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Natural Diets for Kids With ADHD

Many parents prefer to avoid medications for their children with ADHD or ADD. For some kids, making simple dietary modifications can improve focus and behavior. The right natural diet may vary depending upon the child, but can make a big difference in quality of life and even allow children to reduce or eliminate medications like Ritalin, Adderall or Strattera. While these dietary changes are healthy and reasonable, do consult your child's health care provider before reducing or eliminating medications.

  1. The Feingold Diet

    • The Feingold diet is commonly tried to manage the symptoms of ADD and ADHD. This diet eliminates artificial colorings, flavorings and preservatives. Aspirin and salicylate containing foods are also eliminated in stage one of the diet. The dietary modifications and changes in the Feingold diet are fairly easy to implement, as they simply require buying more natural varieties of foods you commonly serve. While statistics vary, the Feingold Association of the United States claims as many as 90 percent of kids with ADHD and ADD will benefit from this diet to a greater or lesser degree.

    General Recommendations

    • While there are several specific diets designed for kids with ADHD, the medical community does agree on some general guidelines that parents may wish to follow. A high-protein diet may be beneficial, along with higher levels of complex carbohydrates and lower levels of simple carbohydrates. Additional Omega-3 fatty acids are a good choice for brain health in general. You may also wish to speak with your child's health care provider about possible vitamin or mineral supplementation that may meet your child's needs. A food diary may help you to notice any problematic foods or food additives.

    The Gluten Free Casein Free Diet

    • Many experts place ADD and ADHD on the autism spectrum, and some parents find that a diet commonly used for children with autism helps their ADHD kids. The GFCF diet removes all foods containing gluten, a protein found primarily in wheat, as well as all foods containing casein, a dairy protein. Many families using a GFCF diet also eliminate food additives as suggested by the Feingold diet. This diet is harder to follow than the other natural diets for ADHD that are commonly suggested, but can have a significant impact in the behavior and quality of life of some children.

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