ADD/ADHD Online Information

ADD/ADHD Natural Remedies

The Feingold Diet/Program

Moira from South Africa wrote to us saying......

"Hello Simon,
I must tell you some information which a friend passed on to me. She has a son, who is now 21 years old, doing his Masters Degree in Engineering. When he was 15 months old, her doctor diagnosed him as having the same problem as Richard. He put him on Ritalin, but she was not happy and spent considerable time and effort to try an alternative method. She eventually got hold of a book, written by Ben F. Feingold, MD, called "Why your child is hyperactive". He apparently runs (or did at the time) a clinic at Kaiser-Permanente Medical Centre in San Francisco. He stated that most learning difficulties are caused by artificial food flavours and colours. She experimented with all sorts of foods and discovered over time exactly what caused his mood swings. From being an impossible and what teachers called a backward child, he overcame his problems and is now a brilliant student."

For further details including more testimonials, go to the Feingold Association's web site at http://www.feingold.org/. (Please be aware that some of the information on the Feingold website is for members only i.e. you have to pay a subscription to read it.)

Carol wrote to us saying......

"Dear Simon,
A quick note because my kids are waiting to go out. I just found this site and wanted to say that my 4year old son has adhd and has been taking eye-q for three months and I know its helping him. But I also follow the Feingold diet and live a life as close to the Rudolph Steiner philosophy as pos. I took Michael to a noisy busy New Year Party last night, imagine the scene, a lot of tipsy adults and a dozen or more kids running about. Michael screamed and bite a little boy and we left. I apologised to him later for putting him into a situation he couldn't deal with and he is happily playing with his sister today and is once again the quiet happy little boy I adore. If only he could deal with the other world of noise and "normality just occasionally but he cant."

Sam Goldstein, Ph.D. & Barbara Ingersoll, Ph.D. mention the Feingold Diet in their article "CONTROVERSIAL TREATMENTS FOR CHILDREN WITH ATTENTION-DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER" as follows:

Dietary Intervention

"Among the best known dietary interventions, the Feingold Diet has advocated that children sensitive to a variety of foods and food colorings, including preservatives, may develop symptoms of ADHD as a toxic reaction to these substances. Over the years advocates of these dietary interventions have made dramatic claims. They have stated that additive free diets will improve most if not all children's learning and attention problems. They describe case studies in which children could be removed from drug therapy if their diet was maintained. They also report improvements in school for these children and subsequent deterioration in learning and behavior when the diet is not followed.

Although dietary interventions are popular, few studies have reported success and for most of these, statistical problems abound. The lack of well controlled studies is also true for those who propose a relationship between allergies and behavior or learning problems. Although proponents of these dietary approaches may acknowledge that careful scientific studies are necessary, such studies have not yet been conducted.

A large number of studies, however, have examined the relationship between sugar and ADHD. However, most of them are difficult to interpret. A few well-designed studies have found some effects of sugar on behavior but these effects are very small and only a small percentage of children with ADHD appear vulnerable.

After careful analysis of the existing evidence, numerous researchers have concluded that there is limited, if any, support for a link between diet and children's learning and behavior. Of course, like all children, we know that children with ADHD require a healthy, well-balanced diet. At this time, however, it has not been shown that dietary interventions offer significant help for children with learning and attention problems."

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