Coping with ADD part 6: Fuel that brain!

Hypoglycemia or excessively low blood sugar is one of many conditions that cause ADD-like symptoms.

Some kids may be diagnosed with ADD when they have "nothing but" Hypoglycemia.

AND many ADD or bipolar people have a sensitive carbohydrate metabolism, so hypoglycemia can be one of their problems.

Hypoglycemia is one of the "ADD is nothing but" factors.

Can you see how this can lead to a lot of misunderstanding?
ADD is like a puzzle with many pieces. All the "nothing but" factors are a part of the puzzle. The trouble is that too many people who solve a part of the puzzle will then claim that they have solved the whole picture.

Like well-meaning aunt Rosa whose grandchild could stop taking Ritalin after her diet was cleaned up. So now Aunt Rosa goes around telling everyone who will listen that ADD is a scam and it is nothing but low blood sugar.

This is totally maddening to parents of kids who have multiple challenges.

With that out of the way, keeping the brain gauge above Empty at all times is one of the first things to do for your ADD child.

A brain on empty simply cannot think. Trying to reason with a child whose brain has run out of fuel is useless. The only brain left is the primitive part, the reptile brain that takes care of the flight-or fight function.

When our son was little we occasionally had to force a teaspoon full of honey into a screaming tantrumming child. Within moments we had a sweet reasonable little boy.
My mother, who was pretty skeptical about this whole sugar thing, said she would never have believed it if she had not seen it.

Hypoglycemia is easy to manage once you are aware of it.

Avoid junk foods and empty calories like white bread and pasta.
Eat WHOLE foods that go through the system more slowly.
Eat some fat and protein with every meal and use healthy snacks in between meals and just before bedtime.
Instead of giving a child apple juice, let him drink water and feed him whole apple slices with some nut butter to dip them in. Dense foods like nut butter are rich in protein and minerals and take a while to digest.

Ask the school to make sure that your child eats his snack and his lunch during the day.

Your resource for the day is my favorite book on nutrition and the brain.

“The Crazy Makers, How the Food Industry is destroying our brains and harming our children.” by Carol Simontacchi