convince many European countries to ban blue 1 (brilliant blue), blue 2 (indigo carmine), yellow 5 (tartrazine), and yellow 6 (sunset yellow) among others.
These food colors have FDA approval and are found in cereal, candy, and a variety of colorful foods popular with children.
2. Sugar
There is a shocking amount of sugar in processed foods – and some of it is lurking in places you wouldn’t suspect. One 12 oz. can of coke has 9 ½ teaspoons of sugar. The same amount of Tropicana Farmstand Juice has 9 teaspoons. There’s also lots of sugar in flavored yogurts and chocolate milk – not so surprising. But did you know that there is often sugar in savory foods, such as ketchup, bread, sausages, and barbeque sauce? Your child can consume a considerable amount of sugar even before you let him or her eat candy, and high sugar levels contribute to hyperactivity.
3. Sodium benzoate
Sodium benzoate is a preservative found in carbonated beverages and fruit juices, condiments, candies and many other products. It has been implicated either separately or together with artificial colorings for causing or aggravating ADHD symptoms, and is best avoided.
It has also been noted that sodium benzoate reacts with citric acid to make benzene. So be very very careful with any foods or personal care products that have both ingredients together!
Read labels.
A real-food, nutrient-dense paleo diet – which excludes these three substances as well as anything likely to affect behavior – seems to be the best way to ensure your kids get the right nutrition.
How Does This Affect Your Family
You may think that these problems don’t affect you since your child doesn’t suffer from serious behavioral problems or learning disabilities. Remember, the children in the video were just a regular group of school kids–not children selected because they didn’t behave well. The impact on them was profound, so clearly, this is a concern for every parent.
Let’s do all we can to set our kids up for success.
The Food and Behavior Experiment
Children in Britain aged 5 – 9 attended a party.
They were split into two groups:
Group One: was fed healthy options such as apple slices, carrot sticks, sandwiches, hummus, etc. and was given water to drink.
Group Two: received the usual party fair: candy, potato chips, and soda (or as they say in the UK, sweets, crisps, and fizzy pop), all containing loads of sugar, artificial coloring, and other additives.
The children’s ability to follow instructions, concentrate and remember information was then measured as they played party games, and their actions were carefully recorded.
You may be surprised by what they found.
The results are shown in this simple chart:
It wasn’t only how they behaved that was remarkably different.
The healthy food group did “48% better in the games overall” – that’s a huge improvement in performance.
Now, of course, there are a lot of factors associated with the foods served at this party, but it’s an interesting experiment nonetheless.
And I’m sure you have noticed that you feel better after eating healthier food–so it only makes sense that your kids would as well.
And when you feel better, you act better.
Are We Setting Our Kids (and Ourselves) Up for Failure?
After watching the segments that you can see below, I couldn’t help think that many kids are inadvertently being set up for failure by their own parents. Moms and Dads certainly intend to do the best for their children, and part of this can mean feeding them “regular food” that won’t set their children apart from their friends.
But in doing so, our children are being sabotaged in ways that make it difficult for them to perform school tasks successfully.
They’re fed processed foods that can make them aggressive and difficult to control. Then, as if that weren’t bad enough, they’re penalized for their inability to learn and their out-of-control behavior.
We all know that a child who is constantly hitting other children, having tantrums, and running around wildly is a child who is continually reprimanded. We also all know a child who doesn’t follow teachers’ instructions, can’t remember what he or she was taught yesterday, or can’t concentrate long enough to finish a task receives poor grades and negative feedback.
No parent wants this for his or her child.
Tragically, in the worst cases, kids who are simply reacting to what they are being fed end up taking unnecessary prescription drugs or are sent to special schools.
Helping Kids Succeed with Good Nutrition
How do we feed children to prepare them to succeed in school and get along in society? Generally speaking, the more natural a food is, the less likely it is to cause a severe behavioral reaction. Keep in mind that there are plenty of individual differences in how children react to specific foods and additives.
One family might discover that avoiding a certain additive transforms their child into a little angel, while in another family cutting out wheat may do wonders.
That said, watch out in particular for the Three Substances I list below, which are often linked with behavioral problems.
Watch the following video to see what happened to these two groups of kids — and be thinking about how we might be setting our kids up for either failure or success, based on what we are feeding them.
The Experiment on Video
After the initial publication of this post, the videos of the experiment were removed from The Food Hospital’s website. Following is what is now available.
Watch as parents and a psychologist evaluate behavior during play and learning tasks.
The coordinators divided up the groups, what they ate, and how things started to play out.
Full Experiment
I can’t embed this video here but you can go to this link and watch it.
It’s split up into parts. The time stamps for the experiment are:
From 9:22 – 13:27 and
from 25:28 – 31:55.
Here’s a small part of the experiment as well.
