Carter 1993: Effects of a Few Foods Diet in Attention Deficit Disorder

girleatingArchives of Disease in Childhood, November 1993, Vol. 69 (5), pp.564-8

59 of 78 children (75.6%) referred for “hyperactive behavior” improved on an open trial of an elimination diet.  19 of them were studied in a placebo-controlled double-blind challenge protocol.

QUOTE:   “Clinicians should give weight to the accounts of parents and consider this treatment in selected children with a suggestive medical history.”

NOTE:  Ritalin “works” for about 75% of children, who cannot be identified in advance, and is considered a first-line treatment in spite of its side effects and questionable long-term effectiveness.  If an elimination diet which has no side effects beyond having to learn some new recipes also works for 75% of children, who cannot be identified in advance, why is it relegated to “selected children with a suggestive medical history?”  The Feingold Association believes that an appropriate diet such as the Feingold Diet should be offered as a first-line treatment to all children or adults with ADHD symptoms.    I agree.

NOTE:  Who is the Feingold Diet for?  As Jane Hersey, author of Why Can’t My Child Behave? said, it’s not for everybody — but only for people who eat.

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