Child ADHD and Nutrition

Child ADHD and nutrition are directly related. When someone has ADHD, the first thing I do is see what kind of diet they have. I was talking with a parent about her child and his diet. She thought that his diet was "healthy" and fine. I asked her to send me what he eats and I would make comments.

This is that list. You may find that you are feeding your child or yourself some of these same items.

Many of the things in the grocery store are not healthy or good for you. Take a look at what I wrote below.

My Response

Here are things to avoid. Gluten (in breads, pastas, and such), casein (ingredient in dairy products), artificial flavors and ingredients, sugar, caffeine, Dyes. I know it is almost impossible to avoid sugar, so it should be a goal. The only way to really do this is to eat fresh foods only.

ADHD people are mineral deficient. The parent I told you about before gave his son the Kids vitamin + trace minerals. The kids vitamin also has the important Vitamin B's. People with ADHD are sensitivities and allergies (food and other). This is where the controlled diet will be beneficial.

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Lets talk about the stuff your son is consuming.

Drinks:

Bottled Water - bottled water can be a health problem. If the water is leaching chemicals from the plastic then this can cause some health issues. I haven't tested this personally but water in milk jugs seems to be ok or the poly-bicaronate bottles. it is difficult to really know with all the potential chemicals or hormone like chemicals in the plastics. Also, some of the water is just filtered tap water which can have other bad things in it. Not all spring water companies use spring water.

**Comment: This water may not directly cause ADHD symptoms unless it is causing breathing problems which will make your child tired and have ADHD type symptoms. This bottled water was a healthy note**

Milk - Has casein which may be bad for ADHD. Believe it or not, Milk is not that beneficial for you. It is boiled to kill the puss (from cow utters from over producing) and bacteria so you don't get sick. Any nutrient that was there, its dead now. Many dairy farms pump their animals with antibiotics and hormones to make them pump out a lot of milk in a short period of time.

You get them both in your milk at no extra charge! While there is healthier milk, there isn't a big need for it. Raw milk can provide beneficial bacteria.

Capri Sun - terrible product. Bad ingredients like high fructose corn syrup. They say natural flavor but remember, it is whatever natural means to them, not you. Stay away from fructose and high fructose corn syrup.

Sunny Delight - Same as Capri sun except it also has artificial colors, Yellow #5 & #6. Learn about how the dyes cause hyperactivity.

For juice, I just recommend not having it or only occasionally. The sugar surge from the fruit a lone can cause blood sugar issues and if it has added sugar, watch out!

Just because something says it has vitamins or minerals in it, does not mean it is a good source of it and that your body can use it. If your body can't use it, no use in putting it in it.

Breakfast

Applesauce - Can't see any benefit to this. While apples are known to be good for many things and applesauce is tasty, it can cause sugar issues. If it has addes sugar, then the same as above applies. This can cause blood sugar problems.

Vital B vitamin - never heard of. Once again, is this product in a form that is useable by the body?

Granola Bar - Looked up Quaker oats bars. Has sugar, high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, sucralose (artificial sweetener, not good), artificial flavors. Not a really good thing.

Milk - already talked about,

Water - already talked about

Eggs - The same problem with cows applies to chickens. You want your chicken to be free range (pasture raised). They are able to run around and not live their life in cages. I only buy eggs from whole foods or from places that sell organic free range chickens. I want their feed to be clean as well. If it is a vegetarian diet, then it is mostly corn and soy which isn't great. I eat 2 raw eggs in the morning in my shake I make. Before I had raw eggs and I seemed to have a problem with them. Always watch your child to see how they respond to foods (any symptoms appear).

French Toast - Love this stuff. You may want to use gluten free bread. Bread has gluten in it and could also have artificial ingredients. Enriched flour is also not good. That means they put stuff in the flower that doesn't belong. Stay away from white bread, you will see it says bleached. Yes, they bleach it. Think about the syrup too. Probably bad ingredients. I recommend a no grain bread. You can make your own but it is challenging trying to find a good recipe that works right.

Pancakes - Similar to bread.

For breakfast, we as humans need protein. If you load up on sugar, which most of this is, then you will crash. Your son will be really hyper with all this sugar, gluten, and high fructose corn syrup, ugh and the artificial stuff!

I just do a protein shake in the morning (or some organic eggs, bacon, sausage, avacado, salad), then have a snack before lunch.

