Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder affects as many as 8.7 percent of children age 8 to 17 and 4.1 percent of American adults according to research presented in the October 2007 issue of the "Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine" and the National Institute for Mental Health. Dietary management is one leg of treatment for ADHD, along with sleep optimization, exercise, behavioral control strategies and medication.
The ADHD Brain
ADHD is believed to result from structural abnormalities in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, where information is sorted, stored and given meaning, and in the temporal lobes, which control impulse behaviors. Researchers at Yale University, Columbia University, and the University of California at Los Angeles performed high resolution MRI brain scans and discovered that the brains of children with ADHD show bilateral differences from the brains of children without ADHD symptoms. These scans prove that ADHD is a physiological disease, and not a matter of parenting style. The structural changes seen in the ADHD brain appear to make the child or adult more susceptible to other factors such as food additives, excessive glucose, the lack of omega-3 fatty acids, fatigue, and stress.
Food Additives
Diet can alter the activity of the brain by changing available neurotransmitters and by providing energy for brain cells.
Dr. Feingold, one of the pioneers of the science behind food and behavioral health disorders, has admonished families to avoid artificial colors, flavorings, preservatives and sweeteners since the 1970s. Now a wide body of research has validated his work. In 2008, the British Parliament voted to move from a voluntary removal of food additives to a mandatory ban by the end of 2010 based, partially, on a study reported in the 2004 "Archives of Disease in Childhood," which noted a significant improvement in behavior when all substances named in the ban were removed from the child's diet.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
ADHD is most commonly treated with stimulant medications. These increase the length of attentiveness and decrease disruptive behavior, but do not improve long-term intellectual development or the quality of social interactions.
The omega-3 fatty acids, commonly found in cold water fish, avocado, flax seed and olive oil, have many proven health benefits, and among these are the nutrients' ability to improve ADHD symptoms. A report by Dr. Alexandra Richardson, published in the April 2006 issue of the "International Review of Psychiatry" reported that children and adults with ADHD have lower blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids, and that many can benefit by increasing their dietary consumption of foods that contain this substance.
Mineral Deficiencies in ADHD
Children and adults with ADHD may also be missing essential minerals including zinc and copper. Margaret Weiss, MD, Ph.D. reported at the 2009 Meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry that among ADHD-diagnosed children, 67 to 77 percent had zinc levels below the acceptable level and 25 percent were deficient in copper. Although the children Dr. Weiss studied did not eat a larger proportion of junk foods, they did consume 40 percent less meat than healthy children, and along with the deficiencies in zinc and copper, she found that the majority had iron levels below the amount needed to bring that essential mineral into the central nervous system.
Putting It All Together
Creating a diet for the child or adult challenged by ADHD requires a great deal of thought and preparation. Foods in their simplest form, without colorings and preservatives, make sense. Ensuring adequate daily intake of meat, eggs and other protein sources helps to keep blood sugar levels stable and ensures that minerals, especially iron, are available in sufficient quantity. Plenty of water helps to prevent the dry skin and thirst that many people taking ADHD stimulant medications experience, and adding omega-3 rich salmon, avocado and other healthy oils aids can improve overall health, as well as ADHD symptoms. If food allergies, or a child's refusal to eat certain foods threatens to render his diet inadequate, ask a neuropsychiatrist expert in the use of food as an ADHD treatment, about the wisdom of using supplements.
Diet alone is seldom sufficient to relieve all ADHD symptoms, but neither are these healthy recommendations at all controversial. By age 7 or 8, the child should be able to help parents decide which food choices help him feel more focused, and he can begin to take independent responsibility for eating in a brain-healthy manner. Growing up eating this well, might just make the ADHD kid among the healthiest of adults in the future.
References
- "Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine"; Prevalence, Recognition, and Treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in a National Sample of US Children; Tanya E. Froehlich, MD et al; September 2007
- National Institute for Mental Health: The Numbers Count
- "Psychiatric News"; Brain Scans Reveal Physiology of ADHD; Jim Rosack; January 2, 2004
- "Archives of Disease in Childhood"; Food Colourings and Benzoate...; B Bateman et al, 2004
- "International Review of Psychiatry"; Omega-3 fatty acids in ADHD and related neurodevelopmental disorders; A. Richardson; April 2006
