Attention Deficit Disorder and Diet
“Metro Talk” with Jerry Phillips
WBIG-FM/WTEM-AM
September 17, 2000
Sara Ducey
with Guests:
Kelly Dorfman, Nutritionist
Janice Robert, ADD Advocate
What are Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)?
Attention deficit and hyperactivity are neurological
disorders characterized by some or all of the behaviors listed in the table
below. Be aware that these behaviors
are symptoms that can result from a large host of causes. Lead poisoning, essential fatty acid or iron
deficiency, food or environmental allergy, heredity and poor diet are just a
few of the contributing factors.
The solution to ADD/ADHD will not be diet alone or drugs
alone. You will need to work hard to
determine the causes of these symptoms in yourself or your child. Furthermore, due to the individuality of
this condition, what works for one of your children may be of little use in the
other. It’s a scavenger hunt, but the
work will be worth your while.
Table 1. AD/HD BEHAVIORS[1]
|
Inattentive |
Hyperactive/Impulsive |
|
Difficulty Organizing Tasks
– Can’t Get Started |
Talks too much
|
|
Mental Restlessness –
Constant Brain Chatter |
Difficulty Doing Tasks
Alone |
|
Easily Distracted --
Attention Easily Diverted |
Physical Restlessness –
finger tapping, leg restlessness |
|
Difficulty Completing
Tasks |
Engages in Physically
Daring Activities |
|
Shifts from One Task to
Another |
Always on the Go, As if
Driven by a Motor |
|
Difficulty Sustaining
Attention – Can’t Focus |
Impulsive |
|
Doesn’t Appear to Listen
to Others |
Often Interrupts Others |
|
Constantly Loses
Possessions |
Impatient |
|
Forgets Easily – Can’t
Remember “to do’s” |
Unpredictable Behavior |
|
Trouble Keeping Track of
Events – Difficulty with Sequencing |
Hot and Explosive Temper |
How Diet Can Help
ADD/ADHD
A good diet helps everyone,
not just the individual suffering ADD/ADHD symptoms. The list below gives a sense for the various diet issues to
consider addressing:
·
Consider food allergy
and intolerances (wheat; dairy; corn; and soy are big offenders);
·
Work to heal the lining
of the gastrointestinal tract – contact the Development Delay Resources about
“LEAKY GUT SYNDROME;”
·
Begin eating “whole”
foods – without added colors and flavors;
·
Breakfast should be
higher in protein and fat, and lower in carbohydrates
·
Send a lunch to school
with your child – your meals will be better than most school cafeteria’s foods;
·
Dinners should include
two or more vegetables plus a green salad;
·
include essential fatty
acids in the diet – from fish; flax; nuts; seeds; and oils
·
Drink filtered water if
you have copper pipes, or if the water in your community is suspected of having
pesticide residues;
·
Reduce the use of soft
drinks to the greatest extent possible, also limiting fruit juices – instead
offer pieces of fruit;
·
Serve homemade cookies
and cakes, to avoid processed fats (which are now implicated in ADD)
Get your kids into the
kitchen and have them help you make these foods. They will be more interested in trying new foods if they have a
hand in selecting and making them.
Developmental Delay Resources
4401 East-West Highway,
Suite 207
Bethesda, Maryland, 20814
(301) 652-2263
Children and Adults with
Attention Deficiti (CHADD)
(301) 306-7070
National Attention Deficit
Disorder Association (ADDA)
(847) 432-ADDA
ADDvance Magazine
Dr. Patricia Quinn and
Kathleen Nadeau, Ph.D.
1-888-238-8588
© September 2000, Sara Ducey, Bethesda, MD. All rights reserved.
[1] From The
A.D.D. Nutrition Solution, © 1999 Marcia Zimmerman, Owl Books, Henry Holt
and Co., New York.
