Go with Your Gut   

Aidy’s light bulb moment came when her friend lent her a book about the healing power of food. In the chapter on sugar, she read about how sugar blocked kids’ inhibitions, fueling inexplicably impulsive behavior. The children featured in the book sounded uncannily like Chaim, her generally sweet son who would nevertheless attack classmates without provocation, or even any apparent malicious intent.

She decided to attempt a short-term experiment, though without high hopes of success. “My kids live a typical US lifestyle. They live on white flour and cheese,” Aidy says. “Chaim is a regular, picky first-grader, a sensory mess.”

But buoyed by the book’s promise that it would take only a short time for the child to realize how good he felt without the sugar, she implemented a two-week sugar and food-coloring fast. She explained it to Chaim in age-appropriate language, telling him that his disruptive behavior was not his fault, but the sugar’s.

The change was dramatic. For the first time ever, Chaim voiced thoughts like, “I was going to potch him, but my yetzer tov said not to.” In fact, he felt so good about his behavior, and so aware of what was causing the changes, that he’d read labels himself and remind his mother of which foods he was supposed to be staying away from.