Please join our Big Picture Social Emotional Learning Facebook group. Working and living with young children is never without challenges… most of us were mostly aware of that fact when we jumped into teaching and/or when we became parents. The thing is: there are challenges and then there are CHALLENGES. Some challenges that the young ones in our lives present, even though uncomfortable to deal with, we know we CAN deal with them, because we have instinctive and external resources we know we can rely upon… and then there are the CHALLENGES that defy logic, defy expectations, defy our understanding and our training… stretching us too close to the limits of our capacity to respond in ideal ways. If you know what I’m talking about, either in your own lived experience, or watching helplessly while another adult is trying to manage these kinds of challenges, then this episode about how diet, digestion, the brain and the emotions are all interconnected is going to be very important for you. Dawn Navaratnasingam is a mother of 4 children… and the honesty with which she share’s her family’s story is deeply inspiring and will give real hope to many listeners. Here are Dawn’s links: https://www.dawnnavacoaching.com/ FB group: Natural Solutions for Children With Learning & Behavioral Difficulties: https://www.facebook.com/groups/naturalsolutions4kids/ Free Resource Guide "5 Common Foods That are Inflaming Your Child's Brain and What to Eat Instead": https://www.dawnnavacoaching.com/freeguide COMMON FOOD TRIGGERS OF BEHAVIORAL ISSUES Dairy and Behavioral Issues Food for the Brain reports that dairy is the most common food allergy among children, and for those who have ADHD, hyperactivity and food with dairy products seem to be associated with each other. This means that some children act out more than usual after consuming milk, cheese, yogurt, or other food with lots of dairy. Kids with a dairy sensitivity often become congested, bloated, and tired, but those are just the physical symptoms. They might also become irritable, depressed, anxious, and unable to concentrate. Gluten and Irritability According to ADDitude, gluten is another of the food triggers that can lead to bad behavior in kids. Gluten is mostly found in wheat, which means most types of bread, cereal, and crackers contain this common ingredient. Hyperactivity and food with gluten seem to go hand in hand in children with some sensitivity to this food. Irritability and aggressiveness are other bad behaviors that gluten can trigger. Artificial Food Dyes and Hyperactivity Undesirable child behavior and food dye are also often related. According to Disease Proof, food dyes are found in most processed foods, including cereal, juice, and candy. The dyes that are known for causing symptoms include Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, and Red 40. Hyperactivity and food dyes have been linked in studies. That's probably why synthetic food dyes are actually banned in some countries, such as the UK, but most of the processed food in the US still includes them. Clearly, some food triggers behavior problems, but the good news is that certain foods can actually improve these issues… and that’s why you might want to schedule a free consultation with Dawn to learn more. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/nini-white/message