Question about sugar and ADD/ADHD

Special Needs Attention Deficit & Hyperactivity Disorders
1

Hi Everyone,

I'm new here. I've responded to a couple of questions but have never posted...well, until today! I wasn't quite sure where to post this so I thought I would try here first.

To give a little background: read the A Little About Me section, especially about my son.

He is a sugar addict! I swear, he is how I picture drug addicts. He can never have enough sugar. He will 'steal' candy and hide out in his room, eat the candy, then come out (this after being told 'No'.

My husband found him asleep this morning on the playroom floor with two drumstick wrappers next to him, as well as a carton of ice cream. We have found wads of gum under the couch, candy and gum wrappers around the house.

While I realize the 'easiest' solution is to not have candy, ice cream, etc in the house, I am wondering if this is related to his possible ADD/ADHD. I'm wondering if there is something that we can do that may help the cravings.

I would appreciate any help anyone has to offer!!!

Thank you!

2

No relation to ADHD. They've done studies and found sugar consumption doesn't not cause ADHD (it's a brain disorder) and sugar cravings aren't an indicator of ADHD. It certainly doesn't make things better and can make kids hyper, but no relation to the medical condition.

I do think it's worth talking to the pediatrician, though, because it may have to do with blood sugar levels or something else entirely. A severe craving to me suggests he's trying to make up for something not quite feeling right in his system.

Good luck!

3

Hi Jill,

I am a single mom of two kids who borderline add/adhd, and I am the one with anxiety. My biggest assistance in not giving my kids things that will rile them up is not to give them ANYTHING with artifical food colors of any type. Its surprising how much food out there has this. Its a hard thing to do, but it is possible. I keep granola bars, and fruit in the house for them to eat and they love it.

Good luck

4

I agree that you should get him checked out to see if there is a metabolic disorder or something else going on. The sugar may not cause the ADHD, but it certainly doesn't help. Such deep, intense cravings are kind of unusual for people of any age. His ADHD will make it more difficult for him to learn self-control/self-regulation/impulse control, so that may be why he has difficulty resisting his cravings, despite what you say.

5

Agreed with other responses. Sugar doesn't cause ADHD. I have 2 children with ADHD. Is your child medicated for ADHD or are you using other alternatives to help him. Let me try to explain what happens in the brain of ADHD child in relation to sugar. It's like me in the mornings...I MUST have my coffee first to get the motor going. ADHD children in fact can often feel exhausted. Therefore, their brains tell them that they need sugar to get them going. From there, it is like a roller-coaster. Best of luck to you!

I have read some of the responses since I first posted mine - The is NO MEDICAL EVIDENCE that sugar caused AD/HD!!! My oldest is ADHD and does not care for sweets at all! In fact he is more a protein addict! ADHD is cause by the way their brains are wired. - NOT CAUSED BY SUGAR!

6

I have a friend whose daughter had ADHD...she linked it to foods w/ preservatives, anything manufactured. So she fed her daughter only natural foods mostly from Trader Joe's and her daughter was better....if she was invited to a bdy party and ate a cupcake her symptoms would come on again...try feeding your child foods from the outer isles of the grocery store...if it didn't come directly from the earth don't feed it to your child...see if there's a difference. Also, try calming music....there is a music CD for dogs that plays classical music...the dogs seem to lay down and nap when it's played...they say it works for humans also, might help the anxiety, good luck!

7

Hello,
I think you are totally right about getting the sugar out of the house. But that's going to be only the first step. Sugar can be addictive so, in a way, you are dealing w/ a sort of drug addict. It's going to take time and kind/firm support and consistency. Maybe you could try switching to some fruit sweetened snacks to slowly wean him from white sugars first? Also, you are probably right on thinking this is adding to his disorder. Diet can cause some crazy things! It's going to be difficult but I'm sure you will feel you are doing the best thing for him. I feel very strongly as well about trusting those Mommy-intuitions, so go w/ your gut. It won't ever steer you wrong. Take care, and good luck!!!

