Barriers Faced By the Developmentally Disabled

FOOD FOR LIVING

Hidden Neurotoxins in Your Child’s Food?

The Top 5 to Avoid
to go from SAD toward GLAD

If your child is eating the SAD (Standard American Diet), the negative impact on his or her performance in school and life can have lifelong consequences. For children with learning disabilities, we have to be particularly careful to screen out the neurotoxins that seem to be all too common in prepared food nowadays.

What is a Neurotoxin?

Neurotoxins are poisonous to our nerve cells or neurons. Since neurons conduct the electricity required to transmit signals within the brain and between the brain and other parts of our body, their proper function is critical to our ability to think, learn and have motor control and coordination. Yet every day, kids consume processed foods loaded with chemical additives that can cause or contribute to a wide variety of neurological and behavioral problems from inability to concentrate to hyperactivity, irritability, seizures, fatigue, anxiety, aggression and depression.

In 1979 New York City public schools’ tests ratings leaped from 11% below the national average to 5% above after the Board of Education ordered a change in school diets to cut down sugar, food dyes, and additives. Improvements were not across the board, but impacted the “learning disabled” children the most – reducing their numbers from 12.4% to 4.9% of one million N.Y. City school children. ¹ 

Could your child benefit from a decrease in neurotoxins? Where do you begin?

Cut these 5 toxins out of your child’s diet as a first step on the road from SAD to GLAD (Good Learning Ability Diet).

The Top 5 SAD Neurotoxins

1.       High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS):  In the last 30 years, HFCS has replaced sugar in processed foods from bread to ketchup because it’s cheap to make and acts as a preservative. Its greatest consumption is in soft drinks. Made from genetically modified corn processed with enzymes, caustic soda and hydrochloric acid, HFCS has been shown to contain mercury — a very potent neurotoxin that, even in minute concentrations, can cause neurological damage in children. According to a 2009 study in Environmental Health, 9 of 20 samples of HFCS contained detectable levels of mercury.²

In another study in 2008, 55 products off the grocery shelves were tested by Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.³ Nearly one in three brand-name foods (including Quaker, Hunt’s, Manwich, Hershey’s, Smucker’s, Kraft, Nutri-Grain and Yoplait) were found to contain detectable quantities of mercury. Dairy products, dressings and condiments were most notably affected. HFCS also provokes biochemical reactions that correlate to type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, altered lipid profiles, and obesity and food cravings (by turning off the body’s natural signals that tell us when we’re full).

Alternatives: If your child is a soda addict, substitute seltzer mixed with fruit juice, and gradually cut back on the amount of juice you add. Buy dairy products, condiments, snack foods, bread, and syrups that are organic or made without HFCS and transition to more homemade products made with organic ingredients.

2.       Aspartate or Aspertame (marketed as NutraSweet, Equal, etc.): Aspartame breaks down to potent neurotoxins, including formaldehyde, methanol, and formic acid. How it became such a popular sweetener is a controversial tale, involving allegations of fraud and power brokering.⁴ An Italian study demonstrated it causes leukemia, lymphoma and malignant brain tumors at doses less than half the FDA’s recommended Acceptable Daily Intake.⁵ Russell Blaylock, professor of neurosurgery at the University of Mississippi, considers aspartame an “excitotoxin” that overstimulates neurons to death, contributing to many neurological problems — from memory loss and inability to concentrate to Alzheimer’s, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), and Multiple Sclerosis. He cites many studies that demonstrate its cumulative damage on DNA.⁶ Consistent ingestion causes chronic methanol poisoning, changing dopamine levels in the brain and leading to depression and anxiety disorder. Ironically, while some parents use aspartame to avoid childhood obesity, studies demonstrate it causes obesity and diabetes by its interaction with insulin. Aspartame also increases phenylalanine levels which can provoke seizures and are correlated with schizophrenia.⁷

Alternatives: Use honey, molasses, maple syrup, dehydrated sugar cane juice, brown rice syrup, date sugar or fruit juice as sweeteners. If your child has diabetes, use xylitol (made from birch), or stevia (in small doses, but beware it contains high levels of oxalic acid which can cause problems for some people. It is not for baking or cooking)

3.       Monosodium Glutamate or Glutamic Acid (MSG):
By FDA definition all MSG is “natural,” so don’t let that adjective belie the poison within the package. MSG is a nervous system stimulant that causes us to respond more intensely to food flavors. Originally derived from seaweed, MSG is now made by fermenting rice, corn or potatoes. It has been linked to learning disabilities, migraine headaches, anxiety, depression, seizures, obesity, diabetes and endocrine disorders, and a host of other problems similar to those caused by aspartame, including neuroexcitation. Blaylock believes that aspartame and MSG are behind the rise in ADD and ADHD among children.⁸
In 1969, neuroscientist John Olney, M.D. discovered that mice fed MSG became obese. He learned that MSG caused lesions in the hypothalamus and neuroendocrine disorders, with the young being most effected.⁹ As a result, MSG was removed from baby foods, but it continues to be added to a wide variety of packaged goods. The list is long, including most fast food chain options. MSG hides under a variety of ingredient names including natural seasoning, natural flavoring, hydrolyzed soy protein, soy extract, hydrolyzed yeast, hydrolyzed vegetable proteins (including pea, soy, corn and rice protein), sodium caseinate, calcium caseinate, hydrolyzed oat flour, soy sauce, autolyzed yeast, textured protein, protein isolate, modified corn starch, yeast extract, and modified food starch. It is also generally found in foods containing malt extract, malt flavoring, bouillon, broth stock, flavoring, natural flavoring, natural beef or chicken flavoring.

