If your child has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, also known as ADHD, you may have heard of a dietary treatment option called the Feingold diet. Although Harvard Medical School says medical science hasn't proven a definitive link between diet and ADHD symptoms in children and adults, some parents and clinicians say certain foods and especially food additives can worsen symptoms or even cause the disorder.
Causes/Symptoms
Children and adults with ADHD often have extreme difficulty keeping their attention on something, especially in school, according to MayoClinic.com. They also have trouble organizing their tasks, such as homework, and can seem squirmy and hyper. They may talk excessively. It's not clear why some people develop ADHD, but MayoClinic.com notes that heredity, environmental toxins and altered brain anatomy in affected people all may play a role.
Diet Science
Dr. Benjamin Feingold began his research into diet and ADHD symptoms in the 1960s, when most physicians thought that children with hyperactivity and attention deficit symptoms would outgrow their conditions. Feingold, a pediatrician and an allergist, sought to address the cause of symptoms in children, rather than to mask those symptoms with drugs, as the medical profession began to do more frequently in the 1980s and 1990s with stimulants such as Ritalin.
Diet Principles
The Feingold diet eliminates several common food additives, including artificial coloring, artificial flavoring, aspartame or Nutrasweet, and several artificial preservatives, according to Feingold.org. In the initial stage of the diet, it eliminates aspirin and foods containing salicylates, which are naturally occurring compounds in fruits and vegetables. Those following the Feingold diet also need to eliminate fragrances and personal care products containing these ingredients.
Foods to Avoid
Many processed foods contain food dyes or the additives banned on the Feingold diet, according to Feingold.org. The chemicals that make fruit punch vivid red or blue, or which make a summer frozen fruit pop a vivid green or purple, mostly stem from artificial sources that people following the Feingold diet can't have. While food dyes and Nutrasweet must be listed on food ingredient labels, the preservatives banned on the Feingold diet often are not listed on those labels. Many brightly colored fruits and vegetables contain high levels of salicylates.
Research
Diet alone probably isn't responsible for the wide range of behavior and attention difficulties present in children and adults with ADHD, according to Harvard Medical School, but recent medical research indicates that a subset of ADHD patients might benefit from some sort of a restricted diet. For right now, Harvard pediatricians urge parents to feed their ADHD children a balanced diet emphasizing healthy fruits and vegetables, whole grains and good protein sources.
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