Daniel G Amens high protein diet!

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I recently started my 8 yo daughter on a high protein low carb (no sugar) diet. It is doing WONDERS and she’s really getting into it. It’s been about a month now and I can’t believe the difference. Her hyperness has gone WAY DOWN and she can concentrate much better. She’s remembering things and has a sense of “maturity” about her that was not present before. Note, I did also start her on an EFA supplement (Efalex) at the same time. I do believe a lot of this is due to the diet, however. I started eating this way in June and feel like a million bucks.

I did A LOT of experimenting because she is also picky. Some other ways to get protein I found are eggs and nuts. She has both every day. I also buy organic plain yogurt and put in my own berries & fruit (bought frozen). The yogurt has a surprisingly substantial protein content too.

We do a lot of pepperoni and beef jerky for snacks, which is a more “fun” way to get some protein in. Another one that we all love for lunch is meat “roll-ups.” Take some ham and cheese and roll it up with a really light layer of sour cream to help hold it together. Another favorite is thin sliced salami rolled with cream cheese and green onions (my daughter is picky but for some reason loves green onions- go figure!).

I’ve also found that a protein and a carb for breakfast is a good start to the day in terms of giving the ability to concentrate/stay awake— we usually do a hard boiled egg and whole grain toast with sugar free jam or a sugar free Blueberry waffle with butter plus a little fruit.

We still do have sugar occasionally (for class treat or a family outing, etc.). To replace her sugary treats I’ve been using the yogurt with berries, Sugar free ice cream, Jell-O or sugar free cookies. It was a tough call deciding wether to let her have artificial sweeteners. I decided, for me, it was better than giving her real sugar. Funny thing is her taste for sweets have nearly disappeared after only about a month. She tends to stray away from foods with real sugar because they make her feel horrible now. The fake sweetened foods don’t appeal to her much either and she does not eat them every day any more.

Just wanted to share because I think our experience with this has been a MIRACLE. When I first thought about doing this I figured it would be IMPOSSIBLE for my daughter follow. It took a lot of experimenting but we’ve finally gotten things right. What amazes me most is she recognizes that she feels so much better now (used to have a lot of stomach upset and tiredness aside from the behavior problems). She notices that she can concentrate better and knows that these new foods are helping make that happen.

Also, just as an FYI this is not for losing weight (she’s skinny enough). Make sure you add the 5 veggies/fruits per day and whole grains, yougurts, and other no sugar items that contain carbs or you could induce weight loss. A “free meal” at Mickey D’s every once and a while doesen’t hurt either (they are KIDS after all!).

I have not read the Daniel Amen book. I’m going to look for it— sounds right up my alley. As far as protein shakes go, I have heard of people giving them to kids but I’m not sure if that was “okay” or not. I’ve had them and I think they are yucky. You could take a little protein shake powder and “sneak” it in some yogurt or something though— that should cover the taste. Good luck with the protien thing— I truly believe it will help.

Hi, I just wanted to share our experience with a higher protein, lower carb diet. My dd was dx’d with ADHD in 1997. Becuase of the appetite suppression from stims, I found myself focusing on giving her a “good” breakfast. Quickly I found that a good breakfast for her meant proteins, at that time, I also started cutting out empty calorie type foods that provided no nutrition since her appetite was so poor, of course that meant sugary foods, cookies, cakes, pretzels, chips, etc. Fast forward to the past year. My husband decided to get his diet, and weight under control. He researched and decided to do the Atkins. He isn’t ADHD, but he did find that he was more alert, had more energy, and simply felt much better eliminating carbs from sugar, white flour, and initially grains in general (he has since added some carbs from grains). I started looking at the 40-30-30 diet (very similar to the “Zone” which many athletes use) for myself and my swimmer daughter, so the whole family went on it. Again, I see an improvement for my ADHDer. She is not hyper, so removing sugar has no bearing on behavior, but what I see is that her body seems to better utilize the nutrients. We know that it takes the body longer to use proteins than sugars, and with my dd it is very easy to see. When she eats more sugars I can tell when they are being eliminated, she becomes less focused, and more irritable. I wonder if ADHDer’s don’t metabolize sugar a bit differently than the general population. Maybe they use them even faster, causing an even more rapid decrease in blood glucose than others which may account for the behaviors we see? Not that sugar causes hyperactivity, but that the rapid decent of blood glucose causes behavior issues? Any thoughts anyone? I know it’s not a very scientifically sound theory, but just a thought.
Alicia

By the way, the idea of high protein nutrition for ADHD - ADD - Hyperactivity is not new. Good nutrition is mentioned in books by Lyndon Smith, M.D. and Anita Uhl Brothers, M.D. Good nutrition is essential for good, overall health. ADHD is not a nutritional deficiency disease. Some children and adults have mediocre or poor nutritional habits so looking at improving their nutrition is good.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/adhd.cfm

http://www.mhs.com/jad/abstracts/v4n1.htm

http://www.nutrition.gov/

http://www.barc.usda.gov/bhnrc/

[quote=”Rebelmom”]I am currently reading Daniel Amen and I find his openmindedness about treatment amazing. It is almost spooky because before I even read/heard of him I had kind of figured a lot of this out on my own. I have to pat myself on the back; I learned long ago about food colorings. I can’t ignore what aerobic exercise is doing for him. I never put him in therapy because I felt he didn’t need it and it would make him feel bad. By Amens standard, he doesn’t seem to need it.

The only thing I had completely wrong (so far, I’m still reading) was the protiens vs. carbs. I hadn’t realized my families high carb, low protien diet could be an issue. So, today I’m off to the store for what few meats he will eat (fish, chicken, keilbasi) and things like whole grain cereal and beans. Getting him to eat proteins will be hard enough. Keeping him away from carbs will be a huge undertaking. Has anyone ever used protein shakes? Are they approved for kids? Are they yucky?[/quote]

Thanks!

My ds is not into sugar but could exist on rice and pasta indefinitely, and breakfast has been a real problem. To get some protein in him I tried a protein drink I heard advertised on local radio—Whey Delicious. It is surprisingly unyucky tasting, particularly with soy vanilla milk. He has a glass every morning so at least he starts the day off with 22 grams of protein in him. You can find this through a google search. They take orders by telephone as well and delivery is prompt.

Go back in time and talk to your grandparents or oldest relatives you have about how they ate. Fast food meant meal preparation didn’t take hours maybe just making a healthy sandwich.

My grandparents never bought prepared lunch meat sandwiches were either PB&J, left over roasts, chicken, tuna or cheese. Out to eat was a special occasion at as nice a restuarant as was affordable eating well prepared food.

Having a coke was a treat not an everyday occurance, fruit pie was a common dessert. Cookies were homemade.

Think about it!

This website is not learning related at all but it is health and diet related and has lots of info on how diet affects us - those interested in this thread are likely to be interested in this website… www.mercola.com

Check out his book, “The No Grain Diet”.

I just have to agree with all that has been said. My son now tells his little brother that he shouldn’t eat such junk.

I call them my magic eggs. When he gets his eggs and bacon in the morning he is completely different than when he goes for cereal because he is in a rush. He notices it too and asks for the eggs.

He doesn’t like the shakes but the stonyfield farm drinkable yogurts are good and free from the colorings of some of the other kids yogurts.