Aggression and High Fructose Corn Syrup (Processed Sugar)

Most sugar in any form is bad for you, but it shouldn't be all that hard to remove it from a 2 year olds diet. The sooner you do the easier it will be. Do it before he can even notice it. One other point I would like to add is along with HFCS you'll find all the food colorings they add, and those have supposedly been linked to hyperactive/aggression. My Aunt has always taught me that everything in moderation is the key!! Well maybe not everything, but you get my point! But I second limiting aggressive cartoons. Heck I would eliminate most TV at his age. Good Luck!

We have found corn syrup to trigger horrible tantrums in our 4 year old. I found the book Is this your child by Doris Rapp to be very helpful. We basically did an elimination diet for a week or two & then added things back in as instructed. Turns out it is corn in any form (other than fresh) that triggers it for our sweet boy. His lips also get very puffy. Removing corn has given us our sweet boy back! It is such a pain in the beginning b/c everything has corn syrup in it! But after a few weeks, it gets easier. I also bought the alka-aid Rapp recommends in her book & that does seem to help. PM me if you want more details-good luck!

At the age of 2, we found out our daughter was allergic to high fructose corn syrup. If you want to know if it makes a difference (without the allergy testing), take it out of your/his diet for a week or 2. If his tendencies change, you'll probably want to make it a permanent removale from the diet. Sometimes it's just that easy. A friend of ours also had to remove red dye (red kool-aid, candy, etc). It made a huge difference for them. Good Luck!!

Sorry sweetie, but if I could use processed sugar as an excuse for why MY son was such a monster, I would...but he didn't get any of that, he was never out of my sight until age of 3 and he was a total terror! He ate organic and fresh EVERYTHING...no cows milk...basically a vegetarian. I learned that once I took certain cartoons out of the mix,(ie...power rangers, teenage mutant ninja turtles and the like) my son calmed down immensely! (and yes...boys DO go through a hitting stage)
So...if you feel that processed sugar is turning your angel to demon...don't give it to him! Do an experiment for a few days...but be prepared for others to not follow your dietary restrictions (my son had a milk protein allergy, unless I told people he would die if they gave it to him...they thought I was being "one of those moms" gave it to him anyway and then wondered why he was so sick and acting like a maniac!)
My son who is now ten is ADHD, caffeine calms him down, try it, we learned early on that if he was too wound up, a little caffeine would calm him down almost instanty, but that is also normal for children who are ADHD, even at the age of two. Hope this helps!

Well, you could always eliminate hfc if you truly suspect this is a problem and see if the behavior changes. I suspect that's the only way you could test and see.

My guess is that a part of this may be the age as well. There's a lot going on with them. I'd highly recommend the book and dvd -- Happiest Toddler on the Block. There are some really great techniques that might help you out. Another question I would have is, does he talk yet? Part of this could be frustration on his part from not being able to communicate fully.

Could be age, but we cut out all High Fructose Corn Syrup when my oldest turned 3 and youngest 2. We noticed a huge difference in behavior. In my opionion, it is so bad for children, it would not hurt removing it from their diet. The only pain comes from cost. Most foods are replaced with an Organic alternative and that can be more expensive. For example, Kellogg Honey Nut Cheerios versus Cascadian Farm Honey Nut. There is still some sugar but nont the HFCS. For our household the improved behavior is worth the cost!
Just to add.. when they do have HFCS at birthday parties or treats from school, we notice a spike in bad behavior. While it could be our kids are hypersensitive to it, we have found removing it works.

Hi. I understand your concern. I was there with my daughter about 2-3 years ago. I suggest recording for yourself when these aggressive outbursts occur to find the source. Our first discovery was after she had her first taste of Easter candy. About 30 -45 minutes after eating it,she hit me so hard I had a small black eye and she was never like that. Even now if she tastes even a little bit of a lollipop she has a bad reaction. As a Board Certified Doctor of Natural Health Specializing in Mood Swings & Cravings (although I work with adults, not kids) I noticed she was having very similar reactions to sugar many of my clients were having that were found to be reactive hypoglycemic. Many (not all) medical doctors may dismiss this quickly, but then again many don't want to diagnose something that can be controlled with simple diet modifications. I would say if your son wants sweets give him homemade cookies or treats made with a healthy sugar alternative (not a chemical alternative they are linked to cancer) such as organic maple sugar or organic maple syrup. My daughter loves the tastes and when we make chocolate chip cookies no one knows the difference.

I'm not sure about the link, but it wouldn't hurt taking him off of it for a couple of weeks to see if his behavior improves. I know that high fructose corn syrup isn't the best for you anyway although it is really hard to get around it- it has a ton of other names that are used- or I should say, there are a ton of products listed as ingredients that contian the high fructose corn syrup but the corn syrup itself is not listed in the ingredients.
Good luck!
~C.