Recently, I was asked by one of our readers, “Please, just write the basics to get started on an ADH-friendly diet . . .” followed by a “Please do not overwhelm me”
So, I thought I would start with the TEN foods and supplements and herbs that can increase attention and overall cognitive function However without diving into the medication conversation, it is important to note the following:
“Medication alone does not cure ADD, ADHD, and should never be the only treatment-“
-Edward Hallowell, M.D., author of “Driven to Distraction”
Food
Poor nutrition can cause a child or adult with ADHD to become distracted, impulsive, and restless. The right foods, on the other hand, can lessen those symptoms.
1. PROTEIN – foods rich in proteins, lean beef, poultry, fish , eggs and beans are used by the body to make neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are chemicals released by brain cells to communicate with each other. Protein can prevent surges in blood sugar, which increase hyperactivity.* Because your body makes brain-awakening neurotransmitters when you eat protein , start your day with a breakfast that includes those. Don’t stop there . . . look for ways to slip in protein throughout the day. So, if you think it is impossible to get rid of your cereal boxes, you don’t have to just cut the portion in half to start , make sure it isn’t a loaded in sugar cereal, and put a hard boiled egg on the side. I know what you are thinking next . . . ”I do not have the time to be making a Sunday breakfast on a Monday morning.” It really is done for you now, Trader Joe’s, for example, has hard-boiled cage-free eggs, nitrate –free bacon precooked without any preservatives. Or a fun one is . . . we are having an “upside down” day. That usually makes a child laugh and for the adult , just try it I guarantee you will not have that slump at 10:00 a.m. when you want and crave carbs beyond belief and you have no idea how you are going to get through the day.
2. BALANCED SIMPLE MEALS – don’t make it harder than it needs to be. Protein, fruit, veggies . . . and small portion of a carb. This combination of foods will minimize the swings in behavior caused by hunger or by a shortfall in a nutrient.
3. SNACKS – of course, here I do need to recommend using sugar-free, all natural candies, that rank low on the Glycemic Index such as Caring Candies, which ranks very low (9 out of 100). I would recommend Caring Candies over an organic candy. Bear in mind that organic candies are still made with sugar, even if organic sugar. For example, evaporated cane juice, which is often found in organic candies, is a type of raw sugar that still ranks very high on the Glycemic Index with 55 out of 100 (table sugar (sucrose) ranks 60-65 out of 100). The Glycemic Index (GI) of food is a ranking of foods based on their immediate effect on blood glucose (blood sugar) levels. Snacks that rank high of the Glycemic Index can give your child the dreaded sugar rush, which is worse for ADHD children. So stick with Caring Candies, which is sugar free.
Supplements
4. MULTIVITAMIN-MULTIMINERAL – if your child or yourself is a picky eater or eats a lot of take-out, you are most certainly not getting all that you need in this department. Again, stay away from dyes and artificial flavors and colors!
5. B-VITAMINS – Studies have showed that giving children and adults vitamin Bs as a supplement can increase IQ scores and reduce aggression and anti-social behavior. Any nutritionist will tell you that Vitamine B increases the dopamine, a neurotransmitter, which increases attentiveness/alertness. Again, this does not need to be complicated. There is a sublingual tablet, melts in the mouth , free from synethic dyes and preservative free right at Trader Joe’s.
6. OMEGA 3 – found in coldwater fatty fish, such as salmon. This has shown the biggest improvement in mental focus and cognitive function. How do you get this into your ADHD child without a major fight? There is Omega-Brite, Nordic Naturals, and if you can’t swallow the pills, there is omegaswirls now and they can be put into a smoothie very easily.
7. ZINC, MAGNESIUM – Zinc actually makes dopamine, again the neurotransmitter that we spoke of, which helps us stay alert and attentive. Magnesium has a calming affect on the nervous system and is a great one to be given before bedtime routine starts.
8. PICAMILON – check to see if this is already in your vitamin mix. I can highly recommend it as it increases blood flow to the brain, thereby increasing alertness and attentiveness.
Herbs
9. AMERICAN GINSENG, GINKO, PYCNOGENOL, and, for adults, RHODIOLA ROSEA – all have been double blind studied and have their benefits for ADHD sufferers.
