Healing Attention Deficit Disorder with Raw Foods
– by Karen Ranzi of SuperHealthyChildren
Children suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), also called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), display difficulty paying attention and are considered overly active. Attention Deficit Disorder is most often treated with the drug Ritalin.
Attention Deficit Disorder and Learning Disability are often linked as these children exhibit difficulty processing auditory information and concentrating on school subjects.
However, the known side effects of Ritalin and other drugs prescribed to treat symptoms related to ADD and ADHD can hamper the child’s total functioning.
Ritalin and ADD
Dr. Lorraine Day points out the adverse reactions to Ritalin: “Nervousness, insomnia, joint pains, fever, anorexia, nausea, dizziness, palpitations, headache, dyskinesia, drowsiness, increased blood pressure and pulse, rapid heart rate, angina, cardiac arrhythmias, abdominal pain, actual psychosis, and a major warning in the Physician’s Desk Reference regarding drug dependency.”
Studies have shown that children do not outgrow ADD symptomatology. The U.S. distributes more Ritalin than any other country, with its public school system often forcing parents to drug their children.
If our children aren’t outgrowing ADD through use of this toxic drug, then why do we continue its use?
Addressing The Cause vs. Addressing The Symptoms
In order to reverse ADD/ADHD, we need to go back to its initial cause.
I teach a class for parents titled Creating Healthy Children. We discuss foods that interfere with brain activity, and how to get them out of the diet by replacing them with more nutritious foods.
The first step involves eliminating animal products — especially dairy — as they contain antibiotics, hormones and pesticides.
The second step would be to eliminate processed and refined foods, including white bread and white rice.
Most processed and packaged foods contain highly toxic and consequently addictive substances which may be initially difficult to remove from the child’s diet. The manufacturers of MSG are aware of the addictive nature of this substance.
Labeling Foods vs. Labeling Children
One day some years ago, I took my children to the supermarket and we played a game, calling ourselves ‘Supermarket Sleuths’. We examined packaged foods that had hidden MSG. The children were surprised to find so many of the processed, packaged foods had all sorts of hidden labeling.
ADD/ADHD are often unrealistic labels. Each child might be taken care of in a way that makes that particular child shine. The established method of trying to make all children fit through a certain production system — and drugging all of those who don’t — will have future consequences for us all.
There is little time given for children to just be children. Play, the means by which children fully experience their world, is less valued by the “experts” as years progress.
Improvements can be expected when raw fruits and vegetables predominate, and when animal foods, including dairy, processed foods, and gluten, are excluded. Parents attending my classes and similar programs have been able to witness their children healing from ADD/ADHD by adopting these straightforward measures.