Not sure how to handle this

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My son is 11 and has definite food issues. Way before he was diagnosed, I felt food was a major issue for him and noticed big behavioral changes when he consumed candy and foods with dyes in them. He has a very limited diet when it comes to real food, but is crazy over sugar and junk food and has no impulse control whatsoever when we have them in the house or during parties. For all of the above reasons, we keep very little truly junky food in the house. I always have a fresh supply of strawberries, bananas and apples, which he eats, and I do occasionally buy organic cookies or snacks in individual serving bags. I have tried telling him when I buy the individual bags that he can have one in his lunch and one after dinner, but that might last a day or two, and then he will get up in the morning and eat eight bags of them. So I actually do very little of that anymore.

With the holidays coming, I do like to bake and give some cookies to friends and we do a cookie exchange at work, etc. I picked up some chocolate chips on sale this week, and also some icing. I specifically mentioned to him that the chips were for cookies I was baking and not to be eaten, but failed to mention the icing. So I found a whole empty container of icing today stuffed in the trash in the basement. He knows definitely that he needs to ask before eating junky food, although specifically I didn't mention the icing in the recent list of no's.

How would you handle this? Can I never have anything in the house? Do I take something away from him like computer time? I am truly perplexed.

I would like to do things in moderation with him in reference to some snacks, but in this realm there is no moderation.

Help.

I'm not a parent, but I would keep that kind of stuff locked away if it's a problem. All sweets/treats should be locked away until you say it's OK to have them.

A constant desire to eat sugary foods may signal some kind of dietary issue that I'd ask a doctor about. An example from myself personally I have food craving depending on what time of the month it is. I'd switch from sugary-salty-sour etc. My suggestion would be to list everything that he cannot eat and why & try to supply different types of snacks to get him to switch (some sweet junky food, fruits, nuts, chips, etc.) around. Although since he's only 11 his taste buds may just only be "programmed" to like sweet stuff.
(I think taste buds are shed pretty often which explains food preferences shifting as people age)

Another idea would be to let him eat the same foods in a healthier way such as switching the chocolate he has access to from white or milk to dark (which is healthier b/c of the antioxidants).

This is just my opinion, but I think sugar cravings can be related to low neurotransmitter levels. I know when I am off my antidepressant, I crave sugar like crazy. Also, my husband has had serious depression issues all his life and he is the same when either off antidepressants or not on the right one for him. Just a thought...

I wouldn't punish him, but I would lock up the sweets.

My sons are oral tactile sensory seeking, so we use gum as a tool to help them concentrate and keep them calm, but we try to limit the total amount of gum chewed during the day. We tried every type of system (rewards, punishments, constant reminders) to keep them to the agreed upon # of pieces of gum a day, but nothing worked. They would chew packs of it a day, just could not keep out of it no matter the consequence. So finally (duh) we clued in to the fact that they just cannot exhibit self control in this matter, so we locked up the gum, and I dole out the required amount once a day. No more problems. No more frustration. No more them getting in trouble and feeling bad over something they clearly cannot control. I just can't believe we didn't do it sooner, but it can be really easy to lose perspective when you are "in the trenches" so to speak.

I also wouldn't prohibit all sweets. I agree with the commenter who suggested healthier alternatives. You giving a small daily dark chocolate allowance or baking some low fat, lower sugar, fiber-containing treat (pumpkin oat chocolate chip cookies are a big favourite around here).

The sugar craving could be related to his blood values. When there are cases of diabetes in the family that would explain some things. In some cases I can get dizzy when my blood values are not good and eating sweet things is a good way to compensate. Also shortage of sugar is not good for my behaviour (too much isn't either)

Besides that... when you are never getting sweets in your house, you want to eat as many as possible when there are some, otherwise it could be gone the next day.

Just make things easy. Keep what he isn't allowed to have locked up. When you are buying ingredients for baking, tell him "All of this is for the baking I'm going to do so don't eat it." You might also tell him things like "These chocolate chips are for the cookies I'm going to back tomorrow. You can help me make them and I'll give you some chocolate chips to have then."

My son is 4 and has the same issue, to be honest i have the issue as well, i'm autistic if there is chocolate in the house or ice cream. I can;t keep myself from eating it. I'm over 30 and I will eat chocolate and ice cream till i'm sick. My son will do the same the only solution is to not let it in the house. Locking it up will do no good if he knows its there. At least not for my 4 year old.

Having had four boys I've been through some of what you speak of.
I wish I could say I was successful by just telling them not to touch stuff, sometimes it worked but there were also lots of times with each of them where they did seem to get into the junk/baking supplies even when they knew they shouldn't/had been told.
I do know what you're saying about how you seem to notice a difference when they eat sugary foods, foods with certain food dyes but I also have found with my sons that if they were never allowed access then things like your 'icing incident' would occur where they would just really pig out and things were much worse.
I agree that if there is never anything around that when something is it becomes almost irresistible to them. It seems to have worked with my last son to have some junk food in the house most of the time, it seems to have decreased the appeal of the forbidden for him and he really doesn't overdo things now, has an occasional treat and since weight isn't an issue for him, I find that this is something I can live with.
When my other boys were younger and I was trying to control things more, I did find that I had to go to some quite extreme measures in order to have Christmas baking, treats available etc. I used the trunk of my car as long as the weather was neither too hot nor too cold, I used opague containers in the freezer labelled "liver" and I used a large Costco size box with a feminine protection supplies label on it, kept up on a shelf in my closet; they never went near it; it was my best secret place to keep things

wow I love those clever ideas, websister! Very crafty!

