Awhile ago, on one of the forums (don't ask me which one...can't remember!) the subject of a vegetarian diet was being discussed. Not wanting to get into a discussion here of a meat versus non meat lifestyle, I think I read that there was a study going on somewhere concerning the connection between children raised on a meatless diet and ADD. Something about the lack of cholesterol and animal fat for brain development. Does anyone know anything about this? I'm concerned about our 5 yr. old granddaughter and the fact that she will not touch beef or pork at all and barely nibbles a piece of chicken occasionally. She's very active and has a very short span of attention!! Thanks in advance!!!

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2002

Answers

Marcia, I haven't read any studies about that. But something is sure going on, as so many folks seem to have it...it seems like a good candidate for environmental reasons.

I have a good friend with ADD (diagnosed in his 40s, finally, thank God.... and Ritalin has really helped him, although he still has the socialization problems from 40 years untreated.) I have always suspected myself of being within the diagnostic range, too.

I hope for the best for your grandaughter (of course with you as her grandmother, she's got a good resource!!)

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2002

I read a pamphlet about ADD/ADHD at the pharmacy this week. My son is easily frustrated to the point of crying or rage (since birth) and doesn't always pick things up quite as fast as some other kids his age. Basically he's your average 5 year old. This pamphlet, more accurately, was about the effect of a lack of certain fatty acids (omega I guess)on the brain and health. Studies have shown that those with attention problems are often deficient in these fatty acids. I know that my son has to be lacking because he does not indulge in the foods that would supply these for his body. This particular product is called Attention Discipline Dynamics and can possible help children and adults with attention problems by supplying the body with fatty acids. The ingredients are tuna oil, evening primrose oil, and thyme oil as a preservative agent. A bottle of 120 capsules is $13.99 Canadian. I figured that if it doesn't help, at least it sure can't hurt. There's a lot to be said of the ol' cod liver oil treatment of our childhoods eh? How does a vegetarian access the fatty acids required by a human to develope and grow properly? I know flax is a source of some but what else?

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2002

The connection of "ADD" to essential fatty acids has mostly to do with the way our food has been bastardized in the past 25 years. The phony fats, which are high in omega-6, are everywhere, cuz they are cheap to produce. Our bodies need both, cuz we cannot produce them and need them from food, but in the corrrect, natural proportions. The overabundance of omega 6's essentially compete with the omega- 3's, which are the fats researchers have found seriously lacking in kids with attention problems. Omega 3's are found in fish, in green plants, in nuts, seeds and beans, and in GRASS FED MEAT and dairy products. Grain fed animals, which is virtually ALL commercial meat, is unnaturally high in Omega 6, and practically devoid of Omega 3.

Marcia, what *does* your granddaughter eat? Does she eat a lot of snack foods or convenience foods that would contain those nasty oils that are high in omega 6??

Vegetarians can get their supply of Omega 3 if they eat dairy and eggs, and of course the source should be pasture-raised. Vegans are outaluck.

Alison, it sounds like if you cannot try to get omega 3's into your son, and reduce the 6's that supplement sounds like a good one to me. Fish oils and borage oil and evening primrose are good.

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2002

I know you can eat borage. Said to taste like cukes and be good in salads. Whether or not you could eat enough, I don't know. Couldn't vegans take supplements?

So, EM, how're things going on setting up your network (or whatever you call it) of folks raising grass-fed critters? Or did you bag that idea, and I can't remember?

ADD, as I understand it, does not have to include the hyperactive part, and it is far more common (and overlooked) in girls than in boys. Want me to see if I can find the article? I read it some time back, but I could scratch around and see if I could come up with it!

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2002

A couple of things that I found:

http://www.add.org/content/women/girls.htm

http://www.feingold.org/home.html

-- Anonymous, June 28, 2002

The doctor wanted my son checked for ADD. Turned out he had food allergies that changed his personality. Dairy was the main culprit. When I did the test on him (withold anything dairy for 5 days then give a glass of milk on an empty stomach) he was well behaved in school until the day after the test, then he was out of control. Since I did the test with him, I also found out that I was allergic to milk too. That explains all the "daydreaming" and bad grades I used to get in school because I would have Carnation Instant Breakfast in the morning and an ice cream sandwich for lunch.

Ever have dejavu (why or why don't we have spelling check here?) YOu know what I mean, when you think you have seen or done something before. That's food allergies.

Now Marcia, If your granddaughter is eating the good stuff and not alot of junk food, (Now by junk food I also mean the processed stuff like Rice a Roni, boxed Mac and Cheese, etc. Most have food coloring and preservatives which is what I think gives a kid ADD.) AND if she is taking a NATURAL vitamin, not Flintstones or Blues Clues, she should be okay.

I got the family to use Flax seed (for a little while anyway) buy putting the whole seed into a pepper mill on the table(once ground it turns rancid fast so either refrigerate ground stuff or grind it as you go along). My son enjoyed grinding his own seed onto his meal, which did not change the taste or texture. Flax seed oil cannot be cooked with but can be added to salad with a slightly nutty taste.

If you would like to know more about how I found out about all my son's allergies, please e-mail me direct. His problems were found in the second grade and he just graduated 8th with High Honors and an award for Intellectual Curiosity.

-- Anonymous, June 30, 2002

That Feingold diet link I posted was about the role of preservatives and additives also. Very interesting!

