Several studies have linked essential fatty acid (EFA) deficiencies to symptoms of ADHD, like hyperactivity. 123 Fatty acids play many important roles in our bodies, some which aren’t as obvious as others.
This overview of essential fatty acid deficiencies in children with ADHD will help you understand how crucial these nutrients are, and what happens when they are out of balance. Simple steps can be taken to identify and correct an EFA deficiency and improve your child’s nutrition status so that he or she can thrive.
Several studies have provided significant evidence of specific vitamin and mineral deficiencies that are tied to the symptoms of ADHD, including vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiencies in particular are often found in our children exhibiting signs of ADHD. Although it is important that we feed our children a whole food based diet we may need, in situations where our children are found to be deficient, to consider targeted supplementation.
This overview of nutrient deficiencies will give you a starting point to see which ones may be the culprits behind your child’s symptoms of ADHD and other neurodevelopmental disorders. In the end, is not about the diagnosis but the symptoms and underlying root causes, so no matter the diagnosis this may impact your child too!
I’m Tara Hunkin, Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Certified GAPS Practitioner, Restorative Wellness Practitioner, mother, and founder of My Child Will Thrive. I am passionate about helping parents like you because I have been in your shoes. My Child Will Thrive is the resource I wish I had found years ago.
After 13 years — and counting — researching, applying therapies and techniques, succeeding and learning from mistakes, the journey to recover my daughter from multiple neurodevelopmental disorders (dyspraxia, sensory processing disorder, general learning disability, dyslexia, auditory processing disorder…) has been an eye-opening, soul-searching, sometimes lonely trip.
My learning never ends. Whether formally, through courses and conferences, or informally, by reading, listening and research, I am on a mission to transform what I’ve learned into useful, practical solutions for parents who are where I was at the beginning of my journey — confused, determined, scared and hopeful.
Knowing more about your child’s health and the possible underlying causes is the key to finding the path to recovery. Envisioning your child’s total recovery (whatever that means to you) is, dare I say, a reasonable and necessary part of the process. Knowledge is power, hope is fuel.
Jess Sherman is a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Board Certified by The Canadian Association of Holistic Nutrition Professionals (CAHN-pro). She specializes in pediatric, family and maternal nutrition with a particular emphasis on digestive and developmental issues and mental health.
Working within the framework of functional nutrition, her end goal is to guide her clients towards safe, natural and effective tools to help them raise the most physically and mentally resilient children possible and enjoy the amazing lives they deserve.
Jess has completed extra training in weight management, herbal medicine, biomedical approaches to autism spectrum disorders, functional medicine, nutritional supplements, bio-individual nutrition, and she is a certified Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) Practitioner. She is also a certified teacher with bachelor and masters degrees in Education.
Jess has worked with children and families since 1998. She has appeared as a featured nutrition expert on the Child Obesity Summit, and the Transformative Parenting online courses is the nutrition panel expert for Three Little Lambs and is a regular contributor to various blogs including The Maternity and Parenting Institute and Mindful: a better future for children’s mental health. She has taught Nutrition Through The Lifespan at the Institute of Holistic Nutrition in Ottawa and serves on the board of CAHN-pro. She is a member in good standing of the Canadian Association of Nutritional Professionals and also an associate member of the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research.