Most protein powders come from the poorly treated cows and have artificial sweeteners and ingredients. Bad Bad Bad.

For breakfast, I take abou 8 ounces of water. Put it in a blender with Dr Axe's Bone Broth protein powder, 1/2 avacado, 4 ozs of frozen fruit, 2 raw eggs, 1 scoop of collagen protein, 1/2 - 1 1/2 tsp of hawaiin spirulina powder, and blend it. Man it is such a yummy breakfast.

Lunch

School Lunch - From what I remember, school lunch is always bad which will cause a nightmare for him as a student and his teacher.

Dinner

Grilled Chicken - chicken is good for protein and grilled is good. Try to get chicken that is treated right as I talked above.

Pork It may be loaded with toxins and parasites. Again, make sure it is treated fairly and lives a normal and healthy life.

Rice - white rice isn't good. They remove the good things from brown rice like bran and sell you white rice. Also, Rice has a lot of carbs and this is goint to cause issues.

Vegetables - over cooked, over steamed are not good. If you cook them too long, the nutrition is killed. Frozen might be ok but better if you can't get it fresh. Get fresh vegetables and eat them at least 2 x's a day with lunch and dinner. The grocery store most likely sells produce that has been treated with bad chemicals (but use if it is the only thing around).

If possible, eat them raw. Some should at least be steamed like broccoli.

Pasta - has gluten in it. Pasta is usually made with grains and has a lot of carbs. You can buy gluten free pasta but again, the carbs.

Salad - good choice. I have been eating different types of mixed salads. You can get organic mixes from Whole Foods, Natural Grocers, or Costco Wholesale. Iceberg lettuce isn't any good.

Bread - loaded as talked about earlier. Bad things, enriched flour, gluten, bleach, sugar and the others that go along with it. Get gluten free, non enriched flour. You could try Ezekiel bread. It is ok, doesn't taste the best. Just keep in mind the carbs.

Fast Food1x a week - Better than 5 x's a week, but fast food is very bad for you.

Treats/snack

Peanut butter crackers - bad oils, artificial food dyes, sugar/carbs, artificial ingredients. Peanut butter can be good, adding protein and fats. See if you can try some vegetables with the peanutbutter like celery. Or you can make your own chocolate and peanut butter treats without sugar. Use non synthetic sweeteners.

cheese crackers - similar things as above

gummies - food dyes, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial ingredients

banana w/ peanut butter? Bananas are high in sugar. So this may cause some sugar issues. For peanut butter, just make sure you get a good brand without any bad ingredients or oils. For peanut allergies, you could use Almond butter. Whole foods has a grinder and you can get fresh almond butter and peanut butter. This way you don't get the bad oils and artificial ingredients.

apple w/ peanut butter - same as above

yogurt - Lots of sugar and not great pasturized. Yogurt is said to be great for a lot of things. If you can get raw yogurt fermented without the bad ingredients, yes it is great. Just about any yogurt you find will be pasturized which destroys good bacteria and enzymes and loaded with sugar or other bad ingredients.

dannan kids smoothie - same as above.

goldfish crackers - couldn't find the ingredients on their site. I am sure it is loaded with artificial dyes, grains (carbs) and other bad ingredients. There are "healthier" brands of crackers but again, the amount of carbs your child is consuming.

candy/lollipop - artificial dyes, sugar, artificial sweeteners

marshmallows - possibly same as above

Junk 1 x a week

Chocolate - some kids have an allergic reaction to chocolate that shows as ADHD symptoms. This can be ok if not. Just watch sugar intake. You can get healthier chocolate treats or make your own. It is very simple and lots of youtube videos available.

Ice cream - same as milk and possible artificial ingredients. Definitely loaded with sugar. You can make your own and use sugar alternatives (just don't use chemicals).

cookie - same

cake - same

Here is the main problem. The problem is that the grocery store sells junk. Just about everything you buy there will have bad stuff in it. Even the good stuff like produce and fresh meats. Of course, you do the best that you can.

It cost a lot more, but that's why I go to whole foods market, costco, and natural grocers. There are others that I can't think of.

With the artificial ingredients, casein, gluten and so on, your son will have these problems.

There you have it all.

Your goal should be to get your son eating all fresh foods. Fresh veggies, fruits, meats and taking good supplements if needed.