I will add....

When I was 7, my father had massive prejudices against sugar, and I rarely got much in the way of candy. I once managed to get a hold of a Snickers bar from a vending machine and I managed to get exactly one bite out of it before it was confiscated.

I happened to have a friend at the time, who's parents weren't nearly so informed on the evils of sugar (God bless them) and every time I was invited to the movies, her mother would stop at one of the local chain pharmacies and give us each a dollar to buy candy to sneak into the theaters. That one dollar would buy, I kid you not, TWO...yes TWO bags of candy. I bought two bags of candy corns, but hadn't gotten through even half of one by the end of the movie. Upon returning home, I knew I had to make the best of my bounty before my father got home, so I ate the entire two bags within a time frame of about 30 minutes.

I felt so sick after that I didn't eat candy corns for two years, and you can bet I never did anything like that again!

Somehow I don't think that will work for your son though.

Thanks so much. I love the hiding places ideas!! I will be trying a few of these out for sure. I have pretty much concluded that at least for now, having some junk food in the house is not going to work. I am not opposed to getting him a treat while we are out, or letting him pick out a candy here and there at the store for later, but he has very poor impulse control and that combined with his sweet tooth is where he gets into trouble.

I do feel concern about the depression connection. He has a psychiatrist who diagnosed him with the Asperger's and I have brought the issue up to her. She feels that we are in a wait and see with the mood issue, so it is being monitored.

My daughter is on a strict, no dye, no artificial anything diet and I don't allow any of it in the house. I go to the health food store and find healthy alternatives (did you know they make healthy M&M's with no dyes and no artificial anything? http://www.naturalcandystore.com/produc ... late-candy )

I find that if I abide by the diet as well then she is not so upset about having to do without. If I have a treat I have it outside the home (when she is NOT present). Anyone who stays at our home abides by the diet as well.

It's strict but it's what works best for us. My daughter is so used to the diet now that when kids at school have birthdays she does not eat what they eat (and doesn't really want to) and she gets her own snacks (which I provide).

Lock it up if you must have that sort of thing in the house. It's desperately hard to resist sugar if are an addict, and feels equally painful to succumb to it as to fight against it. Like sticking an alcoholic drink in front of an alcoholic and saying they mustn't drink it.

From my own experience, I'd say that it is probably as difficult for a sugar addict to resist sugar as for a heroin addict or an alcoholic to resist heroin/alcohol if they know there is some nearby/available.

Just a tip, the polyols in almost all sugar-free chewing gums and many soft drinks stimulate the desire for sugar and carbohydrates in general, ( they suppress our natural appetite suppressants ), so are worse than useless as sugar-replacements for sugar-addicts.

Sugar addiction is very often a symptom of fructose malabsorption, ( fructose is high in honey, most fruit, high-fructose corn-sweetener, fruit juices, and to some extent in cereals ), and the often related zinc-deficiency.

This is because unabsorbed fructose leeches both zinc, ( a deficiency of which is often associated with addictive behaviour, eating disorders, binge-eating, and also mood disorder, among other things ), and tryptophan, from the body. Tryptophan is a serotonin precursor, which is why one of the symptoms of fructose malabsorption is depression, as well as anxiety, and disturbed sleep cycles.

Fructmal, as it is known, affects up to 40% of the population to some degree ( it's not an "intolerance" so much as a "reduced capacity" for absorbing fructose ). There is a standard test for it, called the "Hydrogen Breath Test".

Your son may find it easier to resist sugar, suffer less from such extreme cravings, if he ate very little, or better still *no*, fruit and nothing sweetened with high-fructose corn-sugar, and if he ate more meat and fish, which are the best food sources of zinc and tryptophan.

Good luck!
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PS. I can't remember where I read it now, but apparently one reason why fructose malabsorption can cause sugar-addiction is because the tryptophan trapped in the gut by unabsorbed fructose is partially converted into serotonin right there, which produces a lovely but horribly temporary, sleepy and/or "giddy"/exciteable "pain-killing" dreamy "high" but is unfortunately no use to the brain for handling/regulating sleep cycles or stress, because serotonin can not pass the blood-brain barrier, ( ? ie. tryptophan has to be converted into serotonin in the brain for that ), and the "high" is followed by increasing depression and anxiety. ... ie. it is this "cycle" which creates/drives the addiction. ...

I have only just started reading about the whole fructose issue so am not familiar with the biochemistry/pathways involved. But that would certainly fit with my own experience of sugar addiction, ( and what I have recently realised is my own poor absorption of fructose, and sensitivity to some FODMAPS/"fermentable oligo-di-mono saccaharides and polyols" ).
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Interesting ideas from dilladop and ouinon.

It doesn't sound like he's intentionally ingesting that much sugar. He probably has a taste and then can't stop. In all fairness, you didn't tell him not to eat the frosting. It would be easier on him (and you) if you followed the advice about locking it up somewhere. My little brother was on a severe diet growing up (PKU) and my mom kept things locked away from us. I don't think we were traumatized by it at all. She also kept a list of snack ideas on the refrigerator (with their nutritional equivalents) so that he wouldn't panic if he couldn't think of something to eat.