Diet Remedies For Adhd - A Simpler Approach

It would be fantastic if we had diet remedies for ADHD which controlled symptoms and eliminated the need for doubtful medication. Dream on! Lots of controversy about what kids should be eating and whether what they eat or drink really will influence their behaviour.

Let's have a look at what ADHD diet therapy consists of and whether it can really help the ADHD child. For a long time sugar was blamed for kids' hyperactivity and then was absolved. There just was not enough evidence. However food dyes/colourings are a different matter and these have been found to really have a negative impact on children's behaviour. Food companies in the UK and Europe are now replacing these dyes (also called the 'Dirty Six') with natural substances. Very soon, the ban will be in force in the UK and probably the European Union too. Those bans were implemented after a lot of research was done so we can eliminate all the colourful jellies, candies and other kids' snacks from their diets and that will certainly help.

The Feingold Diet has come in for a lot of attention and many parents swear that it is one of best diet remedies for ADHD out there. He bases his research on the fact that salicylates (the main ingredient in Aspirin) was found in high doses in the urine of ADHD children and autistic children. He then went on to state that certain foods containing salicylates should be eliminated as the ADHD symptoms are just an allergic reaction to them. ADHD children apparently lack an enzyme which could help them digest these foods. The only problem is that the list of foods containing salicylates is exhaustive so the parent has to start eliminating these one by one and then take notes on the child's progress. When I counted the list of foods, there were twenty five of them ! It does seem rather complicated to adopt this in a busy family.

Diet remedies for ADHD have centered a lot around certain mineral elements and vitamins in a child's diet or the lack of them. Now if they are getting their 5 a day fruit and veg, there should be no problem. The bad news is that 85% of kids in the USA are not getting their daily ration of these fruit and veg. If we try to meet the 5 a day fruit and veg, I think that is one of the best diet remedies for ADHD I know of and I would forget the rest!

Lack of magnesium and zinc seems to be common in ADHD children. The easiest thing to do here is to get a good multi - vitamin supplement which should also include the Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats. These form part of the famous essential fatty acids as some fat is good for us. Olive oil, flax seed oil and fish of course all contain these in abundance but that might complicate your daily routine. As I said the multi vitamin supplement will get round this problem very easily.

Basically the fresher and less processed food is, the better it is for ADHD children and indeed for the whole family.Most families find that a proper diet such as the ADHD diet therapy outlined above does help to control symptoms such as hyperactivity and impulsiveness. This in itself will not be sufficient to manage symptoms and a natural ADHD cure such as a homeopathic one is becoming amazingly popular now.