If your child has ADHD, there is a good chance that he or she is taking medication such as Ritalin. The disadvantage of Ritalin is that it only works for a short time and can have a number of unpleasant side effects. A new trend in the field of ADHD is a diet that limits or even eliminates behavioral problems. This diet is a solution for many children! The characteristics of ADHD of course remain, but the hypoallergenic diet can replace the medication!
Children with ADHD on a diet: No more medication needed!
Research by the Research Center and the UMC St. Radboud shows that children with ADHD who follow a diet suffer less from their behavioral problems after just a few weeks. One thing is clear: The effect of the diet is great and for many children the diet can replace medication. This means that the child no longer needs to take medication, but this is offset by a strict diet. Strict means that it cannot be deviated from at all. But this is manageable because it is temporary and will be expanded after a few weeks with one product per week. In short, after six months you will know how your child reacts to many products and what you can and cannot allow. If you weigh this intensive period against lifelong medication, the choice is easy… you just need to invest a lot and don’t overthink it! Strict means strict!
Research into hypoallergenic diet to treat children with ADHD
The children who participated in the study were prescribed a hypoallergenic diet for 50 weeks. Any foods to which children might react were not allowed to be eaten during that period. For example, no dairy products, no soy products, no eggs, no peanuts, nuts and seeds, no fish and seafood and no grapes, kiwi and strawberries were allowed. For example, the diet consisted of rice, turkey, vegetables, pear and water. After a few weeks, two-thirds of the children had resolved their behavioral problems.
Per week: add one product to the diet and see whether this has an effect on behavior
From that moment on, a product or food was added to the diet every week. This way it can be determined for each product how a child reacts to it. If there is no change in behavior, the product may be added to the diet. If there is a change in behavior, for example due to busier or hyper behavior, this product will not be added and will be placed on the blacklist.
Black list of prohibited products is different for each child
The research shows that this is different for every child. So it’s a matter of trying it out! A diet that lasts forever is certainly not necessary. Precisely the food that causes a reaction or change in behavior is avoided. Dyes and added substances in particular often have the most effect on children’s behavior. In some cases it even seems that children with ADHD are hypersensitive to dyes and added substances. If a child without ADHD is already stressed by too much sugar, this can increase fivefold in a child with ADHD.