Stimulant medication may be the most widely-used treatment for ADHD, but more and more parents are looking into natural ADHD treatments after learning about the debilitating side effects of these drugs.  Still, the transition from ADHD medications to natural treatments isn’t always easy. A lot of lifestyle adjustments have to be made, and it takes weeks for any positive changes to appear.   For this reason, parents prefer the quick fix of medication over drug-free treatments, especially if the symptoms are severe. But if there was a way to beat your child’s symptoms without medication and its side effects, wouldn’t you take it?  Here are the most popular ways to beat ADHD without medication.

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Dealing with ADHD symptoms can be frustrating, especially on days when your child seems to be out of control.  In the UnRitalin Solution’s Resource page, we’ve shown you how various nutritional supplements and diets deal with the causes of ADHD and reduce the intensity of symptoms.  However, figuring out what supplements to give to your child and which brands bring the results you desire can be difficult to determine.  In this blog post, I’ll be explaining concepts you can use to decide what vitamins, herbs, and other supplements your child needs to recover from ADHD naturally.

Before anything else: know what you need to treat

The right supplements depend on the possible causes of your child’s ADHD symptoms. For instance, if your child has the classic biological cause of ADHD, products like omega-3 fish oil and pycnogenol will boost neurological function and minimize inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. On the other hand, if your child has a specific nutritional deficiency, you’ll want to replenish these missing nutrients with vitamins and minerals. In other words, consult your child’s doctor and find out the causes of your child’s symptoms before buying supplements. Otherwise, the products you end up getting may not bring the help your child needs.

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As a parent of a child with ADHD, you’ve probably noticed something I observe among my patients: kids with ADHD don’t do well in the winter.  As fall turns to winter and a blanket of snow covers the streets, kids with ADHD tend to:

• Become more hyperactive or impulsive as they grow increasingly restless. In the winter, they have fewer opportunities to burn excess energy or do activities they enjoy outside of school or at home.
• Become more argumentative and oppositional due to the inability to use their regular coping skills, such as outdoor activities or sports, to help them vent their feelings and burn off excess energy.
• Become more distracted and inattentive, resulting in difficulties doing homework or completing errands and chores.
• Experience more disciplinary or legal trouble as their frustration, restlessness, impulsivity, and hyperactivity increases.

Does this sound like your child?

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It’s difficult to quantify what the most effective ADHD treatment is. Because a child experiences more problems than hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention, it’s not uncommon for parents to use more than one method to treat ADHD.   But which of these treatments have the most impact?  According to a new survey from Consumer Reports, stimulants are the most effective ADHD treatment for kids, but parents still think it’s not enough.  In fact, the survey notes that kids who tried alternative treatments besides medication did better than kids who were on medication only. As for the most effective non-medical treatment for ADHD, it turns out that sending children to a school better equipped to deal with ADHD made all the difference.

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We have a lot of articles that explore the relationship between nutrient deficiencies and ADHD.  Often, these nutrient deficiencies and the ADHD symptoms they cause are the secondary effects of a larger underlying problem like leaky gut syndrome.   One of the hottest vitamin supplements at the moment is vitamin D, and many say that it can bring benefits to those with ADHD. Although it’s not as widely studied as zinc or magnesium supplementation, the speculative discussion on this nutrient suggest ways where vitamin D can help someone with ADHD.

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Most pediatricians and psychiatrists diagnose ADHD based on a series of criteria outlined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-IV).  According to the DSM-IV, there are three types of ADHD: inattentive type, hyperactive-impulsive type, and combined type.  But did you know that there are more than three types of ADHD?

Psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen has handled hundreds of children and adults with ADHD and developed a special brain imaging technique called the SPECT test to help him find the cause of the condition.  His work on SPECT imaging made him realize the full complexity of the disorder.  Over the years, he noticed that there are six distinct SPECT patterns in his ADHD patients, and that each requires a specialized treatment. Based on these observations, Dr. Amen came up with the six types of ADHD.

