Adhd

[SimplyMum]

Ok, my DS's dad had ADHD and I was told today that DS is at high risk of having it. Whether or not this is true is not my prob- I know this when I got pregnant and time will tell. What I have been told is to watch his diet as this can affect it. My Dad likes to give the grandchildren ice-cream, lollies and chocolate when they're all over and I know my Dad would feel absolutely distraught if I told him 'no ice-cream, lollies or chocolate' (it's they're special relationship). So my question is what can I do or buy that is like ice-cream/lollies/chocolate that doesn't have any colouring, additives or preservatives in it, so I can at least give these to Dad to give to DS so they still have a special bond together but while not compremising his new diet?

[mel79]

Hi there :wave:

My DP was diagnosed with adhd as a child - but he actually discovered that he did not ever have adhd, he was just sensitive to caffeine, colourings, flavourings preservatives and sugar(:eek: !!) etc.
Unfortunately I don't know of much in the way of ice cream/lollies/chocolate that is free from these ingredients - but chocolate isnt a good idea cos of the caffeine. Through experimenting, my DP and I have found that he is far less sensitive to foods with natural colourings and preservatives - but anything with caffeine or chemical colours sends him loopy:devil6: ! The natural confectionery company lollies are alright - if I limit DP's intake of these he is fine. Maybe check out some of the soy ice cream and carob chocolate which tend to have less chemicals in them.

Hope that helps, feel free to ask if u have any other questions - my DP knows a lot more about it than me - so i can ask him stuff for you.

[indigoin0z]

similar situation...

i too am still trying to find out if 'i' & my 3yr old DS may be ADD...
i have thru my own investigation noticed 'huge/mega!' reactions for myself to some things, but it is realllllly hard to be disciplined to cut it out 24/7 evvveryday..

i try & keep us on an all natural diet as much as possible...
we no longer have pre-made/packets/sachets/noodles etc or junk...
we have junk sometimes, ie: my boys just had their birthdays & youngest had cookie ice-cream cake, he went bonkers for 24hrs & i was miserably depressed the next day... not sure if it was the ice-cream or quickset choc-topping or maybe even cookie ingredients...

it really is tough... if you are up for alot of investigation, there is 'some' stuff out there, but it does take alot of work...
i am also a [non-active] member of a Failsafe group & i am learning bits thru there... run by howard dengate, [he was on ACA on monday night] his wife sue writes the bestseller books...

we dont really have lollies at all for the kids - we prefer the total elimination thing where possible- so i cant help you with that sort of stuff...

dont ignore it, maybe at the same time as trying to find the right foods you could also start a new attachment/bonding thing for them together.. its not really ideal obviously having a bond of food, particularly junk...

good luck with it. keep us informed with how you go... its a very intense & complex subject...:rolleyes:

[jess_live_die]

im not sure about the lollies but you can buy ice-cream that dose not have any of that in i think it was under the soy milk bit but it taste like ice-cream it just dosenot have all the sugar and colouring in but i found out thou my doctor so ask ur gp they might be able to help better.:fingerscrossed:

[Lirael]

my old paed(whom i hate) told me that changing the diet will do nothing. dont know if he was right:confused:

[SimplyMum]

What about Sorbet? Do you think that might be alright? In like an ice-cream cone?

indigoin0z- I know it's not a good thing having a bond over food. It's not really that, it's like Pop will give him things that Mummy doesn't usually allow. I don't want to come between that. That was grandparents are for, to allow things that arn't usually allowed, to spoil. I just think this could still happen if I just provide healthy things Pop can give him. It's still a treat and allows Pop to spoil without compremising his diet. I don't if I can explain it, I just don't want to take that away.

[SimplyMum]

Also, I just looked at the vegemite- it's got preservatives as well, as well as cream cheese and butter!!! Is there a butter and a spread that doesn't?

What foods have you found that DON'T have preservatives or colourings in them that you found are great. I found dried fruit (except one of them- can't remember which ones, think it might be apricotes?)

[Can I?]

Hi All

If you seriously want to look at controlling ADD with diet, I would suggest you have a look at Sue Dengate's book "Fed up with ADHD". I have tried eliminating the colours and preservatives from my son's diet (he has autism not adhd) and his behaviour has changed dramatically. Sue has a website here

www.fedupwithfoodadditives.com

that has a lot of good info on it.

Even so - could you find another activity that your Dad could share with your little one that doesn't involve unhealthy food? What about reading stories, or gardening, or cricket? My son has played cricket with my son since he could stand up and it is really lovely to see them out in the yard having a game.

Hope this helps some anyway.

[Supermum]

Another advocate of Sue Dengate here.

We bought her book "Fed Up" a couple of years ago, along with the book "Raising your Spirited Child".

My 3.5 yo DS is hyperactive. He has been stupidly labelled ADHD by a number of friends and health care professionals. In his case, it's BS.

We have found through an elimination diet (the how to contained in Fed Up) he has a number of food intolerances - the most prominent of which is amines - found in all fruit and most vege's, but very low in pears. So he only eats pears on a regular basis and has other fruit on occasion in very small amounts. He is also sensitive to preservatives, colours and flavour enhancers so we took them out of our diet as well. Shopping used to take forever - reading every single b1oody label, but now I know the safe brands. A treat in our house are plain crisps - canola oil, potato and salt. When I have the time I also make noot balls - nuts and fruit blended together and coated with coconut. Tasty, low-gi food. A good substitute for chocolate is carob. And BTW - if they don't get junk food regularly, they don't miss it.

Hyperactive children need to expend energy. We've found that removing sedentary but mentally stimulating activity ie. tv has helped a lot and he also now rides every second day - about 8km's:eek:

My mum also loved to give my kids treats. And when I went shopping with them after they'd spent time with nanna they'd nag me senseless at the counter. They never knew what lollypops were before! Personally, I took the hard line. Doesn't do your child any favours nor does it help you because it creates an expectation. There's plenty of time, and they will, hoe into yummy but cruddy food when they're older. I'm with Can I? - your son will remember playing, fun and laughter more than a piece of chocolate.

One thing that has struck me as astounding is that as adults, we admire high-energy people - the doer's - the rainmaker's - the pioneers ... and yet society as a rule are intolerant of children with the same behavioural traits.

It's simply a matter of directing their energy not squashing it (says she whose son has beaten up on the little girls at pre-school for the last two days:rolleyes: )

Good luck!