You should know that scientists haven’t found any connection between diet and ADD. But science is always looking for statistical relationships. There may be very complex relationships they don’t see. so keep an open mind, and pay close attention to how foods make YOUR body feel. I think my thinking about diet is this: ADD’s are impulsive, and emotional. So you probably want to avoid anything that will jolt the brain with anything. This would mean avoiding caffeine, white sugar, drugs, alcohol. These things can interfere with your medication. If you aren’t on medication, you may want to consume these things for the pharmacological effect they have on your brain.

Keep your glucose levels stable by eating protein, (fish, meat, beans, nuts, diary) complex carbohydrates (brown rice, root vegetables, whole wheat bread) and natural simple sugars (fruit, dried fruit) in small quantities mixed with other things (fruit jelly on muffins). Simple carbohydrates like white bread will turn into sugar fast in your mouth. So don’t eat a lot of it. These “rules” are general rules that apply to all people, and are not harmful to anyone, so it is fine to follow them. But also realize you don’t want to increase your stress level too high. If food is important to your feeling cared for, try and identify some foods that make you feel good and eat them in moderation.

For me, spaghetti and macaroni and cheese do that as well as a piece of fudge, so I choose the pasta, it wreaks less mood swings on my body. This morning I made myself corn muffins and allowed myself to lick out the bowl (and left a lot to lick) because it makes me feel loved, cause my mom let me do that… Too many people deprive themselves on diets, and I think that leads to binging. Also, recognize that you are impulsive. Don’t go food shopping when you are hungry. Don’t bring impulse foods into the house, but allow yourself to go out with a friend, and indulge in desserts, coffee in a very restricted social situation.

Also remember that you could have other disorders affecting what you eat, hypoglycemia, diabetes, Candida, lactose intolerance, etc. Just because we have ADD doesn’t mean we are all the same. I think you just have to do alot of research. Foods have different properties that you can discover by reading books in health food stores. Look at the ancient (Chinese, folk, Indian) traditions, I think they picked up on stuff that science hasn’t discovered yet, but take it with a grain of salt, and if it doesn’t work for you, pick the parts that make sense and leave the rest.

Personally, i think the low-carb diets are a decent idea. i also think it makes sense, just in terms of trends, that the diet pendulum is now swinging back in a different direction after 20 years of high-carb low-fat thought. the first diet book ever written, at the end of the 19th century, recommended a low-carb diet. not that that proves anything, i just found it interesting. i can understand that it seems like nutritional heresy to a lot of people, since the prevailing teachings of the last generation have been in favor of the opposite. The best way to lose weight is to cut back on calories (but not too much) and engage in a regular cardio/strength training program.

That’s how I did it. I cut back on a lot of junk food and replaced it with healthier stuff (veggies and stuff like Reduced Fat Triscuits) and I work out 2-3 times a week. I still eat almost everything I want too. i agree with you about the exercise and cutting out the junk food. getting some regular cardio activity and strengthening the muscles will do a good bit to change the body’s metabolism, which gives a lot more leeway in what someone can get away with eating. though skipping the cheesy poofs is a good idea anyway. : These new diets are just fads. But because people see results quickly : they’ll do it.

Problem is, if they continue on it for an extended : period of time, it can cause long-lasting damage and if they ever come : off it, they’ll put the weight back on with reinforcements. i’d say that’s true for poorly-planned fad diets. i just disagree with you that that’s what these are. i think they also get really oversimplified in the media (both good and bad coverage), so that people think it’s all steak and eggs every meal. they don’t necessarily all have fast results, either; barry sears says healthy weight loss is about a pound a week, which is a lot slower than people on, say, the weight watchers diet. anyway, i still find this debate an interesting one. i just wanted to toss in my dissenting voice and point out what i thought were some oversimplifications or misconceptions about low-carb diets.

If you want to get into ettiquite, you can serve anything you want at your own party and still be “correct”. But, just because it is ettiquite does not automatically mean that it is the right thing to do. I agree that you shouldn’t have to ask every guest what their preference is before you plan the food but, if you know of peoples food “problems” is is not only right but extremely thoughtful to make your guests comfortable at your wedding. I had an Aunt who was a vegan, that is a vegetation taken to the extreme, and Uncle who just had a triple(or was that a quadruple?) bypass who had a strict eating list, and a grandfather who also was on a strict diet.

