November 2011         
  
In This Issue:
  - Children and pesticides
  - CHADD's letter to Dear Abby
  - Abby's answer
  - Our reply
  - Your turn
  - The birthday cake (Parkinson's story)
  - Ritalin & the heart
  - New! Foodlist PDF
  - Thankful for unscented stuff!
  - Not thankful for this shampoo
  - Whole grain and ...?
  - Pens & Swords
  - If you like the science
  - From the mailbox



Goodie Baskets!!
NEW! Stage One Baskets also available this year!!
Get them in time for the holidays!!


In answer to your requests, we are now able to offer a down-loadable Foodlist. It is available at a discount ($15) when purchased with a new membership or a renewal. For members, it is also available by itself as an extra Foodlist. To see more, visit the Feingold Shop and choose your country (US or Canada).


Thankful for unscented stuff!
As the holidays approach, you and your children may be tempted by "holiday" fragrances - scented candles, air fresheners, perfumes, etc. Even some Christmas trees are treated with "pine" fragrance to enhance their allure. The problem, of course, is that they can also ruin your day. Some children are even bothered by natural Christmas trees and do better with the artificial ones.

If you invite friends or family to your house, remind everybody the rule is "no perfume." If Uncle Harry shaves early in the day, however, his after-shave fragrance will probably have worn off by dinner time, so use your judgment how strict you need to be.

If your family plans to spend time at a hotel, you can call ahead and ask the hotel to skip the air freshener and perfumed cleaning supplies. Some have what they call "green" rooms.

If you are planning to sleep over at a relative's home, you will need to have a conversation in advance to determine whether it is a safe idea. Even the most cooperative host may not have any idea that their laundry detergent, hand soap, or carpet cleaner can all be a problem for some people. If you are very new to the diet, or if you know your children are highly sensitive, the safest way to spend the holidays is in your own home.

Be sure to check out the eNews archives for advice and recipes from previous years, as well as the Family Pages for November and (soon) December.


We'd like to give thanks for this shampoo, too
But we can't. Not this Thanksgiving, anyhow.

An activist group called the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has been trying for more than two years to get Johnson & Johnson to remove two potentially cancer-causing substances — dioxane and quaternium-15 which releases formaldehyde — from Johnson's Baby Shampoo. The company insists that these preservatives are safe according to American laws, although they say they plan to "phase out" their use over a period of time.

Because the company already sells baby shampoo without such carcinogens in Denmark, Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Sweden and the UK, the activists are now calling on families to boycott the company in the US and Canada. More . . .

Of course that will not be a problem for Feingolders, since none of the Johnson & Johnson's products are listed in the Foodlist, anyhow; the company declines to fill out our product forms, even for products that look promising.

Whole grain and...?
Halloween may be over, but it's still trick 'n treat at the cereal companies. Emblazoned across the top of cereal boxes, General Mills shouts "Whole Grain Guaranteed" with a big check mark.

So what can be wrong with whole grain cereal? Let's look at a few of them.

Count Chocula - billed as a "chocolatey cereal," it isn't really very full of chocolate, but does have some cocoa as the sixth ingredient, right above salt. The ingredient list begins with whole grain corn, followed by several sugars, and includes Red 40, Yellow 5 & 6, Blue 1, artificial flavor and BHT. The judicious mix of red, yellow, and blue colorings is what surely gives it a "chocolate" color, and the artificial flavor is probably some sort of artificial chocolate flavoring chemical, so nobody will notice there is barely any real chocolate in there.

Lucky Charms starts out with whole grain oats, followed by sugars, and the same red, yellow, and blue artificial colorings, and artificial flavor. In this case, the colors are not mixed to make a brown, but are used in the blue, yellow, pink, and green marshmallow pieces. Lucky Charms actually uses Vitamin E as a preservative instead of BHT - wow!

Trix is a fruit-flavored cereal that also starts out with whole grain corn, adding the same old Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 1, artificial flavor & BHT ... oh - and no fruit at all.

Well, okay, now - look at the pictures on each of these boxes. I have put them together below - see the wild expressions. Really now - there is truth in advertising, isn't there?

Pens & Swords
Our country has pressing needs; outlawing vitamins is certainly not one of them.

Although the Feingold Association does not sell or promote the use of any specific vitamins, we are aware of research showing that properly chosen supplements can work as well as stimulant drugs for those who need it, and other research showing that people with neurological problems may need more of some vitamins than is provided in foods. We therefore provide a guide to acceptable supplements in our Foodlists, and many of our members find that various supplements - especially the B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, fish oil, etc. - are very beneficial. So we must side with the Natural Grocers to tell the FDA, "Don't make vitamins illegal." See more information and send your message.

