Fed Up with ADHD
How food affects children and what you can do about it
Sue Dengate's bestselling books have helped thousands offamilies. Now in Fed Up with ADHD, Sue documents the personal
story behind the books and her 20-year quest for recognition of theharmful effects of food chemicals, which can cause severe
problems in children. And it's not just junk food. Natural foodchemicals in some fruit and vegetables can also affect children. By
following the step-by-step guide to the elimination diet included inthis book, parents can help their children to be free of a wide rangeof health and behavioural problems.

NOTE THAT THIS BOOK IS OUT OF PRINT. TRY YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY IN
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND. SECOND-HAND COPIES MAY BE AVAILABLE
THROUGH EBAY AND AMAZON.
You might think that…
Your kids aren't affected by foodHow do you know? When natural and synthetic food chemicals are eaten every day, theeffects are accepted as normal and parents often think, 'that's just our kids'.
Your family eats healthy foods
Are you certain? Even our daily bread, butter and fruit can affect some children.
Only a few kids with ADHD are affected by foodWrong. Food can affect anyone and particularly in children can cause:
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forgetfulness, learning difficulties
distractedness, restlessness, silly noises
short fuse, temper outbursts, defianceanxiety, depression, panic attacks
rocking, hand flapping, face blindness
difficulty going to sleep, night waking
grizzly, whiny and demanding behaviour
bad attitude, lack of motivationskin rashes, headaches, stomach aches
asthma, frequent colds, flu, ear infections.

Fed Up with ADHD was released in February 2004 as an extensive update of Different
Kids, first published in 1994. Check out the support available on the website, through regular
newsletters and email support groups.

'Ever wondered about the numbers on food labels? This book reveals many of the answers'
New Idea'A reminder to all parents to take a closer look at what their children are eating' Melbourne
Age.
ISBN 9781740512305 SUBJECT Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; ADHD; diettherapy; food additives PAGES 260 PUBLISHER Random House Australia PUBDATE 2004INTRODUCTION from Fed Up with ADHDOver the last forty years, an increasing number of mothers have discovered that their children
who don't bring them the joy they expect. Instead, their children are demanding or defiant,forgetful or anxious, irritable or restlessness. Maybe they don't do well at school, or perhaps
they are difficult to live with. They're all different, but they share one characteristic - they makelife hard for their parents and teachers.
At first, experts told us it was our fault. If we couldn't control our children, it was because weweren't firm enough. We just needed to learn better behaviour management. Then they told
us that our children had been born with a chemical imbalance in their brain which must betreated with medication. They were encouraged by drug companies which spend millions ofdollars a day promoting their products to doctors.
'What about food?' some parents said. There are hundreds of additives in our food andthousands of chemicals in our air, soil and water which weren't there forty years ago. Fundedby the giant food industry, a few experts in the 1970s carried out some studies and concluded
that children's behaviour wasn't affected by foods. Those who disagreed were ignored.
The US Food and Drug Administration is the world's most powerful food authority. In abooklet co-sponsored by the food industry, the FDA says that food colours don't affectchildren's behaviour. Independent scientists disagree. There is overwhelming evidence of theeffects of foods on children's behaviour and anyone who says otherwise is out of date.
In 2002, research with Isle of Wight preschoolers found that children could be affected ny
colours and preservatives whether they had ADHD or not, that avoiding additives could be aseffective as some forms of medication and it was estimated that the prevalence of ADHD
might be reduced from 15 to 6 per cent by removing certain additives from the diet. In thefollowing year, when additive-free food was provided for an entire primary school class for twoweeks, nearly 60 per cent of the children improved.
Most people talk about diet versus medication for behaviour problems, but the question
should be: which diet? There are as many diets as there are allergy clinics. Some are muchbetter than others. This book is about my search. It took me eleven years to find the mosteffective - and best researched - diet in the world from an allergy clinic in Sydney. I call it theFailsafe diet because that's what the diet is: Free of Additives and Low in Salicylates, Amines
and Flavour Enhancers.
I had never heard of salicylates but for most children with behaviour problems, salicylates areat least as important as food additives. Salicylates are natural pesticides produced by plants
to protect themselves against insects and diseases. We all know that artificial pesticides canaffect people, but it is harder to understand that natural pesticides can affect some people
too.
Salicylates are in most plant foods such as fruits and vegetables. A group of food chemicals
called amines also occur in some fruit and vegetables as well as protein foods such ascheese. Amines may be associated with impulsive and aggressive behaviours in somechildren. Foods we consider healthy are not necessarily the best for our children.
Then there are the additives which have crept in to our foods - preservatives, colours or
flavour enhancers in foods as basic as our bread and butter. Whether you feed your family
junk food or healthy food, you might unknowingly be fuelling your child's behaviour andlearning problems. People think they will know if their children are affected by food chemicals
because they will see reactions, but that's not what happens. Parents rarely see theconnection.
In the US, nearly one child is five is estimated to have developmental, behavioural or learning
disabilities such ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), developmental coordination
disorder (CD), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), conduct disorder (CD), Asperger'sdisorder, Tourette's disorder, autism, PDD (pervasive developmental disorder), anxiety,depression or bipolar disorder. Some children don't have any diagnosed disorders, but they
can be moody or defiant.
Many of the symptoms of food intolerance overlap with the symptoms of the disorders above.
It is possible to have food intolerance by itself or in association with other conditions.
If your child's behaviour is related to food intolerance, then the failsafe diet will take care of
the food-related symptoms but you may need other inventions such as behaviour
management, special education, and motor sensory programs. Parents report that otherinterventions are much more effective once the diet has kicked in.
FOOD INTOLERANCE AND BEHAVIOUR
The quiet ones
• inattention, forgetfulness, unexplained tiredness, difficulty concentrating • anxiety,depression, panic attacks.
May be diagnosed with inattentive ADHD
The restless ones
• irritability • restlessness • inattention • difficulty settling to sleep, restless legs, night waking,night terrors.
May be diagnosed with hyperactive ADHD
The defiant ones
• losing temper • arguing with adults • refusing requests and defying rules • deliberately
annoying others • blaming others • touchy and easily annoyed • angry and resentful • spitefuland vindictive.
May be diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD)
Other symptoms of food intolerance include low muscle tone in muscles associated withcoordination, handwriting, reading, speech, bladder and bowel control and ailments such as
headaches, rashes and asthma.
It makes sense to get rid of the problems caused by foods before deciding which
management strategies or medication to use for the symptoms that are left - if any.

Part of this story appeared in my first book, Different Kids, which was about my search for themagic answer to my daughter's problems. Thousands of families have found it was theirmagic answer too, and you can read some of their stories on my website
www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info., like this report from a teacher about her Asperger's son:
'He is thinking more clearly, acting more rationally, is more cooperative, is confident socially,and generally just a nicer kid to be around. I wish the parents of the students at my work were
fully informed of the benefits that the failsafe diet can have both for the child and on family
life.'
Many readers wrote to ask me 'how is your daughter now?' This book tells the story of how
our children and others with behaviour and learning problems have been helped to become
motivated and happy young adults, despite authorities who continue to deny and ignore theharmful effects of food chemicals.
Australia has the third highest use of food additives - and ADHD medication - in the world,
after the USA and Canada., and the use of additives continues to increase. During my quest,
two more additives have quietly become widespread throughout our food supply withdevastating results for some consumers. Parents who want to protect their children from theharmful effects of food chemicals must do it for themselves. To find out how, please read on…
Now read on…