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Title: ADHD and Food Allergies: Part 2
Author: Anthony Kane, MD
Website: http://addadhdadvances.com
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ADHD and Food Allergies
Part 2
by Anthony Kane, MD
Do Food Allergies Really Exist?
The formal medical societies like the AMA claim there is no such
thing as food allergies. Rapp and her friends have been
screaming for decades that they do exist. So, what is the bottom
line? Does it really make sense that what a child eats can
affect him so strongly that experts will diagnose him as having
ADHD?
We know that the brain is a highly complicated and sensitive
organ. We know that many foods have a physiological effect on
the body without inducing a classic allergic response. For
example, people who are sensitive to monosodium glutamate can
have a severe reaction to eating it. The chemicals in red wine
affect certain people. We also know that ingesting certain foods
alters brain function. Diet has been proven to influence
neurotransmitter function. Components of foods can also be used
as drugs. For example, tryptophan, tyrosine, and choline have
been used in the treatment of sleep disorders, pain, depression,
mania, hypertension, shock, or dyskinesias.
The logic of Rapp’s argument is so strong and there is enough
circumstantial evidence, that I feel that the question is really
the other way around. We know that the brain is intricate and has
tremendous metabolic requirements. We know that some people have
very strong reactions, including behavioral changes, to certain
foods. These things are undisputed. If it turns out that foods
do not elicit significant problems in sensitive children, in my
opinion, we would need to explain why not!
Are we really seeing an allergy mechanism to food? I prefer to
stay out of that debate. Rather than be ostracized by the doctors
who specialize in allergy, I feel it is safer to call them food
sensitivities. There are no doctors who specialize in sensitivity.
Does Your Child Have Food Sensitivities?
A large number of ADHD children may be having a negative response
to food, and this response may be the primary cause of their ADHD.
In what type of child should you suspect food allergies?
The following is a list of symptoms that resulted from food
allergies in certain children:
Hyperactivity
Changes in mood
Halitosis
Sleep disturbances
Delay in sleep onset
Migraines
Other headaches
Abdominal pain
Bedwetting
Tantrums
Eczema
Asthma
Seizures
Research shows that by treating the food allergies all of these
symptoms can be relieved.
If you see your child’s symptoms in this list it is possible that
food allergies may be contributing to his problem. If your child
also has other allergic problems, such as allergy or asthma, then
food allergies are almost certainly contributing to his problems.
What Should You Do?
As I wrote in How to Help the Child You Love
(http://addadhdadvances.com/childyoulove.html), there are a number
of approaches to diagnosing food allergies. None of them are
well substantiated and all of them have difficulties. Yet, many
people find that these diagnostic techniques worked for them.
Therefore, I’d suggest you could use them provided you have it on
good authority that the person administering them has a strong
record of success. In my experience, these techniques are more
of an art than a science. They really depend upon the talent of
the diagnostician.
As I said last time, the best approach to finding food allergies
in your child is an elimination diet. It doesn’t really matter
which one you choose. I prefer the three that I outline in
How to Help the Child You Love.
Conclusion
Researchers claim that the percentage of ADHD children whose
behavioral symptoms are affected by foods ranges from 60% to
75%. This, however, is probably not an accurate number. Parents
who consent to have their children participate in diet studies
usually believe they have observed food-induced problems in their
children. Therefore, children who participate in these studies
are more likely to respond to foods than the general population.
The truth is we do not know what percentage of ADHD children
will respond to dietary changes, but it seems that the number is
significant.
Treating the food sensitivities in ADHD children has a number
of advantages over using medication. One major advantage all the
current methods of treatment can be used to treat pre-school
children. Most clinicians do not use medication on pre-school
children. A more significant advantage of treating food allergy
is that when it works, it works all day. In contrast, Ritalin
wears off in about 4 hours.
All this, of course, is providing that food allergies really do
exist.
The main thing to remember is that if you think your child has
food allergies, then the biggest mistake you can make is to go to
an allergist. They don’t believe in food allergies. And whatever
you do, do not go to an allergist and ask to have your child
provocation-neutralization tested for food allergies. He is
going to laugh at you.
Food allergy is an alternative medicine diagnosis. Still, there
are physicians who specialize in diagnosing and treating these
sensitivities, but they no longer call themselves allergists.
Rapp and her group were so ostracized by the formal allergy
societies that they eventually broke off and formed a new field
called Environmental Medicine.
Therefore, if you want a physician to treat your child you need
to find an Environmental Medicine specialist. They are not so
common, but they are around.
As I mentioned before, there are a number of approaches to
treating food sensitivities. The one you can do yourself is to
use an elimination diet. I devoted a large section of
How to Help the Child You Love describing exactly how to use
elimination diets to diagnose and treat food sensitivities.
In the final analysis, I feel it is fair to say that many ADHD
children have sensitivities to the foods they eat. These
sensitivities may exacerbate their ADHD symptoms. I won’t go so
far as to say that food allergies cause ADHD. That means that if
your ADHD child has severe food sensitivity, treating that
sensitivity may not get rid of his ADHD. However, until you
treat his food allergy, nothing else you do will really help your
child’s ADHD, either.
Anthony Kane, MD
ADD ADHD Advances
http://addadhdadvances.com
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Anthony Kane, MD is a physician, an international lecturer, and
director of special education. He is the author of a book,
numerous articles, and a number of online programs dealing with
ADHD treatment (http://addadhdadvances.com/childyoulove.html),
parenting issues (http://addadhdadvances.com/betterbehavior.html),
ODD, and education.
You may visit his website at http://addadhdadvances.com.
To sign up for the free ADD ADHD Advances online journal send
an email to: subscribe@addadhdadvances.com?subject=subscribeart
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