8

Hi Jill..

Oh my...did you just describe my 13 yr old??? lol...anyways..We have had to do with out suger in our home. No candy, popsicles, nothing that contains "suger" - it is expecially hard on him during "Halloween" time. When my child was younger I did the ADD/ADHD Diet. It worked for a time, but having other children in the house and trying to cook for separate people was a pain, and i couldnt keep up. Now that he is 13 he knows what he can have and what he cant have in regards to drinks. I still look on the ingrediants to make sure that the Preservitive red dye #5 is not in there. If it is, I pass it up. For some reason that additive makes kids with ADD/ADHD really wild. I would suggest you go to your local library and look into the ADD/ADHD diet book. It was really informative.

Good Luck

Jenny

9

Check out Prader-Willy syndrome - an eating disorder with some autism symptoms. It seems the brain doesn't tell the body when it's satisfied.

10

Its a proven fact that most of the time sugar does cause adhd. I know with both of my children I had to take them completely off sugar just because it made them hyper! It will be hard at first but worth it in the end! You have to remove all the sugar from your house and just give him a little fruit for dessert. I had to learn to cook with natural sugars like honey. My son is 12 now and I allow him ONE sugar a day, and now it doesnt bother him. Another reason I had to take him off of sugar was because it triggered asthma!
Sonja

11

I was thinking Prader-Willy as well. Worth checking out...one of my son's once had a classmate with this condition.

12

Sugar is the worst thing to give anyone who has ADHD and anxiety.
I have both and my nephew now 13 has ADHD. When they finally put him on Riddlin, he made a world of difference at school. When he has all that sugar in him, he will get bursts of energy and then plummet into no energy/depression. There are lots of things for kids to eat instead. It is a transition process. First you have to look at the parents role modeling in eating habits. Remove all the sugar products from your home. Replace them with fresh fruit and make vanilla flavored yogurt dip. There are tofuti cuties at trader joes, I had to get them when my daughter had a loactose intoilerence and she did not know the difference. They are ice cream sandwiches but small and made with soy ice cream instead of regular. Before they put him on all kinds of meds, please try home , natural methods first. There is also a new cook book out from a mom who hides veggies in recipes of all kinds. It is really cool. There is so much information no days but it starts with you and what you keep in the house.

Good luck, our childrens childhoods set them up for the rest of their life, they are precious.
Christine

13

Sounds like he has CANDIDA/Sistemic Yeast!!! Once you treat it the craving for sugar will go away!!! Love, Gabby. :0)
P.S. very common in the spectrum!!!

14

Jill, my son is now 18 and he is definitely a sugar addict. Talk to your pediatrician. Some kids react to sugar as they would to drugs. I have actually had to hide candy, cookies, etc over the years to limit his intake. He would actually go on a "high" and then crash and burn - and the attitude was really bad then! Sugar intake also severely affected his school work and it is had to control what they eat while they are in school. You might want to mention this to his teacher as well. I would recommend buying sugar free snacks/desserts and see how he reacts to them. Just be careful of itmes that are high in fructose, they react the same way.

15

You are right- the important thing is to get the sugar out of the house. I know it's a pain, but it may be way easier in the end than what you're going through now. You may also want to check out the Feingold Diet- it can be a big help for children with ADHD and/or ASD. The main thing, believe it or not, is getting artificial colors out of the diet, and even some natural foods that mimic the chemicals found in artificial colors.

My son has some issues and we are just getting started on this road ourselves. I'm going to be honest- we haven't done the Feingold Diet yet but we aren't ruling it out. Some of these treatments and diets sound like crazy fringe stuff to me too but it couldn't hurt to try it. I've read that some children have immediate, drastic turn arounds with this diet.

