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The ADD/ADHD Diet
A healthful diet and knowledge about specific food allergens that can trigger hyperactivity can help many ADD/ADHD people take back control of their lives. If your child is hyperactive, here are a few suggestions about diets that can reduce the problem:
1. Eating on time
Eating breakfast, lunch and supper on time will keep energy levels steady through the day and help your child focus and behave better. All meals should be protein-rich, and breakfast especially should be filling with meat, eggs, milk, cereals, and fruits or vegetables. Getting enough exercise through the day and eating a good supper about two hours before bed-time can help hyperactive children sleep better.
2. Foods to eat
An organic diet seems to reduce hyperactivity for some children. Supplementation with iron, omega-3 fatty acids can help your child concentrate. Lots of fruits and vegetables are part of any healthful normal diet - and they are good for ADD/ADHD children also. Cutting out processed snack foods like chips and biscuits, and substituting them with fruits and vegetables might be a good idea too.
3. Foods to avoid
Some hyperactive children are allergic to common foods like milk, eggs, and soy products, and cutting these out of the diet, together with any food that contains them in whatever form, often has a dramatic effect on behaviour. An exclusion diet with the supervision of a nutritionist can help you find what food your child is allergic to and substitute other nutritionally-equivalent foods for that.
4. Diets to avoid
Never go for a diet that will not fulfil your child's calorie needs, like all-liquid diets which allow only certain soups or milk-shakes. Such diets use starvation to control hyperactivity, and can do a lot of harm. Dies which depend mainly on giving up foods of certain colours (for example, all white foods - milk, eggs, rice - or yellow foods - bananas, pumpkin), or on eating only one kind of food (for example, fruits) will not be much use either and can damage your child's health.
Basically, the combination is sensible, balanced eating habits combined with coaching in social and academic skills. This will help any child, and the sooner you start your ADD/ADHD kids on these, the better.
About the author:
Jon Bennett writes about natural, non-medical ways to help your ADD/ADHD child succeed. Get more information regarding add adhd diet.
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