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Chapter 3

Help For Hyperactive Children
And ADD / ADHD

(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder)
 

Summary: Parents need to understand that ADD / ADHD has a definite cause. When that cause is removed the child will usually recover. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - sometimes referred to as Attention Deficit Disorder - is as widespread as the refined foods and the food additives that play such a major role in causing ADD / ADHD. Once you have read the information below you will realise that Ritalin and other ADD / ADHD medications achieve nothing more than the suppression of symptoms. If we remove the cause of Attention Deficit Disorder, the symptoms will soon abate and no medication will be necessary.

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While most people eat freely of refined foods, never imagining that refined foods are harmful, the truth is that refined foods are a major cause of physical, mental and social ills.

To demonstrate the effect that refined, `junk foods' have on our moods and on our behavior, Dr Alexander Schauss encouraged the staff and the pupils at a number of schools in the United States to carry out an experiment that involved feeding three different diets to three different groups of rats. In every school and in every case the results were the same. These results are tabulated in Figure 7.

It is interesting to note that in all of the schools where this experiment was conducted, the pupils urged that the experiment be terminated because they could no longer stand to witness the effect that the poorest diet had upon the third group of rats.

We should not be surprised to discover that, after having witnessed the results of this experiment, most of the students lost their relish for `junk food.'

Some time after this, Dr Schauss had another major breakthrough, except this time his subjects were not rats, but humans . . .

The article below was originally published in Women's Value Magazine

Are Your Children
On a Diet to Delinquency?

Alexander Schauss has scientific proof that what you eat not only affects your physical shape but your state of mind, too. It follows that your eating habits could actually determine your personality. Are you on a diet to delinquency? Barbara Griggs investigates this controversial issue that could change any mom's ideas on nutrition.

Every schoolchild knows that we are what we eat. That too much rich, sugary food can lead to heart attacks. That bingeing on butter and cheese is bad for us. That not eating enough fruit and vegetables may lower our resistance to diseases like cancer. That fatness is the foe to fitness.

But the idea that what we eat can also affect our minds, even our behavior, still strikes most people as bizarre and unacceptable.

Alexander Schauss used to be one of the doubters. Back in the mid-Seventies, he was a probation officer in the United States. His job was to evaluate correctional centres for juvenile delinquents in the State of South Dakota.

One day, when he was inspecting one of the centres, the `house parents' who ran it invited him to stay for lunch. Rather apologetically, they explained, they had some ideas about diet which he might consider a little odd. They liked the children to have completely natural food, so they grew their own vegetables and froze the surplus for winter. Sweet fizzy drinks, tea and coffee were all banned and the bread and cereals served were all [unrefined] wholegrain.

Schauss checked their records as soon as he got back to his office. He found that although they were getting some of the worst cases in the state, many of the children were ready for discharge after three months and none stayed longer than six.

When children with similar records were sent to other institutions, where the staff had sophisticated training and the children were given psychiatric counseling, they were still likely to stay there for up to two years. Some of the homes had the same positive, caring sort of attitude towards their charges, too. Could the difference in results be due to – diet?

Schauss has been studying the possibility with growing concern ever since. He put himself through crash courses in nutrition and biochemistry, he devoured the latest research on food and chemical allergies, and the ways they could affect mind and mood. And, when he tested his novel diet therapy on dozens of probation cases, he found it worked for many of them.

A Theory Goes on Trial

Alexander Schauss is a gifted and dedicated man. He had been the youngest probation officer ever in the United States, and his name was respected in the profession. Consequently his theory wasn't just dismissed out of hand. Soon calls were flooding in from all over the United States asking for more information. And dozens of informal trials were going on.

The results seemed to bear Schauss out. When junk food was junked, delighted teachers reported quieter classrooms, more attentive children, peaceful bedtimes and fewer disturbed nights.

The American public became interested when Schauss appeared on a popular TV chat show to talk about his theory – that diet can have an adverse effect on our behaviour. A year later, when he published a book on the subject (called Diet, Crime and Delinquency), it was an instant best seller.

But hunches and hearsay are not convincing enough. The Schauss theory ran into opposition – particularly from the giant food processing companies, who were outraged by suggestions that their colas, sweets and packet puddings might be responsible for America's escalating rate of violent crime.

Some sort of scientific proof was needed. Stephen Schoenthaler, an American university expert on criminology, saw Schauss's TV appearance and phoned to tell him that, in his view, the diet-delinquency connection was absurd. In any case, he asked, where were the scientific studies to substantiate it?

`Why don't you do them?' Schauss suggested. To his surprise, Schoenthaler agreed.

