HYPERACTIVITY AND FOOD ADDITIVES

FOOD ADDITIVES AND ADD/ADHD: WHAT'S THE CONNECTION?
The role of food additives including dyes, sugar, or preservatives—even such everyday substances such as milk and wheat products—in causing or worsening ADD/ADHD is a controversial topic. Can removing these items from your child's diet really help?
Do food additives have a role in the rising rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)attention deficit disorder (ADD)? This a controversial subject among experts, but in fact, any child may be a little hyper after eating foods pumped with dyes, high-fructose corn syrup, and other artificial ingredients—whether or not he had ADHD. Unfortunately, such foods are more commonplace than you may think. Take any popular children's cereal, for example, and you'll probably see ingredients ranging from refined sugar, corn flour, and gluten to red dye #40, yellow #6, and blue #2.
But sugar and additives aren't the only culprits. Several studies indicate that some children's behavior significantly worsens after eating “healthful” foods like milk, eggs, and wheat. Some potential problems in the diet include:
Food colorings/flavorings
In the mid-70s, Benjamin Feingold, M.D., suggested that enhancements added to processed food—including colorings, flavorings, and related substances—could trigger ADHD. And while a scientific review by the National Institute of Health concluded that food additives affect only s small portion of children with behavorial problems, recent research tells a different story. In a study of 300 children from the UK, researchers found that certain mixtures of artificial colors alongside sodium benzoate (a common preservative found in soda and ice cream) may increase hyperactivity.
Sugar
Since most sugary products also contain dyes, caffeine, and artificial flavors, determining the role sugar plays in ADD/ADHD is a challenge. Even if a high-sugar breakfast triggers hyperactive behavior, there's no way to identify it as the culprit in the midst of so many other potential offenders. “If you give a child jelly beans for breakfast, the crash and burn from the normal “psychiology of blood sugar rising and falling is going to make him feel cranky and irritable,” says Roberta Anding, M.S., R.D., clinical dietician at Texas Children's Hospital. “It's poor nutrition, not true ADHD.”
Milk and wheat
For some children with ADD/ADHD, a diet that eliminates gluten and milk products may produce improvements in behavior. “Milk products and glutens such as wheat are the foods most commonly llinked to behavior changes,” says Dana Laake, R.D.H., M.S., co-author of The Kid-Friendly ADHD & Autism Cookbook. “And they're not mandatory foods for human survival.” When the body doesn't absorb these food, properly, it triggers an allergic response (think brain fog and mood swings).
Focused Elimination
`If you think changing your child's diet may help his or her ADD/ADHD symptoms, start by eliminating potential triggers for a week or so, suggests Laake. Then test your child by reintroducing foods one at a time and seeing how he behaves. If it turns out your child is sensitive to milk or other major sources of nutrients, remove those foods, but work with a dietitician to ensure your child gets the necessary nutrients for growth and development.
“The more restrictive the diet becomes, the more you need an expert to make sure you're not treating one problem and creating another,” says Anding. The big risk is malnutrition since childlren have a greater need for complete nutrition than adults, thanks to growing bones, developing organ systems, and building immunity. And if elimination diets are taken to the extreme, they could cause a deficiency in key nutrients like calcium and B vitamins—the very nutrients associated with reducing symptoms of ADHD.
Whether refined sugars or additives affect behavior or not, most children would do best to avoid sugary, processed foods. Anding notes. Perhaps the best solution for any child – with ADD/ADHD or not-is to make sure he or she gets a well-balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, and whole unprocessed foods. After all, the body simply works better when it has the proper fuel.
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