Good nutrition being the basis of good health, removal from the diet of “non-foods” such as artificial additives, flavourings, colourings, and preservatives, along with highly processed foods of little nutritional value, constitutes removal of an obstacle to cure. This simple step of returning the child to real foods often leads to substantial improvements, even in the absence of any other intervention.
The Feingold Diet: A Fine Example
So it's no secret that a bad diet is an obstacle to any cure, but that's especially true in cases of ADHD and concentration issues in children and adults alike. It's hard to recommend a homeopathic remedy when the diet of the patient consists primarily of white bread, white pasta, processed foods, regular cow milk, additives etc. The Feingold diet was invented by Dr. Feingold who realized that in some ADHD cases, the main problem was the diet and that was enough to solve the case. It could be it won't work for you or your family, but it's worth a try and nothing wrong will come out of eating better!
How it Works
Here's what we're NOT allowed to eat for two weeks:
- No Dairy products – especially cow’s milk. There are other options: cereal milk, almond, soya, rice etc. Water is a great alternative. Sodas, Sweetened water, teas, ices etc. do not count as water. Water counts as water.
- No Junk Foods. If it comes in a cellophane wrapper, don’t eat it.
- No fruit juices – too much sugar content.
- Cut sugar intake by 90% - if you can cut it down to 0. Try your best. This includes chocolate.
- No Nutrasweet- none. Period.
- No processed meats – if the meat has chemicals listed that you can’t pronounce, don’t buy it.
- Cut fried foods by 90%.
- Avoid food coloring whenever possible. See if your child is sensitive to any particular colors, such as Reds, Yellows, etc. For now though, avoid all if possible.
Summary: Just eat food that the Creator made for a while. Go to a bookstore and get a cookbook for recipe ideas. Just not much in the way of “fast foods” or “convenience” foods. I wrote a post about healthy recipe ideas as a start.
Actually, most people who tried it said it made them feel better, even if they weren't suffering from an anxiety disorder. In fact, after trying it I was able to get off my "addiction" with sugar-free junk foods such as packaged snacks (very salty and not healthy). We have it in the house for the children on Shabbos but I don't feel attracted to it anymore, thanks for that 2-weeks break!
So not only after trying that diet you might just solve a concentration problem or a hyperactive situation, but you'll gain by feeling better about yourself!
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WHAT TO EAT TO FEED THE ADHD BRAIN:
1) FOR BREAKFAST SERVE HIGH PROTEIN, LOW CARBOHYDRATE MEALS. Say, “Good-bye,” to Breakfast cereals and milk. Serve 60% Protein and 40% Carbohydrates for Breakfast. Other meals should be 50% / 50%.
2) PROTEIN SUPPLEMENTS might be needed to get the added protein for Breakfast. They are often very helpful in the afternoon as well. Here is our favorite recipe for a Protein Shake:
a) Make a cup of coffee with a flavor that you or your child will like (yes, I know I’m breaking my own rules here, as these coffees have dried milk and some sugar, but I’m trying to get your kid to actually drink the thing, and also get some caffeine mixed with the protein.) Pour the hot coffee into a blender with about 6 oz of ice. Turn on the blender for a bit.
b) Add a good quality protein powder. There are many good ones available. If you can’t find one that you like, ask at your local health food store. Get protein powders that are mostly protein and very little carbohydrate. Add between 15 and 20 grams of protein to the cold coffee in the blender.
c) Turn on the blender again.
d) Drink it up.
This protein shake is helpful for a lot of people. For many small kids, and many adults, this recipe works about as well as a small dose of Ritalin (100 mg of caffeine is roughly the same as 5 mg of Ritalin). So many who might just take a small dose of Ritalin might get away with just doing this.
Don’t forget, though, that even caffeine can have some side effects. Every once in a while we find someone that has problems with the caffeine in the coffee. Usually, though, the caffeine in the coffee helps the person to focus better. The protein helps to feed the brain. If you find this helpful, have one with Breakfast, and one around 3 pm. If it is not helpful, then don’t bother with it.
Diet Tip to Increase Concentration
Let's put a stop at the habit to give our children in the morning "only" cereals and milk or even worse, white flour crackers in a bag on their way to cheder.
Here are some exemples of proteins one can give in the morning:
- eggs
- humus
- cheese
- yogourt (make sure you've done the Feingold diet before to make sure there's no bad reaction to milk products)
- tuna
- you can even serve your left-overs from the night before at breakfast - why not! It's a great way to save them and to feed your children properly in the morning.
What if I have a Fussy Eater?
I get that sometimes, the child doesn't want to eat what we give him or her. Here's a great tip I learned: you've got to package the food he doesn't like with things he does, they call that Trojan-horsing the food. For example the other day I prepared:
- whole wheat pasta (which they love)
- tuna (also a very accepted food in our household)
- I also made a soup from sweet potatoes and colorabi (that's how it's called here anyways in Israel). Now colorabi a hard sell so I told them that if they ate the soup, they would have the pasta and the tuna. Most of them (BH we have a lot of children) mixed the soup with the rest and they loved it! Another one I think just ate the soup and then the pasta.
Bottomline, you have to negotiate a bit in order to make sure they get their vegetables in, EIN MA LAASOT as we say here in Israel: their health depends on it! Literally! So I add also sometimes green peas which they love, I try to give them as much as possible the healthy foods they love, including a lot of fruits between meals. Then they get hooked on it if you can believe, I have to stop them from eating too many apples a day! It's a different mindset from the majority unfortunately but it's okay, I believe we're doing a mitzva to teach them to be careful with the body Hashem gave them, and they'll do the same with their children. They'll raise healthy "soldiers" and "servants" of Hashem because one who's sick can't do KLUM (like they say here in Israel :)
Cacao and Almond Balls. There's no sugar (except for honey) and no baking needed!
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