Diet and ADHD: A Different Perspective

Traditional Chinese Medicine describes “minimal brain dysfunction” in terms of metaphor, as a “disturbance in the hut of the brain.” The energies of the brain become disorders when they are not supported, literally supported, by the energies of the kidneys.

The kidneys are so busy removing toxins that they pee away brain energy, the forces of the brain become energy-deprived, and they fight among each other for restricted resources. When the toxins are finally removed, the kidneys can resume their normal tasks, including supporting the brain, and the hut of the developing brain returns to domestic tranquility.

If some part of this description of attention deficit disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADD/ADHD) rings true, consider this: Some scientists believe that an abnormality in the kidneys in children with attention-deficit disorders causes them to excrete serotonin.

This chemical is not a toxin. It is essential to maintaining good mood and focus, and also to moving food through the digestive tract. While the kidneys excrete serotonin, they retain neuropeptide Y (NPY), a chemical messenger of pain, and norepinephrine, an “accelerator” hormone for the doing, but not the thinking, functions of the brain.

Not having enough serotonin in the brain makes the child feel bad, but a child’s body knows what to do: Press the sugar button. Sugar in the bloodstream pushes tryptophan, an amino acid used to make serotonin, into the brain. The lower the concentrations of serotonin, the more severe the symptoms of attention deficit. The more severe the symptoms of attention deficit, the greater the release of the pain hormone NPY. When bloodstream concentrations of NPY build up, the appetite for sugar is stimulated. How do you get sugar into your bloodstream? Candy and cola are the quickest routes for a young child with ADD/ADHD.

There are other ways the child’s body could get serotonin into the brain. The amino acid alanine is used to turn tryptophan into serotonin. Alanine is found in avocados, beef, dairy products, poultry, and whole wheat flour. Since schools don’t have vending machines that dispense guacamole or beef jerky, children tend to go for sugar.

The good news about tryptophan deficiency in ADD/ADHD is that it tends to go away. Healthy children have lower bloodstream concentrations of certain amino acids than healthy adults. In fact, undetectably low concentrations of amino acids may simply mean the child’s bodies is growing muscle and bone at a rapid rate.

Alanine, arginine, asparagine, methionine, ornithine, phenylalanine, proline, threonine, and tyrosine rapidly decrease during the first year of life as the child begins to grow rapidly. They slowly build up to adult levels by age 14 to 16. Tryptophan, as well as cystine, glutamine, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, and valine are relatively “deficient” even at birth, but also slowly build up by late adolescence.

If you are not inclined to wait until your child is 21 to begin to compensate for tryptophan deficiency, get milk. Milk is an excellent source of both this amino acid and calcium, both of which are essential to treating attention deficit. A very few children with attention deficit disorders are sensitive to milk, this sensitivity first appearing as eczema or allergies. You can determine if milk is the problem by omitting dairy products of all kinds (including those in bread, casseroles, and pasta) for three weeks to see if behavior changes. If there is no change in behavior, dairy is not the problem.

You can also compensate for low tryptophan levels by going tropical—but only in moderation. Bananas and pineapple stimulate the brain to release serotonin. A banana a day just might keep the Ritalin away. Adults with attention deficit, however, should beware banana daiquiris.

When alcohol and bananas are consumed together, the brain releases serotonin and you feel good. The digestive tract, however, releases 100 times as much of the serotonin by-product 5-hydroxytryptophol, potentially causing a variety of unpleasant “movements” in the digestive tract as well as headache and fatigue. The combined “kick” of bananas, pineapple, and alcohol lasts 24 hours.

What are the whole food choices for ADD and ADHD? Since life is complicated enough with these two conditions, I have only simple suggestions. Avoid sugar and alcohol. Eat tropical fruits in moderation. If you eat meat, choose lean cuts of beef and poultry every week. Drink whole milk. And whether you are an omnivore, vegetarian, or vegan, eat whole grains, without sweetening them with sugar, every day.