I called them up before I set the menu and asked if there was anything special I could get them to eat or what parameters they had. Each person kept telling me not to worry about them and that they would get along but I persisted and got their opinions. I took that into consideration when planning my menu. I ended up with a buffet and had what everyone I knew about could eat. Everyone loved the wedding and the food. Haven’t you ever been to a party and there was nothing you liked to eat?

I have and I didn’t like the party and that is how I remembered it. You can serve whatever you want but, these are people who you want to enjoy themselves. Although, you shouldn’t have to worry about your Aunt Selma, third aunt removed, and her date who has this problem with cilantro that you never knew about. I’ve included Lisa’s entire post despite my usual dislike of heavy inclusions, because Lisa appears to have taken my post in a considerably different way than I intended, and I feel a need to respond to that. I did not intend any implication that I felt offended or that I lacked good will toward anyone. I wasn’t there for the food, and I don’t feel it “meant” anything that there was a limited menu.

Despite Lisa’s change of topic title, I posted in response to a discussion of serving buffet style, specifically with regard to the head table. I *was* attempting to be gracious in the situation –as I said: I wasn’t there for the food. My post was intended to address the issue from the point of view of the hosts of what is a good and gracious serving style. The bottom line in my example is that it *was* less than gracious and less than considerate hosting. As a guest at that wedding –especially as the best man– I dealt with the situation with as much good will, grace and humor as possible. As part of a discussion years later about the pros and cons of reception serving styles, I can say that food and serving were weaknesses of that wedding.

I’m not so sure what to think. I mean, drinking lots of water could solve the Kidney Stone problem like you say. But what about the high levels of calcium found in the urine when one is on this diet for a while? That’s what caught my attention. They found high levels of calcium being excreted in the urine and the calcium has to come from somewhere. In any case, this calcium is definitely not being laid down in the bone. I think it would be prudent for people with osteoporosis to take notice of this study. Thanks for that info on the “standard” blood test. I’ve never had that one. I’m going to ask my doctor about it, not that it has anything to do with me. But who knows? I’m sure looking for anything I can do to help my problem that doesn’t require the “standard” RX prescriptions.

My system can’t seem to handle any of those remedies. That article caught my attention mainly because of it’s info on high protein diets, not so much the low-carb/kidney angle. I had one nutritionist insist my “profile” showed I was a “slow oxidizer” and therefore I should be on a high protein diet. But I’ve read so many articles showing how the body uses calcium to break down dietary proteins into various amino acids and thereby depletes the body of calcium. When I brought this point to her attention, she had no answer for me. I need to keep studying this, I guess. I wonder if anyone has conducted research on Dr Atkin’s dieters in regards bone densities. ???? (The Atkins Diet is completely High Protien/Low Carb, all day, all the time.) Beyond Vegetarianism is now open in full. The site is investigative and provides both science-based and real-world experience based articles on raw and alternative diets. Diets covered include conventional vegan, vegetarian, raw vegan, fruitarian, natural hygiene, instincto, and Paleolithic diet.

The site goes “beyond vegetarianism” in several senses: questioning the usual vegetarian party line; exploring issues related to diets that go beyond typical lacto-ovo-vegetarianism (i.e., raw foods, veganism, fruitarianism); as well as reporting on natural diets such as instincto and paleolithic diet that are non-vegetarian. The site is large and includes over 200 html pages of previously unpublished material on raw/alternative diets. A partial list of articles: Assessing Claims and Credibility in the Realm of Raw and Alternative Diets: Who Should You Believe? The Calorie Paradox of Raw Veganism. Comparing High-Protein/Low-Carbohydrate Diets vs. High-Carbohydrate/Low-Fat Diets. Looking at the Science on Raw vs. Cooked Foods.

Intelligence, Evolution of the Human Brain, and Diet. An Ex-Instincto’s Guide to Instinctive Eating…and crash course for the instinctively perplexed. Beyond Veg Light Bulb Jokes and other humor/satire. Comparative Anatomy and Physiology Brought Up to Date: Are Humans Natural Vegetarians/Frugivores or Omnivores/Faunivores? [Note: The titles below are subarticles of the above "Comparative Anatomy" article. ] Ape Diets: Myths, Realities, and Rationalizations. Vitamin B-12: Rhetoric and Reality. Which Omnivore Diet? The “Omnivorism = Western Diet” Fallacy. Why Failure to Thrive on Vegetarian Diets is Rarely Talked About Rationalizations in Response to the Evolutionary & Hunter-Gatherer Evidence for Omnivorous Diets.

