Nature: A Potential Tool for Dealing with ADHD
Combating your child’s symptoms of ADHD can seem like a never ending challenge. There are expensive drugs and therapies that can alter your child’s mood states or offer no help, but there are also a number of inexpensive ways to help your child through ADHD. The importance of a healthy diet has become widely known in recent years, and nature may also be an ally. Spending time outside among nature offers a litany of physical benefits and it can be a great way to spend time with the family, but studies have also shown that offering your child time outdoors can be helpful for their ADHD.
A study conducted at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign wanted to see if nature was beneficial for concentration and focus in those that had difficulty concentrating throughout the day. Researchers evaluated 17 kids with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The children all took three twenty minute walks: one in a busy downtown area, one in a residential area, and one in a park. After every walk the children were tested on their concentration skills, and the children that had just taken a walk in the park scored the highest.
This study actually verifies the relevance of a growing form of therapy for ADHD called green space therapy. Green space therapy is believed to help with attention fatigue. Forcing the brain to concentrate for long periods of time and blocking potential distractions is mentally taxing and exhausting, and this can lead to an inability to focus. Places like a class room or movie theatre where there is generally only one thing happening lend themselves to attention fatigue. Spending time in nature provides the opportunity to not focus on one specific thing. It can be an extremely helpful way to address ADHD, but it also has a number of other physical and mental health applications. First of all, being outside lends itself to more frequent movement and exercise. It may provide help for high blood pressure and other indicators of heart disease. Green space therapy may also help to lower stress, which in some people may also improve concentration, and it may provide help for low mood states.
If you’re having trouble managing your child’s ADHD you may want to try to get them off of the couch and into the outdoors. Green space therapy can help to reduce the occurrence of attention fatigue, and it could be a helpful way to address your child’s ADHD without spending hundreds on dollars.
Fish Oil and ADHD
In today’s world people are looking for alternative and natural treatments for all types of diseases, disorders, and ailments. The feelings of disgust and distrust in pharmaceutical companies have lead to a boom in natural medicines and alternative treatments. ADHD is one disorder in which mood altering drugs are frequently prescribed, and this has left parents all over the country looking to help their children’s ADHD without drastically changing their mood or mind. Fortunately, one potentially helpful way to address your child’s ADHD can probably be found in your cupboards. A fish oil supplement that is rich in omega 3 fatty acids may help to combat many of the ADHD symptoms that your child deals with regularly.
Scientists believe that a lack of omega 3 fatty acids could contribute to the development of ADHD and other similar disorders. To test this, a study was conducted at the University of Oxford in England. The research gave school age children fish oil supplements for a period of three months, and the children that received these supplements showed academic improvements – the study tested reading and writing – as well as improvements in behavior. This study shows the importance of omega 3 supplementation in children, and it can be especially beneficial to those with ADHD.
Omega 3 fatty acids have also long been touted for their ability to promote good behavior. Studies have suggested that DHA can help to limit aggressive behavior. EPA, another omega 3 fatty acid, is also commonly used to help support proper emotional states, and it may be helpful with ADHD, bipolar disorder, or depression.
If you’re looking for help with ADHD without the harmful prescription drugs, regular supplementation with omega 3 fatty acids may help to address the symptoms in a safe fashion.
ADHD is on the Rise
ADHD has seen a sharp increase over the last decade. But what is actually causing this? Unfortunately, it appears to be a mix of misdiagnosis – which can be difficult to detect and avoid – and unhealthy diets. The frequency of misdiagnosis makes it difficult to trust physicians, and many may want to consider getting a second opinion. For those that actually have and struggle with ADHD there are some dietary changes that may provide help with the symptoms.
ADHD: The Basics
A study conducted in 2010 found that 1 in 10 children have ADHD. The effects of ADHD can be difficult for families to deal with, and children with ADHD tend to:
- Have Difficulty in School
- Constantly Talk or Interrupt
- Have Trouble Maintaining Relationships
- Deal with Low Self Esteem
- Have Trouble with Organization
- Find it Hard to Follow Instructions
Boys are twice as likely to be diagnosed with ADHD, and in recent years more and more adults have been diagnosed.