I want you to know that I am not some crazy hippie that wants you to live on a diet of flax seeds and mung beans! You can do the Feingold Diet with foods that your family is used to and it may be just the ticket. Good luck!

16

Hello,
There have been links between AD(H)D and low serotonin levels. Sugar can chemically increase the levels of serotonin in the human body. Check out this link and read starting from #1 to understand this a little more. I hope this helps.

If I were you, I'd try to find several ways to enhance your son's levels of serotonin naturally through games, excercise, etc. Check into it; you'd rather your son become hooked on healthy ways to get a buzz than from alternate sources like sugar.
http://www.hypoglycemia.asn.au/articles/serotonin_connection.html

17

There's a wonderful book called "Little Sugar Addicts" by Kathleen DesMaisons. It literally saved one of my kid's lives as she was very depressed due to her sugar addiction. I have another kid with ADD, and his symptoms definitely improve when we're watching his overall diet (sugar addiction is not just about sugar). There's also a great online support group associated with the book. As a matter of fact, just before I read my MamaSource list this morning, I read my daily digest from the RadiantParents group. To find out more about all of this you can go to www.RadiantRecovery.com. (This all started for adults, but there's tons of great stuff for kids). One of the first steps in controlling the sugar addiction is making sure your child eats breakfast within an hour of waking, and making sure the breakfast includes plenty of protein and browns (whole grains). FYI, Little Sugar Addicts is available at many libraries. I HIGHLY recommend it! As far as the autism goes, I don't know, but you'd be amazed at how much of an effect sugar has on a kid's system. The author, Kathleen DesMaisons, frequently responds to posts on the parents group, so you might want to post a query there to see if anybody has experience. Good luck!

18

Hello, Jill! In my experience, yes, sugar and ADD are connected. I am not a doctor, but I did have a son and daughter who showed all of the characteristics of ADD AND a strong addiction to sugar. They were our foster son and daughter that we planned to adopt, but went back to the birth mom due to court system. Mom and grandma were both addicted to meth. He and his sister (ages 6 and 2) were fed sugary processed foods. They told me they had candy to eat, and ketchup. I think they must have had more than that, but not much. Sodas. I did not want these kids to go on drugs for their difficult behavior, or be labeled anything negative in case we did not get to keep them and they had to live in the "system." For this and just HEALTH and SANITY reasons, I cut them off all sugar as we know it (candy, cookies, soda, gum, any deserts) except for ketchup in decreasing amounts, and dessert night on Fridays. This dessert I would make, and even have limited quantities of the ingredients. It was also only available to them and our 2 biological children after eating all of their healthy, "yucky" supper. The other nights of the week, they were offered suppers and lunches just about equally as healthy (just not featuring a new scary veg. or something) and were not required to finish it or even try all of it. The one caveat was that if they wanted a snack later (fruit, cheese, whatever) they had to finish the previous meal. Food was a huge deal to these foster kids, as they were bottomless pits due to the hording-type syndrome lots of foster kids have: They literally don't know where their next meal is coming from, so they want to stuff themselves constantly. So, that worked and they ended up eating much better. We had a lot to overcome, but after about a month and countless tantrums later they got used to our way of eating and more importantly they became much more calm and able to focus and think and be happy. Hope this helps. Jill

19

I am totally on board with what Michelle J had to say. Nothing causes ADHD. It is just about how the brain is "wired." I worked as an educator for 9 years mainstreaming special needs kids, including ADHD and I am ADHD along with my 10yo son. There is no scientific link between sugar and real behaviou, sugar may spike the bloodsream and cause that sugar rush, but it drops very quickly and then the kids can be down, jittery, etc. We've all seen that. I think where the idea of the link with sugar and ADHD comes is that when these kids get that crash, and they get jittery, they really feel it. Maybe moreso than others. I know I do. I am just awful with sugar, and I do feel like I crave it. My son, wills ay that he craves it, but he will forget about it, like at Halloween and never ask about the candy he got trick or treating. I never allowed my son to have any refined sugars until he was over two and then very sporadically until he was 5. After that I lost control. But now, he does crave it, and it is difficult if it is in front of him. I use other treats for him and don't have sugar in the house.

