Are Nutrition and ADHD really linked? Is there a proven connection? The answer is yes.
In the UK, the Food Standards Agency has taken action and asked food producers to voluntarily remove the following ‘dirty six’ colourings from their products. They are asking them to phase out :- Tartazine (E102), Quinoline Yellow (E104), Sunset Yellow (E110), Carmoisine (E122), Pomceau 4R (E124) and Allura Red (E129). Members of the European Parliament have also taken action and now food products containing the above colourings must be labelled “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.”
If you are living in the UK, you will be glad to know that the following food products have removed the guilty food colourings and have replaced them with alternatives. Some of the popular food products are :-Heinz, Weight Watchers from Heinz, Vimto drinks, Sunkist drinks, Green Bay products, Lea and Perrins. McDonald’s have confirmed that they are now applying the ban on their food products. The big food chains are also complying :- Marks and Spencer, Tesco, Asda and Iceland. Nestle’ who produce Smarties sweets had a job to find a substitute for the blue colour and all the blue Smartes disappeared and became white ! They then found spirulina which is an accepted alternative. The fact that the government has taken action means that there is more than sufficient evidence to support the ADHD and nutrition connection.
Sugar has recently been exonerated in some studies as NOT causing hyperactivity in children.
This is true to a certain extent. It depends on what ELSE the children are eating. If they are gulping down lots of confectionery, fizzy drinks and snacks and no fibre which will absorb all the glucose, then there will be an imbalance resulting in blood sugar levels going up and down. The result is that there will be erratic levels of concentration, activity and focus and behaviour problems will surface.
These are the classic symptoms of ADHD.
Nutrition and ADHD ARE linked as we have seen from the two examples above. What else do we need to be careful about when deciding what our children can or cannot eat? Very often children with ADHD show symptoms such as dry skin, always thirsty and eczema. This means that they are not getting enough of the EFA (essential fatty Acids) which are found in fish. If you cannot serve fish, try an Omega 3 or 6 supplement. A shortage of zinc and magnesium levels have been found in ADHD children so it is wise to add these to supplements unless you are giving your children a very balanced diet.
Now that we have looked at the ADHD and nutrition connection, it is time to look at other treatment options in conjunction with the above. Parents will want to avoid the ADHD psychostimulants which have rather nasty side effects and will place your child in a risky social and medical environment which is really not the ideal solution. Is there a natural cure for ADHD which is not addictive? Can it be used in conjunction with a nutrition and ADHD plan? You may want to ask questions about safety, cost and how and where these products are produced. The link below will give you all the information you need.