Media nods to ADHD/food link

[Lilah]

I've always thought that ADD/ADHD is "real" in many cases. After all, I didn't originally go to a psychiatrist seeking Adderall for kicks... I really felt that I had symptoms that it treated. And after being off of it for over a year, I still do struggle with ADD-like symptoms. However, I don't believe it is an inherent neurological/biochemical issue that I have that I need to treat with drugs. Rather, I think it is probably linked to diet/lifestyle. I know for a fact that when I clean up my diet and exercise, my symptoms greatly improve. And when I don't feed myself the way I should and exercise regularly, they come back with a vengeance.

Now, it seems the mainstream media is nodding to the fact that food intolerances may cause ADD/ADHD. As many as one in four people have some degree of gluten sensitivity, which could help explain why ADD/ADHD symptoms are so widespread. Check these out... the Business Week article is particularly interesting.

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/thumbnails/0,,20439038,00.html

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/649603.html

One thing I do know for sure is that when I 100% avoid wheat and dairy products (easier said than done!), my ongoing nasal allergies and complexion issues improve significantly. But I've never stuck to it long enough to really say that I "cured" myself.

So as an experiment, I'm thinking about trying a strict allergy elimination for 30 days to see if my ADD symptoms improve.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

[Mike]

Hmm. That's really interesting. And now I have two good links to add to the "ADD science/articles/studies" section I'm eventually going to start.

How do you give up wheat? Offhand, I can't even think of anything I eat regularly that doesn't have wheat in it. What's left that you can eat?

In other news: I finally got my complexion issues sorted, I think. The magic thing for me was a daily dose of Bactrim, and then I have a topical steroid that I rub on my face after I exercise (and shower).

I've read that dairy affects complexion too, so I'm interested to hear your progress (on the ADD and complexion fronts).

Good luck!

[Lilah]

Yes... pretty much everything has some wheat in it unless you go to great lengths to avoid it. Which is probably why gluten sensitivity is becoming so widespread. Anything you eat too much of you can develop an allergy to eventually, and we all probably eat way too much gluten considering its in things that don't even seem like they'd have wheat in them.

Tomorrow my eating plan is:

-Breakfast: oatmeal (not instant) with cinnamon, strawberries and hemp milk

-Morning snack: Apple

-Lunch: Spinach salad with assorted veggies (carrots, red peppers, onions, whatever else I have in my fridge), olive oil and vinegar for dressing

-Afternoon snack: banana, one container non-dairy yogurt (there's a brand called So Delicious that produces products for people with food allergies, they have awesome coconut based yogurt!)

-Dinner: Chicken breast grilled in homemade pesto (without the parmesan) and balsamic grilled asparagus

Normally I'd eat a bit more than this but I'm having tummy troubles today so I'm planning to eat light tomorrow.

On the complexion front, I actually finally did go see a dermatologist. He said my skin issues are related to me quitting the second most evil pill next to Adderall... Yaz. I have to say that quitting Yaz is an ordeal that warrants its own site... psychologically not as hard as Adderall but physically way worse. My hormones are all wonked out and its giving me really bad skin and crippling stomach cramping problems. Bleh. But he gave me a prescription for something called Atralin. Between that and my diet experiment, hopefully I'll have positive results to report!