Diet facts for ADHD disorder in children
ADHD disorder child is always a worry for their parents. They keep searching for the best foods which will help to improve their child’s ADHD problem. Following are some of the diet facts for an ADHD child.
Regarding the supplement to be added in your child’s diet
What we generally hear and read
Child suffering from ADHD has some vitamin deficiency or low minerals in their blood. Hence we tend to supplement the child with the vitamin which is deficient and hope that the symptoms of ADHD will reduce.
Fact
The reality is that there is no scientific study showing that children with ADHD lack vitamins or minerals in their blood. A normal child without ADHD can also suffer from a vitamin or mineral deficiency. On supplementing the required vitamin or mineral, the deficiency can be compensated. If the same deficiency is found in a child ADHD then this child also can be supplemented but this is not state that the child’s symptoms of ADHD will reduce or the child’s behaviour will improve.
What you should do?
Any supplement however natural it may be, it does not mean that it is safe. There may be some supplements which could reduce the efficacy of the prescribed medicine. The best solution to this worry is to consult your treating doctor and allow them to take care of the supplementations which need to be added to your child’s diet.
Do we need to eliminate sugar or any other food items?
What we generally hear and read
Most parents with a child suffering from ADHD hear that the child’s hyperactivity increasing whenever they eat sugar or they could become more inattentive when they are fed with foods that contain gluten. The end result to these scary talks is that they eliminate sugar and gluten from their child’s diet without even asking their doctor.
Fact
There is no supporting evidence which could support that eliminating certain foods from your child’s diet will help to reduce the ADHD symptoms. Infact, the kids with ADHD have shown to be allergic to certain foods. Whenever they eat these foods they may suffer from symptoms like getting anxious or feeling nauseates or feeling itchy all over the body. This could make them lose focus and it would be more difficult to control the emotional outburst.
What should you do?
Rather than eliminating sugars directly from your child’s diet, concentrate on foods which your child is allergic to. On identifying the foods which your child is allergic to, eliminate those foods from their diet. Too much of anything is not good. So even if your child is eating anything containing sugar, you must know what proportion should be served. Limiting sugar in their diet is not for the purpose of reducing the ADHD symptoms but for preventing the risk of developing diabetes in their later life. It will also help to maintain your child’s weight.
Does your child with ADHD need a special diet?
What we generally hear and read
A special diet formulated for ADHD child helps to reduce the symptoms of ADHD and also could lead to cure.
Fact
Again, there is very limited evidence to support that following a specific diet may help to improve the symptoms of ADHD. The reality is that an ADHD child suffering from allergy to certain foods shows marked improvement when the foods which cause allergy are removed from their diet.
What should you do?
A diet which is good for all kids is the diet which your child with ADHD should be following. A well balanced diet with all the nutrients, vitamins, proteins, omega-3 fatty acids and minerals is the most effective. Avoid processed and refined foods. So feed your child with lots of fruits and vegetables. Learn how to inculcate the vegetables or fruits which they dislike in their food by creating an interesting recipe. Whole grains would help to provide good amount of carbohydrates.
There are more things other than diet which you can try that may help your child improve like exercise and practicing mindfulness.
