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.
Thanks for posting about this! Just personally, when I worked in an office where somebody brought in donuts 2-3 times a month, I noticed that eating even a single donut created a blood sugar spike and crash so dramatic in me that I became aggressive and irritable. People used to look at me like I was crazy when the words “no thanks, donuts make me cranky,” would come out but it is so, so true.
You are so welcome. And yes, it is totally true for me too! Haven’t eaten anything like that in forever!!
I believe there is a direct correlation in the food we eat and our behavior. My now 10 year old son is on a strict no red dye diet. When he was in preschool and kindergarten he was excused from school due to uncontrollable angry outbursts. He at the time was also having issues with his bowels being blocked. After removing all gluten, dairy, sugar and dyes from his diet he behaved much better. We then began reintroducing each one back into his diet one at a time. We figured out he was dairy sensitive and gluten sensitive which was causing his bowel issues. But we also figured out by trials of various products with red dye and yellow dye that it affected his behaviour literally within seemingly seconds. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde like changes. My one minute happy child would turn into the Incredible Hulk. To this day he still does not do well with red dye. Yellow does not seem to affect him as much aggressively. Though we still limit it because it does seem to make him more hyperactive. He seems to take it all in stride understanding it’s just better for him to not have certain foods in his diet for his health and well being. Although it is pretty tough when you’re the only kid who can’t have Skittles and m-n-ms in the class. I have found many good alternative products out there to buy that are dye free and tasty too. We also hold him accountable for his behaviour if he decides to cheat and have something with the dyes and becomes angry or hyperactive. I believe too often parents over compensate by allowing the excuse of their child being intollerent to the dye and thus not disciplining or giving the child consequences for the behavior. Our children still need to be taught that aggressive angry behaviour is still very much unacceptable behaviour.
Good for you for digging for the root cause and for being vigilant with your child. We need to share with the world that this “non food” is poison!
Thank you very much for sharing this info and providing the video. It provides compelling reason to rethink our children’s diet and not give in to convenience.
You are so welcome!
Hi, I’m loving the fact that I am seeing more and more people advocating the importance of dietary input and its direct correlation to behavioural output. To add some food for thought, my oldest son has a salicylate sensitivity, which makes him unable to eat a lot of natural foods due to them naturally having high levels. This sensitivity basically causes preservitaves, additives, colouring etc to imitate the same reaction as things like apples, berries etc. The way he reacts is very similar to ADHD and I have fought for him nearly his entire life to get people to understand his dietary needs. I have only just started to realise how deep the rabbit hole is for him and have even started making home made bread for him because even a loaf of bread was becoming too much. You can’t allergy test for this sensitivity as it is too cumilitive in too many different foods, so I believe that there is many people out there being medicated for something that may actually just be a food intolerance. Does this sound like something you would be interested in researching further and doing an article on? (If you haven’t already). I’ve only just been able to find blogs and websites that are informative, but I know what I am looking for. I feel for the people out there that struggle with and for their loved ones that could be helped by this information. Kind regards, Andrea
Hi Andrea – thanks for commenting. I have heard about this–with reactions varying by person. Not sure I’m ready to tackle it as a topic right now but perhaps down the road. So sorry that I didn’t respond sooner–I lost comments off the blog for awhile and just recently got them back. Thanks again for reading!
Thank you posting this. My goal is to educate parents about diet as part of a holistic solution to behavior, learning and motor skill challenges. I also teach them how to integrate primitive reflexes. So intentional movement to create new neural commendations and mature the brain in combination with diet are very powerful. I’m going to link this page on my website because the party experiment and puts it in real terms for parents. Keep up the good work! One family and one child at a time!
I am raising 7 year old twins a boy and girl.
the little girl has ADHD/Learning challenge
her brother has Autism/ADHD/Sensory Integration Dysfunction, Speech & Language Delays/he barely sleeps /picky eater
I have been reading these post. How to I create a diet of healthy food and vitamins.
I am currently utilizing ABA/ Speech and behavior counseling. I honestly do not see a great deal of change. At this point I am desperate.
I even took him to a herbalist, she told me he needs to become one with nature and run bare feet and hug a tree. Then she gave me oils to rub on his feet. Honestly I left bewildered.
