adhd nutrition

Omega 3: A Whole ‘Nuther Meaning for Essential

You’ve heard people talking about essential oils at the soccer games, your mother has given you a sample, and EO information is consuming your Facebook feed. But this post isn’t about those kinds of oils, although we’re going to do a post about soon. (Add your comments on the subject here, please.) This post is about another oil that is truly essential to the human body – Omega-3 fatty acids.

There’s been a long debate about whether or not Omega-3 fatty acids have an effect on ADHD symptoms. Last month, a brief was released that once again suggested that they absolutely do. In the study, researchers gave a daily dose of 650 mg of EPA/DHA or a placebo to 79 boys, half with ADHD, and half without. In a nutshell, the results indicated that attention was improved for both groups.

So what does this mean? Hang on for some geekiness…Studies have shown that ADHD kids have lower than normal levels of Omega 3’s. Omega-3 acids are something that are essential for cell membranes, and to make the brain work better. Omega 3’s also reduce inflammation, which is the root of a lot of medical problems. Our bodies can’t make Omega-3 acids; it gets it from food. There are three kinds of Omega-3 acids: ALA, EPA, and DHA. EPA and DHA are found in oily fish like salmon, mackarel, and tuna. ALA comes from nuts, seeds, and leafy vegetables.

It’s no secret that diet has a huge effect on our health. I got my basic understanding of the whole Omega-3 story from the book The LCP Solution. After reading it, we put our boys on a supplement. Three children does not a study make, but we saw improvement in our boys when they took Neuro-MRM, which was recommended in the book, but has sadly been discontinued. (Another MRM supplement recommended in the book is MRM’s Attend! Available from Amazon through that affiliate link.)

salmon high in omega 3 — This is not salmon I cooked; it’s a stock photo. Mine taste great, but they don’t look that perfect!

And…we started eating more fish and other foods that are high in Omega 3. Below is a menu (with ‘sort of’ recipes) of non processed foods, many of which are high in Omega 3’s that you can seriously cook in 35 minutes start to finish!

The bottom line is this. It’s something to consider for your family. You can start incorporating more Omega 3’s in your diet, and if you and your doctor agree, Omega 3 supplements may be in order.

It’s just another tool that you can try in the quest to get your children to focus more and pay attention!

Omega-3 Menu
Baked Salmon

1. Dry salmon with a paper towel.
2. Coat it in oil.
3. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Place the fish skin side up in a hot cast iron skillet and let it cook until it stops sticking to the pan – about 4 minutes. (Did you know cast iron adds iron to your food?)
5. Turn fish over, and put into a 375 degree oven for about 7 minutes, or until it’s almost as done as you want.

Spinach/Romaine Salad with Walnuts

Add your favorite salad veggies or fruit, and top with a simple lemon/olive oil/garlic dressing.

Baked Cauliflower

Slice into florets, toss in olive, add sea salt and bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with lemon juice. This is one of our favorites!

*See Reduced Symptoms of Inattention after Dietary Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation in Boys with and without Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder published on the National Institute of Health website.

Have a Happy, Healthy Halloween!

It’s that time of year. Every parent is on a full-speed-ahead journey headed directly to fun size chocolates, lollipops, bubble gum and chewy candy of all shapes and sizes.

But does it have to be that way? Creative parents everywhere have shared all kinds of fabulous ideas to counteract an incredible influx of sugar. Some of these ideas are plain EVIL.

Bwhahahahah!! Maybe that’s why I love them! Take a look:

1. Hand out candy your kids don’t like.

2. Trade it in for money – or take to a dentist.

3. Let them gorge one night, then have only two pieces a day, and toss it out if they cheat. Which they always did at Kayla’s house. (Except I have it on good authority that she stashed the chocolate for herself.)

4. Send it to a soldier or sailor.

5. Balance their diets by making sure their ‘healthy’ food isn’t sugary too. Breakfast cereal, yogurt, salad dressing, fruit juice, sweet and sour chicken from the local Chinese restaurant, etc.

6. Use some and bake treats to give away at Christmas. (Like those luscious peanut butter cookies that have a Hershey’s Kiss pressed into a warm baked cookie.)

7. Make them buy it with exercise.

8. Have a healthy Halloween party. Do a Google Image search for ‘healthy Halloween party”. You’ll be amazed at the fun stuff there!

Healthy Halloween doesn’t have to be an oxymoron like jumbo shrimp or non-working mother.

With a few prudent measures in place, you can help your children sidestep a cascade of candy, at least until Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Is Candy Dandy or Downright Dangerous?

A few days after Halloween, the treat bags steadily dwindle as each child digs in enthusiastically. Favorites go first, Candy and ADHD and trade negotiations for the last box of Milk Duds make the latest UN efforts seem low key in comparison.

