Nutrition For ADHD Children, Natural Treatment For ADHD

So many children today have been diagnosed with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder. When that occurs many kids are put on drugs that may do more harm than good. What's a parent to do besides suffer along with their youngsters? Look into alternative answers; natural answers. Plenty of the youngsters I grew up with who were prescribed these medications either sold them or took them in a manner the tablets were not designed to be taken.

How can this cycle of prescribing drugs with complications starting from suicidal thoughts and anorexia to substance abuse be useful to youngsters whose bodies are still developing? Is there a better, more natural way to make a difference in these kids' lives?

The adage, you are what you eat, is very true. Therefore what precisely are kids eating now-a-days that make them more subject to hyperactive disorders? What can be removed from their diets or added, that could help how their bodies process nutriments and information.

Annually between three and 10% of school aged youngsters are diagnosed as having attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder ( ADHD ), also known as hyperactivity. The majority of these youngsters are at present being treated with drugs.

And these drugs have complications - starting from relatively minor ( loss of appetite, weight reduction, insomnia and mood changes ) to major ( suicidal thoughts, psychotic behavior and substance abuse ).

So it is just natural for moms and pops to ask whether there's a more natural approach that they could follow and, more especially, whether diet could contribute.

To answer that question lets start by taking a look at only 1 side of children's diets - the skyrocketing commonness of artificial food colours and preservatives in the diet. The average kid today is consuming over ten pounds of food additives each year!

The idea that food additions - specifically synthetic colors and additives - might be accountable for hyperactivity was first raised by Dr. Ben Feingold over thirty years back. He created the Feingold Diet - a diet that was freed from synthetic food colors, chemicals and other synthetic food additives.

Some tiny scale trials advised that the diet could be successful and millions of mothers and fathers exploited the diet for their hyperactive children with great success.

But the medical authorities pooh-poohed the Feingold Diet. They illuminated that when elders are putting their kid on a special diet they're also giving that child more attention - and it might be the parent's raised attention that decreased the child's hyperactive behavior.

They also indicated when you eliminate food additives from the diet you are decreasing the "junk" food and increasing fresh fruit and vegetables - in short the child's diet is much more healthy.

So finally the Feingold Diet lost popularity but the assumption synthetic food colours & additives might trigger hyperactivity has declined to depart.

In reality a couple of recent studies have substantially fortified the link between synthesised ingredients and hyperactivity.

The first study was a meta-analysis of fifteen previous studies having a look at the results of synthesised food colours and additives on hyperactivity ( book of developmental & behaviour Pediatrics, 25: 423-434, 2004 ).

This meta-analysis concluded that artificial food colours & preservatives caused an increase in hyperactivity in 28% of the youngsters tested.

Almost all of the kids in those previous studies were chosen for the study because they'd been diagnosed as hyperactive ( ADHD ).

However, a rather more fresh study looked at 297 youngsters from Southampton Britain who hadn't been diagnosed as hyperactive ( Lancet, 370: 1560-1567, 2007 ).

After an eight week elimination phase in which synthetic food colors and preservatives were removed from their diets, they were given a one week challenge composed of fruit juice containing one of 2 different blends of four synthetic food colors and the preservative sodium benzoate or a placebo.

The amount of artificial food colors and sodium benzoate in the fruit juice drinks was designed to match the average amount found in the English diet ( which isn't all that different from the American diet ).

Once more, the results were clear. The amount of artificial food colours and preservatives found in the classic child's diet will trigger hyperactivity in numerous kids.

So what does that imply to you if you've got a hyperactive child? Could the simple act of getting shot of synthesised colours, flavors & additives from your child's diet eliminate hyperactivity and give you back that calm, sweet kid that you adore?

The available info suggest that removing synthesised food additives from your child's diet can make a change in their behaviour, but I tend to side with pros who suggest an integrated approach is best.

Getting rid of food additives from your child's diet is significant, but also make sure the diet is a healthy one, that your youngster is getting all of the nutrient elements that they require and that they are getting all of the attention and support that they want.

If you enjoyed Natural Treatment For ADHD? you can visit our blog to read about Children's DHA, Supplements and Brain Development and how DHA can help with ADHD. click the link to find out more!