**Note: The woman, when stating that they “don’t know” what made the difference, mentions “E numbers.” From Wikipedia, this is what she is referring to: “E numbers are codes for chemicals which can be used as food additives for use within the European Union and Switzerland (the “E” stands for “Europe”).They are commonly found on food labels throughout the European Union. Safety assessment and approval are the responsibility of the European Food Safety Authority”
Study Conclusion
Those who ran the study say that they don’t know what it is in the party food that affects the children. Is it the sugar? The artificial coloring? Maybe the lack of essential nutrients? It’s not clear.
I suspect it’s a combination, with individual children being more affected by different things.
What is clear is that children not only behave better but concentrate better, follow instructions better, and remember more when they eat healthier food.
Let’s not forget that concentration, following instructions, and memory are fundamental building blocks of the learning process and vital for success at school.
(UPDATE: Think the evidence isn’t compelling enough?
Check out the follow up post to this one at Response to Doubters–STILL Think Food Doesn’t Affect Behavior? Read This.)
Have you noticed (or suspected) foods affect behavior in your house?
What has YOUR experience been?
Ruth is a big fan of the paleo diet, having regained her health after decades of living with chronic fatigue syndrome.
This doesn’t surprise me in the least, but it is so great to see it spelled out by way of an experiment.
I was very supportive of your article until I read, “Sugar causes hyperactivity.” Although too much sugar can do a lot of things, there is no conclusive research that shows it is linked to hyperactivity. That is simply a myth that people have been falling for, for years. So, when your article mentions that, it loses a lot of creditability, to me.
HI there and thanks for commenting. I will let Ruth address this but I looked at some of the supposed info on the internet about how this doesn’t happen and personally I don’t agree. Sugar, in the short and long term can cause this. I will address the long term first. It can cause gut dysbiosis which is linked to a myriad of behavioral issues. As for the short term, everyone can speak to having a sugar high. I just don’t really understand why this isn’t something widely accepted. What do you think?
Hi Michael. Sorry I lost you with that one line. 🙂
First of all, I wrote that sugar contributes to hyperactivity, not that it causes it. That’s a significant difference.
One reason research may mislead is if sugar actually doesn’t affect the vast majority of people, but has a dramatic effect on a very small minority. Outliers may be ignored.
For instance, one of the commenters above wrote the following:
I know that sugar and flour has these effects on me. My boyfriend didn’t quite believe me until I used baby formula in my coffee instead of podered milk.(long story on the mix up. Mexican market and english speaker). I was crabby, out of sorts, forgetful, mean, spacy and emotional. Baby formula is full of sugars.
Now I am a grown woman who can express how she is feeling and it still took me a week to go “hey, this isnt right”. How is a child supposed to do that?
How do you account for someone like that? You could just say she’s crazy, but when someone says every time I eat X I have a reaction Y, I tend to believe them. Why would she want to lie about it and deny herself sweets?
But more importantly, what’s the plus side of feeding kids lots of sweets? Sugar consumption is unbelievably higher than it was 200 years ago – up from around 3 pounds per year per person to over 100 pounds per year per person. White sugar literally has zero nutrients. You may not want to reduce intake to zero – I haven’t – but I think it’s an excellent idea to keep sugar intake low even in your child has no behavioral problems for general health.
HI !
Would be nice to see another party.. with the foods switched.. same kids.. Would give a LOT more credibility to the test. Not disagreeing in any way.. but would eliminate the possibility of all the “rowdy” kids getting the sweets,, and the quiet kids getting the healthy food. When you get the new results, averaged with the 1st test.. you will get a TRUE result for the group..
Well, I agree but according to all the arguments in the comments, most “nay sayers” wouldn’t be happy with that either. Thanks :).
I see this behavior in my nephew all the time. As soon as he eats any sugary, processed foods his whole demeanor changes, like Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde. He goes from a sweet kid to a mean, aggressive hyperactive brat with no attention span whatsoever. Add video games to the mix and it’s even worse.
And his mom just does not get it. She is a smart woman but completely doesn’t see the connection between these types of “foods,” if you can call them that, and bad behavior. I think so many parents want to give their kids everything and don’t want to be the bad guy so will give them whatever they want without setting boundaries, including way too much sugar. Or they bargain with their kids with sugar. “If you behave we’ll go get an ice cream.” Most American kids are getting hundreds of grams more sugar a day than recommended and you can see it is like heroin to them. They really are overdosing on the stuff.
Sorry, parents who disagree, but you are totally in denial. Stop making excuses for your child’s bad behavior and start looking at what you are feeding them and the boundaries you are not setting for them. You really are doing a disservice to your kids by not looking out for their best interests.