The real trouble with ADHD is that there is no test that definitively determines whether one has the condition. There is no MRI result that reveals a diagnosis of ADD or ADHD, and, because of no definitive test, misdiagnoses are very common. Those believed to have ADHD are given a subjective tests or evaluations, and many times a diagnosis can be based on what a teacher says. Due to these factors, some research has shown that as many as 20 percent of children are misdiagnosed with ADHD. Perhaps one of the worst aspects is that many believe that the misdiagnosed are actually outstanding students that have grown bored and act out.
As many as two thirds of children with ADHD are treated with prescription drugs, and this can be very harmful to those that don’t actually need the drugs. Drugs used to treat ADHD have powerful affects on the brain, and they can cause changes that alter the personality and may lead to depression. Misuse of these drugs can also put the user at risk for heart attack, stroke, and liver damage. Children on prescription ADHD medication are also more likely to display aggressive behavior and violent actions.
But What About Those with Actual ADHD?
Of course ADHD is a very real issue in today’s culture, and there are a number of ways to help naturally curb its occurrence and effects on the body. As with many health issues, ADHD can be fought starting during pregnancy. A 2006 study found that when pregnant women smoked cigarettes or used drugs and alcohol, their children were more likely to have ADHD. The same study also found that introducing the body to polychlorinated biphenyls and lead can also boost the chances of ADHD, and pesticides have also been linked.
The chemicals commonly used in agriculture have come under scrutiny in recent years, and consuming foods tainted with GMOs or glyphosate can increase the risk of ADHD. GMOs show to be the troubling of the two, because their exposure is believed to lead to a higher likelihood of poor behavior in children with ADHD. Just the same, glyphosate should also be avoided, because it can have negative effects on the gut’s microflora. Maintaining a healthy gut is an important factor in reducing the risk of ADHD. Limiting exposure to glyphosate is the first part of this, but, besides this, eating healthy is also important. Fermented foods are a wonderful way to promote the health of the gut, because they provide the body with beneficial bacteria. These bacteria, or probiotics, support healthy digestive function, and they can chelate heavy metals and pesticides. This can help the body to better handle some of the chemical factors that increase the risk of ADHD. A natural probiotic supplement can also help to boost probiotic levels in the body. Probiotic supplements may be especially helpful for children that don’t like to eat fermented foods. There are also foods that can be avoided completely in order help the digestive bacteria. Processed foods support the growth of harmful bacteria, which can limit the amount of probiotics that can be found in the digestive tract.
Other helpful dietary changes can also be made. Omega 3 fatty acids have long been lauded for their ability to help the nervous system, and they may help with many of the symptoms of ADHD. Studies have shown that children who don’t consume enough omega 3 fatty acids have a higher chance of dealing with learning disabilities, troubled behavior, and hyperactivity. Research has also shown that omega 3s, specifically sourced from krill oil, can help adults to better manage and handle their ADHD. Taking 500 mgs for six months provided subjects on average a 60 percent improvement in concentration.
Limiting sugar consumption and managing gluten sensitivity is also essential. Eating too much sugar can inadvertently boost the release of glutamine, and this can have negative consequences. This is because excessive sugar levels increase the amount of insulin in the body and cause blood sugar to drastically drop. This can cause hypoglycemia, which leads to the secretion of glutamine. When glutamine levels become too high the mind and body are more likely to experience depression, anxiety, anger, agitation, and other symptoms that could promote ADHD. Gluten sensitivity has also been linked to a number of nervous and psychiatric conditions. Those with celiac disease are at a greater risk for having ADHD, and gluten free diet can be beneficial to those with ADHD.
There are also ways to help outside of diet:
- Limiting chemical exposure can be very helpful. Besides the agricultural chemicals previously discussed, removing household chemicals, like those found in many cleaning products, and replacing them with natural products may reduce the risk.
- Communication is an important part of helping children deal with ADHD. It can help to discover what emotional issues are playing a role, and it also provides the ADHD sufferer with an opportunity to work through any issues.
- Interacting with Nature can also help. Research has shown that spending time in “green space” may ease many of the symptoms of ADHD.
When addressing ADHD it is first essential to make sure that you have a diagnosis that was carried out by a competent and diligent doctor. You certainly don’t want to treat yourself or your child for a condition that they don’t actually have. After this, limiting you and your family’s exposure to chemicals can be helpful, and making the necessary diet changes can also play a major role in combating ADHD.