Is there any natural therapy that works well for ADHD?

My nephews have ADHD and are non-medicated. I'd like to learn about natural approaches to treating ADHD.

Dr Mary Ann Block, author of "No More ADHD" and "No More Ritalin" and other books in this area, has laid it on the line pretty well, about different things that were found to be creating the "symptoms" that the psychiatrists have labelled ADHD.

Here's a great checklist from her website

Part 1
Does your child eat a lot of sugary products, even at breakfast? Y or N
Does your child drink a lot of caffeinated soft drinks? Y or N
Does your child eat a lot of chocolate? Y or N
Does your child wake up in the morning in a bad mood and then feels better after eating? Y or N
Does your child have trouble waiting to eat? Y or N
Does your child exhibit a "Jekyl and Hyde" personality where she/he is sweet one moment and then angry and hard to handle the next? Y or N

Part 2
Does your child have airborne allergies? Y or N
Does your child have allergies to animals such as dogs, cats, etc.? Y or N
Does your child have chronic respiratory infections? Y or N
Does your child complain of headaches? Y or N
Does your child suddenly change from alert to sleepy even though she/he is rested? Y or N
Does your child's behavior change radically when in certain stores such as grocery stores or linen stores that have fragrances? Y or N
Do you or anyone in your household smoke? Y or N
Do you use air fresheners, plug-ins or sprays or fragrant cleaners in your home? Y or N
Do you have your carpets cleaned often? Y or N
Do you use insecticide in your home or have an exterminator? Y or N
Do your household cleaning products contain fragrances? Y or N

Part 3
My child does not like to read. Y or N
Does your child complain about how things feel, like clothing? "It feels scratchy." Y or N
Does your child not listen well, but hearing tests are normal? Y or N
Does your child seem disorganized but knows where things are? Y or N
Does your child prefer to do projects and presentations over written reports? Y or N
Does your child have difficulty remembering left from right? Y or N
My child is not very coordinated or good at sports. Y or N
My child has difficulty throwing a ball into an intended receptacle, such as a basketball into an intended receptacle or a paper wad into the garbage can? Y or N
My child touches everything of interest. Y or N
My child seems to get confused when asked to follow simple directions. Y or N
My child has trouble with handwriting. Y or N
My child has difficulty remembering more than one verbal request at a time. Y or N
My child has difficulty understanding cause and effect - does not seem to understand simple consequences to specific actions. Y or N

Part 4
Is your child a picky eater? Y or N
Does your child limit his/her foods to only a few? Y or N
Does your child refuse to eat fruits or vegetables? Y or N
Is your child overweight? Y or N
Does your child eat a lot of "fast foods"? Y or N
Does your child eat a lot of processed foods such as cookies, cakes, white breat,
potato chips, etc.? Y or N
Does your child have difficulty sleeping or waking up in the morning feeling rested? Y or N
Does your child bruise or bleed easily but your doctor does not consider it to be a
medical problem? Y or N
Are your child's nails cracked, brittle or discolored? Y or N
Does your child take a lot of medications? Y or N

Part 5
Has your child been prescribed a lot of antibiotics in the past ? Y or N
Does your child eat a lot of sugar and processed carbohydrates such as white bread and pasta? Y or N
Does your child eat a lot of the following foods:
______Mushrooms
______Dry Roasted Nuts
______Commercial Soups
______Bacon
______Apple Cider
______Barbecue Potato Chips
______White Flour
______Soy Sauce and Tofu
______Vinegar and all foods containing vinegar, including salad dressing, pickled vegetables, green olives, and sauerkraut
______Processed meats such as dried and smoked meat, sausage, hot dogs, luncheon meats

Part 6
Does your child have allergies? Y or N

If the answer is yes, please read the following:

鈥?Annals of Allergy, 1993 concluded that allergies by themselves may cause learning impairment.

鈥?Children with allergies performed less successfully, across the board, than children who did not have allergies.

鈥?These children should not have to take tests during their allergy season unless the allergies can be under control.

鈥?Allergies: WIth elimination of allergic foods, artificial colors, preservatives and caffeine, more than half exhibited improvement in behavior. Pediactrics, 1989

"Yes" answers in any or all of the sections are quite common in children misdiagnosed with ADHD.

A "Yes" answer in Part 1 may indicate a possible sugar level problem.

A "Yes" answer in Part 2 may indicate a sensitivity to household and everday chemicals.

A "Yes" answer in Part 3 may indicate a potential learning problem or a learning difference.

A "Yes" answer in Part 4 may indicate nutritional deficiencies.

A "Yes" answer in Part 5 may indicate a possible yeast problem.

Yes, there are many alternatives for treating people diagnosed with ADHD. Don't depend on your psychiatrist to necessarily tell you about them, though, when his paycheck depends on how many drugs he prescribes.

Here is an excellent resource:
http://www.cchr.org/solutions_and_altern...

And a list of several documents on the subject (alternative treatment for all sorts of different kinds of mental illness):
http://www.cchr.org/solutions_and_altern...

And here's a pdf that is very informative, illustrated and easy to read: http://www.cchr.org/media/pdfs/Psychiatr...

Feel free to email me if you have any other questions; I'd be happy to hear from you.

I was in a foster home as a child with another girl who had ADHD, when she first came to the house, she was on several different medications. She was very skinny and not very healthy or happy on the medications. My foster parents had her taken off the medications and provided her with a very structured environment. She had a daily schedule to keep her on track. My foster parents also encouraged her to become involved with sports as an outlet for her energy and frustrations. She ended up running on the cross country team. This was really great for her because she was part of a team, but yet was able to run on her own, not having the best social skills this was good, not too much interaction with others, yet enough to be good. I am not an expert and this was my only real experience with ADHD, but it worked really well for her, hope it helps.

I've heard many stories of adhd and most frequent cause for it seems to be sugary and high carbohydrates foods which seem to be everywhere you go in America. Americans just can't live without their sugar!! No wonder why so many people are adhd.
You can try eating a diet of only chicken or protein + salads for a couple of days and if you are your child experience withdrawals from sugar it means the sugar is the culprit. You just have to cut out on it its not gonna be easy. I have adhd myself and real bad skin but I remember when I cut out on sugar my complexion was so much better! Well hope that helps!

Brand-new research has come out about fish oil and its positive affects on ADHD. You can find info on the research articles on-line. Doctors are very excited about this new study.

If you are looking for non-medication ways, then the info in this article may be of help to you:

i don't know sorry