If You Can't Beat 'em, Change Their Diet. Review on Choosing Health food

If You Can't Beat'em, Change Their Diet

not a literal beating, but you knew that, right?

All in a day's work includes the big job of being a mother. The only difference between being a day-care worker and a mom is, no one comes at the end of the day to pick your children up. Not to mention I didn't get paid, well not in cold hard cash. It had long hours and few vacations but it was a job I wouldn't have traded for the world.

My second child almost had me looking for a new career though, I must say. He was born ill, was in intensive care by 9 weeks of age, developed asthma and was HYPER. I thought I did everything right, so where did I go wrong? I breast-fed till he was 4 as he was so ill, tiny and couldn't keep food down. I didn't smoke, drink, not even coffee during pregnancy and my first child slept 15 hours at a time(he slept an average of 3 hours a night). So all I could figure was, it was my punishment for having an overly quiet baby the first time around. It wasn't until I was told he was hyper and something could be done about it that I saw hope. I was ready to try anything.

I was introduced to Dr. Feingold's Diet. This diet had and still has many for and against it but one thing I can say is, it's worth the try. My son was never put on medication for hyperactivity so something was done right and I still have all my hair and we didn't kill each other, so I'd say it works.

Here are a few of the things we found worked. We were told sugar was not the culprit but rather the additives, flavoring and preservatives. Also to my surprise the natural sugar agents in most fruit was a key player in his hyperactivity and aggression. We were told to read, read, read the ingredients to the foods we bought. Boxed cereals are out, because they have BHT and or BHA, these additives are BAD if you read anything with these in it avoid the food.(You will not see them on most cereals as they are not in the food but rather in the wax paper lining to keep the cereal fresher longer). Rye and French bread were ok.

For fruit: bananas, pears, pineapples, pumpkin, lemons and limes are ok fruits plus he could have apples if they were fresh but stored or winter apples had a change in natural sugars. All berries were bad and after he was on the diet for a while and he had 2 or 3 strawberries he would bounce off the walls. He tolerated white grape juice but not red(but this was only introduced after he was on the diet awhile and much calmer).

Fast foods were out but we could take him to a family restaurant after the diet had started working. Try to avoid all processed food and anything boxed, such as Kraft Dinner, canned ravioli, bought desserts, hot dogs, cheese slices and so on. These foods were replaced with homemade macaroni and cheese, homemade soups, hamburgers from fresh ground beef and I found a lot of dessert I could make such as homemade Jell-O or puddings with natural flavors rather then a boxed kind.

We were surprised at the treats he could have, such as Lays potato chips(plain only), 7-up pop(all natural, truly the un-cola) Popsicles in chocolate, lemon, lime, and banana were ok and homemade pizza without the pepperoni, and he could have. We also bought hard candies from the health food store in many flavors, called Sorbees and semi sweet carob macaroons. Natural peanut butter too as it didn't have the additives in it.

Things we were to avoid that weren't food were things like toothpaste(water and salt was used to brush his teeth) un-scented laundry soap and hand soap. I was to avoid perfumes and lipsticks around him too. These all had smells that affected hyperactivity. You can't keep them completely away from these things but in the home you can. Flavored vitamins were also a no-no(colors, flavors).

Another thing that I found helpful was giving them protein before bed. Peanut butter and crackers or cheese and crackers were suggested as protein, helps them relax and sleep better than say bread or fruit. We found that giving him a cup of tea before bed helpful too as it calmed him. He had coffee believe it or not as a calmer too. We were told caffeine works differently for hyper people(I'm also hyper and these have never kept me awake at night). But these should be tried after the diet has been started. My son's teachers in grade 7 and 8 were known to send him to the teacher's lounge for a coffee if he was too wind up during class and it worked.

A lot of these are also trial and error after the diet has been established, because some foods bother some more than others so you start with the basic and then add one item at a time later. Please keep in mind I'm FAR from an expert on this matter but my son is now almost 25 and he did really well on this type of diet. He changed tremendously after being on this diet. Aggression was almost none existent, he could concentrate, grades improved and sleeping was threefold for the night. He was an'A' student in most of his grades, while I can't promise you this, I do know he couldn't have done it the way he was going. Mood swings went away too on this diet(other than the normal childish ways). This diet was good for all children and I fed the same foods to my day-care children at lunchtime too(in most cases).

Another thing I was told and it worked was to give my son games that made him think. Rather than trucks we gave puzzles, blocks, crafts, anything that would not make him bored(mind wise). His brain was always thinking so he had to have something that would make him think and playing with cars and trucks didn't keep his attention.  Today's children have the wonderful use and access to the computer world.

I put this under health food for the simple reason, changing my child's diet was the healthiest choice as opposed to giving him Ritalin or other drugs for hyperactivity.