ADHD

I have some friends who have a son that struggles with hyperactivity like my son.  They have always told me they control his angry outbursts with diet.  No artificial coloring, flavoring or sweetening and no sugar, high fructose corn syrup or any other 'oses in their food.  So in other words, whole foods.  I was a bit doubtful of this for quite a while.

Several years ago I took my son to a pediatrician about his hyperactivity and inability to concentrate.  The doctor spent 1 minute with him and diagnosed him with ADHD.  The angry outbursts and arguing are all part of it as well.  So immediately he was put on medication for it.  I noticed he would calm down significantly for sure and he stopped getting into trouble at school, but his grades are not improving.  I was also told that diet has nothing to do with it and that was a myth.  He was a doctor and I believed him.  I believed him when he told me medication was the only answer.  I believed him when he said I have to take him to a Psychiatrist to get him to stop arguing.  I believed the Psychiatrist when she told me she needed to up his medication and add another one after only spending 10 minutes with him.

It has been almost a year since I made the big decision to change the way I eat.  I started out by cutting out sugar.  Then I was told that wheat was just as bad and I was given the book "Wheat Belly" to read.  That book scared the crap out of me and I made some DRASTIC changes to my diet.  I went whole foods and organic when I can.  I am still working on the dairy thing, but that will come in time I guess.  I don't anything processed or artificial.  I am learning more each day about how to eat properly.  I also am sugar, gluten and mostly grain free.  I will give in once in a while and I always regret it.  My body rejects all of that stuff now.  I have lost 35 pounds and I feel so much better.  I am not perfect at it by any means, but I am getting better each day.

I never made my kids go to this new way of eating really, except at dinner time with the main meal.  I still allowed them to eat bread, cereal and some sugar and I think it was mostly for convenience.  I was overwhelmed with what I should feed myself let alone trying to figure out what to feed them for breakfast, lunch and snacks.  Not to mention they go to a church activity or a friend's house and they are pumped full of sugary treats.  Before Christmas last year I needed to make an appointment with the Psychiatrist for my son.  I kept forgetting to do it.  Then I found out she was going strictly cash and would no longer take insurance.  That meant I was back to the drawing board trying to find a Psychiatrist who took insurance...*sigh*.  We were getting close to running out of his medication and I was going to try the pediatrician again.  Again, I kept forgetting to make the appointment.  I had just enough pills to get him through school before Christmas break.  Coincidence?  I think not.  I had a chat with him and he wanted to be off the meds. We made a decision together that as a family we would all go to the new way of eating.  I took both of my kids off sugar, gluten, processed food, artificial everything and cut back on dairy.  They eat a lot more meat, eggs, veggies and fruits and I try to buy organic when I can.  I had 2 weeks to get him on some form of an eating schedule before school started.

It hasn't been easy for sure.  I feel like I'm being sabotaged every corner I turn.  The kids are bombarded with sugar at school, church and friends.  However, we are wading through and I have noticed a significant improvement.  My son still loves to argue, but most times I can handle it.  I know IMMEDIATELY when he has had sugar.  Here's an example of what happens when he has sugar.  He talks 100 mph and he argues a lot more.  One day I let him have a tiny bit of ice cream.  When we went to Walmart he literally ran through the store.  He didn't walk at all, it was running.  He also was incapable of listening to me.  He has only had 9th hour (detention) 1 time since he started back to school.  Before it was several times a week.  I'm not saying he's not hyper, because he definitely is.  He is however starting to finally grasp the consequence thing.  His sense of humor is also showing up.  I really think the medication was numbing him.  I am not a medical doctor or an expert.  I am not saying going off medication is really the right thing to do.  I'm still wading through it and trying to figure it out.  But, I can say this.  Doctors will never ever again be able to convince me that diet doesn't effect behavior.  I have seen too many times over the last month something to the contrary.  It may become something that I have to do in conjunction with medication, but I am going to make absolutely sure before I put him back on medication.