18/12/2021
Julie Matthews from Nourishing Hope has bought to light interesting connections between some of our holidays traditions and our children's behaviour, so I thought I would post it again this year.
The holidays are a wonderful time for being together with family and celebrating. But there are also holiday traditions that can cause children to have behavioural and emotional reactions.
Christmas trees are varieties of pine trees and contain terpenes which are highly aromatic compounds that determine the smell of some plants and herbs. Manufacturers use isolated terpenes to create the flavours and scents of many everyday products, such as perfumes, body products, cleaners, and even foods. In fact, pine-scented cleaners are often derived from 95% terpenes. And for this family, the aromatic oils that give pine trees their great smell were the cause of their childâs behaviour, mood, and sleeping issues.
Another compound that can cause issues are phenols. Phenolic compounds come in many forms including artificial petroleum-based food additives, and salicylates found in plants and foods like strawberries and spices, as well as some essential oils such as cinnamon, clove, thyme, and oregano. This time of year can be one in which we are exposed to much higher amounts of phenols.
When phenols are not able to be broken-down and detoxified (by a process called sulfation, which is low in many children with autism and ADHD), they can cause many symptoms including irritability, red cheeks and ears, hyperactivity, aggression toward self and others, âstimming,â sleeping challenges and many more. Terpenes are also processed in a similar biochemical way, further depleting this detoxification pathway and the corresponding nutrients.
Be prepared keep on the look out for changes in your child's behaviour and maybe change up your fresh pine tree for a new idea! Merry Christmas!