While I can completely understand and agree to a point, how does one explain the children who are fed all nutritious, organic foods but act like heathens? Or kids that eat junk food and are still actually really good kids? I’m not saying that it’s not possible there’s a correlation, but I find it hard to believe that food is the ONLY reason for kids acting the way they do.
It’s not the only reason, for sure. But I will suggest that often it could be an overindulgence in carbs or some food that doesn’t agree with the child. Food isn’t the only culprit, but it is often implicated. Hope that helps.
I have always thought this to be the case. Currently I work in a mental health clinic watching parents struggle with their kids and behaviors….they come in with fast food, candy pop. No one wants to take responsibility to change when it’s so much easier to just put them on medications.
There are children that must have these medications…but maybe, just maybe many would not. Maybe those that do wouldn’t need so much if we stopped feeling our children chemicals.
Just a thought.
Anytime my niece came over so we could visit together her mother would often send her with a can precooked spaghetti and sauce or beef raviolis. She was always well behaved until she ate lunch and really started to push my buttons. My mother suggested it was a red dye in the sauce along with the extra sugar. I never had a problem with offering her something simpler like a sandwich and a glass of milk and she was as sweet as she had ever been. Thanks for sharing the study, I’ve dealt with it first hand and the difference is amazing!
Thank you for sharing. Love the article. My son has Autism and I myself have noticed how much food impacts behavior and the ability for him to focus, concentrate and be calm. I have tested it out myself and on days that he has had sugary food or foods chock full of artificial flavoring you could tell something is up. (Mood swings, laziness, inability to focus.)He is 8 and very aware of the affect food has on his mind and body, so the transition to a more healthy way of eating seems like it won’t be a problem. Finding more food options that do not contain so many chemicals and extra additives however does. Once again thank you for sharing. The word needs to get out there.
Let’s not five crappy parents an out. If ur child behaves badly u should look at ur parenting skills not what’s in the frig. Bad parent raise unruly children point blank period… P.S. I’m a parent of three(2 girls & 1 boy). Oldest is on the honar roll at a magnet school and the other in pre-k reading 1 grade material. And I let them eat what they want half of time. Give ur kids the attention they want and deserve and they feel no need to act out for it. Be there and be aware !!!!!!
Hi Muhammed. It is not that simple. Plus, it sounds like you are calling me and Ruth (and all the others who have said food changes improved their children’s behavior) “crappy parents.” Not nice and it’s a really insensitive and callous thing to say.
I am happy to have input here but not that kind. Thank you.
For thse people who think it’s always the parents fault, let me tell you a story. Among community of young families, We had a family of three boys that were the holy terrors of the group. We also had a family with a little girl that was perfectly behaved, who always expressed the same opnion. It’s the crappy parents. Well, after several years of a perfectly delightful, popular little daughter, their second child was born. Mom for some reason was not able to breastfeed this one. He was a difficult baby and guess what? He grew into a little holy terror. After trying everything to keep this child from terrorizing the others,they finally threw their hands up and apologized to the parents they had criticized in the past. You see, anecdotal or not, it had nothing to do with parenting skills, time or attention. I do remember this little boy having many health issues such as ear infections, allergies, etc. Some people can smoke 3 cigarette packs a day and not get lung cancer, but a nonsmoker does, it would be wrong to accuse the nonsmoker of smoking, even so it is wrong to automatically blame lack of parenting skills. People are so afraid to change lifestyle that they are willing to subject their children to medical abuse, rather than try a few diet changes for a few weeks. I m convinced that antibiotics destroy the good in our bodies and set us on a downhill slide for the rest of our lives unless we take control of our own health.
It’s not always crappy parenting, Sometimes the child has issues that consequences don’t help. I’ve tried all kinds of different disciplines with our child and have been to counselors, and psychiatrist. spend plenty of time with him but something in his brain doesn’t stop him from making wrong choices. Also food doesn’t seem to make much of a change either, yes, if he has lot’s of sugar and caffeine he’s a little more wound . I’m sick of people blaming parents. every situation is different. But I understand because before we got our son I would look at people and say you need to make them mind. We just have to do the best we can.
Hello! I found this article very interesting.
I’m from Mexico and have my own blog (written in Spanish) and would like your permission to translate this article and post it on my blog (mentioning yours as the original one of course!)
Thank you very much for your attention and for sharing!
Karina
I am thinking that Google wouldn’t be fond of that regarding SEO. Did you do it? Thanks. Sorry for the delay – I have been so backed up w/ comments.
Were the children then split into the same groups and feed the opposite foods on a later date for an accurate study?
No – but if you read the thread of comments you can see why this wouldn’t satisfy most folks looking for an “accurate” study anyway. I still think it is really telling.
My thoughts exactly.
Did you happen to read the follow up post? Thanks! I’d love to hear your thoughts. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/food-and-behavior-anecdotal-evidence-scientific-evidence/