As with anything we choose to write about, please be sure to check with your health practioner. This is a basic list that parents have asked for because there are shops opening up daily with mega nutrients — all promising greatness and instant healing potential. Yeah, right. This is complicated and overwhelming stuff. We at Really Healthy Stuff (REHEST) hope that at least we made one part of the puzzle easier in dealing with your ADHD child. . . . Our Caring Candies, of course, continue to be synthetic dye free and without any preservatives and or artificial sweeteners — and very low on the all-important Glycemic Index. One way to get your child to let go of the cereals . . . give your child a Caring Candies Lollipop on the way to school! Want to increase your digestion, remember Caring Candies has Ginger Bonbons. Enjoy!
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School vacation is upon us, some look at this break as exciting and others fear it with deep dread. You say “impossible?’ Just the other day, My friend was driving our children home in carpool when she pulled up still arguing with her son in the backseat over the loss of his hat this day, his gym sneakers last week, and the fact that he left his homework in his locker….all of it coming to a head. My friend looked embarrassed. “ I do , I really love him…..but I can’t believe how hard it is to RAISE him.”
ADHD, and its negative perceptions, is changing a bit towards a trend of “strengths-based “ approaches from describing to treating the situation. Oh, there is always the “easy to love stuff”. The social situations that lack any inhibition whatsoever. Some find it charming, others are stunned beyond belief. These children would never pass someone in a wheelchair in a mall or on the sidewalk without stopping and having a full blown conversation, “Why are you in a wheel chair? “ – before you know it they have all the intimate details of this person. They will not walk by a person smoking without telling them that what they are doing is utterly disgusting and that they will soon die of lung cancer, shortly after, offering the individual a heartfelt plea to stop the habit. They are great at selling Girl Scout Cookies , “Hey, buy these , come on, you want to buy these…”, “Did I ask you if you wanted to buy them?” . Before you know it they have walked into the persons home, starting to get to know the rest of your family, the charm offense continues…”What is your dog’s name?”, “Wow, you must be rich!”.
Admit it, parenting can be tough! I am in agreement that we should focus on the strengths of these children but we shouldn’t deny that these positives are only part of the picuture. Parenting a child with ADHD presents real challenges. Their hyperactivity, impulsive behavior, and disorganization are drawbacks, it is plain HARD to raise them. Games and toys are everywhere, abandoned when something else catches their attention. Balled up school papers, scribbled on books, lost items….constantly, new items scribbled on. . . the list goes on. I know personally that my son’s floor looks like a garbage truck mistook it for a landfill.
There is “sweet validation” however, when you ask a sitter or a family member to watch your child . . . There is always a sigh . . . a pause . . . and a “as long as you have a long movie …and will be home in 2 hours.” There you go, validation squared! Or “I love it . . . but I don’t know how you do it?” It takes a lot . . . We as their parents are the ones who have to be focused at all times, loving and watchful of the silver linings.
There are always clues if we keep our eyes and ears open to what makes their symptoms worse and or better. I say look at the diet first. The silver lining can be a simple as sitting in the waiting room of your Occupational Health Center, watch the children come out. They are organized calm and the typical pattern is that they have just been rewarded the “treat closet”. Watch the child as the parent is receiving feedback to the session, the child takes his first bite of what is usually handed out — candy, for example, a “Swedish Fish”. Within moments the child is bouncing on the waiting room chairs , climbing the walls — and by the time the parent gets them to the car they are thinking “wow, we need more of this. The parent drives home wondering how they will get even more services like this — while the child is spinning in the back seat. Therapy evacuated!
Artificial food dyes and sugar are real culprits to ADHD symptoms. It can magnify them ten-fold. Avoiding sugar and complex carbs, like pasta, increasing protein and adding omega three fish oil can lessen the hardships of severe ADHD two-fold. You will be shocked to find out what artificial dyes in all products from foods to shampoos can do to someone already struggling with attention and impulsivity.
Pick the items you need to change first, such as candy at Valentine’s Day or at Easter or any other holiday or just for a snack, fruit punch, and the cereal your child starts his or her day with.
Stay tuned . . . . We will have a more in depth discussion into ADHD , sugar and artificial dyes in the future. It is HARD raise your ADHD child! There are products now that could make your Valentine’s Day a lot “sweeter” for you and your child. Stop and think. It takes super parenting to start a new game plan so your child can thrive.
