Sugar & Color vs tennis champions

Parents want for their children to excel at tennis. The sport the little ones are passionately practicing and competing. Parents will push their kids to compete hard and train hard but forgetting a very dangerous enemy to tennis and life: "COLOR."

As tennis coach, I've became friends with the parents of my little students getting more involved in their community and events. I get invited to night outs where sometimes we discuss tennis and recently soccer after the world cup was over. The beauty of tennis is that it's international and it attracts and gathers people from many backgrounds. One can play at any level in any country and city in the world. Tennis is a common denominator and sometimes the language of friendship. The other night, when we meet for Tuesday Tapas at a local joint, the language that brought us together was again tennis. This time I did notice concern in my friend's faces when we started to talk about attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children.

The majority of the 8 year old students are being medicated for either attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In fact, the majority of my 8 year old tennis class last year was medicated for either ADHD or ADD. The most common reaction from parents and non parents is to say: "we didn't have that disease when we grew up." Another common reaction is to say, "parents medicate their children because they don't want to deal with them." The problem is imminent. More and more children are changing their behavior.  It looks like medication and diagnosis disorder is all we know but there is more...Can it be such a massive genetic disorder spreading faster than we can grab it?

Last night, Sue, one of the mothers said, "I'm having problems with my 8 year old child. He is hyperactive and the doctor is very closed to medicate him. I'm from England so I decided to take a break and go for few weeks to Europe to visit my family." She continues telling us, "my child in England was doing very well. He wasn't hyperactive like in the States." Automatically and unanimously we all shout out, " it's sugar, sugar!" She said, "no. My son was getting sugar in his diet in England and sugar wasn't the problem at all." Upon return, she proceed to read and research every ingredient in the food and drinks. After careful observation, she realized her son wasn't eating food with artificial coloring back in Europe. He was eating grandma's home cooking without food dye.

 What is in food coloring? I went to the local food store nearby the tennis courts and Colin in the vitamin department explained, "food coloring consists of chemicals used to add color to food. Food coloring (dye) is often added to processed foods, drinks, and condiments. They are used to maintain or improve the appearance and add shelf life."

There are two types of approved color additives - dyes and lakes. Dyes are water-soluble and usually come in the form of powders, granules, or liquids. Lakes are not water-soluble. They are found in products containing fats and oils. Some food colorings are synthetically produced. Examples of these color additives include FD&C Blue Nos. 1 and 2 and FD&C Green No. 3. Other food colorings come from pigments of vegetables, minerals, or animals. Examples of these natural additives include beta-carotene, grape skin extract, caramel color, and saffron.

Let's concentrate on the synthetically produced food dye... I asked Colin, "what is the main derivative of food dye?" He replied, "the majority of food colors are made with petroleum. They are a derivative of Petrochemicals and Coal tar. Food looks good but these chemicals are no good to eat. In fact, it's believe some blue No. 1 or 2 it's the main cause of hyperactivity in children." He also said, "I think Yellow #2 food dye has shown to cause ADHD, multiple types of cancer, male sterility, and many other issues." 

Knowing this small piece of information think of all the food your children like. Make a list of what your little champion likes to eat and drink: all sorts of candy, ice-cream, hot dogs, pizza, juices etc. Be very specific and find out the ingredients. Now think not only of food but also creams, toothpaste and shampoos. Please again read the ingredients like Sue did and look for synthetic color. Eliminate color dyes and see if there is any difference on your child's behavior. Eliminate any chemical coloring and products from your kid's life and help you and them to become worry free and healthy.

Remember, we are we eat. Health and peace of mind starts by simplifying our lives from artificial ingredients.