This article is reprinted from the November 1990 isue of Pure Facts, the newsletter of the Feingold® Association of the United States.
This is part of the Program Kit materials and can be printed for distribution as needed. Printer-friendly format

Dear Grandma and Grandpa,
doting aunts and uncles, teachers, and friends ....
There's a special child in your life who needs your loving support.

Dear Member,

Most of our newsletters are designed for you, but this one isn't. It has been written with your friends and relatives in mind.

Do you remember all the questions and doubts you had when you first learned of the Feingold Program? You may have wondered why a child who isn't overweight would have to go on a special "diet"; or you may have worried that being on this program could mean there's "something wrong" with your youngster. You may have imagined all sorts of unfamiliar foods you would have to eat possibly tofu and alfalfa sprouts three times a day!

You now know that the Feingold Program means normal food for normal people. You've had the advantage of observing the change in your child or in yourself. You KNOW how food additives/salicylates can affect a person's behavior because you've lived it.

We'd like to help you to explain the Feingold Program to your friends and relatives, particularly those who have a special place in their heart for your child. We hope this summary will make the Feingold Program more understandable to them, and that they will see how small a change is required to go from "synthetic" to "Feingold."

After a long and distinguished career as both an allergist and pediatrician, Ben F. Feingold, M.D., had reached the age where most men ease into retirement. Instead, he accepted the challenge to create the department of allergy for the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco, and serve as its Chief.

One of his patients was an adult who did not respond to traditional therapy for hives. Suspecting that this woman may be sensitive to aspirin, Dr. Feingold researched the scientific journals and uncovered some surprising relationships.

He found that not only is aspirin a problem for some people, but other substances, commonly found in our food supply, have a chemical similarity to aspirin.

This includes certain food additives as well as some fruits and a few vegetables and other foods. (The chemical name for aspirin is acetyl salicylic acid, and from this comes the term "salicylate" which we use to refer to these foods.)

Using the time-honored technique of an elimination diet, he asked patients to remove several additives and the salicylates and to observe if there was an improvement. The aspirin-sensitive patient was the first of many to follow Dr. Feingold's suggestions, and the results surprised and intrigued him.

Not only did some health problems diminish on this diet (asthma, hives, nasal congestion), but he kept hearing that patients became calmer and better able to concentrate when the additives and salicylates were removed.

Some of the children who were being treated primarily for allergies but who also had behavior or learning problems were suddenly functioning well, both at home and in school.

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