Alternatives: Make your own broth or stock. Use unadulterated herbs and spices rather than packaged seasoning mixes. Check ingredient lists. Keep fast food establishment eating to a minimum or eliminate it altogether. Freeze home-made food for quick meal preparation options.

4.       Artificial Colorings and Dyes:
Unless they are derived from natural ingredients like purple cabbage, beets, turmeric, etc., the dyes used in foods are most often derived from coal tar or petroleum derivatives. They have been linked to ADHD (blue and yellow #6), hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancer (red #3), childhood OCD (yellow #5), chromosomal damage and a wide variety of allergic reactions. Many are banned in other countries, but continue to fill U.S. children’s foods.¹⁰ In his book, Food Allergy and Intolerance, Dr. Johnathan Brostoff theorized that food dyes inhibit an enzyme known to detoxify certain intestinal bacteria, making children vulnerable to hyperactivity as a result.

Alternatives: Avoid candies and other sweets with artificial dyes. Buy organic candies and treats that use colorings from plant sources for special occasions. Transition to fruit and cut up vegetables with homemade dips for snacks. Make your own color-free cookies and muffins.

5.       Nitrates and nitrites began use as curing agents to preserve meat freshness and inhibit bacterial growth before the days of refrigeration. Found in bacon, hot dogs, cold cuts and preserved meats, your body converts them to nitrosamines which, particularly in combination with a high fat diet, can contribute to neurodegeneration and type 2 diabetes.¹¹ They have also been shown to be powerful carcinogens  and to contribute to colorectal, stomach and pancreatic cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, DNA mutations, and brain tumors in children.

Alternatives: There a growing number of commonly available brands of bacon and cold cuts that do not contain added nitrites or nitrates. Check food labels.

Once your make take this first leap from SAD to GLAD,  you may be so impressed with your own child’s test scores that you continue further. Robyn O’Brien, a mom to four, became convinced that chemical additive injury to our children’s digestive systems is behind the surge that now leaves us with  one in three children suffering from allergies, asthmas, autism or ADHD. She founded Allergy Kids in the belief that our children must be trying to tell us something, and to ask the question, “Shouldn’t we listen?”

¹ See: The International Journal of Biosocial Research, Vol. 8, 1986, “The Impact of Low Food Additive and Sucrose Diet on Academic Performance in 803 NYC Public Schools,” by Stephen Shoenthaler, PhD
http://www.feingold.org/Research/BLUE/Page-11-NYschools.pdf

²See Environmental Health Journal, Jan. 2009, “Mercury from chlor-alkali plants: measured concentrations in food product sugar,” by Renee Dufault, et al
 http://www.ehjournal.net/content/pdf/1476-069x-8-2.pdf

³ To see this report, click: http://www.healthobservatory.org/library.cfm?refid=105026
Note: Per this report, beware that other food additives using mercury cell technology in U.S. production include benzoic acid and citric acid. Chlorine is also produced with this technology.

⁴ In 1977 aspartame was subject of a federal grand jury investigation against Searle, Inc. by the US Attorney Samuel Skinner. The FDA alleged that its limited approval for use in dry goods was based on fraudulent study results by Searle that hid the brain lesions, seizures, tumors and death it caused in lab animals. Skinner was hired by Searle’s law firm six months later and former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld became Searle’s CEO. Charges against Searle were subsequently dropped, and in 1981, aspartame was approved for use in beverages over the objections of 6 of the 9 members of the FDA’s scientific advisory board. For the text of the FDA’s original report that cites aspartame-fed animals development of tumors, eye problems, including blindness, partial paralysis, involuntary spasms, unsteady gait, skin problems and lesions, genetic damage and birth defects, and obesity, see: http://www.dorway.com/bressler.txt

⁵See the study by the Cesare Maltoni Cancer Research Center, European Ramazzini Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences, Bologna, Italy published in Environmental Health Perspectives, March 2006: http://www.ramazzini.it/ricerca/pdfUpload/Environ%20Health%20Perspect%20114%20379-385_2006.pdf

⁶Letter from Russell Blaylock, M.D. to the Neuropathy Association: http://suewidemark.netfirms.com/blaylock.htm

⁷ This report on Aspartame and Children prepared by the organization Mission Possible cites many studies that associate aspartame use with a wide variety of neurological problems: http://www.mpwhi.com/report_on_aspartame_and_children.htm

⁸ See “Excitotoxins, Neurodegeneration and Neurodevelopment” by Russell L. Blaylock, M.D http://landofpuregold.com/the-pdfs/Excitotoxins.pdf

⁹ See Science, May 1969, “Brain Lesions, Obesity, and Other Disturbances in Mice Treated with Monosodium Glutamate” By John W. Olney: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/164/3880/719

⁹ See Scientific American, Jan. 2009, “Where does blue food dye come from?” by Brendan Borrell http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=where-does-blue-food-dye

and The Lancet, Nov. 2007, “Food additives and hyperactive behaviour in 3-year-old and 8/9-year-old children in the community: a randomised, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial” by D. McCann, et al http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140673607613063/abstract

¹⁰ See BMC Endocrine Disorders, 2010 “Early limited nitrosamine exposures exacerbate high fat diet-mediated type 2 diabetes and neurodegeneration” by M. Tong, et al http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6823/10/4

Our Nutrition Editor Mary Hernandez is a Holistic Health Counselor and Liaison to the Staten Island Branch of the  National Autism Association NYC Metro Chapter . She lives in Staten Island, NY with her husband James, son Luis, age 11, daughter Ana who will soon turn 10, and stepdaughter Crista. She can be contacted at maryhernandez@verizon.net