This happens because food chemicals build up in our body over time, so if you eat lots of low chemical foods and then you have one high chemical food, you tend to tip over the edge of your tolerance threshold and start feeling particularly ill in some way. Without the understanding of the build up effect, most people naturally blame the last food they have eaten instead of realising they all contributed.

 

Often with children particularly, when they cannot describe how they are feeling, we tend to blame behaviour or learning difficulties on their personality. This can have detrimental impacts on their long term development and wellbeing. Food intolerance can contribute to many, many different symptoms in people and this adds to the difficulty in recognising foods are causing a problem. See What is Food Intolerance? 

Furthermore, as knowledge of food intolerance in the community is generally very low, it is often difficult to obtain much needed support in investigating and then in learning to live with food intolerance.

 

Following are a few examples of things that changed for people, when they discovered food chemical intolerances:

 

“There can be all sorts of symptoms related to the every day foods we eat. For my young child, I found irritability and hyperactivity were greatly improved by following a diet low in natural chemicals and free of harmful additives. Those were the symptoms I was hoping would improve when we commenced our elimination diet, but then there was a host of others that did too – night terrors, digestive issues, difficulty falling asleep, sore tummies, headaches and recurring bronchitis all but disappeared. Before discovering the foods that affected us, I couldn’t see the wood for the trees and was literally walking on egg-shells just to get out of the house in the morning after several tantrums per morning. Now that we live on foods that are healthy for us, it means we can have a happy, healthy household. For me, the surprising thing was that I can now be virtually free of the illnesses such as sinusitis, and digestive problems that were a regular part of my life before my diet changed – I had no idea that the foods I ate were causing these symptoms for me, but am thankful every day for now knowing. For my children, irritability and hyperactivity are just not the issue they once were.” Jo

"We used to shake our heads and wonder where we'd gone wrong.  Our 5-year-old daughter's behaviour and moods were out of control.  She was unable to cope with the slightest setback,  crumbling to the floor in huge sobs.  Or else lashing out with screams and accusations.  You could honestly believe she was deaf with her ability to switch us off.  We knew people were looking and labelling her.  We knew they were talking about how we were doing it wrong.  We knew that we were becoming the type of parents we didn't want to be as we struggled with her crazy stuff.  She finished grade prep with no friends.  Not one.

I had heard about the effect of 'bad' additives online in a forum or two.  It got me wondering.  We had assumed that she was affected by sugar when she went to a party... now we were thinking, maybe not the sugar.  Maybe all the chemicals that inevitably went with that sugar!

We started by removing all the bad additives and saw immediate results.  One morning, while her elder sister flicked her ear repeatedly (asking for trouble!!!) she turned to her and said calmly "Stop it. How would you like it if I did that to you?"  I just about fell to the floor myself!   I was so shocked!  I realised I was bracing myself for the inevitable tears and screaming and they didn't happen.

With this encouragement,  we decided to see if natural food chemicals might be affecting her as well.  Under Jenny's guidance, we set about completing a full Elimination Diet;  the whole family.  It was daunting,  but looking at what we were ALLOWED instead of NOT ALLOWED made it more doable.    Well only 2 weeks in and I witnessed a most amazing thing.  She was sitting at the kitchen bench colouring in (amazing in itself as she never had the concentration to do it for long before) and when I looked I saw neat colours, filling the shapes.  This was all the more amazing as it was just so unexpected.  We'd been watching behaviours... not colouring-in ability.  But when I look at the difference in her colouring I am so sad at her former frame of mind... that fog of confusion that she was obviously under...  but I am also gladdened.  We've figured it out!  We can make it better now.

So, we have discovered she is sensitive to Salicylates and Amines,  which was quite daunting at first...  but now is simply life.  What makes it all worthwhile is getting to know my daughter.  She just turned 7 and I am thrilled to say, is able to tell me a great long list of friends.  She is always up for a cuddle and has a very silly sense of humour. 

I want to grab people by the shoulders and say 'listen to this!'  It really has been exciting this year to see her skipping out of her classroom, heads together with another child, giggling.  Arranging play dates.   I told one mum a few weeks ago about our journey and she kept saying 'Really?  This Charlotte??'  She is completely unlike the child she was.  I am so glad and just so grateful to Sue Dengate, Failsafe and to you."