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In our Article Library, you’ll find several discussions on various nutritional interventions for ADHD. Although vitamin C is known more for its immune-boosting and antioxidant properties, some studies suggest that it may play an important role in managing hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention. Before you get excited and start buying vitamin C supplements, take note that vitamin C works more as a secondary treatment that boosts the efficacy of supplements and dietary methods; in other words, it should not be used as a single, stand-alone treatment. Although some of its speculative benefits still need to be confirmed by further studies, it seems like maintaining or increasing vitamin C levels can reduce ADHD symptoms in five ways:

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Kids with ADHD can be very difficult to buy presents for. Like many parents, you are probably at a loss as to what to get for your ADHD child this holiday season. If you buy an expensive toy, there’s a high chance that they’ll accidentally break it or lose interest in it after a few days. But if you get them something too simple, they may not even glance at it, leaving the present to gather dust at the back of a closet.

Before you head out to go Christmas shopping for your ADHD child, take the time to know your child and what hobbies or topics is he or she interested in. Children with ADHD may be fickle and easily bored, but they only behave this way when faced with tasks or subjects that do not interest them. But give them a present related to their real interests, and you’ll find that your child is actually capable of sitting still and staying quiet for hours – and using your present until it naturally falls apart. Here are some gift suggestions that might help you decide what to get your kids this Christmas.

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In the UnRitalin Solution, we place a lot of importance on diet and proper nutrition as a key to overcoming ADHD. Research shows that artificial additives and certain other food substances can aggravate the trademark symptoms of ADHD, including inattention and hyperactive behavior. These foods cause adverse reactions that impact the brain wave patterns in specific areas of the brain, which in turn triggers the ADHD-like symptoms.

Although very few researchers have looked into the actual mechanisms by which food allergies affect ADHD symptoms, a small study done in 1997 was able to document the phenomenon well. Researchers from Australia’s Institute for Child Health Research investigated the changes in brainwave patterns when participants with ADHD ate foods they were allergic too. The results are very telling and support the theory that an intolerance to certain foods are responsible for ADHD-like behaviors.

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If you look through the Unritalin Website, you’ll find several articles showing how herbal remedies alleviate ADHD. Aside from AD-FX and Vaxa Attend, there are five more herbal formulations that can boost brain functions and help children and adults overcome hyperactivity and inattention. Although these supplements are generally safe, seek the advice of your health care specialist before consuming or giving any to your child.

Flavay Plus for Healthy Immune and Nervous Systems

Research shows that the brain and the immune system have a direct influence upon each other’s functions. One way to achieve better neurotransmitter production is to consume vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that can support this connection. Flavay is a powerful nutritional supplement that provides support for both the immune system and nervous system. As an immune system booster, it recycles the activity of vitamins E and C, providing the body with more ammunition against infection and antioxidant protection against free radicals. As food for the brain, Flavay Plus contains phosphatidyl serine, a group of fatty acids and amino acids from soy lecithin that is a proven therapeutic agent against memory disorders. In a clinical trial where 26 children with ADHD took 300mg of phosphatidyl serine daily, 25 of them had improved learning capacity and behavior without any side effects. Other published double-blind studies show that this nutrient can treat depression naturally.

Phosphatidyl serine has another positive effect child with ADHD. The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders report that children with ADHD are likely to have abnormal rhythms in the stress hormone cortisol. Studies show that this nutrient can calm down exaggerated stress in young people by normalizing the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal’s stress-induced activation of the brain. In other words, phosphadtidyl serine regularizes brain activity, allowing the child to concentrate on tasks without jumping from thought to thought.

Finally, Flavay Plus contains other vitamins and minerals known to benefit children with ADHD, such as gingko biloba, zinc, magnesium, B-vitamins, and selenium. A bottle of Flavay Plus costs USD 78 ( 120 capsules per bottle). Available at flavay.com.

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