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Children and pesticides
In 2008, the Environmental Protection Agency determined that certain kinds of rat bait pose “unreasonable risk” to children, pets and wildlife. The Agency gave the manufacturers three years to voluntarily adopt new safety measures.

Since then, many companies have complied and stopped producing the types of rat and mouse bait most harmful to kids. But several have not, and children are still at risk.

To protect your family, do not buy D-Con by Reckitt Benckiser; Hot Shot or Rid-a-Rat by Spectrum; or Generation rodent control products by Liphatech. To protect other families, sign the letter that the Pesticide Action Network will send to these companies on your behalf, here.


CHADD's letter
October 21, Dear Abby published an article from a past president of CHADD about treatment for ADHD. It was a nice letter, with the usual CHADD advice, but I suspect you will have something to add.

DEAR ABBY: Because ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) affects so many people, my letter may interest many of your readers. An estimated 4.4 million children between the ages of 4 and 17 have this diagnosis. Half of them receive some form of medication for it.

This disorder is also present in adults. According to an April 2006 study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 4.4 percent of adults 18 to 44 experience some symptoms from it.

Thanks to ongoing research and improved treatment, adults with ADHD can live more successful lives. The largest study on childhood ADHD also shows effective treatments are available.

CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), the largest family-based organization advocating for people with the disorder, provides information, advocacy and support. Our website (CHADD.org) and publications contain science-based information. It includes available parent and teacher training programs as well as support groups in 200 locations.

Thank you for printing this and the advice and wisdom you have shared so consistently over the years. -- MARIE S. PAXSON, PAST PRESIDENT, CHADD ORGANIZATION
Abby's answer
DEAR MARIE: I'm pleased to spread the word that effective treatment for ADHD -- which can be inherited -- is becoming more accessible to families affected by it. Treatment for this disorder includes parent training, behavioral intervention, educational adaptations, parent-child education on ADHD and medication. If a child you know has been diagnosed with this disorder, CHADD can be a helpful resource.

Our reply, October 23
Although my email below to Dear Abby was not published (yet), I also submitted it to the Buffalo News Dear Abby column, and it was automatically posted. Because of their word limit, I had to divide it into two parts. If you do a Google search for "Dear Abby ADHD" you may find the article in numerous papers, and some of them allow comments, too. Comment away!!
Dear Abby,

The letter in your column from Marie of the CHADD organization encouraged people with ADHD to seek "effective treatment." In it she refers to the "largest study on childhood ADHD" but doesn’t identify it. The study usually called "the largest" is the 1999 MTA study of 579 children with ADHD, which considered only medication and behavioral therapy, and concluded that medication works best.

What she didn’t say, however, is that ten years later, in 2009, a followup of this study was published - and having followed the children for 8 years, the researchers report "the sustained absence of long-term effects …" and, "Moreover, with one exception (math achievement), children still taking medication by 6 and 8 years fared no better than their non-medicated counterparts despite a 41% increase in the average total daily dose …"

A principal scientist in the study, psychologist William Pelham, PhD, told the Washington Post that the most obvious interpretation of the data is that the medications are useful in the short term but ineffective over longer periods. “The stance the group took in the first paper,” he said, “was so strong that the people are embarrassed to say they were wrong and we led the whole field astray.” He added, "If 5 percent of families in the country are giving a medication to their children, and they don't realize it does not have long-term benefits but might have long-term risks, why should they not be told?"

Meanwhile, the largest study ever done on diet and learning (Schoenthaler 1986) was carried out in 803 schools in New York City – on ONE MILLION children.

Results showed that the average performance of the children on the California Achievement Test rose dramatically from the 39th percentile to above the 55th percentile. See whole letter . . .





Your Turn
If more of us write, maybe she will listen. If you would like to write to Dear Abby, you have to fill out a form at www.uexpress.com/dearabby/dearabby_form.html. There does not appear to be a word limit although the space is visibly small. The easiest way, I found, is to write up your letter in Word or other text program and then paste it into the form.




The Birthday Cake

As Elizabeth, a volunteer, was proofing our next edition of the Bluebook, she noticed that one of the studies (McFadden 1996) talks about the impaired sulfation in people with chronic diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and arthritis.