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The infamous waiting line to pick up your child from preschool, you know, those precious 5-10 minutes before the release of your preschooler, which you despise on the days that a shower just never happened, or which you relish, as it is a moment that you get to speak in adult language with other waiting parents. . . While standing and waiting, many of us have to hold still our crawling toddlers who wait with us. On one such days while waiting, I happened to comment to another mother on how cute her little girl was. She looked adorable pudgy – and screaming at her mother to give her a cookie. “ Sorry,” apologized the mother to me, “she is so moody, and all she wants is to eat”. Immediately, I had a flash as to how often this mother had shared with me her daughters ear infections, rashes, and intolerances to antibiotics. “She drakes all the time and cry unconsolably after her naps.” I knew we only had a minute or so before the kids would be released so we quickly talked about getting her blood tested for diabetes, just to check with her pediatrician.
For many parents the day their child is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes will always remain etched in their minds — it’s up there with a 1st birthday, graduation and so on. Often children are brought to the pediatrician with a variety of complaints for many months. Usually a sunny disposition that has turned to unusual moodiness, jaw pain, inconsolable crying, excessively wet diapers, the craving of carbs, and unquenchable thirst are some of the clues for concern. In some ways, the diagnosis can come as a relief. “Now I know what is wrong and I can begin to help him/her”, it is sometimes felt, or overwhelming feelings of what an ordeal it will be to care for the child and what it means for the parents, the child and the entire family can be felt. Often, there is no family history of type 1 diabetes when it comes to childhood diabetes, so the diagnosis is a shock. Then, while the parents grieve the compromised health of their child, they must rapidly learn a new medical language and master the skills necessary for managing their child’s condition-testing blood glucose levels, injecting insulin, counting carbohydrates, using products that are low on the glycemic index for food and snacks, and recognizing the signs of low or high blood sugar, to just name a few.
It is a tremendous responsibility, but many families do well. Depending on the age of a child, families face different hurdles and need to adjust to the different demands. Early onset diabetes, the term for a diagnosis between infancy and preschool years, poses special challenges for parents. Because the child’s brain is growing so rapidly, maintaining a constant blood sugar level is essential. But children’s rudimentary communication skills and unpredictable behavior make it difficult to gauge how a child is feeling. Is the child’s temper tantrum, for instance, the result of high blood sugar or the “Terrible Twos?”
As soon as the education process has set in , FIND SUPPORT. There are diabetic mom groups everywhere. You will need to network. There will always be a mother or father that has had to deal with this before you. Lean on them, they have researched companies and know special products already saving you time to get started. Before long you to will have each and every product on the glycemic index memorized! The Internet, email and telephone are invaluable for those who cannot get to meetings. The more families are connected to one another the better they will do. One of my favorite books to get going is ”The Everything Parent’s Guide To Children with Juvenile Diabetes, by Moira McCarthy. Check it out!
More in my next post.
Note: Always consult with your pediatrician on whether your child should be tested for diabetes. The symptoms listed above are not exhaustive to indicate childhood diabetes (early onset diabetes) and there may be other, or no symptoms, to indicate that your child is diabetic.
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Caring Candies were developed in South Africa in 2003 by Denise and Neil, a father and mother team, out of sheer frustration at the lack of healthy treats available, and specifically with diabetics, hyperactive children, dieters & the health conscious in mind. Every candy is expertly handcrafted and consists of only natural ingredients. Yep, nothing artificial has been added! They are gorgeous to look at, are tooth-friendly and kosher — and they are unbelievably yummy!
Caring Candies are naturally flavored with either herbs or fruit essence and its amazing coloration is derived from either veggies, plants or herbs.
Rehest – Really Healthy Stuff is the exclusive distributor of Caring Candies in North America.
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 We have just started this blog and look forward to posting information on it very soon.
Please take a moment to visit us at ReallyHealthyStuff.com or order sugar free, all natural Caring Candies. We currently offer a 10% discount off all orders when you place an order with us at our web site and complete a short questionnaire.
Caring Candies are also available at stores in Connecticut Maine Maryland Massachusetts New Hampshire New York
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