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Article:
'Nutrition as Attention Deficit Disorder ADHD Alternative Treatment: Help is as Close as the Kitchen.' by: Jeannine Virtue The quality of food we eat (or lack thereof) has a profound affect on Attention Deficit Disorder and ADHD. For many people, nutrition alone can effectively work as an ADHD alternative treatment. A growing body of research points to nutritional deficiencies - especially with essential fatty acids and amino acids - as a contributing factor of Attention Deficit Disorder and learning deficiencies. Put down the Ritalin bottle for one minute to consider these Attention Deficit Disorder ADHD nutrition research findings; A George Washington University School of Medicine study found that hyperactive children who ate a meal high in protein did equally well, and sometimes better, in school than non-hyperactive kids. An Oxford University (England) study evaluated the effects of fatty acid supplementation in average intelligence children with significant reading and writing disabilities. The ADHD symptoms in children receiving Essential Fatty Acids significantly improved over the children in the control group receiving a placebo. Researchers first tied Attention Deficit Disorder ADHD with lower essential fatty acid in 1981. Studies examining essential fatty acid blood levels in children with behavioral problems in 1983 confirmed this Attention Deficit Disorder nutrition connection. Researchers further documented the essential fatty acid deficiency tie to Attention Deficit Disorder in a 1987 study. Then, a 1995 study comparing essential fatty acid levels in ADHD boys against a control group of boys without ADHD found significantly lower levels of Omega-3 fatty acids. In 1996 Purdue University researchers have found that boys with low blood levels of Omega-3 fatty acids have a greater frequency of Attention Deficit Disorder ADHD. Attention Deficit Disorder is the most common behavioral disorder in children. Not all Attention Deficit Disorder ADHD children are nutritionally deficient in essential fatty acids, statistics and studies show that a significant number of ADHD children are. Physicians predominately use stimulant drugs such as Ritalin for Attention Deficit Disorder but studies show that Attention Deficit Disorder ADHD children whose treatment program includes only stimulant medication remain at a high risk for vandalism, petty crime, frequency of alcoholic intoxication, and possession of marijuana. Additionally, ADHD medications do not always work, have a host of harmful side effects and never treat the cause the Attention Deficit Disorder. With Attention Deficit Disorder ADHD, nutrition and food is one the first aspect of treatment to consider, as an ADHD alternative treatment or used in conjunction with traditional ADHD stimulant drug treatment. Fatty acids are used to make brain and nerve tissue in the body and are crucial for proper growth, mental function, the immune system and brain development. The body cannot produce the two fatty acids families, Omega-3 and Omega-'6
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