The ADHD Diet - the Nutrition Needs for ADHD Children

This topic on the ADHD diet been subjected to many studies carried out by ADHD experts.  Although there is no exact answer as to what exactly should be included in the diet for ADHD children, there are some basic guidelines. Most of the studies have shown some strong connections between nutrition and this disorder. Nutritional deficiencies have definitely some connection particularly certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies.  Food allergies, pesticide exposure and other forms for toxin exposure have also shown implications in the symptoms of ADHD. 

In many of these studies, researchers were able to show that certain nutrients were able to help in improving some of the symptoms.

As a parent concerned about the ADHD diet, here are some of the ways that nutrition is connected to ADHD and you can probably use them as a guide when planning diets for children with ADHD.

Natural Foods is best in a ADHD Diet

Use of Artificial Colors and Preservatives

So far there is no solid proof that artificial colors and preservatives are necessarily the cause of ADHD symptoms.  However, many ADHD kids have shown that they do have sensitivities to these substances and experiences of parents have been positive when they started to remove them from the diet and have resulted in good results.

Anyway, this is probably not limited to just ADHD children but to all children and older adults too where cutting out artificial colors and preservatives can help in reducing food allergies.  It does not cause harm to eliminate these things from the diet.  Looking out for symptom improvement is a good way to take some action that is not difficult to do.

Gluten Sensitivity & the ADHD Diet

It has been shown in numerous studies that there is a possible link between gluten sensitivity and ADHD. A lot of ADHD children also have celiac disease, or gluten intolerance. Here gluten which is a protein found in wheat causes inflammation in the intestinal lining and eventually permeates the intestinal walls, thereby giving rise to what is called the leaky gut syndrome. In this case, proteins  enter the bloodstream, where they can cause many problems.

Eliminating gluten from the ADHD diet has shown good success in many cases. By allowing the gut to heal, it probably reduces the inflammation and in fact stop the whole cycle of inflammation which is most damaging.

 

Iron Deficiency in Diets of Children with ADHD

Iron deficiency by itself can produce symptoms similar to ADHD like poor attention span and other behavioral problems.  Because of this there are doctors who recommend iron supplement for ADHD children.  Of course, if you can you could actually test for iron deficiency in your child should you see ADHD symptoms.

Symptoms of Low Blood Sugar

Low blood sugar symptoms can also mimic those of ADHD. The inability to concentrate or focus on a particular subject with shakes and jitters are symptoms of both low blood sugar and ADHD.  Of course, not all children will get such symptoms with low blood sugar and some kids do not suffer visibly from long periods of not eating but there are some who do shown distinct symptoms.

Parents wondering what to do should take note that the best way to alleviate these symptoms and to bring up a healthy child is to is provide a diet with whole foods diet that is low in sugar and sweet snacks.   These should be replaced with more healthy snacks and they should have an adequate breakfast as well.

Reason for Organic Foods in ADHD Diets

Since there are many recent studies linking ADHD and pesticide exposure, parents should consider the option of giving their children organic food rather than food containing large doses of pesticides.  Reducing pesticide exposure by ingestion is certainly one step a parent can take and this is good not just for ADHD children but all children as well.  By taking some simple steps, parents can indeed improve the diets of children with ADHD.

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The ADHD Diet