foods a child should stay away from with possible adhd?

Question

My son may have adhd, I do not like the idea of putting him on medication, I have heard of changing a child diet may help, does anyone know of foods to keep out of his diet that may help or adding something to his diet that also could help, my son is four years old and does have many almost all the symptoms of hyper active adhd, any help or advice would be greatly appreciated thank you

Rory S · Accepted Answer

Jenn C -

Great question.

There is a lot of information out there to be aware of.  The Feingold diet is controversial, and a gluten-free diet will not necessarily help with ADHD.  In fact, if a gluten-free diet solves your child's problems, then he does not have ADHD.

Sorry - just need to get that out of the way first.

The best thing to do is really look at a few things:

1.  Foods that do help
2.  Foods, dyes, and additives that don't help
3.  Exercise
4.  Sleep

Your son should get a good amount of protein in his diet, especially for breakfast.  Protein is healthy energy (unlike sugar).  Speaking of which, you really want to cut back your son's sugar intake.

Food dyes and additives can be problematic - but not so much contributing to ADHD per se.  Instead, they can make the symptoms look worse.  In this case, you need to pay attention to what your son eats and try replacing certain things or eliminating things and just "test" what works.

I have heard that red dyes and yellow dyes can be a place to start.

Exercise is key because our bodies need that, and children with ADHD need it more.

Sleep is another critical piece of the puzzle.  A child with ADHD really will benefit from a solid 8 hours of sleep, and maybe even more.

Last but not least, I highly recommend and encourage you to speak with a psychiatrist, psychologist or other medical doctor who specializes in treating ADHD.  You never want to make decisions like this on your own, and the extra support is also important.

Good luck!

Dr. Stern
http://www.thetruthbehindadhd.com/tips.html

Anonymous · Answer

my son has add and you can research it on the net, just google adhd diets and there is some really good suggestions on there. Logically I would think high sugar and caffinated foods would cause issues.

Good Luck

Anonymous · Answer

Do you know of Jim Carey's girlfriend?  I can't think of her name...maybe Jenny McCarthy?  Anyhow, she wrote a book about her son who is autistic.  She had a very strict diet that eliminated gluten and more.  This diet may be of interest to you too.  Oprah interviewed her and she said that she could notice an improvement in her son w/ the deletion of certain foods.

MC70 · Answer

My husband has ADHD and at least one of our children is suspected ADHD. We avoid ANY food with high fructose corn syrup or artificial color. I can tell a huge difference in my daughter's behaviour when she is at a friend's house and eats food with chemical dye on it - I truly believe these chemicals wreak havoc on a person's system, ADHD or not.

Jason L · Answer

Hi Jenn C, the info you are looking for is here:

http://www.adhdquestionsandanswers.com/ADHD_Vitamins.html

By the way, encourage your son to be active in physical exercises as well. The key is to do it REGULARLY. Studies have shown that regular exercises help them in more ways than one.

Jenn C, I wish you and your son good health and a bright future.

sheeboobles · Answer

Go here:  http://www.feingold.org/

It's a diet specifically designed to combat the symptoms of ADD.

Also, this is an interesting read:  http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/myth_add_adhd.htm

Good luck!

foods a child should stay away from with possible adhd?

6 Answers