Understanding ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD is one of those health conditions that is long on unanswered questions and short on treatments. ADHD is generally categorized by inattention, distractibility, impulsively, and hyperactivity.

Everyone knows how important nutrition is in their child's daily menu. For a child with ADHD nutrition is even more important. There are many experts that believe that choosing the right food can help a child with ADHD keep their condition from becoming out of control. More and more there are parents that are finding out that when they closely watch their child's diet and make sure they eat the right things and leave in incorrect food out they have the wonderful result of seeing the behavior in their child become more consistently under control.

Dr. Edward Hallowell advises parents to fill their child's plate in the following manner: 1/2 fruits and vegetables, 1/4 protein, and 1/4 carbohydrates. A diet of this type tends to control swings in behavior that can be cause by hunger, surges in blood sugar or a shortfall of a particular nutrient. Also important is to avoid artificial color and sugar.

• Children with ADHD are at a higher risk in adulthood of larger consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs than those who do not suffer from ADHD.
• Boys are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls.
• Parents of children are 3 times more likely to divorce than those without ADHD.
• About 500 children with ADHD die every year with sudden cardiac arrest.
• The rate of diagnosis of ADHD rose 3% per year between the years of 1997 to 2003 and 5.5% between 2003 - 2007.
• Adult drivers with ADHD are involved in 4 times more accidents.
• Hispanic children are less likely than non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black children to have ADHD.
• As of 2007 2.7 million children between the ages of 4 - 17 years old are taking medication for ADHD.
• There has been a connection between ADHD and other issues such as obesity, anorexia, and depression.
• Out of 100 children with ADHD 25 will repeat at least one grade.
• 36% of the people with ADHD do not finish school.

• Do not give your child soda, ice tea, or carbonated drinks of any kind.
• Don't let him/her junk food. It's processed and can make blood glucose level rise, making situation worse.
• Don't give him any dairy products. Stop with the cheese, cream, and yogurt and considerably
  cut back on milk.

• Make sure your child drinks plenty of water.
• A person with ADHD needs to eat foods that are rich in Omega-3 fatty acids. A good source is flax seed and cold water fish.
• Protein supplements are a must.
• Provide a lot of raw fruits and vegetables.
• Multivitamins will help provide a well balanced diet.
• Make sure they do not skip a meal.

• High Glycemic Index Foods - such as biscuits, white bread, cake, white rice, potatoes, regular processed pasta, sugars, sweeteners, processed cereal, simple carbohydrates, and most junk foods. Restrict the intake of pineapples, bananas, corn and potatoes. They are pretty high on the glycemic index list.
• Food additives - such as aspartame, monosodium glutamate, nitrates (found in lunch meat), and yellow and red food dye.
• Sugary Food - make sure you avoid the foods high is sugar. High blood sugar interferes with the ability to concentrate and pay attention.
• Caffeine - may worsen ADHD symptoms. (Note:: There are some very knowledgeable people that feel that caffeine may help calm people when used in moderation.)
• Salicylates - foods containing the chemicals salicylates may aggravate the symptoms of ADHD. They are founds in apricots, apples, cherries, and plums

• Omega-3 fatty acids
• Vitamin B
• Vitamin C
• Fatty Fish

Make sure you try to serve as many of these foods as you can at every meal.

• Whole grain
• Omega-3 acids ( cold water fish, walnuts or canola oil)
• Protein (eggs, nuts, beans, poultry, lean meats)
• Dark green, and yellow or red vegetables
• Low-fat milk, yogurt, or cheese

Ingredients:

carrots

extra virgin olive oil

balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Peel carrots and cut in half.

Slice each half into quarters length wise.

Coat each carrot piece in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Place them in a single layer on a cookie sheet.

Bake for half and hour.

Sprinkle with sea salt.

Note: Children love french fries. You might have more luck serving your child vegetables and getting them to eat them if they resemble french fries. They are especially good for your child with ADHD.

Ingredients:

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup stir-fry sauce

4 1/2 tsp sugar - or equivalent of sugar substitute

2 tsp fresh orange peel, grated

2 tsp orange juice

Directions:

Lightly coat chicken with cornstarch.

Heat oil in large frying pan.

Add chicken and brown on both sides.

Remove chicken and drain olive oil from pan..

Blend the rest of the ingredients with 1/3 cup of lukewarm water.

Pour mixture over chicken and simmer for 10 minutes. While simmering, stir occasionally.

Note: The dish is delicious served over brown rice. This dish is kid-friendly. The slight sweetness of this recipe is sure to please your most picky eater.