P.S. Why is my Child Agitated?

From an early age my oldest child seemed to have mood swings. We would nervously chuckle over our concern that she was like a mini Dr. Jackal and Mr. Hyde. She would be sweet as pie, then without warning she would be bouncing off of the walls. My husband and I were baffled as the agitation increased. Where could she be learning this behavior?

We found that we were asking the wrong question; it was not where she was learning the behavior as so much as what was causing the behavior. About 2 years ago we decided to look at food sensitivities as a source of this agitation. Food sensitivity is not an allergic reaction, but intolerance to a food substance.

We immediately thought of food dyes and sugar, but surprisingly their elimination did not affect this behavior. Someone suggested removing potassium sorbate from her diet. Belonging to the University of Google, I started there, and found little information supporting my friends theory.

At my ends wit, I decided I had nothing to lose by removing this preservative from her diet. Nothing that is, but the hardship of reading every label of food that crossed her lips. As we began eliminating it we realized she seemed calmer. Or was that wishful thinking?

After the first month we realized she had a complete personality make over. No longer crawling in her own skin, but peaceful. We decided to test the waters and let her have something containing Potassium Sorbate, and to our shock we realized this was indeed real!

We have since completely eliminated potassium sorbate from our diets. On rare occasions she will come home from school in “a mood”. All I have to do is ask, “Did you eat something mommy didn’t pack in your lunch?” and inevitably she will say, “yeah, so-n-so brought in pizza/cupcakes/yogurt”. And I know to have more patience with her that evening as her body works through the intolerance she is experiencing.

If your child has ADHD, autism, aggression or is prone to mood swings, try eliminating potassium sorbate to see if it makes the same difference for you. (Don’t forget that it could be effecting mom and dad, too.)