What is the Feingold diet?

The Feingold diet involves the elimination of artificial colors and flavors as well as other food additives as a potential way to resolve a number of behavioral and cognitive difficulties. This diet is based on the premise that allergic reactions or sensitivities to certain components of foods may contribute to the symptoms of certain medical conditions.

Dr. Benjamin Feingold, the founder of the Feingold diet, was a pediatrician and allergist in San Francisco, California, in the United States. While working with patients who were allergic to aspirin, he found that some of them reacted both physically and behaviorally to certain foods and food additives. In 1973, Feingold proposed that salicylates, artificial colors, and artificial flavors may cause hyperactivity in children. He suggested a diet free of these chemicals, and named it the KP diet. The media then changed this name to the Feingold diet.

This diet may help children diagnosed with hyperkinesis or hyperactivity. When present with other symptoms, hyperactivity is a symptom of attention deficit disorder (ADD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Many parents of children with ADD or ADHD adopt this diet for their children.

Advocates of this diet also claim that asthma, bedwetting, ear infections, eye-muscle disorders, seizures, sleep disorders, stomach aches, and other conditions may respond to the Feingold program. Sensitivity to synthetic additives and/or salicylates may be a factor in antisocial traits, compulsive aggression, self-mutilation, difficulty in reasoning, stuttering, and excessive clumsiness. There is currently conflicting evidence regarding the effectiveness of the Feingold diet in treating these conditions. The etiology (origin) of disorders that the Feingold diet claims to benefit, such as ADD and ADHD, are also the subject of vigorous debate in the scientific community.

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