Home | About Natural News | Contact Us | Write for Natural News
Search our 25,000 free articles and special reports

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ADHD, has a simple cause: poor nutrition and food additives

Thursday, August 19, 2004 by: Mike Adams (see all articles by this author)
Key concepts: Food, Hyperactivity and Food additives

Email this article to a friend Printable Version  FREE Email Newsletter

Breaking News for Saturday, November 22, 2008

     See all Breaking News...

FREE Natural Health Newsletter

Receive natural health product reviews, recommendations and alerts.
Instant download of 20+ free health reports and exclusive interviews.
Join over 1.2 million monthly readers.



Unsubscribe anytime, email privacy guaranteed


Products Related to This Article*

Boku Superfood
High-potency superfood powder
for preventing numerous diseases

Living Fuel SuperBerry Ultimate
Delicious superfood meal powder
for disease prevention, antioxidant boost

Appetite for Profit (free download)
Free download summary of this top book
for discovering the truth about food companies

* Recommended by the Health Ranger.
See more recommendations on right



Articles Related to This Article:

The Honest Food Guide empowers consumers with independent information about foods and health

Interview with "Kevala" Karen Parker, master raw foods chef

Cigarettes, Lies, and Pet Food Advertising
New research is appearing now that's showing the link between the consumption of food additives by children -- especially food colorings -- and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD. Well-informed parents have long realized that the consumption of food additives causes hyperactivity in their children, but most conventional doctors have dismissed the idea as pure bunk. Of course, far too many doctors dismiss the idea that food choice has any relationship to health in the first place, so the view from conventional medicine doesn't carry much weight. The real story here, however, is not that food additives and artificial colorings cause ADHD, but that there are several other dietary substances that heavily influence a child's mental state and day-to-day behavior.

Let's face it -- the human brain is a flesh and blood organ, and it is strongly influenced by blood chemistry, which is, in turn, dictated almost entirely by diet. What you eat, in other words, determines what your blood composition looks like, and what your blood composition looks like determines the way your brain functions. Of course there are other factors such as physical exercise and environmental influences, but the largest factor of all is dietary.

So when you eat processed foods containing additives and artificial colors, you are introducing toxic chemicals into your bloodstream. Those chemicals find their way into the brain and alter brain function, and in the case of children who have been diagnosed with ADHD, it alters their behavior to make them restless or to have a shortened attention span. It can also cause children and adults alike to display other problems derived from their mental state.

But it isn't just food additives -- it's also refined carbohydrates. People who eat large quantities of white bread (or food containing refined white flour) also suffer from mental disorders. These can include depression, aggression and violent behavior, and learning disabilities. Consuming refined carbohydrates also causes people to have brain fog -- that is, they can't concentrate for very long, and they don't feel like they have clarity of mind.

Drinking soft drinks also causes the same effect, because it is essentially the same macronutrient that's poisoning your body: refined sugars. As it turns out, these refined sugars also cause behavioral disorders by depleting the body of nutrients that are critical for neurological health. These nutrients include the B vitamins and several notable minerals, including magnesium and zinc. When the human body is deficient in these vitamins and minerals, it will, of course, exhibit both mental and physical disorders.

The problem in all of this is that rather than recognizing the true cause of these mental and physical disorders in our children and in our adult population, conventional medicine labels it a disease. Therefore, the treatment becomes a drug rather than changing your diet, and that's where things get crazy, because now we're dosing up tens of millions of our children on Ritalin when the true answer to their behavioral problems or lack of focus is to immediately remove soft drinks, cookies, and sugary breakfast cereals from their diets. If you feed your children foods that enhance their health -- that is, unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and superfoods -- then they won't exhibit these behavioral problems.

In fact, the solution to all this is surprisingly simple -- we need to change the diets of our children. We need to take vending machines out of our public school systems. We need to reformulate school lunch programs so that they are feeding our children foods that promote learning and mental health. We also need to educate parents about how to feed their children right so that they aren't so easily influenced by foods that their children want to eat.

And finally, we need to ban all advertising and marketing of unhealthy products to children. It should be illegal, in a civilized society, for companies that manufacture products that cause obesity and ADHD to promote those products to children, because it only creates a cycle of disease and chronic illness that brings society down, and the long-term effect of all of this is, of course, skyrocketing health care costs.

Once again, the answer to all of this is simply to change the foods and drinks that we feed our nation's children. The answer is certainly not to be dosing our children with powerful narcotics such as Ritalin, because right now in this country we are raising a generation of brain-numbed children through our public school system and through the reckless, widespread pharmaceutical prescribing habits of many doctors and psychiatrists.

Boost this article on YahooBuzz! Click "BuzzUp!"

About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2007, Adams launched EcoLEDs, a maker of super bright LED light bulbs that are 1000% more energy efficient than incandescent lights. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also the founder of a well known HTML email software company whose 'Email Marketing Director' software currently runs the NaturalNews subscription database. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and enjoys outdoor activities, nature photography, Pilates and adult gymnastics. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds. Known as the 'Health Ranger,' Adams' personal health statistics and mission statements are located at www.HealthRanger.org

Get articles like this delivered to you FREE in our popular email newsletter

Related CounterThink Cartoons:


Related Articles:

The Honest Food Guide empowers consumers with independent information about foods and health

Interview with "Kevala" Karen Parker, master raw foods chef

Cigarettes, Lies, and Pet Food Advertising

Take Action: Support NaturalNews.com

Email this article to a friend

Share this article on: NewsVine | digg | del.icio.us

Permalink to this article: http://www.NaturalNews.com/001868.html

Reprinting this article: Non-commercial OK, cite NaturalNews.com with clickable link.

