If you have a child who struggles with school work and has trouble paying attention in a traditional school setting, hey may have ADD/ ADHD. In my experience most parents do not want to hear this, because the solution most often given is a daily regiment of amphetamine based medication. The good news is that not all children that experience those problems have ADD/ADHD. For some children the issue is a nutritional deficiency, for others their learning style is outside what teachers are expecting from their students, and some children are ADD/ADHD. There is also good news for children with ADD/ADHD. There are many things you can do naturally to improve attention and focus before resigning to medication.
Nutritional deficiency can mimic ADD/ADHD behaviors. The brain is extremely sensitive to nutritional deficiency and needs proper nutrition to function. Our biggest nutritional problem is too much sugar. Because from the blood without insulin to regulate the uptake it is easily over stimulated. This hinders your ability to focus or think clearly. Protein is a longer lasting, more stable energy source than sugars or carbohydrates for the brain. Protein for breakfast will keep your brain focusing longer than sugar sweetened cereals, breads or grains. Protein also provides the body with the amino acid building blocks to create neurotransmitters that keep you feeling alert, focused and calm. Fatty acids are also important for the brain and critical for brain function so making sure your child’s diet includes good fats is also very important.
Supplements for better Brain Function: B-Complex, Omega-3 oil, Algae, fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E)There are four basic types of learning styles: – Auditory– Visual – Kinesthetic – Multi-Sensory. The learning style most often mistaken for ADD/ADHD is kinesthetic. This is because kinesthetic children learn through imitation of auditory and visual teaching. This does not often work in a traditional class setting because we are told to be quiet and listen or sit still and do our assignment. Being still and quiet for a kinesthetic learner prevents them from staying interested. Kinesthetic learners often appear fidgety because movement is how they stimulate their brain to stay engaged. They learn best through apprenticeship, so it helps to keep them actively involved. Identifying your child’s learning style can provide valuable information for their teachers, therefore adjustments can be made in the classroom to improve your child’s ability to stay focused and learn.
Finally, if your child is ADD/ADHD they have an imbalance in the auto- nomic nervous system between the sympathetic and para-sympathetic systems. ADD/ADHD is a condition where the para-sympathetic system is dominant which results in, decreased mental focus among other things. Balance can be re-gained over time by strengthening the nervous system with nutritional supplementation. While balance is being re- established permanently you can create balance temporarily by nourishing and stimulating the adrenal glands.
The adrenal gland produces adrenaline, a hormone in the body that acts similarly to amphetamine medications by stimulating the sympathetic nervous system. This balances the two systems creating an alert focused state. Many ADD/ADHD children will produce this effect organically by stimulating the adrenal gland with risky behaviors or dangerous stunts. However, these activities usually get them into trouble and will exhaust the adrenal gland over time.
Supplements for ADD/ADHD should be chosen based on age of recipient. Caffeine is not recommended as a stimulant because it exhausts the adrenal gland over time.