Healing ADD with Raw Foods
Written by karen on August 15, 2011 – -
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.
Tags: ADD, ADHD, Attention Deficit Disorder, benefits of raw food, creating healthy children, dangers of processed food, Dangers of Ritalin, healing ADD, Healing ADD with Raw Foods, healing ADHD, karen ranzi, processed food, ritalin, Side effects of Ritalin
Posted in Raw Food for Kids, Raw Food Health, Success Stories | 10 Comments »
By Jen on Aug 15, 2011
Great article! I’d love to see more information on this topic!
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Reply by Karen Ranzi on October 17th, 2011
There is more information in my book “Creating Healthy Children: Through Attachment Parenting and Raw Foods.”
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By Karen Ranzi on Aug 15, 2011
Thank you, Jen. A related article is the one I wrote on raw foods and learning difficulties. I will be writing more in the areas of ADD, learning difficulties, and autism in the months ahead. Always feel free to ask any questions.
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By Raw Food Diet on Aug 15, 2011
You do have a gift of making people to go and want for more.. i am now hooked to your blog and i do bookmarked it to continue reading all of your post.
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Reply by Karen Ranzi on October 17th, 2011
I’m looking forward to any discussions you want to start on my blog. Glad you’re enjoying the articles.
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By Meghan Blair-Valero on Aug 15, 2011
Nice article and I agree with many of your points but not all. ADD is often depicted as a syndrome or disease but it can also be seen as a personality trait with up sides such as ability to multitask and see connections where others don’t. When you see ADD as a positive and its symptoms as something that need only be treated if they inhibit your success it can really help. I fully agree that that ADD can be debilitating to many adults and children if not honed and adapted to. I also agree that foods full of white sugar, preservatives, and additives make the symptoms of ADD that get in the way of success more pervasive. I believe that thinking that taking a pill can make the symptoms go away and fix your life all on its own is setting yourself up for disaster. I, however, do not agree that that using some medication in conjunction with a healthy diet, exercise, coaching, love and support from those around you and finding your strengths (including some of the symptoms of ADD) and using them to enhance your success is a not a bad thing. The article seems like it is saying eat a raw food diet and cure your kid and I have to say that is a REALLY narrow view to an extremely complicated matter.
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Reply by Robin Janis on October 17th, 2011
Totally agree with Meghan’s very sensitive, balanced and thoughful reply. ADD/ADHD is a complex and totally unique experience for each indiviual effected. My son eats a 95% organic, unprocessed, grass-fed and grass-finished balanced diet with virtually no processed and packaged foods; he drinks a berry and spinish green smoothie every morning with fresh organic coconut meat, coconut oil, adya clarity and raw nut butter; he drinks a large glass of green juice every day and has plenty of omega 3, b12, infrared sauna, vit D, fulvic minerals, iodine, etc. He does eat pastured meat and raw goat cheese and virtually no wheat. But he still has such variable attention that he needs support in school. A raw diet is not a panecia and medication is not necessary simply the long arm of big pharma (though much of our self-medicating society is…) Sometimes there are chemical inbalances that require more intervention than simply diet.
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Reply by Karen Ranzi on October 17th, 2011
Robin, It sounds to me like your son eats better than most children. As an educator I understand your feelings and beliefs, and since your child attends school he must be able to function in a specific way. Each individual and family is on their own path and I certainly respect your choices. I have made observations that may not work for your specific situation. If you read Aran’s comments you will find something very different with her belief against medicating with psychotropic drugs and the pain her husband has experienced because of the drug Ritalin. A close friend of my daughter was on Ritalin, Aderol, and Lexipro from 7th grade to his junior year of college. By the time he got to his junior year, he could no longer think and had to drop out of school. The longterm effects of these drugs can be devastating.
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By Karen Ranzi on Aug 15, 2011
I love the points you are bringing up, Meghan. I agree that ADD can be part of a child’s personality trait and this is why I stress in my article the following: “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.” I see many boys in particular who are not able to sit for long periods at school and so they end up being labelled because they can not follow the production model. There are very intelligent students with ADD who just plain don’t comply well with school standards. It is unfair to medicate a child for not being able to comply with these standards. A high raw food lifestyle is one that can have a positive effect on digestion and therefore the overall wellbeing of the child. My observations reveal that these children often have increased attention spans, enhanced ability to process information, less hyperactivity and strengthened immune systems. I agree with you that it’s not only about food but I have seen food play a huge role, especially processed and refined foods which are loaded with MSG, an excitotoxin. What we need are some longterm studies focusing on children given the ADD label who are transitioned to a high raw lifestyle and/or taken out of stressful situations. Some children removed from a school environment are no longer labelled ADD when the expectation to produce in a standardized way is eliminated.
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By Aran M Cockburn on Aug 21, 2011
I agree that drugs are NOT the answer to ADD/ADHD. My husband was prescribed Ritalin at the age of 3 yrs old which to my mind is actually criminal. A child of three goes through stages where they don’t have the language skills to describe how they’re feeling, they’re no longer babies but neither are they children, they’re in between and so become frustrated.
My husband has just ‘celebrated’ his 44th birthday by seeing a Psychiatrist… He has suffered with Clinical Depression and Major Depressive Episodes since Puberty, he is now officially diagnosed with a Mood Disorder. All these problems are caused by having been on Ritalin from 3 until early teens. I am now trying to repair the damage done to him by healthy nutrition and hopefully guiding him to use his Adult Attention Deficit to his advantage. My husband is also taking a big interest in how foods affect him which is always a good thing.
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