A dear friend of mine recently discovered that he has adult attention deficit disorder and now knows the main reason his life keeps meandering all over the place.

He is trying everything - in his highly focused way - including 12 step programs, hypnotism, meditation and more. He is on at least one medication and is hoping to find the right drug to get him to the point where he can hold down a steady job, he has a university education and is extremely gifted creatively and otherwise.

Have any of you had any experience with ADD and how it can be helped (or not) with a raw food diet?

I have it and have been calmer...but not seen a significant change in the ADD

My oldest son, who's 16, has ADHD. That's ADD with some Hyperactivity thrown in. He has improved so much on Raw. He is much calmer and can focus and concentrate better. And I can always tell when he has eaten junk because it immediately affects his behaviour. Coca Cola does terrible things to him, it keeps him stuck to the ceiling for hours. Aspartame keeps him awake all night. He is also very sensitive to sugar and colours in food. When he eats all raw he is a loving, funny, big cuddly teddybear. When he eats too much junk he becomes irritable, moody and agressive. I hope this helps. Personally I believe medication and drugs will only make things worse for the already oversensitive system of a person with ADD and food choices play a large part in their symtoms.

I'm wishing your friend good luck on his journey,
Love, francis

Sorry this is a bit off topic but i thought it was kinda interesting that some of greatest minds and creative people of our time possible suffered from this

can you imagine had these people been drugged and their natural processes suffacated, the things we would have lost out on?


Many famous historical figures such as Thomas Edison, Ben Franklin and Ernest Hemingway had AD(H)D-like characteristics.

[www.spiritone.com]


Other historical figures who have been proposed as ADHD candidates include: Hans Christian Andersen, Ludwig van Beethoven, Winston Spencer Churchill, Walt Disney, Benjamin Franklin, Robert and John F. Kennedy, Theodore Roosevelt, Jules Verne, Woodrow Wilson, and the Wright brothers. Some contemporary ADHD candidates have also been proposed, including Whoopi Goldberg and Dustin Hoffman. Robin Williams has sometimes been called "the poster child for ADD".

[health.abcworld.net]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/16/2007 09:04PM by Jgunn.

I don't see my ADD as a disability. Indeed, I think it is a gift.

I would hate to be 'normal'

bleh!

That's an interesting way of looking at it miaculpa. Could you elaborate on how you see your ADD as being a gift? I would genuinely like to know what makes you feel like that. I've often felt that it's the school system we have to put our children through which is wrong and not my son who happens to not fit into that system.

Thanks for sharing, francis

I used to be an insanely hyper kid, then I smoked a bunch of weed in highschool and totally mellowed out (interestingly, THC, the major active ingredient in marijuana is now being used to treat ADD).

Now in my 20s and raw, my mind seems to be more active again, always wandering and receiving new ideas out of left field. I think diet has a profound influence on the mind and medication should be avoided whenever possible.

There's some evidence that omega-3 fatty acid deficiency may contribute to ADHD, and that supplementation with fish oil could help. Query pubmed.gov for some studies.

Well, when I was a kid they just thought I was gifted. I speak 6 languages, can multitask like a fiend, have quick reflexes (though I was sooo uncoordinated til about 33...then it kicked in). My kids all have it and I believe it is a MUST to encourage alternate forms of learning. Physically, my body/mind didn't fully mature til mid 30s and I think the ADHD was the reason...I mean, coordination and fuzziness, NOT sexual maturity, btw. Children with ADHD can actually handle MORE than people give them credit for...it just has to be presented in a novel way.

I read, once, that ADD is a 'throwback' warrior trait...and that 'normal' folks are more agricultural. Basically, we may not play well with others, but can be mavericks. I say HURRAH for the differences! It is easier for me to make my world fit around my persona than vice versa. I own my own company, so that makes it tons easier.

Of course, and many won't agree, I believe a firm spanking when I was little helped me keep on track more than anything. I don't condone beating, but I needed lots of boundaries and a firm hand. ADD doesnt do well without it. A balance of creative learning outlets tempered by FIRM BOUNDARIES. That was my ticket and works for my kid's too (course they are way too big to spank...hehe).

I love Temple Grandin's books. She is a doctor and also autistic. ADD is on the Autism Spectrum. It explained tonnnnnsss about me. A lot of the characteristics are the same.

fish oil, btw, DOES HELP MY KIDS AND ME.

If you are on meds for adhd, it also makes the 'come down' easier.

A study done at a prison in the UK recently went like this:

Violent criminals were given fish oil for a period of months. Apparently violent crime was REDUCED 60 PERCENT or somesuch.

Thanks Mia for all that information. It definitely echoes how I've been feeling about my son although it has taken me ages to get there. It wasn't until I started eating raw and getting in touch with my spiritual self that I was able to look at my son's ADHD as something other than a "problem". Now I'm not at all worried about him anymore. I'm thinking of taking him out of school at the end of this schoolyear and finding alternative ways to educate him/allowing him to educate himself. Homeschooling is not at all common where I live and he's probably to old for that now anyway.

I will try and get hold of the books you mentioned. I've been reading a lot about white powder gold on the internet lately. It's supposed to help balance both halves of the brain which could be helpful for people with autism.

Do you take the fish oil for the longchain fatty acids? I have been giving my son E3live instead of fish oil.

Love, francis