Attention Deficit: A Diet Disorder?

It was with no small measure of interest that I recently read the following in the medical journal The Lancet: "Effects of a restricted elimination diet on the behaviour of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder." ADHD is defined as "a persistent and frequent pattern of developmentally inappropriate inattention and impulsivity, with hyperactivity." It is estimated to effect 5-10% of children, predominantly boys. For years, the conventional treatment has been medications such as Ritalin or Adderall, which are stimulant, amphetamine-like drugs that sharpen mental focus.

Was mainstream medicine finally cluing in to the link between behaviour and diet? The study looked at 100 children between the ages of 4-8 who had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Half were put on a very restrictive diet, limited to rice, turkey, lamb, a range of vegetables (lettuce, carrots, cauliflower, cabbage and beetroot), pears and water. The other half (control group) was provided instructions for eating a "healthy diet." After five weeks, it was observed that 78% of the children on the restrictive diet had significantly reduced symptoms of ADHD, versus no change in the control group.

In the study's second phase, foods were reintroduced. It was found that ADHD symptoms relapsed in 63% of children who had previously responded to the restricted diet. The researchers concluded that a supervised, restricted elimination diet is a valuable tool to assess whether ADHD is linked to food.

While this study does not link particular foods to ADHD, we can infer a few things from the observations. First, the restricted diet is actually a hypoallergenic, whole foods diet that is completely free of additives, preservatives, artificial sweeteners, colourings and processed foods. The elimination of these ubiquitous food additives and common allergens like gluten and dairy dramatically reduced the symptoms of ADHD in a majority of children. This observation lends credence to the proposed role food allergies or intolerances can play in the development of ADHD. Medical professionals will no longer be able to dismiss outright any link between diet and ADHD. While the study does not advocate the long term adoption of such a diet as a treatment due to obvious concerns about compliance and nutritional limitations, it supports the use of an elimination diet as an effective tool to determine if there is a link between food and ADHD symptoms in an individual. At long last, mainstream support for a strategy naturopathic doctors have been recommending for years!

With more evidence pointing to a link between foods and ADHD symptoms, we can start thinking of ways to effectively treat the cause of the condition. A whole foods diet free of any additives is a must. Next, identifying any additional trigger food(s) for each child is ideal, but may not become obvious for some time. At the same time, supporting healthy digestion in these children is a powerful intervention that can mitigate the effects of food on the immune and nervous systems. Promoting optimal digestion and healing inflammation in the digestive tract with soothing nutritional supplements and herbal medicines prevents the leaky gut conditions that allow foods to trigger an immune response and affect other systems in the body, such as the brain.

Naturopathic medicine is based on assessing the effect of diet and lifestyle on health, and making modifications that will support optimal health. Naturopathic Doctors have long recognized a link between diet and ADHD, and it is encouraging to see the mainstream becoming cognizant of this relationship. It is my hope that with time, dietary modifications will become the first line of conventional treatment for ADHD instead of powerful prescription drugs.