Food sensitivities often play a HUGE role in ADHD symptoms.
That’s because…
Food Sensitivities = Inflammation in the Body = More ADHD Symptoms
But here’s the key…
Just taking out these foods will NOT be enough!
So many caretakers assume that the food sensitivities are the problem, but really, they’re NOT the problem.
Instead, they’re the RESULT of something else that is going on in the body.
Something caused the food sensitivities in the first place, and if you don’t do anything about this underlying issue, removing the foods won’t be enough.
It might ease the pressure short term because when you remove the foods, you decrease inflammation.
BUT it won’t fix the underlying issue.
So…what’s a caretaker to do when they suspect ADHD food sensitivities are an issue for their child?
In my practice, we don’t just remove the foods that show up on a food sensitivity panel. We ALSO run a couple of other tests to help us determine what caused the food sensitivities in the first place.
Then, we use targeted supplementation to address these underlying issues WHILE also removing the foods that a child is sensitive to.
THEN, once the gut is in a good place (usually in about 6 months or so, depending on the child and level of reactivity), we can typically reintroduce each of those foods without issue.
But again, here’s the key….
Gut healing has to be in place while the foods are removed for the process to be effective.
HERE is a video where I shared about the functional lab tests that I recommend to families who want to look deeper into the body.
Or, keep reading this blog post as I explain more.
There are a few foundational functional lab tests that I typically recommend and use with my clients.
I do have access to hundreds of other tests, but these give you a great starting point to look at the entire body rather than casting the net too wide!
The first test I recommend is a food sensitivity test.
In my experience the best version currently available on the market is called the Vibrant Wellness Wheat Zoomer Test and food sensitivity panel.
The wheat zoomer will tell us a few things. It will tell us what the current state of the gut is, if there are digestion issues, and if leaky gut is present. This is critical due to the importance of the gut brain connection. We can also see the exact level of reactivity to wheat and how it impacts symptoms like eczema, chronic headaches or migraines, emotional dysregulation, mood swings, brain fog, and bowel issues.
If there is leaky gut, there will also be food intolerances, which is why we run a complete food sensitivity panel that looks at inflammatory reactions to over 100 different foods, like chicken, beef, broccoli, blueberries, and much more. This is going to provide us with your child’s food sensitivities so we can further reduce inflammation in the body. This is important because these food intolerances can be exacerbating their symptoms and wreaking havoc on the body, brain, and gut.
To explain this further, I want to link gut function to this test.
Normally, when we eat food, our gut breaks down that food into micronutrient size particles and those particles go through the lining of the gut, into our cells to give us the nutrients we need to function optimally.
However, a lot of our kids have something called leaky gut.
Leaky gut is basically a breakdown of the lining of the gut and it forms these large holes in the lining.
Now when we eat food (even the healthiest food), before the gut has had a chance to break it down, it can go through the holes in the gut and into our bloodstream.
When something foreign goes into our bloodstream, our body recognizes it as a foreign object and turns on an immune response.
But if that large molecule is, in fact, a large food macronutrient or protein, then your immune system might start sending signals to create an immune response and start creating antibodies and attacking it.
The body has a great memory so anytime you eat that food again, your immune system sees it as dangerous and attacks it, which causes more inflammation and continues to further break down the lining of the gut.
All of this results in food intolerances.
Something started the leaky gut, like parasites or antibiotics. Then the leaky gut caused food intolerances, and the food intolerances continue to cause leaky gut.
So in order to heal the gut, you must remove these foods or they will continue to break down the lining of the gut and you won’t be successful.
This test looks for inflammatory reactions in the body to certain foods.
The important thing to remember is food sensitivities are not true allergies, but they do cause inflammation in the body and so you can actually heal from sensitivities.
Once gut function is improved, most people can start to add those foods back in.
Most normal food sensitivity panels only test at the top protein level.
Since a lot of foods have similar protein structures, common sensitivity panels tend to have a lot of false positives and false negatives.
These Food Zoomers test each food down to the peptide level of the food for the most accurate results
The second test that we use is called the Organic Acid Test (or OATS test).
This test looks at over 65 important markers in the whole body and how it is functioning.
It can show the need for specific nutrients, such as b vitamins, which are really important for our compromised kids, diet modification, detoxification, mitochondrial function, oxidative stress, yeast and mold toxicity and other important markers.
A third test I recommend is a Kryptopyrrole test.
Pyrroles are a normal chemical byproduct in the body. They attach to vitamin B6 and zinc and draw these elements out of the body when they’re excreted through the urine.
When a person’s body is in a state of dysfunction, it may cause their body to produce elevated levels of kryptopyrrole, and if this occurs, it can result in a dramatic deficiency of zinc and vitamin B6.
This is also known as Pyroluria and is frequently identified in behavior disorders, ADHD, depression, and aggressive and violent behavior and includes symptoms such as poor tolerance to physical / emotional stress, poor anger control, mood swings, poor short-term memory, and sensitivity to light and sound.
This is a urine test. We send the kit to your house, you take the sample and you send it back to the lab.
If you feel that your child may benefit from having these tests done, or you need help supporting your child through food and natural strategies, I’ve set aside some time for me and my team to speak with you about developing a personalized plan of attack for your child so that you can support your child naturally and get back that calm into your house.
Click this link to book a free call with my team now.
Want to know more about how we can help YOU get to a place of peace and calm with your child using natural strategies?
Let’s talk!
with one of my expert team members to help you take your next step toward a healthier, happier home. There is absolutely NO RISK. It’s free, and there are no obligations. All we will do is chat about how we can help you get to where you want to go!
Alternatively, for more details about how you can help reduce your child’s ADHD symptoms, sign up for my today
And as always, I am not a medical doctor and the above post is based on my experience. No information on this site should be relied upon to make a medical diagnosis, treat, prevent or cure any disease or medical condition.