While the candy goes quickly, one question remains: Does candy make them hyper or not?

For three out of four boys at Kayla’s house, sugar made no difference in their behavior. Ash, the one without ADHD, could simply smell the candy and would start bouncing around like Tigger.

I have to admit that I worked hard to limit sugar at our house. Edison was nearly two when he had his first brownie. (Yes, he’s the first born.) Given the opportunity, Edison, Olivia and Lesley were happy with candy and yes, especially with Halloween candy.

Hyper or not? Hard to say, honestly. After a good walk around the neighborhood to gather all that candy, they ate their share and went on to bed without too much fuss. Did the exercise cancel out sugar’s effect?

I still tried hard to limit the candy after any candy-filled holiday…two pieces a day after dinner. My bigger concern was that when children gorge on junk food, they didn’t have room for good food.

Birthday parties were another time that our kids would be in particularly active form — during and after. Was it the icing sugar? The goody bag? The prospect of being the last one picked up from the party?

As our children have grown into teens and young adults, it’s interesting to me that mine have all independently decided they don’t want to indulge in sugar that much. So far no one’s refused a birthday cake, but a sweet dessert is not a given at each meal.

Kayla’s boys, on the other hand, would rather have a salad than dessert (unless it’s watermelon) but they love candy, and eat it a LOT…Nerds, Red Hots, Sour Skittles. Don’t tell Kayla, though. She doesn’t know.

I’m not sure that we can blame every behavior on sugar; however, individuals react differently. While circumstances can decidedly skew your research, you may discover that your life is easier when your child gives up certain foods.
How about sugar at your house? How does it affect your child? Tell us your story!

The Weighting Game

At our house, weighing in at the psychiatrist’s office has been a stressful event. Loss of appetite was the most worrisome side effect for Lesley, our tall, slim 15 year-old-daughter taking Concerta to help her manage the symptoms of ADHD-inattentive.

Her weight gain was closely monitored, much to her chagrin. Although she didn’t lose any weight, any measured weight gain was miniscule during the school year. Yet she gained very little weight over this past summer when she wasn’t taking the meds, a fact that would seem to point to genetics rather than the environment of Concerta’s appetite-suppressing side effects.

Just as I was starting to feel almost smug about what she ate, how she was studying and the system we seemed to have a handle on, everything shifted slightly, and our household struggled anew to find the right balance.
What was this shift? She gained 10 pounds.

While the news was good to me, Lesley didn’t share my perspective. To me, she looked great. I wasn’t sure how she had put on weight without any of us noticing. I knew she looked taller (again), but when I started to observe, I realized that she was curvy. Meanwhile, Lesley spent more time assessing her body in front of the mirror. “I don’t like the way my thighs look. They’re definitely bigger.”

When she announced at the dinner table that she was starting a strict diet, I inwardly panicked. Vegetables, eggs, nuts and cheese – that was what she planned to eat. No sweets would pass her lips and poison her body. Two close friends heard this as I heard it for the first time. The look in 16-year-old Adrienne’s eyes and her furrowed brow indicated her concern. “I don’t think you need a diet” she quietly offered.

Lesley remained dubious. She didn’t discuss the issue any more, but I knew from her food choices that she was being very cautious. Her typical daily diet was a tiny bowl of Cheerios with milk for breakfast, a peanut butter sandwich for lunch, and a bunless veggie burger and carrot sticks for dinner. I figured it was time for the reinforcements so I made an appointment with our family doctor for a check-up.

I told her that if she was going on a diet or starting a strenuous exercise program, she should always check with her doctor first. Dr. Kurian has been our family doctor for the past five years, and I trusted her to have the right words for Lesley.

I can’t say that Lesley was very enthusiastic about this visit. After the preliminary greetings, Dr. Kurian asked (as always), “So, what can I do for you?”

My southern upbringing has trained me to speak carefully. ” Lesley needs a check-up because she’s going to a new school in the fall, and also….”

That’s when Lesley couldn’t be restrained any longer: “We’re basically here because I want to go on a diet, and she (could this have been said with more disgust?) wants you to tell me it’s a horrible idea.”

I’m sure it wasn’t the first time Dr. Kurian had seen this dilemma. A seasoned veteran, she calmly looked at me and said, “You have to go. I need to talk with Lesley alone.” And because (even though she’s not from the South) she’s one of the most incredibly polite people I know, she added “I hope you don’t mind.”

I assured her I didn’t and left quickly. I buried myself in the book I’d brought along and waited. Eventually, Lesley came to me in the waiting room. “Now what?” I ventured.

“You can ask the doctor questions if you like.”

I put my book up and followed her back into Dr. Kurian’s office. “And the diet?” (Yes, I am rather one-track minded in cases like this.)

