Natural Remedies for ADHD in Children


Let me start out by saying that I am a fitness blogger. My expertise is not meant to treat or diagnose children with ADHD. Additionally, the natural remedies for ADHD in children that I have observed over the years working with learning disabled kids are things that will bring about better health and wellness to anybody. They won’t drain your pocketbook like the medications that the doctor wants to put your child on. However, since they are natural remedies, you may not see an immediate change of behavior in your child. It may take a few days or a few weeks.

Hydrate Your Child With ADHD

Many people assume that if their child is drinking water occasionally, they are hydrated. This is not the case. The idea that the child is drinking water when they are thirsty is a little laughable to me as well. I have watched many children with ADHD guzzle down sports drinks and sodas in the classroom after lunch of during a break. As someone who has suffered from a more life threatening neurological condition (epilepsy) and discovered the healing benefits of water, I highly recommend that the first step anyone takes towards healing is getting fully hydrated.

The recommended amount of water to fully hydrate an individual is 1/2 an ounce per pound of body weight. In addition to drinking water, it is recommended that you take 1/8 of a teaspoon of sea salt for every 16 ounces of water taken into the body. This will ensure that there is plenty of sodium to transport the water inside the cells where it is most needed.

The body is mostly made up of water. When it is only slightly deficient in water with a one or two percent deficiency in water, it starts to go into a water management mode. Your body will ration the water for the most vital organs. In doing so, not all of the functions of the body will be performed effectively. Removing wastes and toxins that may be one thing that suffers. This could be the cause of your child’s lack of focus as they become chronically dehydrated.

While I’m not saying that you child is definitely dehydrated, I’m saying that this is the first place to start for anyone who is suffering from an illness. In an emergency room, putting in a saline solution is the first thing that doctors will do to ensure that there is enough water and salt in the body for it to assist with healing.

Nasal and Diaphramatic Breathing

Our bodies thrive on oxygen and so do our brains. To promote the best usage of your brain, you will want to be breathing correctly. As I worked in Special Education in the public schools and when I substituted in different classrooms over the years, I would notice the difference in the breathing of kids who have a disability and those who didn’t. The students who were in honors classes and studious almost always were nasal breathers. However, the very low functioning intellectually disabled classrooms were composed of mainly mouth breathers. I don’t think this is a coincidence.

I implemented the Butyeko breathing technique as part of my natural seizure prevention strategy. I discovered many benefits to Buteyko breathing that included an increased ability to focus, improved mental clarity, a reduction in seizure activity, reduction in colds and an improved sleep pattern.

Buteyko breathing exercises help to teach you to slow down your breathing. In doing so, this allows the body to have a better gas exchange in the lungs. Your body is able to use oxygen and carbon dioxide much more efficiently when you slow down your breathing pattern. When you breathe through your mouth, you take in more air than your body needs and it isn’t filtered through the cilia in your nose. This creates a state of overbreathing. It causes the imbalance of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the brain, which creates excess electrical activity in the brain. For some people, this will trigger a seizure, but it other people it will look like inattentiveness.

Buteyko breathing exercises teach you to breathe with your diaphragm and through your nose exclusively. These exercises are best learned through a practitioner, but there are online tutorials and videos that you can watch to learn the basics of Buteyko breathing.

Eliminate the Processed Foods

In our modern world, it can be challenging to get rid of the junk foods in our lives. So many packaged foods are labeled healthy that aren’t. I know that a lot of parents tell me that the diet doesn’t make a difference in their child or that their child eats healthy foods. That is not quite what I experience as I did lunch duty in the cafeteria. I watch as your child pulls out candy and junk foods. Then I see them act crazy in their next class. It can be difficult to change your diet, but it will make a drastic improvement in the overall health.

The most effective diet for healing neurological conditions, such as ADHD, that I have found is the ketogenic diet. The ketogenic diet has the ability to reduce the inflammatory response in the brain. It provides the brain with a quick energy source, fats, that the brain prefers to use. The ketogenic diet is also effective at preventing Alzheimer’s and curing epilepsy. The ketogenic diet is being used by many people in a successful weight loss management program.

Start your kids off right, with some ketogenic breakfasts. Switch from the processed cereals and high carbohydrate bagels to a healthier option such as eggs and bacon. There are many great breakfasts that will fuel your kids brains. As you become more accustomed to the ketogenic diet foods, you can create lunch and dinner meals that are more satisfying and better able to fuel your child’s brain.

Another great diet that is geared towards the brain health is the Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet, which is created by neurosurgeon, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride. She gives a very thorough explanation of how the gut must be healed and sealed to eliminate and eradicate neurological conditions such as ADHD, autism and psychiatric conditions.

Essential Oils

Creating an environment that is calming to the nervous system can benefit children with ADHD. Many people swear by essential oils because they have some healing properties. For a child with ADHD, using an essential oil in the air can help to calm the mind and nervous system.

Specific essential oils for concentration that are used to help children with ADHD include:

  • Roman chamomile (Chamaemelum nobile): soothes and comforts
  • Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia): calms and reduces anxiety
  • Mandarin (Citrus reticulata): quiets, especially when combined with lavender
  • Ylang ylang (Cananga odorata): sedates and calms the emotions
  • Vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides): calms, focuses the mind
    • Frankincense (Boswellia frereana): supports the immune system
  • Patchouli (Pogostemom cablin): soothes the nervous system

Conclusion

Changing aspects of your child’s lifestyle can help to improve or even eliminate the symptoms of ADHD. Before you head out to get a prescription for your child’s ADHD, try a few of these things for a few months to see if their symptoms improve. These are inexpensive home remedies that provide a huge impact on health.

 

 

 

One thought on “Natural Remedies for ADHD in Children”

  1. This is a very enlightening article. One would never think that water, apart from the usual benefits, plays a vital role in children with ADHD. Thank you for sharing.

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