The Search for Proof

Soon afterwards, in a correctional centre for delinquents in the state of Virginia, the first semi-scientific study of the Schauss theory took place.

It involved 68 children, and the changes in the menus were drastic. Out went their favourite colas, syrupy tinned fruits, synthetic sweetened juices, sweet cereals, chocolate bars, ice creams, pies, biscuits and pastries. And instead of the forbidden goodies, the children were offered
oranges and apples, peanuts, carrots, cheese, peanut butter and cream cheese.

After seven months, when Schoenthaler studied the home's reports, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The number of occasions when the inmates had been in trouble was down a staggering 80 percent. Coincidence? It hardly seemed possible.

Mystified, Schoenthaler suggested extending the experiment for another 17 months – and the people running the home were only too happy to agree. This time though, 276 children were involved, divided into two groups. One group ate the old high-sugar junk-food snacks. The other group was switched to the new healthier way of eating.

The results, once more, were startling. The number of black marks for bad behaviour against children on the healthier diet fell by almost half.

Even more interesting, it was the worst class of offenders which showed the most dramatic reduction: assault fell by 82 percent, theft by 77 percent. The delinquents who were there for the worst crimes – assault, rape, robbery and vandalism – benefited most of all.

Putting Theory Into Practice

The Schauss theory still has its opponents. Sections of the food industry remain unconvinced that there is a proved link between what we eat and the way we act. Some doctors – notoriously conservative and often not much interested in nutrition – still condemn it. Psychiatrists, seeing their traditional territory invaded by armies of nutritionists, have reservations about it. And catering staff are reluctant to change the habits of a lifetime.

But the people running prisons and remand homes in America have discovered another pressing reason for taking the Schauss theory seriously: money.

As crime rates soared throughout the Seventies, prison populations increased – and so did the cost of keeping them. Anything that would help to cut the bill – such as reducing the number of young offenders, or shortening their stays in custody – was welcome.

In 1981, the members of Los Angeles County Council, which runs many correctional institutions, voted unanimously to ban all refined carbohydrates (sugar, white flour, white rice, and the foods made from them) from all of their juvenile custody centres. The evidence was good enough for them: there is a connection between diet and delinquency.

This gave Schoenthaler a chance to mount a scientific study on a grand scale. This time, nearly 17 000 delinquents were involved. Still the results were the same: black marks for bad behaviour fell by almost half.

Moreover, it isn't just behaviour that changes for the better when children are fed a healthy diet. Classroom performance improves, too. At least it has in New York, where school meals have been systematically de-junked, with impressive educational results.

The School Meal Revolution

Liz Cagan is the live wire behind the New York project and she was made Chief Administrator of the city's school-lunch programme. Her qualifications were two-fold: she was a budgetary whizz and she was also a mum, well used to feeding a growing family both cheaply and healthily.

When she first took over, criticisms were flooding in about the quality of food being dished up in New York's 803 schools. Liz quickly found that the complaints were justified. Meals were monotonous, nutritionally poor and unattractively served. A typical lunch might be a hamburger and bun, chips and a glass of milk. Not surprisingly, half of the food ended up in the dustbin, a horrifying waste of money.

Liz took the situation firmly in hand. As there were no trained dietitians on the staff, she decided to be guided by her own experience – after all, she felt, what was wrong with the way she had fed her own kids?

To get the children interested and cooperative, she gave them a voice in planning their own meals. She set up nutrition committees in every school, issued thousands of questionnaires, and launched a regular news sheet – called, appropriately, Feedback.

Dingy cafeterias were rechristened Dining Rooms, and the children were given small grants to decorate them themselves, out of school hours.

Today, New York's school children sit down to a wide choice of appetizing, nutritious foods. Items on offer might include: wholewheat lasagna and pizzas, hamburgers in whole-wheat buns, freshly cooked vegetables, salads and fresh fruit. Meat, fish and vegetables are all of prime quality and non-beneficial additives – colourings, preservatives and flavourings – have been outlawed totally from the menu.

The academic performance of US schools is evaluated nationwide, and given a percentage rating. Over the four years during which their menus were nutritionally improved, the average rating of New York schools climbed from eleven percentage points below the national average to five points above it.

So there you are. The proof is in the pudding. What we eat not only makes us what we are, it affects the way we act and think. It all gives new meaning to the old expression `food for thought'.

Women's Value, April 1990, p. 11

Does it really work in schools? Well here is a short report about one school that stepped out and changed the diet of the children - and the results were more than amazing.