She looked at Lesley. “What are you going to eat?”

“Healthy food.”

“Right. She’s your mother; we have to tell her something.”

Lesley seemed pleased with that statement. I felt relieved; I knew they had made a connection and discussed what was important. My relief was sustained as Lesley joined in and ate with the family that evening. Evidently veggie burgers are monotonous after a few consecutive meals.

Recent events have reiterated that parenting any child is an ongoing adventure and learning opportunity. Few things remain static, and I’m still learning to parent. Probably the most confident a mother will be is when she’s pregnant with her first born or when she’s a grandmother. Thankfully, I’m at neither stage now.

For now, I’m trying to balance by exhibiting concern but not worry. I want to bolster confidence without coddling. I want to ask the right questions but not nag. I aim to offer a variety of healthy food, but not a “diet.” Dang, that’s hard!

Is weight a concern with your ADHD teen? How are you balancing these concerns at your house? Kayla and I would love to hear from you.

“Momma, What’s For Supper?”

I quickly realized what bad timing it was to send a newsletter focusing on nutrition on Halloween. So I waited a couple days. Ready?

This ghoulish holiday brings me to an important nutritional point: all things in moderation. It seems the most efficient way to bring unprecedented attention to any food group is to make it a forbidden fruit, so to speak. Lesley has one friend whose parents are diabetic and isn’t usually allowed sweet snacks. Lesley has noticed that whenever there are cookies, brownies or any sort of dessert available, her friend routinely overindulges.

Halloween is a holiday of overindulgence, but I’ve noticed that even the most enthusiastic sugar hounds get tired of candy in a short time. When moms are ready with a reasonable variety of good nutritional choices, most members of your family are willing to try.

It’s clichéd but true – no one plans to fail; they fail to plan. So we make plans to eat right. Without a plan, it’s easy to end up speed dialing for pizza or idling in the drive-thru at various fast food restaurants. It doesn’t have to be a complicated plan, but shopping is simpler with an idea in place of what you’re eating this week. A little pre-planning means you’re always ready for the inevitable “Mama, what’s for supper?”

Kayla and I both learned to cook without the use of too many convenience foods. While Kayla and her husband lived in Lebanon when they were first married, my husband and I lived in India when our children were very small. We currently live in the Middle East. When you live in a different country from where you were born, you quickly learn to adapt to what’s available.

Lebanese women sort of frown on pre-packaged food, and consequently, they taught Kayla to cook from scratch. When her family moved to America, she couldn’t afford what her kids now refer to as “fake food”. (KAYLA: Just today, Ron was grousing about how he cooked Chicken Helper and it was nasty but he ate it anyway because he’s not going to waste…!)
On the black market in New Delhi when we lived there, a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese went for $3, Fruit Loops sold for $20 per box and a block of Velveeta cheese also commanded $20. (Funny how those prices are indelibly imprinted in my memory.) Although these items were available at ridiculous prices, I didn’t have the conscience or the budget to allow such purchases.

Cooking from scratch became a habit. We quickly learned how to improvise recipes with what was available. Kayla’s cooking today is infused with the fresh salads, vegetables, and low fat entrees that make Lebanese cuisine so appealing. My cooking today is a mix of recipes from Indian, Middle Eastern and some Southern US cooking. When my kids have a sniffle, they want Rasam, a spicy south Indian soup that will clean out your sinuses in a hurry. (I admit to a weakness for corn bread prepared in a shiny black skillet.)

The advantage of living different places is that our kids seem more likely to try eating new things. For example, they think sushi is fantastic. I like it for a piece or two, but then start to feel like “Bait…I’m still hungry, and this tastes a lot like…bait.”

Both Kayla and I nursed our children until they were at least a year old and made the baby food for our first two children. When they were small, we had a two-sugars-a-day rule; they could have two sweet snacks, but as much fruit and vegetables as they wanted. I can still picture two-year-old Ron standing by the veggie tray at someone’s baby shower. He knew he could have as much as he wanted, so he did. Ranch dressing is a wonderful thing.

Back to the planning. The wellspring of good nutrition is a menu plan. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Hamburger something on Monday, then tuna something, then chicken something, then taco/pizza/spaghetti, then fish, then cheese based, then go out. A simple plan will eliminate those last minute McDonald’s runs or Domino’s calls. If you’re looking for inspiration, Susanne Myers lays it all out in Meal Planning Made Simple. Think you can’t? Read Susanne’s page, and I challenge you to make a menu this week and see what a difference it makes. No time? Here are a week’s worth of crock pot recipes. Yes, you can.