People with impaired sulfation have trouble with food additives such as dyes, which need sulfation. The problems that they have may be neurological or mental since the enzymes involved in sulfation are also important in the brain for thinking, movement, etc. McFadden said that the removal of additives requiring sulfation "may be a factor in the success of the Feingold diet," but he stops short of recommending the Feingold diet for people with these disorders.

Another study (Mizutani 2009) reported that synthetic food dyes attack the enzymes needed for metabolizing drugs. Mizutani didn't see this as a problem in healthy people (what about sick people?), but at least he did recommend that people with ulcers should avoid food dyes.

These studies reminded Elizabeth of an unhappy memory when the dyes were "tested" on a sick relative. She writes:

"Several years ago, my mother (before she died) was suffering from Parkinson's. For her birthday, my dad bought her a bakery cake loaded with artificial ingredients; the frosting was so heavily colored that it did not look "natural" at all. (I would have baked one for her, but they refused. They wanted a "professional cake" from the bakery.)

"My son, Daniel, and I were sitting across the table from my mom when my dad gave her a big piece of cake. As she lifted a bite of cake to her mouth, my son leaned over to me and said, "I can't watch this. I'm out of here." He picked up his piece of cake --homemade and Feingold acceptable--and left the room. (He had seen her eat things like this before, and he didn't want to witness it again.)

"In less than 5 minutes, my mom was reduced to a sobbing, incoherent invalid -- she had been lucid and seemingly normal before the cake. My sister, who did not understand why a "bakery" cake could be bad, helped Mom to a recliner and then waited on her for the next several hours. I had to go and make sure my children did not go back in the room because they always got upset seeing their grandma in that condition. Daniel was 11 at the time, and is now 16, but remembers the incident vividly. Every time he sees a professional cake, he has no desire to have any because of his experience with his grandmother."
The Feingold diet is surely not a cure for Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, arthritis, or other chronic, degenerative disease, but how much will it help? We don't know, since the above is all the research we can find on it. What we do know is that it can't hurt to try it -- if nothing else, it may relieve symptoms related to impaired sulfation.



Ritalin and the heart ... double or nothing?
Dr. Ljubisa Dragovic was the Medical Examiner in the case of Matthew Smith, who died suddenly at age 14. Dr. Dragovic said his death was caused by small vessel heart disease caused (only) by heavy stimulant recreational use or (in this case) by long term stimulant drug use. "One cannot neglect the reports, and one cannot neglect the experimental studies that have shown clearly that there is a valid concern. If there is one death, we don't have to wait for 100,000 people to die before we conclude that it is dangerous. We have to have what we call intelligence."

This was almost 12 years ago now, and evidence has been increasing that these drugs can be dangerous over time. The Black Box Warnings now mandated for all stimulant medications include elevated blood pressure and heart attack, with a note relating to underlying undiagnosed previous conditions. However, back in 1995, five years before Matthew's death, Henderson injected rats and mice with various doses of Ritalin, and their hearts were examined, damage was found in the heart wall muscle of all rats, even with the smallest dose given for the shortest time. More . . .

Thus, I was interested in the recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine called "ADHD Drugs and Serious Cardiovascular Events in Children and Young Adults." The authors' conclusion is sufficiently remarkable that I believe you will want to read it in their words:
This large study showed no evidence that current use of an ADHD drug was associated with an increased risk of serious cardiovascular events, although the upper limit of the 95% confidence interval indicated that a doubling of the risk could not be ruled out.
Did you get that? There is no increased risk of heart attack . . . except, of course, there might be doubling of the risk. Maybe my math is rusty? I always thought double is an increase of ... well, double.

See the full text of the study.


If you like the science . . .