Nutrition Basics
Applied in a School

In Appleton, Wisconsin, a revolution has occurred. It’s taken place in the Central Alternative High School. The kids now behave. The hallways aren’t frantic. Even the teachers are happy. The school used to be out of control. Kids packed weapons. Discipline problems swamped the principal’s office. But not since 1997. What happened? Did they line every inch of space with cops? Did they spray valium gas in the classrooms? Did they install metal detectors in the bathrooms? Did they build holding cells in the gym? Afraid not.

In 1997, a private group called Natural Ovens began installing a healthy lunch program. Huh? Fast-food burgers, fries, and burritos gave way to fresh salads, meats "prepared with old-fashioned recipes," and whole grain bread. Fresh fruits were added to the menu. Good drinking water arrived. Vending machines were removed. As reported in a newsletter called Pure Facts, "Grades are up, truancy is no longer a problem, arguments are rare, and teachers are able to spend their time teaching."

Principal LuAnn Coenen, who files annual reports with the state of Wisconsin, has turned in some staggering figures since 1997. Drop-outs? Students expelled? Students discovered to be using drugs? Carrying weapons? Committing suicide? Every category has come up ZERO. Every Year.

Mary Bruyette, a teacher, states, "I don’t have to deal with daily discipline issues, I don’t have disruptions in class or the difficulties with student behaviour I experienced before we started the food program."

One student asserted, "Now that I can concentrate I think it’s easier to get along with people."

What a concept --- eating healthier food increases concentration. Principal Coenen sums it up:

"I can’t buy the argument that it’s too costly for schools to provide good nutrition for their students. I found that one cost will reduce another. I don’t have the vandalism. I don’t have the litter. I don’t have the need for high security."

At a nearby middle school, the new food program is catching on. A teacher there, Dennis Abram, reports, "I’ve taught here for almost 30 years. I see the kids this year as calmer, easier to talk to. They just seem more rational. I had thought about retiring this year and basically I’ve decided to teach another year---I’m having too much fun!.

Pure Facts, the newsletter that ran this story, is published by a non-profit organization called The Feingold Association, which has existed since 1976. Part of its mission is to "generate public awareness of the potential role of foods and synthetic additives in behaviour, learning and health problems. The [Feingold] program is based on a diet eliminating synthetic colours, synthetic flavours, and preservatives."

Thirty years ago there was a Dr. Feingold. His breakthrough work proved the connection between these negative factors in food and the lives of children. Hailed as a revolutionary advance, Feingold’s findings threatened the drugs-for-everything, disease-model concept of modern healthcare. But Feingold’s followers have kept his work alive.

If what happened in Appleton, Wisconsin, takes hold in many other communities across the world, perhaps the ravenous corporations who invade school space with their vending machines and junk food will be tossed out on their behinds. It could happen. And perhaps ADHD will become a dinosaur. A non-disease that was once attributed to errant brain chemistry. And perhaps Ritalin will be seen as just another toxic chemical that was added to the bodies of children in a crazed attempt to put a lid on behaviour that, in part, was the result of a subversion of the food supply.

For those readers who ask me about solutions to the problems we face---here is a real solution. Help these groups. Get involved. Step into the fray. Stand up and be counted. The drug companies aren’t going to do it. They’re busy estimating the size of their potential markets. They’re building their chemical pipelines into the minds and bodies of the young. Every great revolution starts with a foothold. Sounds like Natural Ovens and The Feingold Association have made strong cuts into the big rock of ignorance and greed.

From The Rights of Children in Education
Allan Wohrnitz, P48 & 49

While the extract below does not speak of refined foods, as such, it is included in the hope that it will help parents to make the food-allergy connection.

Case Study

`Joshua’s mother was being driven to distraction by her little boy’s behaviour. The five year old was always awake until the early hours, slept poorly and was impossible to discipline. His bad temper and hyperactivity were making him a notorious ‘troublemaker’ at school, where his teacher was finding it impossible to settle him to any task. On the advice of a friend, Joshua’s mother had removed orange squash and any other products containing tartrazine from his diet, as she knew that this additive could cause hyperactivity in children. But Joshua showed no signs of improvement. Joshua’s mother became convinced that her son must have an allergy to some other food he was eating, but was unsure how to go about putting him on an exclusion diet since he was so young. She decided to see a specialist in food allergies. On the ground that cow’s milk is the most common trigger of childhood allergies, the dietician advised her to eliminate all dairy products from Joshua’s diet. This she did, but his behaviour still did not alter. Then she discovered that Joshua was regularly raiding the fridge for cheese. His mother stopped buying cheese and after two weeks Joshua had become a much more manageable, sweet-natured little boy.

Reader’s Digest
Foods that Harm, Foods that Heal, p.88

Proceed to Chapter 4: In the next chapter we will discover how a bad diet gives rise to bad skin, to psychological disorders, to an insatiable appetite and more.

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