How have you modified your ADHD childs diet?

[Deenice]

My 7 yr old daughter is a tiny thing borderline underweight at just over 40 lbs, I'm afraid to take away too much carbs and fats. This is also why medication is my last resort, she can't afford to lose her appetite.

I have cut out a few things from my daughters diet but just curious as to how and to what lengths you have gone to modify your childs diet for optimum results.

[Kaysmom84]

HI, I too have a son who is extremely underweight! He is 10 years old and was recently diagnosed with adhd. We are also only considering medication as a last resort. We have altered his diet by upping the protein and good fats, and cutting down on fast burning simple carbs. The biggest change has been in breakfast, I now wake up extra early to have time to prepare an egg breakfast with whole wheat toast, milk and orange juice for my whole family. We have slowly begun to see improvements nothing drastic but no more morning sugar crashes, and it seems to fill him up for much longer!

[sylah]

Hi there! I work with clients on their nutrition everyday. Have you tried complex carbs? Such as quinoa, brown rice, brown rice pasta, etc. Also, like the previous reply, protein and healthy fats are great as they keep you full longer. As long as she is getting enough calories from these foods she should be fine. Also, if you are not doing this already, take her grocery shopping and have her pick out healthy choices so she will be more likely to enjoy them Hope this helps!

[sylah in reply to sylah]

Oh and by the way, we just started our son on a no gluten and dairy diet. It's fairly simple to do at our home because I already don't eat those foods. I also slip in omega supplement (in a liquid sorbet taste) in his OJ.

[Arauch]

I use to watch a little girl who had this issue. I would have to give her protein shakes for kids and adults to help get something into her stomach.

The one thing we learned was to go onto Atkins and use their recipes which kept a lot of the food she loved with not as many carbs. (Considering your child is younger than the one I watched I wouldn't cut carbs too much considering she still needs them to grow.)

The other thing that worked was making smoothies. The base is very simple 1 cup yogurt, 1 cup ice, and 1 scoop of whey powder. From there you can add in fruits and some veggies. She would love it when I would put in a banana, oatmeal and peanut butter with either raisins or chocolate chips.

At this point I would worry more about having the little one gaining weight vs changing their diet due to ADHD.

Best of luck to you