ADHD Nutrition
By Dennis Driscoll
A Specialized ADHD Nutrition Plan Could Help Patients Focus
Currently one of the most widely accepted theories about attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is that it is caused by nutritional problems. This theory really only applies to childhood ADHD and does not even account for all of the childhood ADHD cases, but when some dietary studies were conducted on ADHD nutrition plans for those with the disorder, there were some beneficial results. The whole nutrition and ADHD correlation emerged in nineteen ninety when an English researcher found out that certain artificial food colorings found in some foods could actually deplete the amounts of zinc in an ADHD patients body. Later, scientists also found that those children suffering from ADHD also had lower levels of required sulfate molecules throughout the body. Studies which attempt to prove that ADHD and diet are not related at all, citing that only five percent of all ADHD patients have something wrong with their normal dietary intake. Whatever the case, putting your child on an ADHD nutrition plan may be one possible way to help alleviate the hyperactivity associated with such a disorder.
There are several key aspects to an ADHD nutrition plan that any parent should keep in mind. The first and possibly most obvious of any diet is to make sure that your hyperactive child does not receive any sugary sweets or any candy. This should also include sodas and any other products which are high in sugar. By cutting sugars out of the ADHD nutrition plan, your child will not exhibit the hyperactive energy associated with ADHD. Also, make sure your child avoids caffeine, as caffeine has the same stimulating effect on the body as sugar. If you find that neither of these two ADHD nutrition changes affects your child, try taking any and all wheat products out of their diet. Some kids have an undiagnosed wheat allergy which can contribute to hyperactivity. Instead of the wheat products, switch to oats and rye. Finally, and this goes for any child (not just those with ADHD), make sure your child gets plenty of vegetables and fruits in their diet along with fish at least once a week.
An alternative to just cutting out sugars and caffeine from an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder patients diet was created by Dr. Benjamin Feingold. Aptly named the Feingold diet, this ADHD nutrition plan focused on the research which linked artificial colors and flavors to the loss of zinc in certain childrens bodies. This diet has been the source of much debate over its effectiveness, but for those looking for a dietary way to combat the problems associated with ADHD, the Feingold diet may be a good method to check out.
The Feingold ADHD nutrition plan is currently a two step program with the first step requiring the elimination of all artificial colors and flavors from the childs food. The second step of the Feingold program requires that all aspirin containing products and natural salicylate containing foods should also be removed from the childs diet. While this method of ADHD nutrition may prove to be useful, there are actually certain claims which Feingold makes that are totally incorrect. Most importantly, certain nutritional experts have shown that in the Feingold diet cookbook many of the recommended foods are actually high in salicylates; a chemical which Feingold says can cause your child to be hyperactive.
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1 comment:
Oh dear, there are a few errors here in describing the Feingold diet program.
While it is true that Dr. Ward in 1990 found that kids exposed to artificial food dyes lost zinc, that information was not involved in the development of the Feingold diet since Dr. Feingold died in 1982. Dr. Feingold, as Chief of Allergy for all N.California Kaiser Permanente Medical Centers, had been using the older Lockey diet developed at the Mayo Clinic for allergy treatment. It turned out that a side effect of that diet was behavioral improvement for those people sensitive to the additives removed by the diet.
The Program is a two-stage program (not exactly the same as a two-step program). In Stage One, artificial colors, flavors, and petrochemical preservatives (BHT, BHA, TBHQ) are removed. Also in Stage One, a number of foods containing salicylate (a chemical similar to aspirin) are removed, as well as aspirin-containing medications and toiletries containing methyl salicylate, sodium salicylate, etc. There are many different salicylate compounds which are made by plants to protect themselves against pests, and they are just a bit toxic, but most people don't have any problem with them. More about that below.
It's not so hard as it sounds because the Feingold Association provides a Handbook and a Foodlist & Shopping Guide book (for U.S. and Canada). You just buy anything you want in Stage One in the book.
And oh yes -- sugar is not banned!! Your kids CAN have any of the acceptable sweets, candies, cakes, chewing gum, soda, etc., listed in the book. Now that's not so hard, is it?
Caffeine is also not banned -- in fact, caffeine doesn't cause hyperactivity and has often been used as medication for children with ADHD. Many adults use it to "medicate" themselves and improve their ability to concentrate. While it is not a particularly healthy chemical, the small amount in chocolate, for example, is usually not a problem. It is, however, a stimulant - and works just like Ritalin and other stimulants to some extent - and therefore probably should be avoided if the child (or adult) has Tourette Syndrome. Otherwise, unless you find it bothers you, don't worry about it.
Now Stage Two is where you have already experienced an improvement in symptoms, so you begin to slowly (don't rush) add the salicylates one at a time to test for tolerance. This is similar to the way you added new foods to your baby's diet. Most children and adults tolerate at least some of the salicylates; others can have a little bit of some but not too often, and others can have all they want every day. This tolerance is very individual.
More about salicylate:
It is mentioned in the article that Dr. Feingold's list of salicylates does not match another list and does not ban some foods "high in salicyaltes." This is both true and false. There are many KINDS of salicylate, but nobody has yet done any research on relative toxicities. The old Swain research is interesting because she measured AMOUNTS of salicylate in 333 Australian foods. However, she made no attempt to categorize them by KIND of salicylate. You may be familiar with alcohol -- you know that ethyl alcohol (in beer or wine) can make you feel good or make you drunk, while an equal amount of methyl alcohol will make you dead. Well, what is the difference between ethyl salicylate and methyl salicylate? Nobody actually knows.
The list used by the Feingold Program was clinically developed in the 1930s in Germany for aspirin-sensitive asthma. It has stood the test of time very well with few changes.
Again, it is not the amount, but the kind of salicylate that is important. And until somebody figures this out, don't worry about it - the list of foods eliminated on Stage One are the ones that bother most of our members, and the ones not eliminated bother very few people. We do include the Swain list in the Handbook for those special people who must eliminate almost all salicylate.
One more tiny point - if you find the Feingold Cookbook for sale somewhere, it is a fine cookbook. But don't try using it to do the diet. The information in it is over 30 years old. Use it as a cookbook, sure, but use the current Program materials from the Feingold Association as your guide.
See more information at the Feingold Association, a nonprofit parent support group teaching the Feingold diet since 1976. The website is at http://www.feingold.org or http://www.ADHD-diet.org
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