Hope Family Services, Inc

The textbook symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, also known by the abbreviation ADHD, are highly subjective. If the behavior of a child interferes with life at home or in school, then that child needs help. Excessive inattentiveness, impulsivity, and/or hyperactivity seem to be the most common indicators that a child may have ADHD or another health problem.

The incidences of ADHD has reached epidemic proportions among U.S. schoolchildren. The primary medical treatment for ADHD is the stimulant drug, Ritalin; its use has increased by 700 percent over the past five years. Although Ritalin can control some symptoms of ADHD, its long-term risks or benefits are not known, and the drug does not get to the root of the problem .

Scientific research shows that nutritional factors are a contributor to ADHD. Questions that help search for the causes of ADHD in each individual child are:

The first question is: How effective are the parents at parenting? All children, especially those with behavioral problems, need affection, consistency, and the clear setting of limits.

A related question is: How appropriate is the educational setting for this child? Some children need to work consistently with their hands and need to keep physically active--these children will become restless and inattentive when deprived of physical work. Their problem is not a medical disorder, but inappropriate schooling or ineffective parenting ( or a little of both).

It is important to understand these principles well.

Over half of the children with ADHD crave sweets. The craving is extreme and often at the expense of nutritious food. About 70% of those craving sweets have much more control over their behavior when their food is changed to be low in added sugar . These strongly indicates that nutrition and dietary changes may help the ADHD symptoms to subside. The first line of advice is to keep sugary cereals, pancakes or waffles with syrup, soft drinks, candy, cakes, cookies, doughnuts, ice cream, frozen yogurt, and chocolate away. Every ounce of sugar reduction helps. Sugar alone, however, does not cause hyperactivity; it reduces the nutritional quality of the diet and may aggravate food allergy or food intolerance. Concentrated sugar in the upper intestinal tract makes the intestine “leaky,” increasing the absorption of allergens into the body.

Foods or food additives in what the child consumes may actually be what the child is reacting to --the child may be sensitive to the additives or the foods. During the 1960’s, Dr. Benjamin Feingold, a California pediatrician, observed that many hyperactive children became excited after eating foods containing high concentrations of salicylates. These compounds occur naturally in many fruits and vegetables and are especially concentrated in grapes, raisins, nuts, apples, and oranges. They are also used as preservatives (BHT and BHA, for example) or as the basis for artificial colors or flavors. Feingold developed a low-salicylate diet that has helped many children overcome ADHD.

Thirteen years ago, the National Institute of Mental Health convened a consensus panel which concluded that 8 to 10 percent of children with ADHD are sensitive to salicylates and benefit from the Feingold diet. Sensitivity salicylates in food is probably not a salicylate allergy, but a chemical effect of salicylates on the brain. Some researchers believe that these chemicals act to inhibit the activities of enzymes that decrease the brain’s sensitivity to allergic reactions. Some children’s ability to tolerate other foods, like wheat, improved when they eliminated apple juice and grape juice from their diets.

A study performed at the Hospital for Sick Children in London, published in the leading British journal, Lancet, demonstrated that most children with severe ADHD are salicylate sensitive, but the 90 percent of these children have additional food allergies. The British researchers performed exhaustive dietary trials, closely supervised by hospital dietitians. After determining that 80 percent of the children had apparent food sensitivities as a cause of hyperactivity, they then performed double-blind, placebo-controlled challenges with the offending foods. Using this most rigorous clinical research method, the investigators confirmed the presence of food intolerance in the majority of children ADHD.

Subsequent research by the leading investigator of this study suggested that these food intolerances represent a true food allergy. The foods to which children with ADHD most commonly had allergic reactions were:

cow’s milk products (which included milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream)

corn (an additive in many prepared foods)

wheat

soy

eggs

Altogether, 48 different foods were incriminated as triggers for hyperactivity.

Food allergy is especially likely to be implicated in ADHD if the answer to any of the following questions is positive:

Does your child have eczema, asthma, hay fever, hives, or a chronic runny nose?

Do you, your spouse, or any of your other children have either severe allergies or migraine headaches?

Does your child have a “geographical tongue? (Irregular flattened patches that looked like countries on a map.)

Do your child’s ears turn red for no apparent reason?

Does your child seem to crave single foods (other than sweets)?

If the answer to any of these questions is positive, it is recommended the child have a trial period of two weeks where all foods containing artificial colors, artificial flavors, and preservatives, and the high-frequency allergenic foods mentioned above are avoided (eliminated). The best foods to use during this trial are meat, poultry, fish, rice and rice milk, oats and oatmeal, and fresh vegetables and fruits (other than apples and grapes). If this diet works, there will be not only an improvement in concentration and behavior, but other symptoms will improve--symptoms such as itching of the skin, sneezing, wheezing, and the sudden red-ear attacks.

The two-week trial is followed by a period in which the foods removed are added back, one food each day. If the child experiences hyperactivity, itching of the skin, wheezing, a runny nose, or red ears when a particular food is re-introduced to the diet, he or she is likely to be allergic to that food. If allergies are found, the help of a nutritionist may be needed in developing a nutritionally adequate diet for the child. The diet would avoid the foods to which he or she is allergic.

