By Jimmy Downs

Monday Sept 23, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- K. Konikowska of Wroclaw Medical University in Poland and colleagues published a review article in Rocz Panstw Zakl Hig. that gives consumers some ideas about what dietary components children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can use to minimize their symptoms.

The authors reported prescription drugs are highly effective in treating ADHD, but they can be also highly toxic, causing undesirable side effects including loss of appetite and body weight, growth inhibition, stomach pain, headaches, sleeping disorders, and high blood pressure.

Children with ADHD is inattentive, over-active, impulsive, or anything in a combination, which are viewed by psychiatrists as medical problems.   It is generally recognized that the diet children with the condition and lactating and pregnant women use plays a crucial role in this condition.

Chronic deficiencies of some minerals such as zinc, iron, magnesium, and iodine and insufficient dietary intake of long-chain (omega-3) polyunsaturated fatty acids like DHA may have an effect on the development and deepening of the symptoms of ADHD in children. 

On the other hands, elimination of certain dietary components or ingredients or additives including artificial food dyes and preservatives  may help improve the behavior of children with ADHD.   Elimination of food products containing salicylates may also provide benefits.

It is known that eating too much sugar makes children hyper. Thus, the authors also mentioned that intake of food products with a low glycemic index can reduce symptoms in some children with ADHD.