How a Focused ADHD Food Menu Changed My Son’s Life
This
year my son started his freshman year of college. I can’t even begin to tell you how incredibly proud I was to see this day.
You see, my son was over-the-top Attention Deficit Disorder. Not just “kind of” ADD, WAY over-the-top ADD. Suffice it to say that “Huh?” was the most used word in his vocabulary.
This young man struggled with school from the first day he stepped into the kindergarten classroom. He is highly intelligent, yet struggled to get Cs, at best. No matter how hard he tried, he continued to fail. Eventually he admitted defeat and simply quit trying. Had nothing changed, I am certain he would have failed high school.
Recently someone asked the secret of his amazing turn-around. My two-fold answer is surprisingly simple; a daily ADHD natural remedy drink and a focused ADHD food menu
filled with the
best brain foods
available.
The daily ADHD natural remedy drink is, hands down, my #1 secret weapon against ADHD.
Drop me an email if you want the recipe for my ADHD natural remedy drink. I call this special concoction “Brain Shake.” This morning drink is followed by an ADHD food menu that focuses on super foods known to boost brain power.
That, in a nutshell, changed Mr. Huh? to Mr. College Freshman.
Is it Attention Deficit or Nutrition Deficit Disorder?
When Ethan was officially diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder, I asked his doctor for an ADHD food menu to treat for his attentional problems. I was told diet changes would not help and that drug therapy was the only effective treatment.
I did not feel comfortable giving my young son powerful drugs but also knew that something had to be done. Thus my quest for
an ADD
natural treatment began. I found a surprising amount of scientific evidence that shows a direct and absolute correlation between diet and ADHD.
Scientists have identified eight known risk factors for ADHD. Six of these eight known ADHD factors are remedied through diet. The eight risk factors for ADHD are;
Food and additive sensitivities and/or allergies
Low-protein/high-carbohydrate diets
Mineral imbalances
Essential fatty acid deficiencies
Amino acid deficiencies
B vitamin deficiencies
Environmental toxins (including heavy metal toxicity)
Thyroid disorders
Nutrition has always been a focus in our house and meals were planned with a healthy body in mind. Although we ate healthy by today’s standards, the diet simply did not include enough foods specifically needed to feed the brain.
When I revised the daily diet to include an ADHD food menu full of brain-boosting foods, attention and focus increased while behavior problems decreased. The more revisions I made, the more improvements I saw. It was nothing short of a miracle - straight off the grocery store shelves.
The “ADHD Alternative Diets” system goes into great detail about
ADHD and
nutrition, and specifically an
Attention Deficit Disorder diet. Here is a super quick summary of some of the foods we use daily to feed the brain;
The ADHD natural remedy drink: Among other ingredients, this “Brain Shake” includes protein powder (Spirutein is our favorite) for amino acids and flaxseed oil for essential fatty acids.
At least one additional tablespoon of flaxseed oil (usually mixed in a cup of yogurt).
A protein-based breakfast and dinner.
A multi-vitamin and multi-mineral supplement.
Brain food supplements that are specifically formulated for Attention Deficit Disorder. We use
Attend by Vaxa International.
Avoid (as best as we can!) foods with artificial colors, dyes and preservatives.
Avoid (as best we can!) processed and refined carbohydrates.
If you liken the human brain to a car, an ADHD food menu makes sense. A car needs gasoline, oil, transmission fluid, brake fluid and other special materials to run well. If the car runs low on any of these materials, it sputters, misfires, becomes sluggish and eventually stops running altogether.
Like a car, the brain also needs a broad range of special materials to run well. The brain needs fatty acids, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and other essential chemicals. And like a car, the brain becomes sluggish and misfires when it runs low on the materials it needs.
Looking back, I am now quite thankful for being blessed with a child that forced me to sharpen my nutrition skills. Our entire family has benefited from a more focused diet and this experience solidly reminded me that following the masses and listening blindly to the “experts” can be detrimental to our health and well being.
I am somewhat of a quote junkie. I will leave you with a few of my favorites quotes from Henry David Thoreau;
“Every man is the builder of a temple called his body.”
“Men are born to succeed, not fail.”
"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect.”
I wish you great success as you now start building a strong “temple” – your body.
This
year my son started his freshman year of college. I can’t even begin to tell you how incredibly proud I was to see this day.