My father in law just visited for a week. Nice man, and smart, too. In the months prior to his visit, he lost 30 lbs or so on a low carbo diet. For the first few weeks of his diet he was on 20 grams of carbo a day. After that he went up to 30 or 40, then 50 a day. He is eating cautiously but more or less normally now, but plans to return to 40 or 50 grams of carbo a day if he gains weight. He says that his meals consisted mostly of meat, cheese, and small quantities of fruit and veggies. He says that his cholesterol did not go up, he felt good, and had no difficulty losing the weight. He is a retired physician. I have no doubt that he is completely truthful on all these points. I would certainly be much better off if I could also lose 30 lbs, or more. So would almost any type-2. It’s even possible that I could have normal bgs without meds.

It’s also possible that I could have normal blood pressure on no meds or lower meds, and that my cholesterol would go down. Given the foregoing, it must seem insane that I would be skeptical about low carbo diets, and encourage others to be skeptical. It’s not insane. Here are my reasons. **My father in law admits that he may have been on a low calorie diet without realizing it. He admits that meat and cheese meals were filling. He felt free to eat as much as he wanted, but when he reflects on the size of the portions and the frequency of his meals, he may have been eating 1000 calories per day or so.

This is consistent with the sources I have quoted in the past on this NG, which say that people on low carbo diets are actually on low calorie diets, erhaps without realizing it, because they lose their appetites, and are, in theory, free to eat as many calories as they like. **My father in law wasn’t very fat in the first place. He admits that he normally overeats and dislikes having to restrain his eating. He exercises very little, has never liked to exercise, and doesn’t intend to start now. He admits that he has never had much difficulty losing weight when he wanted to, and probably could have lost weight on some other kind of diet, with a more or less equal comfort level. He liked the low carbo diet because he didn’t have to exercise and didn’t have to make any effort to restrain his appetite. He liked the idea of eating lots of meat and cheese.

I tried a low carbo diet years ago. I felt quite ill. The sources I have quoted in the past say that some people might feel okay on low carbo diets, but most people feel bad. **Just thinking about a high protein, high fat, low carbo diet nauseates me. My father in law loved the idea, and still does. Bodies differ. **Chances are, a few months on a low carbo diet won’t shorten your life expectancy much, consistent with my father in law’s statement that his cholesterol and BP didn’t go up. No one knows exactly what happens when you eat this way for years at a time. Experts with good credentials, who have nothing to lose or gain, say it’s too risky. Gout, heart disease, kidney disease and other problems could occur. (Needless to say, people who make tons of money selling books that promote low carbo diets cannot be considered objective on the topic of the safety of the diets.)

“My bet is those kids will have health problems when they reach 40, 50 or 60 years of age,” she says, “mostly because of imbalances with micronutrients [nutrients required only in small amounts], particularly iron, zinc and copper.” While meat is well-known as an important source of iron, Hill says it may be even more valuable for copper and zinc. Copper not only helps build the body’s immunity, it builds red blood cells and strengthens blood vessels. “A lot of Americans are marginal in this micronutrient,” she says, “and, as a result, are more susceptible to diseases. Children can’t meet their zinc needs without eating meat.”

Also, vegetarian women of childbearing age have an increased chance of menstrual irregularities, Ann Pedersen and others reported last year in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Nine of the study’s 34 vegetarians (who ate eggs or dairy foods) missed menstrual periods, but only 2 of the 41 non-vegetarians did. The groups were indistinguishable when it came to height, weight and age at the beginning of menstruation. Can Veggies Prevent Cancer? The National Cancer Institute states in its booklet Diet, Nutrition & Cancer Prevention: The Good News that a third of cancer deaths may be related to diet.

The booklet’s “Good News” is: Vegetables from the cabbage family (cruciferous vegetables) may reduce cancer risk, diets low in fat and high in fiber-rich foods may reduce the risk of cancers of the colon and rectum, and diets rich in foods containing vitamin A, vitamin C, and beta-carotene may reduce the risk of certain cancers. Part of FDA’s proposed food labeling regulations, published in the Nov. 27, 1991, Federal Register, states, “The scientific evidence shows that diets high in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, which are low in fat and rich sources of fiber and certain other nutrients, are associated with a reduced risk of some types of cancer. The available evidence does not, however, demonstrate that it is total fiber, or a specific fiber component, that is related to the reduction of risk of cancer.”