I collected another bonanza of studies this month ... almost 50 of them ... and so I would like to share some of them with you. Go to www.feingold.org/Research/list.html where you will find all the newly-found full texts in the yellow box at the top, and visit whichever might interest you. The username is myfile and the password is 4Studies (note the capital S).
  1. ADAMS 2011 - Nutritional and metabolic status of children with autism ...
  2. AL-DEGS 2009 - Determination of Three Dyes in Commercial Soft Drinks ...
  3. BERMUDEZ 2010 - Study of Strawberry Flavored Milk ...
  4. CAZALS 2000 - Auditory Sensori-neural Alterations Induced by Salicylate.
  5. COOPER 2011 - ADHD Drugs and Serious Cardiovascular Events ...
  6. CORDER 1995 - Aspirin, Salicylate, Sulfite and Tartrazine Induced Bronchoconstriction...
  7. DIXIT 2011 - Usage Pattern of Synthetic Food Colours in Different States of India ...
  8. FALLICO 2010 - Colour and Label Evaluation of Commercial Pasteurised Red Juices ...
  9. GORAYA 2009 - Sleep Study Abnormalities in Children With ADHD
  10. HUANG 2007 - Toxic Effects of Sodium Fluoride on Reproductive Function in Male Mice
  11. LI 2004 - Effects of High Fluoride Level on Neonatal Neurobehavioral Development
  12. LIU 2008 - ... Intellectual Ability Of Children Living in High-Fluoride Water Areas
  13. LOK 2010 - Colour Additives in Snack Foods ... in Hong Kong
  14. MENOYO 2008 - Fluoride-Induced Resistance To Insulin In The Rat
  15. MOOLENBURGH 2007 - "Tardive Photopsia" ... (delay in seeing the light)
  16. NIEDERHOFER 2011 - Association of ADHD and Celiac Disease
  17. PACOR 2003 (p. 958) - Nickel Sulphate, Food Additives and Seronegative Arthritis ...
  18. PARACHIKOVA 2010 - Formulation of a Medical Food Cocktail for Alzheimer's Disease ...
  19. POLAK 1968 - The Reconstitution of Flavors
  20. SAEED 2011 - Investigations of In vitro Digestibility of Proteins Bound to Food Colors
  21. SAWAYA 2007 - Consumption Patterns of Artificially Coloured Foods ... in Kuwait
  22. SEAVEY 2005 - Water Fluoridation and Crime in America
  23. SUN 2000 - Effects of High Fluoride Drinking Water on the Cerebral Function of Mice
  24. TANG 2008 - Fluoride and Children's Intelligence: A Meta-analysis
  25. YEH 2005 - Induction of Phenolsulfotransferase Expression by Phenolic Acids ...
  26. YEH 2006 - Modulation of Hepatic Phase II Phenol Sulfotransferase ...
From the Mailbox

  • Teacher ordering a pack of information "library" cards: "Feingold has been a life-saver for my 7 yr old son who was diagnosed with Tourette's Syndrome in Feb. 2011. After being on the program, tics have stopped. I'm a teacher and want to get the word out."

  • Renewing member from VA: I've been a member for over a decade. Thank you for all the hard work!

  • Renewing in IL: Thank you for everything you do! It truly has been a lifesaver for our entire family.

  • New member in WA: "We have been using Dr. Feingold's original book to try and mimic the effects of the diet and are eager to see the full results as thus far has been astounding. Please hurry [and send my member package to me]. Thank you all so much."

  • From a mom buying 3 Holiday Goodie Baskets: "Thank you for all the amazing research you do!"

  • New member in IL: "I have been roughly following the diet with my autistic child and my ADHD child. After one week, I saw a difference when the bad stuff was reintroduced. I look forward to using the program!"

  • Buying a new Foodlist in NY: "Thanks - love Feingold, it really helped our little guy."

  • Downloading the Bluebook: "Thank you so much for providing this information at no cost!!! Truly wonderful!!"

  • New member in AZ: "My daughter has Asperger's Syndrome, and the program has been a Godsend for us!"

  • Renewing in WI: Thank you for doing this. It has helped our entire family so much.

  • Downloading the free Bluebook: "I met a lady at a health food store while looking for items to help with my child's newly diagnosed ADD. She raved about how much this program helped."

  • Renewing in WI: "Thank you for all the work you do! Our family is so much stronger because of it!"

  • Downloading a Bluebook" "Awesome!!"

  • New member in Canada: "We tried the 4 day diet [see it in Chapter 1 of Jane Hersey's book, online] and it changed our daughter. She is not diagnosed with ADHD but she is very active, controlling and defiant. We have even seen improvement in speech and definitely in her cooperation."
Coming in Dec/Jan PURE FACTS:

Note: The next Pure Facts is a combined December - January issue.
  • Why bedtimes are now a breeze for the parents of this 5-year-old -- what they changed (in addition to diet).

  • The big potato school lunch fiasco -- a win-win solution that has gone unnoticed.

  • Want to teach others about Feingold? Here is one family's "secret weapon."

  • Pure Facts subscribers will also receive the 2012 Fast Food Guide which has been updated and expanded.
Notes

Planning to change your address? Don't forget to let us know - use the force ... I mean the form ... so you will not be out of touch.

Have a happy and safe
Thanksgiving holiday!!