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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    What foods should be avoided if my child has ADHD?

    Related Topics
    Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Children's Health Nutrition
    • 1 answer
    • Joan Breakey
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    Joan Breakey

    Dietitian

    Joan is an Accredited Practising Dietitian who has specialised in diet investigation of suspected food chemical intolerance. Tolerating Troublesome Foods is her latest book. Joan … View Profile

    An important idea is that the food-sensitivity is in the child, not
    in the diagnosis. The first step is to exclude those food
    chemicals that most food-sensitive children react to. These are
    things like artificial colours, flavours, and most preservatives,
    whether they're natural or artificial. Other groups
    of compounds that are natural but are similar in chemical shape,
    are salicylates, amines, and glutamates.

    Of the 100% of children who react to colours and flavors, 80%
    also react to salicylates, in particular tomato sauce and
    acidic fruit and about 80% also react to chocolate. So just cutting out additives is not enough. About 50% react to MSG. There are also a group who react to dairy and wheat, especially if they had an adverse reaction to those in their infancy. Those investigating diet can stay on the diet for 4 weeks, then do
    challenges. It is the doing challenges that is the point where we are clarifying whether or not diet has a role or not.

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