Helping Children With ADHD

Recent studies have found the importance of magnesium as a nutrient and its impact on general and heart health. Nutritional magnesium is deeply involved in the production of energy, the uptake of oxygen, the function of the central nervous system, the balance of electrolytes, the metabolism of glucose, and the activity of muscles, including the heart.

Magnesium has an essential role in a set of problems in childhood which shows wandering attention, nervousness, and hyperactivity.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been a commonly diagnosed illness occurring in children since the 1980s. Meanwhile, many nutritionists have discovered that many of the answers to ADHD can be found in a child’s diet in the form of food additives, sugar, and the missing essential nutrients.

One child who was horribly hyperactive, out of control, and diagnosed with ADHD by a school psychologist was taken off any foods that contained a particular red dye. Almost immediately, the child’s hyperactivity ceased and he began paying attention and living the life of a normal child. A study consisted of 297 children who were given drinks that contained common artificial food colorings and additives that are usually found in food and candy. Meanwhile, a control group was given drinks without additives. The children who drank the additive-enhanced drinks showed a significantly greater amount of hyperactivity and had shorter attention spans.

Another common cause of ADHD symptoms in children is overdosing of sugar. With all the snack-like breakfast cereals available and the high sugar-constant treats, hyperactivity should be expected.

After removing chemical additives and processed sugar from the diet, ADHD symptoms have also been traced to a lack of mineral magnesium. Those children without magnesium often suffer from irritability, insomnia, and constipation. These symptoms, which are commonly diagnosed as ADHD, can be cleared up quickly by putting your child on a magnesium supplement. Most nutritionists agree, believing that many ADHD symptoms come from a high sugar diet and a magnesium deficiency. Sugar and over-stimulation, such as stress, actually exhausts a child’s nervous system. This can be cured with a magnesium supplement which allows the nervous system to rebuild. In addition, this supplement will assist the child in relaxing.

Have you heard about ADHD? What is ADHD? Yes, ADHD is Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. It is usually considered to be a neurobehavioral developmental disorder. It affects about 3-5% of school aged children with symptoms starting before seven years of age. It is characterized by a persistent pattern of impulsiveness and inattention, with or without a component of hyperactivity.

ADHD occurs twice as commonly in boys as in girls. ADHD is generally a chronic disorder with 10 to 40% of individuals diagnosed in childhood continuing to meet diagnostic criteria in adulthood. As they mature, adolescents and adults with ADHD are likely to develop coping mechanisms to compensate for their impairment.

Iron supplements are sometimes recommended as a treatment for ADHD. Studies have found that children with ADHD are more likely to have low levels of iron than children without ADHD, and iron deficiency seems to correlate with the severity of ADHD symptoms.

Iron is needed by the body to make the neurotransmitters involved with ADHD, including dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. There is not enough scientific evidence to recommend iron supplements to all children with ADHD. However, there are a few early studies, which have not been confirmed by additional research, suggesting improvement in ADHD symptoms, as well as learning problems, in children low in iron.

The recommended dose of iron sulfate is 5 mg/kg/day. Remember, high doses of iron are toxic, and rarely lethal.