ADD Diet

Is an ADD/ADHD Diet an Alternative to Medication?

ADD or ADHD is a disorder that is diagnosed mostly in children but also increasingly in adults. Children who have this condition have difficulty paying attention and focusing on tasks. There is no cure for ADHD but there are medications that can treat it. However, many parents choose to try an ADD/ADHD diet before they give their child medications that they are concerned about causing serious side effects.

What is an ADD/ADHD Diet and How Does it Work?

Ideally, an ADD/ADHD diet will improve the way the brain works and result in the child’s experiencing fewer symptoms. These diets are based on the belief that the foods and supplements you consume daily will directly affect the disorder. Supplements include vitamins, minerals and numerous other nutrients that can replace those which are deficient. Proponents of an ADD/ADHD diet believe these deficiencies contribute to the symptoms of ADHD.

Unfortunately, the research on the benefits of using an ADD/ADHD diet is limited and the results are sketchy. Nonetheless, health experts often believe that an ADD/ADHD diet will help relieve symptoms of the disorder since some dietary changes can improve the overall health of the brain. Some of those changes that are recommended as part of an ADD/ADHD diet include:

• Increase the amount of foods that are high in protein such as meat, nuts, cheese, eggs and lentils. Incorporate these choices into the morning and after-school meals and snacks to improve concentration.
• Remove as many simple carbohydrates as possible from the diet. Sugary foods like candy and those that contain corn syrup as well as products made from white flour, rice, and potatoes have no place in an ADD/ADHD diet and should be limited in anyone’s daily diet.
• Complex carbohydrates include vegetables and some fruits that will play a positive role as part of an ADD/ADHD diet. Increase the number of these in the diet, particularly at night when they can help improve sleep.
• • Omega-3 fatty acids have continued to get attention as healthy supplements and they can be found in some tasty foods including some fish and nuts as well as olive and canola oil. When preparing foods for an ADD/ADHD diet, always choose olive and canola oil for cooking.

An ADD/ADHD Diet Based on Deficiencies or Allergies

Planning an ADD/ADHD diet in order to supply nutrients to the body that your child might have a deficiency of or to eliminate foods that may be causing allergic reactions is more difficult that preparing an ADD/ADHD diet that supplies nutrition everyone needs for a healthy brain.

Contrary to many people’s belief that eating sugar will cause an increase in ADD/ADHD symptoms, research has shown no evidence that there is a connection between the two. Some parents even give their children sugar and caffeine as a way of calming children down. One parent may send their child off to school with a 2-liter of Mountain Dew while another insists their child starts his day with a cup of cappuccino. At the same time, other parents have their children on an ADD/ADHD diet that eliminates caffeine and most, if not all, of the sugar from their diet in order to help their symptoms.

For more information about studies performed to determine the effects of caffeine on those with ADHD, go to http://psychcentral.com/lib/2010/caffeines-effect-on-adhd-symptoms/.

The reality is that ADHD is a very complex and difficult to diagnose disorder. There is no cure and it is understandable that parents are uncomfortable about giving their children medications that can be harmful or may make children “zone out”. Until more is determined about the effects that these substances have on the children, the only ADD/ADHD diet that should be followed is one that will contribute to the overall health of the brain.