Nutritional Aspects of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

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Nutritional Aspects of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity

Disorder

 

 

ADHD/ADD

" Candy corn is not a vegetable. "

(Author unknown)

 

When my brothers and I were cranky, Mom used to tell

us that " There are good boys and tired boys, and tired

boys cry. " She meant there are no " bad " boys (or

girls) by nature. If we were fussy, we must therefore

need a nap. As a former teacher, Mom knew that you

seek to change the behavior, not condemn the person.

 

I have taught every grade there is. My students have

ranged from primary school, long ago, all the way to

the doctoral level. This experience has helped me to

understand the essential role that nutrition plays in

the education process. May you never have a class

full of sugared up, chemically fed, vitamin deficient

students. Regardless of age, they are too poisoned

to pay attention.

 

Many, perhaps most, of the " difficult " pupils in

schools today are not " bad " but nutritionally

impaired. School lunch programs attempt to provide

calories and a full belly, and they are clearly better

than nothing. It would be much better to approve and

fund only menu items free of artificial colors,

flavors, preservatives and added sugar. The addition

of a good multiple vitamin and extra Vitamin C to each

meal would do even more. Over and over again, large

research studies confirm that American kids are NOT

getting even the modest US RDA of many vitamins and

minerals. This has to effect their school

performance. What would be surprising would be if it

did not.

 

For some reason, though, " natural foods " and vitamin

supplements are taboo in most nurse-and-dietitian

circles. " Just eat a balanced diet " still rules

nutritional politics. How bad is it?

Well, did you know that Food Stamps cannot be used to

buy vitamins? But you CAN use Food Stamps to buy

" Trix " and " Fruit Loops " cereals, which are loaded

with sugar and chemical colors. What do you expect,

when nutrition textbooks say, in the same chapter,

that 1) Vitamin C is quickly destroyed by heat AND

2) French fries are a good source of Vitamin C?

 

Did you know that children are not allowed to take

vitamin tablets in school without a doctor's written

permission? Yet they can be fed cupcakes and candy

right in class or the lunchroom.

 

Even Rodney Dangerfield might agree that vitamins and

natural food " don't get no respect. " Does comedy show

food awareness? " My wife: I won't say she's a bad

cook, but how come the flies chipped in to fix the

screen door? Hey, should meat loaf really glow in the

dark? But seriously... "

 

There is reason to suspect that Attention Deficit

Disorder is really Vitamin Deficit Disorder. What is

so difficult about giving schoolchildren a

multivitamin supplement to make up their deficit?

 

Don't tell me that vitamins would be too dangerous,

expensive or impractical to administer in school.

They give kids the prescription drug methylphenidate

(Ritalin) in schools everywhere. Look at Ritalin's

dangers, contraindications and side effects, listed in

the Physician's Desk Reference (Medical Economics Co.,

Oradell, NJ). Such information covers over three

columns of fine print and you might not enjoy reading

it. Now compare this to non-prescription vitamins

taken safely by nearly 100 million Americans every

day. Let's get food supplements into kids whose

parents cannot afford them. Isn't that the logic

behind school meals?

 

Schools can easily avoid artificial chemicals in their

menus. You want to see for yourself? Visit the

kitchen of your local public or private school and

read the labels on the boxes they get from their food

distributors. Yet a school district has only to

specify a standard and the suppliers will jump to keep

their business. Cars have seatbelts and airbags now.

How about putting a little pressure on your Board of

Education to go chemical-free in their served meals?

 

The behavior benefits of subtracting food chemicals

and adding vitamin supplements are elementary. Many

children respond promptly to a chemical-free diet.

Benjamin Feingold, M.D., an allergist, wrote Why Your

Child is Hyperactive to help parents get behavior

improvement through foods without drugs. It works for

many, and it's safer than " speed. " Ritalin, after

all, has " a potency between the amphetamines and

caffeine... it is now estimated that over 750,000

public school children are currently receiving such

treatment in the United States. " (Ray and Ksir, Drugs,

Society and Human Behavior, 5th ed., 1990, page 121)

As of today (2000), that number is probably nearer to

two million. Like the amphetamines, Ritalin reduces a

child's growth rate by up to 20%. Kids as young as

age six line up daily, in school, for this drug.

Let's line them up for vitamins instead.

 

You can create behavioral-social problems in an animal

with a vitamin deficient diet. Many major symptoms of

attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are very

similar to those of niacin deficiency.

 

Natural diet need not work for every child to still

help thousands of them. It is safe to try it for all.

There are no harmful side effects whatsoever from

avoiding added sugar and artificial food additives.

Drug dependency isn't encouraged with good nutrition.

Neither are all those adverse reactions (I counted

over 30 just for Ritalin alone) listed in the

Physicians' Desk Reference. There is a copy of the

PDR for you to look at behind any pharmacy counter.

 

I know, of case after case, where a kid stops getting

food additives and starts taking vitamins, especially

C and the B-complex, and is off Ritalin in two weeks

or less. It is most effective to give vitamins in

divided doses with food. Breaking a common B-complex

tablet in thirds can cover all three meals. Frederick

R. Klenner, M.D. recommended giving children their age

in grams of Vitamin C (a gram being 1,000 milligrams).

We found that half of that was enough to keep our

kids well; that is 4,000 mg daily for an

eight-year-old, divided over three meals and snacks.

 

To paraphrase my mother: There are good kids and there

are misbehaving kids, and misbehaving kids are

probably malnourished.

 

 

For more information, I highly recommend that you read

Dr. Hoffer's ABC of Natural Nutrition for Children, by

Abram Hoffer, M.D., Ph.D (Quarry Press, Kingston,

Ontario 1999)

ISBN 1-55082-185-7 (Softcover, 280 pages plus tables

and bibliography)

 

Copyright C 1999 and prior years Andrew W. Saul.

From the book PAPERBACK CLINIC, available from Andrew

Saul, PhD Number 8 Van Buren Street, Holley, New

York 14470.