I also understand that eating can be triggered by emotions and one person discussed the seratonin link. You mentioned that your son has an anxiety disorder, maybe the eating is triggered by that. Have you checked into other ways to promote seratonin levels and ways to reduce the anxiety in addition to what you are doing presently? Have you tried some alternative things, like hypnotherapy and herbal remedies. Of course you have to be really careful and work with a professional, but I have had great luck with both of those in my life.

Best of luck with your situation, I understand the difficult position you are in and my prayers are with you
tamik

20

Jill -
I am a compulsive overeater. I remember eating an entire stick of butter when I was 4. I'm now 46. I've had a lifelong obsession with food and have binged many times on anything from sugar (straight out of the bag) to cabbage {not recommended! ;-)}

I have been in Overeaters Anonymous for 21 years. It would be very worthwhile to check out OA for its comprehensive method of coping with the emotional, spiritual, physical, and mental difficulties presented by food addiction.

My guess is that he was eating at night because he woke up, couldn't get back to sleep, and used the sugar to soothe himself.Note: I'm not a therapist or nutritionist but I've studied this issue seriously for a couple of decades. If you want to help your son - DO get sugar and white flour out of your house; make it a very limited, occasional treat (perhaps consider using agave syrup as a sweetener, it causes a lower blood-sugar spike). It will take an adjustment on everyone's part but you'll all feel better in the long run. If one consumes a lot of sugar (and a lot is hidden in processed foods like ketchup) there may be physical withdrawal symptoms - anxiety, restlessness, headaches, lethargy, overwhelming emotions. Something best left for spring break or summer vacation, rather than during the school year! But you can get ice cream out of your freezer, sweets out of your cupboard, and lock up stuff like sugar, honey, syrups, etc. I mean PADLOCK it - don't just put it on a high shelf - I used to climb up all the time to get stuff when no one was around. For real events like birthdays, go out and split a dessert rather than hosting a large party at home, and be careful not to use food as a reward for accomplishments. If you like to bake or cook with your son, teach him to make healthy foods - Rather than decorating cupcakes, put creative energy toward tactile things like clay, leather work, Legos, painting, weaving, gardening, crafts, etc.

I was recently prescribed with Wellbutrin for anxiety and depression. To my amazement, my food cravings and obsession are gone for the first time in my life. I have very peculiar reactions to some drugs, (i.e. tylenol doesn't work on me, I'm resistant to Novocaine and highly allergic to Vicodin). So this side effect of Wellbutrin may not work for everyone, and these medications can be very dangerous for children. But meds are NOT a magic bullet; I've read a LOT and taken classes around these disorders, and one must do more than pop a pill. Anyone with anxiety, depression, or ADD really must have a systematic approach to staying relaxed, focused, and happily functional. This includes stuff like exercise, meditation, journaling, expressing feelings assertively, and building love, joy, accomplishment, and fun into every day. The best way your family can support your son is to take the journey with him.

For dealing with ADD, I also warmly recommend www.flylady.net
Her routines and warm support are absolutely wonderful!

An additional very positive approach to building better health is Suzanne Fong's "Sweet Life" program:
Sleep
Water
Exercise
Eating
Tranquility

Look for her web site online.

The family therapists who devised the "Love Logic" system have really helped me with disciplining my own daughter, who can be a relentless nag when it comes to just about anything - including sugar! I've seen real improvement since I started using their approach. Look for occasional PBS shows featuring them.

You are right - trust your instincts - your son is headed for real health trouble if you don't develop a real system to help him. Fortunately he's young and you have tremendous power to set him on the right course.

And as with all advice, "Take what you like, and leave the rest".
Best regards
Alana in Alameda