Embed article link: (copy HTML code below):

Health Ranger LIVE Teleconference: Saturday @ 6pm

Join the Health Ranger in a live teleconference on water health secrets. It's happening this Saturday at 6pm Pacific Time / 9pm Eastern time. $14.95 admission includes download of five-hour water health secrets seminar featuring interviews with five health experts. Click here to reserve a seat.

What your doctor doesn't know about omega-3 nutrition and inflammation

See the astonishing clinical trial results that reveal the most amazing anti-inflammatory nutritional supplement we've ever found.

Click here to find out more

'The most potent supplement I've ever experienced for easing inflammation.' - the Health Ranger



How to protect yourself from financial loss when the dollar collapses

This eight-CD audio seminar was recorded LIVE by the Health Ranger in October. It reveals everything you need to know to survive the coming economic turmoil.

Click here to protect yourself now

"Guaranteed to deliver the most powerful financial protection advice you've ever seen or your money back!" - Mike Adams, the Health Ranger




Free Special Reports

How to Build Your Financial Safety Net
The 7 Principles of Mindful Wealth
The Healing Power of Sunlight and Vitamin D
The pH Nutrition Guide to Acid / Alkaline Balance
Pet Food Ingredients Revealed! (shocking)
Medicine From Fish
The Water Cure

Recommended Products Related to This Article*:

Boku Superfood
High-potency superfood powder
for preventing numerous diseases

Living Fuel SuperBerry Ultimate
Delicious superfood meal powder
for disease prevention, antioxidant boost

Appetite for Profit (free download)
Free download summary of this top book
for discovering the truth about food companies

Vitamineral Green from Healthforce
Nutrient-dense superfood powder
for disease prevention, body alkalizing & more

Better Than Roasted - Macadamia Nuts
The most delicious raw nut spread ever
for heart health, circulatory health

Spirulina Pacifica
Pure, pristine spirulina superfood
for cancer prevention, alkalizing, immune func

Free download: Selling Sickness (summary)
Read the best book on disease mongering
for learning the truth about Big Pharma

Revealed: Natural Health Solutions (free)
Free summary of book by Mike Adams
for learning censored natural health remedies

Additional Products of Interest to All

Breville Juice Fountain Elite 800JEXL
Simply the best juicer in the world
for fast, easy juicing

Paraliminal Audio Courses
Powerful mind-enhancing audio therapy
for reprogramming your mind for a new future

How to Halt Diabetes in 25 Days
Health Ranger guide to reversing diabetes
for reversing type-2 diabetes

Preparedness Tools Natural News Bundle
For preparedness and safety: 60% off
for preparing for natural disasters

Katadyn Exstream XR Water Purifier
#1 personal water purifier
for clean, pristine water in seconds

Healing Cancer From the Inside Out (DVD)
Amazing, eye-opening cancer documentary
for anyone wanting to know the truth on cancer

Zeitgeist: Addendum - Must-See Movie
A shocking documentary about money
for people who wan to know the real truth

The Genie In Your Genes by Dawson Church
A free, downloadable summary of this book
for learning about the biology of intention

The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton
A free download of Biology of Belief
for learning about the mind-biology connection

The Weiss Method for Heart Disease
How to reverse heart disease naturally
for heart disease, high cholesterol

Hair Soap
A pure, simple and chemical-free shampoo
for washing hair without chemicals

Exposed! The Toxic Chemistry of Products
Free summary of this shocking book
for learning the truth about toxic products

Aloe Vera 100
Pure, dried 100% aloe vera gel flakes
for sludge blood, IBS, Crohn's disease

Katadyn MicroPur Water Purifier Tablets
The best water purification tablets
for purifying almost any water source

Fucoxanthin with PinnoThin
Natural appetite suppressant
for obesity, overweight, overeating

Zyflamend
Powerful anti-inflammatory herbal formula
for arthritis, joint pain, inflammation

Nascent Iodine
Miraculous nascent iodine solution
for thyroid function, Alzheimer's, brain func.

Blood Support
Halts growth of cancer tumors
for breast cancer and all cancers

Amaz-a-Power
Amazing wild berry tincture from Peru
for eye & brain protection, cancer prevention

P-73 Oreganol
Potent source of wildcrafted oregano oil
for parasites, heart disease, immune func.

Ocean Minerals Pure Magnesium Oil
#1 product for magnesium therapy
for back pain, heart health, muscle health

MGC-5 Mushroom Extracts
Potent extracts of medicinal mushrooms
for reversing cancer, boosting immune function

* Products do NOT pay to be listed here. These are genuine, independent recommendations by the Health Ranger

☯ Products with this symbol are sold by NaturalNews or its affiliates and earn revenues for NaturalNews

Discover on NaturalNews NaturalPedia™

Food
Hyperactivity
Food additives

Also on NaturalNews:

Streaming Health Ranger Videos
CounterThink Cartoons
FREE Special Reports
Podcasts
This site is part of the Natural News Network © 2008 All Rights Reserved. Privacy | Terms All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing International, LTD. is not responsible for content written by contributing authors. The information on this site is provided for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended as a substitute for professional advice of any kind. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. Your use of this website indicates your agreement to these terms and those published here. All trademarks, registered trademarks and servicemarks mentioned on this site are the property of their respective owners.