For example at our homes, a typical breakfast is anything but typical. Kayla’s boys – and out of town guests – are on their own for this meal. After years of playing short order cook to grouchy customers, I resigned. So the boys might make cheese toast, cornflakes, oatmeal or an egg. Just as often, however, they eat popcorn or soup. At our house, Olivia is more traditional in her choices, but Edison and Lesley are as likely to grab the peanut butter and a bag of cut up vegetables. (No, I’m not making that part up.)

At Kayla’s house, dinner is often late, hopefully after homework is finished. Dinner is most often a small cut of meat, a vegetable, and a wonderful salad. Her salad bowl holds 2 ½ gallons; she fills it, and what they don’t eat for dinner they graze on until it is gone. (I’ve seen this phenomenon in person and her salads are lipsmackin’ good.) Their Lebanese salad dressings are made fresh.

As for dessert, as our kids have grown we’ve abandoned the two sugar rule. We still buy lots of fruit and fresh vegetables, and our kids snack on these foods a lot. A bowl of apples makes a beautiful centerpiece. Having these fruits or vegetables cut up in a salad or on a tray entices most picky eaters. A dip or dressing makes it irresistible.

A word about dietary supplements. There’s a lot of information on vitamins and mineral supplements, and wading through it takes time – time that you do need to take. A lot of it smacks of quackery, and other programs and diets are impossible to initiate with teenagers in the house. But one resource I really feel I should mention is The LCP Solution. It talks about Omega 3’s in great depth, and leaves you with a good understanding of how our body needs more of this.

Just remember that no diet, no program, no plan will work for every family. If there were any thing that were a panacea for ADHD, we’d all know. We’ve tried to take a balanced approach that works for us. Some families may need to be more aggressive in monitoring their diets, and some people would not survive on the foods we eat. Only you can discover what works for your family and best answer that question you know you’re going to hear…
“Mama, what’s for supper?

ADHD and Nutrition – Food For Thought

I’ve always tried to give my family healthy foods. I ‘ve limited sugar intake, cooked ‘from scratch’, and made recipes as low calorie as possible. As the years have gone by, I’ve become even more careful about what foods I prepare. I thinkI’ve completely cut out MSG, for example, although I keep discovering it on labels (like Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup). And I rarely buy anything with nitrates – like bologna or hot dogs, with the great exception of frozen pepperoni pizza. I don’t know if it’s helped my kids focus any better, but it certainly hasn’t hurt anyone.

We all know that there isn’t a cut and dried ADHD diet that will cure distractibility. But I’m not alone in my suspicions that good nutrition has to help. Some parents swear by The Feingold diet. People swear by certain supplements, such as Attend, or Omega 3 ,which has really helped our family. Here are some things that I have found work for our family.

Out of sight – out of mouth. If it’s not there, they can’t eat it. Don’t buy so much junk. Buy fruit and vegetables, peanut butter and cheese, tuna and eggs. Pop popcorn. Get nuts you have to crack. If I don’t have cookies, my boys eat mac and cheese and frozen pizza. (Yes, they’re processed, but it beats an entire package of Oreos.) If we don’t have soda, my boys drink water, milk, or juice. For some good, healthy and QUICK recipes for snacks, we like these ideas.

You can’t judge a carrot by its cover. While you’re switching over, buy the snack-y looking, individually wrapped packages of carrots and tuna. I even saw Scooby Doo bottled water the other day. A recent study said that kids would eat anything in a McDonald’s wrapper. It’s scary, but true. Packaging can be everything.

All natural. I’m not talking about organic, necessarily. I’m talking about putting raw carrots on the table, fresh salads with oil and vinegar (or oil, garlic and lemon!) dressing, fresh fruits, grilled meats. Don’t use sauces from a bottle – use garlic, fresh spices, onions and peppers. Marinate in lemon juice, orange juice, vinegar.

The whole truth. Use REAL whole grains. Brown rice. 100% whole wheat bread. Whole grain cereal and even spaghetti. I still laugh that Lucky charms advertises that it has whole grains. It does, but not much. And don’t use instant. It really doesn’t take that much longer to cook the real deal, but you have to put that rice on to cook at the beginning of your cooking!

Skip dessert. I rarely serve dessert. If the kids are hungry at the end of a meal, they can have seconds. Or thirds or fourths. Or we’ll cut a watermelon, or they’ll grab a piece of fruit. Okay, or have ice cream. We always have ice cream on hand – processed, sugary, fad laden and delicious.

We’ll never be called health nuts at our house. We definitely have our days when we eat junk. But I HOPE that we’ve achieved some sort of balance to our eating habits, and to our diets.

PS Speaking of Lucky Charms, we LIKE them at our house. My boys never got them for breakfast, but I occasionally buy them for snacking. They’re Ron’s favorite. So when we dropped him off at college for the first time, I left him the biggest box of Lucky Charms I could find. How’s that for balance?!