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Kids' Health Feeding Your Child’s Precious Brain by Michael R. Lyon, MD Medical and Research Director – Canadian Centre for Nutritional Medicine. Author of “Is Your Child’s Brain Starving? Food, Not Drugs for Life and Learning” It should come as no surprise that our kid’s need excellent nutrition in order to enjoy optimal brain function. Unfortunately, most parents don’t properly satisfy the special nutritional needs of their children, not recognizing that their developing brains are very sensitive and highly demanding of a wide range of specific nutrients. However, research is increasingly recognizing that food allergies and intolerances, toxic influences as well as marginal nutritional deficiencies may all be playing a critical role in the phenomenal increase in childhood behavioral and learning disorders. With the increasing ‘chemicalization’, genetic modification and nutritional depletion of the modern diet, it has become more important than ever that parents find ways to break away from this unhealthy consumerism to ensure that their children have the nutrition they need to build a foundation for a successful future. Many nutritionally oriented healthcare providers now universally recommend balanced essential fatty acid supplementation for to all children with conditions like ADHD, learning disabilities and atopic (allergic) disorders. In research I conducted on 76 children with ADHD, over 80 percent were found to have deficiencies in the omega 3 fatty acid DHA (found in fish oils) and about 1 in 5 had deficiencies in the omega 6 fatty acid, GLA (found in evening primrose oil). Recent research from Oxford University has expanded upon this finding by demonstrating that kids with learning or behavioral problems respond positively to supplementation with a combination of tuna oil and evening primrose oils. I am predicting that fatty acid supplementation will soon be recognized as one of the most critical components in the treatment of childhood learning and behavioral problems. It is an indisputable fact that kids’ brains need high quality protein. It is also true that many kids skip breakfast or eat meals that are high in carbohydrates and low in protein. As well, many kids with learning or behavioral problems experience food allergies or other adverse reactions to common foods like dairy products and, therefore, finding a source of low allergy potential protein can be a challenge, especially for breakfast. One of the easiest ways to ensure that kids get a high protein breakfast is by making flavorsome and nutritious smoothies. Making blender smoothies using a low allergy potential powder or smoothie mix made from rice or golden pea protein and then adding fruit and other nutritious ingredients such as nut butters and “greens powders” can take a just a few seconds but can make for a satisfying and brain boosting foundation upon which to build a successful day. Critical Nutrients for the Brain Other “brain critical” nutritional factors have been discovered to play an important role in children’s cognitive health. Several vitamins, especially folate, B12, B6 and thiamine have all been shown to have a significant impact upon cognitive performance. As well, iron, magnesium, zinc, calcium, and several trace elements have been clearly linked to brain function in kids. Because the intake of these nutrients is often marginal in today’s kids, supplementation with these nutrients may be vital for good brain function. In my research and clinical practice, I have found that most kids with learning or behavioral problems exhibit evidence of a variety of nutrition insufficiencies or overt deficiencies and these must be corrected if progress is to be expected. Foods to try: Folate: orange juice/oranges, strawberries, avocado, beans (kidney, black, navy), peanuts, spinach, asparagus, whole grain and fortified breads and breakfast cereals B12: lean beef, trout, salmon, tuna, pork, chicken, eggs, low fat dairy (milk, yogurt), mollusks (clams). B6: whole grain and fortified breads and breakfast cereals, oatmeal, lean meat, poultry, fish, beans, sunflower seeds, white potato, bananas, tomatoes, peanuts, soy products (soy beans, tofu, low fat soy milk). Thiamine (B1): whole grain and fortified breads and breakfast cereals, wheat germ, pork, fish, beans, peas, soy products (soy beans, tofu, low fat soy milk). Iron: lean beef, liver (beef/chicken), shrimp, clams, turkey, whole grain and fortified breads and breakfast cereals, white potatoes, beans, lentils, black strap moplasses. Magnesium: almonds/almond butter, spinach, cashews, soy products (soy beans, tofu), brazil nuts, pumpkin seeds. Zinc: lean beef, poultry, beans nuts, oysters, low fat cheese, yogurt, whole grain and fortified breads and breakfast cereals. Calcium: low fat dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese), calcium fortified tofu, soy milk, calcium fortified breakfast cereal and cereal bars Healing the Gut-Brain Connection I have also found that kids with learning, behavioral and developmental problems usually have subtle but very real disturbances in gastrointestinal and immune system function. In my research I discovered that increased gut permeability (leaky gut), poor gut immune function and disordered gut ecology (including parasites, lack of friendly bacteria and overgrowth of yeast organisms) are common accompaniments of disordered brain function in kids. Getting children on a high fiber diet and supplementing their diets with probiotics (friendly bacteria) is something I recommend in all such cases. As well, gut-supportive nutrients such as L-glutamine, FOS, antioxidants (such as grape seed extract and decaffeinated green tea extract), pantothenic acid, essential fatty acids, and lecithin, all can help to support and heal the irritated gastrointestinal mucosa. This is especially important in kids with autism, or atopic conditions, as well as learning and behavioral disorders because increased intestinal permeability is very common in these conditions. Foods to try: Probiotics: low fat yogurt, kefir Pantothenic acid: eggs, fish, low fat dairy legumes, broccoli, cabbage, white and sweet potatoes, lean beef, whole grain and fortified breads and breakfast cereals. Essential fatty acids (omega 3): cold water fish (wild salmon, haddock), walnuts/walnut butter, omega 3 fortified eggs, flax seed (whole or ground), olive oil Lecithin: eggs, lean meat, soy products, low fat dairy, whole grain and fortified breads and breakfast cereals. Kids with brain related problems often have food allergies or other adverse reactions to specific foods. In my practice I instruct parents in how to maintain their kids on an allergy elimination diet and then I have them reintroduce suspect foods one at a time making careful observations as to the effect. This is a time consuming process but, if done correctly, it often uncovers foods that are significant contributors to immune system and brain related problems. Keep Kids off the Blood Sugar Roller Coaster Parents also need to avoid feeding their kids with foods that cause rapid swings in blood sugar levels. Most sugars (e.g. sucrose, glucose (dextrose), maltose, most fruit juices) as well as all refined starchy foods (esp. white flour products) are high glycemic index foods. These are foods that allow for rapid absorption of sugar and they result in a roller coaster effect upon blood sugar. Whole grain products and the natural sweetener fructose are much lower in glycemic index and they result in a gentle rise in blood sugar after meals with the roller coaster effect. Improving the Efficiency of Detoxification Because today’s children are all exposed to a wide array of neurotoxins from pesticides and other pollutants, I am a strong believer in the supplementary use of nutrients that aid the liver and gut in processing and expelling these unwanted chemicals. Factors such as milk thistle extract, fiber, sulfate, L-glutamine and N-acetyl cysteine are all key helpers in the body’s continual detoxification activities. The neuroprotective power of these nutrients can be further increased with the addition of natural fruit extracts and herbs such as decaffeinated green tea extract and grape seed extract. These provide vital phytochemicals that kids often greatly lack. Building a foundation for a successful future must include a program of sound nutrition. After all, the brain is composed completely of nutrition. Epidemics of childhood learning and behavioral problems as well as skyrocketing rates of allergic diseases, obesity, and a variety of other maladies can all be linked to the market driven changes in the diets of our kids. Parents who truly care must make take the time to learn, discover and apply what it really takes to properly feed their child’s precious brain. |
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