I just need a guide to follow I have heard that a change in diet has been shown to make a great difference in children with special needs. if anyone would like to contact me with info. my email is unityfirst@gmail.com
thanks
Velvet
Hello there. Diet is huge w/these kids. The most popular thing to do is remove gluten and dairy but for our child, removing sugar and high carb / refined foods was the biggest thing and then after that was gluten and then the oil that I mention in this post.
I am sorry you have had a tough time. Happy to help as much as I can. This isn’t medical advice. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/cbd-experience/ Hope this is of some encouragement to you.
Here is another post that should be of interest. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/probiotics-and-adhd/
What national efforts are being made to push this mainstream, aside from informative blogs and youtube channels? I personally would like to see someone do a documentary on this, not JUST highlighting the physical complications children and adults have, but also, the mental impact is has. I KNOW kids are being affected by the foods they eat, and I even tried to suggest one student I worked with in a day treatment facility to get a food allergy test done. The results were less than adequate. Nothing was done. He had was placed on some medication for his intestinal bleeding, and as far as I know it never went further. The majority of the staff approached with me caution as though my suggestion was a threat. Good people mind you- I simply wish they would replace their psychiatrist with a nutritionist, or someone who specializes in making those food and behavioral connections. I watched my own daughter recover and blossom before my eyes after discovering she was celiacs. I want this to become mainstream.
There is a compelling documentary on Netflix called the Magic Pill that does expose these issues. It directly correlates the effects of our diet with child behavior issues, autism severity, chronic illnesses like diabetes and even cancer. Changed my life, in a good way.
Good information. I have. child with ADHD and just searching on how much diet plays into this.
For what its worth, I do find it kind weird that advertisements for Heinz BBQ sauce shows up in the middle of your page and at the bottom.
Thanks! I’m sorry about the ads. I have tried to find a resource for only healthy living ads but it’s hard. The costs of running my blog are huge and so it’s always a balance between perfection and making it work. I hope you can understand! But yes, the irony :).
I’m a pharmacist. They didn’t teach us diet/nutrition in school.
Sugar turned my son into the Joker. Red dye turned him into the Incredible Hulk. His Autistic & ADHD tendencies (which he developed at age 2 and were not relieved by medication or behavior therapy) have significantly improved since going on an antifungal regimen and are improving even more after switching his supplements.
So glad to hear he is doing better. It’s a huge problem. My kids just ate loads of junk this past week b/c we had a drama at church….they both got sick. Badly. I suspect we won’t be doing that again. The youngest even asked if we could bring our own food next time. 🙂
May I ask what supplements?
When my daughter was 9 years old she was diagnosed with adhd. It was very difficult. Many doctors, psychiatrists and a counselor. The counseling was beneficial bUT let me explain why. We had our first visit and she was interupting, not sitting still and barely able to look the counselor in the eye. He took notes. Also she was not on any med at the time as the side affects she exerienced were scary. A month later we walked in and took our seats with the counselor. Started the session and he asked me what med she was on, with a look of shock on his face. I said no med but I have been very strict that she eats healthy fruits, veggies, meats and breads without corn syrup. She sat and held a pretty normal conversation with him and allowed him to talk to me too without interruption. We did allow for a fun foods Friday but soon she learned how it felt to be out of control due to her food choices. Her dyslexia was also non barely noticable on only healthy foods.
Being in public school with class parties, school food and outside influence was always extremely difficult to control. As she has grown her behavior fluctuates depending on her choices. She seems drawn to the junk food like a drug but it’s all a life learning experience.
Very interesting. Thanks for sharing!
We’ve been a Feingold family for 12 years now. We are total advocates for dye free, additive free foods. Our schools think they’re doing things right by making parents stick to a list of allowable foods to send to parties etc. Meanwhile, Pringles and Oreos are on that list. They have no idea that they are part of the problem. And they don’t want to hear it from us, even though I was brought in to present to the PTA. The principal showed up, as well as a few members, but it was the season premier of American Idol that night. Now we all know where their priorities lie. It’s pathetic.
I totally agree with you on the sad state of affairs. Maybe you need to present again on a non American Idol night :(. Or bring your mic and perform. We had a discussion about “healthy” junk food in our house just this week.