-- Anonymous, June 30, 2002

Earthmama, I read a MEN article about grass fed beef andwas impressed. Question...I have a Holstein calf that I am raising for baby beef this fall and he is on pasture but I also feed calf or dairy ration (I am switching to dairy to get away from medication). Will he still be too omega 6ish? How can I grow a calf without supplementation?..everyone (even the organics feed folks) tell me to use a ration on him. Any thoughts, Em?

-- Anonymous, July 02, 2002

Thanks for all the info, everyone! And, Joy...that Feingold site certainly was packed with good information!!

EM and Dee...no, my granddaughter does not eat very healthy at all!! We do our best to get salads and homegrown meat into her when she happens to be here, but now it seems she wont eat ANY meat! I know for a fact that she ends up at MacDonald's quite often and will eat the MacNuggetts. But her mother is a lousy cook (personal opinion!) and does practically no cooking at home. Many of their meals are the prepackaged "junk" foods. She does take vitamins, but she takes whatever is popular at the moment (cartoon character). I'm going to try to "delicately" mention some of this info to her mother, or maybe it's safer to send it over by email!! Harry and I want to help if we can, but don't want to be accused of "butting" in!

-- Anonymous, July 02, 2002

Back when I was a teenager I used to babysit for twin boys who were absolute terrors. They were by far the worst-behaved kids in our church, rumor had it that one of them even tried to kill the other. I dreaded babysitting for them, but at the time I was the only girl in our church of babysitter age so I was out of luck. This was back before ADD was 'discovered', when 'hyperactive' was the popular term. Then their mother put them on the Feingold diet and their behavior did a complete 180. They were calm, respectful, and started doing well in school. It was hard for them to give up all their favorite junk foods, and boy could you tell when they'd snuck in something they shouldn't have!

-- Anonymous, July 02, 2002

Alison, how old is your calf, and how long have you had him? And, if I might ask, why are you going to butcher him so young?

-- Anonymous, July 02, 2002

Marcia, I understand your frustration about your grandbaby's diet. Unfortunately all we can ever do is make folks aware of things they may not know, and then hand it over for the Universe to take care of. I'm sure you're fully aware of how defensive some people get when we start givin them advice! (course they probably wouldn't get defensive if something didn't ring true! :))

It's so sad how familiar a scenario this is nowadays; people being virtually poisoned by the food they eat, and still refusing to change. They'd rather take a pill to control their behaviour than go to all the inconvenience of feeding themselves and their kids a natural diet. I see it all the time, and know lots of folks like that. All we can do is shake our heads.

We know this guy who Bren used to work for; he started a computer consulting business a few years back around when we first moved back to the midwest. One day he brought his family out to our farm to pickup some meat and spend some time in the country; the kids were holy terrors! Whiney, loud, temper tantrums, abusing the animals......it was unbelievable. It was obvious the parents had no clue how to handle them either. When they finally got ready to go, we went with them as they herded the little darlings into their minivan. As soon as they put em in their carseats, they handed each of them a pepsi and a bag of candy! I noticed several empty soda cans and empty wrappers on the floor. They admitted they gave them the stuff to keep them occupied! Geesh........and this guy is really smart too! He sold his company a couple years ago for several million dollars. I have no idea why they bought our meat........I doubt it made a dent in their overall diet! His wife has been hospitalized for bulimia and depression several times...............clueless to even give a change of diet a try. Sad...

Joy, yes vegans can take supplements. In fact, they have to take them to stay alive! Lotus has a very good friend who is a vegan and she often stays here; she always brings her own "food", and a huge bag of supplements. Totally weird. Nice kid though. She's in town a lot cus she has been having surgeries and therapies on her mouth for the past couple of years because her jaw is deformed. (lifelong vegan). Sad.

We ARE what we eat! (now if I could just exorcise my love of chocolate!)

About the meat business: I'm still in limbo about that. Actually more like purgatory! I'm seemingly unable yet to make a decision about things surrounding this issue, so I'm still sitting on it, driving myself nuts. I'm distracting myself with the internet business. I have connected several people who are looking for grass-fed meat with farmers though.

-- Anonymous, July 03, 2002

Alison, did you get an answer about your calf?

-- Anonymous, July 09, 2002

Hi EM. I'm butchering him young to try for what is called "baby beef" instead of waiting for another year and feeding him through the winter. As per your opinion I have reduced his ration intake and am giving him some hay to make up the difference since I'm not sure he grazes enough to fill his tummy. Its getting prettyy short in places and the longer stuff is getting old and tough.

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2002

Alison, if there's any way you can get that pasture divided up into sections as soon as possible, this would take care of your degrading pasture problem. In order for a grass-fed system to work, you must do rotational grazing, because the grass must be high quality, fresh, young forage, preferably with about a third legume content, and all sections that are not being grazed are resting and growing for the next rotation. Even dividing it in half for now would help. If its impossible for you to do this, at least this year, then the next best thing (for the calf and the quality of your meat) would be to find a way to bring fresh grass to HIM every day. (good job for children). If you cannot do this either, let him have as much excellent quality hay as he wants along with his slim pickins outside. I want to emphasize that you won't be able to eliminate his grain inputs entirely,as one would on a properly set-up rotational system (most of the work and expense is in the beginning.......in fencing.....but a couple strands of electric which you move around is all lots of folks use), cuz he wont get enough calories. But dont worry about it, it will still be healthier than most beef, (although baby beef isnt terribly flavorful, IMO), and there's always next year!

-- Anonymous, July 14, 2002