Hyperactive children often benefit greatly from the right supplements. To develop priorities for supplementation, some further questions need to be answered:

Does the child have dry skin or tiny rough bumps (usually found on the back of the arms and popularly known as chicken skin), brittle nails, dry and unruly hair, or excessive thirst? If so she or he probably needs a dietary supplement of essential fatty acids (EFAs), which are found in flax oil, fish oils, or evening primrose oil. A study done in the Department of Foods and Nutrition at Purdue University found that boys with ADHD had significantly lower concentrations of certain EFAs in their blood. The lowest levels were found in those boys with the symptoms just listed. There is no single supplement that will meet the needs of all children, but one that is safe and beneficial to start with is treat the child with 1 to 2 teaspoons a day of flax seed oil. The flax seed oils that have the best nutritional value are the ones that need to be refrigerated. Flax seed oils are loaded with beneficial antioxidants as well as EFA. If there is no improvement in behavior, concentration, or dryness of the skin or hair, replace the flax seed oil with evening primrose oil, which is available in capsules. The dose used is two 500-mg capsules for infants and toddlers, three to four a day for children aged 3 to 10, and five or six capsules a day for older children. For those who can not swallow capsules, open the capsule and pour it into food or massage it into the skin. The EFAs are absorbed well from the soft skin of the chest, back, and forearms. If neither flax seed oil nor primrose oil help with the child’s behavior, try adding an ocean source DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) supplement. DHA is the leading EFA in the brain. The dose needed is 100 to 400-mg/day.

Does the child complain of stomach aches, headaches, or muscle pains, or is sleep difficult and restless? These symptoms often indicate a deficiency of magnesium or calcium. Hyperactive children become magnesium. Second, the high adrenaline levels associated with hyperactivity cause them to excrete excessive amounts of magnesium in the urine, thus depleting their bodies of magnesium.. Research from Germany and France reveals a high frequency of magnesium deficiency in hyperactive children, especially those with headaches or abdominal pain. Magnesium supplementation is especially useful for sleep disturbances in children with ADHD, although the effects on hyperactive behavior are small. The dose needed is 100-mg per day for younger children and 200-mg for older children, each dosage taken at bedtime. If the child’s diet is low in calcium, it may be necessary to add a calcium supplement, also taken at bedtime, 400-mg for younger children, and 800-mg for older children, each dosage taken at bedtime. A possible side effect of magnesium supplementation is diarrhea, wheras a possible side effect of calcium supplementation is constipation.

Has the child taken antibiotics more than once a year? Does he or she become more hyperactive after antibiotics? If so, an overgrowth of yeast in the intestines may be contributing to hyperactivity. yeast is a potent allergen and also ferments sugar, producing chemicals which can be toxic to the nervous system. Yeast overgrowth can be countered by avoiding sweets and supplementing the diet with probiotics like lactobacillus or Bifodobacteria. The dose needed is 1 billion to 5 billion organisms per day. Anti-yeast medications my also be useful if yeast overgrowth is suspected. Their use should be discussed with a health practitioner.

Does the child have difficulty with learning? Learning-disabled children often benefit from nutritional supplements that enhance brain function. As the learning difficulties improve, hyperactivity also improves. The most useful supplements for enhancing learning in children with learning difficulties are B-complex vitamins, zinc, dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE), and phosphatidyl serine (PS).

Zinc is important for immune function and for brain function. The dose needed is 10-mg per day for younger children, 20-mg per day for teens.

DMAE is used by the brain to make choline, a neurotransmitter used for memory and thinking. A dose that can improve learning and behavior in children is 600 to 1,200-mg per day. How it improves learning is not known, but it also has been shown to boost immunity and athletic performance with almost no side effects. The dose needed is 200 to 300-mg per day. The benefits of these supplements may not be obvious until six weeks after being started.

The effect of B-complex vitamins can be paradoxical. Some children with ADHD become more hyperactive when taking B-vitamins; if this occurs, each of the B-vitamins should be administered individually. If there is not increase in hyperactivity, go with a B-complex supplement, indefinitely.

REFERENCES:

Block, Mary Ann, D.O. P.A. No More Ritalin: Treating ADHD Without Drugs, New York: Kensington Books, 1996.

Egger, J., Carter, C.M. Graham, P.J. et al. “Controlled trial of oligoantigenic treatment in the hyper kinetic syndrome, Lancet 1:540-545, 1985.

Galland, L. “Magnesium, stress and neuropsychiatric disorders,” Magnesium and Trace Elements 10: 287-301, 1991.

Galland, L. Power Healing, Random House, 1998.

Galland, L. Superimmunity for Kids , Delta, 1989.

Stevens, L.J., Zentall, S.S., Deck, J.L., et al. “Essential fatty acid metabolism in boys with attention deficit hyper activity disorder,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 62:761-768, 1995.

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