Eating Right for ADD and ADHD

Many of you know by now that I am a committed Young Living Essential Oil fan, I just love superior quality. What you may not know is that in my quest for the absolute best quality animal products/foods I have discovered US Wellness Meats. I cannot tell you how fantastic the meats and "real" butter taste.

My household has been organic for the past 30 years and I've paid more and have gone out of my way for quality foods. Something disturbing began happening within the past 5-6 years though... I was noticing that the "organic" foods I was buying no longer tasted or looked different than the regular store bought stuff. I have discovered that the organic meat sold in natural food chain stores is virtually as bad as the regular. Yes, meats and other animal products can be labeled "organic" and be raised in feedlots and in small cages indoors, as well as be fed GM corn and soybeans. In my mind this is NOT acceptable!

US Wellness Meats has a newsletter which I subscribe to and I felt that a recent article was worth putting out there for readers. If you keep wondering "why" we are the sickest country in the world (and we are) you may want to consider one of the large culprits to be... your "food source." I personally feel that what has been and continues to go on with our food is an absolute disgrace and I disapprove of what is being put on the shelves for unknowing consumers to purchase.

For example: I've bought organic butter for the past 30 years. When I got my first shipment of butter in from US Wellness Meats I did a taste test. Very unscientific, I took a little taste of the butter that came from US Wellness grass-fed cows and a few minutes later a taste of a nationally known brand of organic butter (which does not come from cows that are grass-fed). I couldn't believe what I experienced right in my own mouth!

I kid you not, if I didn't know any better I would have sworn that someone had come into my house and sprayed chemical household cleaner on my nationally known organic butter. It was so bad in fact that I literally spit it out into the kitchen sink and gasped, "oh my god, this tastes like poison and I've been eating it for years!" That's how bad it tasted in my unscientific side-by-side taste test. I will never purchase any animal products again that are not grass-fed.

I believe we are not getting the good nutrition from our foods because the plants and animals we eat are not getting fed properly. It's simple, if a vitamin or mineral is not in the soil and/or in the plant that we or animals eat there is no way that vitamin or mineral is going to be a part of the foods we eat.

Cows are suppose to eat grasses. Their digestive system is designed to process grass, not corn or soybeans, and especially not Genetically Modified corn or soybeans. You just don't have to be a rocket-scientist to figure out that there is something gravely wrong with our food production.

I'd like to share this article from US Wellness Meats by Catherine Ebeling, RN...

ADD and ADHD are some of the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorders in school age children today. The symptoms of ADD/ADHD center primarily on areas such as: attention, impulsivity, overactivity, and restlessness.

This group of particular behaviors can cause problems in school, as these children often perform poorly academically, have other learning disabilities, and tend to have conduct problems, as well. They may be disruptive in the classroom, and have trouble sitting still and experience difficulties getting along with other classmates and teachers.

It used to be thought that ADD/ADHD children outgrew their hyperactivity and other behavior problems, but it is now known that 50-80% of these children continue on into adulthood with symptoms of ADD/ADHD. Adults are sometimes able to compensate with other positive behaviors to allow them to function better in the adult world, but behavior and learning patterns established in childhood can have long term adverse effects. As adults, ADD/ADHD can show up as difficulties establishing and maintaining relationships, low self-esteem, forgetfulness, marital problems, anger management and impulsivity, and poor listening skills to name just a few.

Treatment Options
Stimulant medications are commonly used for treatment of symptoms of ADHD. The most common are: Ritalin, Concerta , Adderall, and Dexedrine. These medications have many side effects that include:
• Loss of appetite
• Headache
• Stomach upset or nausea
• Weight Loss
• Problems Sleeping

The more serious side effects of these medications can be:
• Anxiety, nervousness and mood changes
• Chest pain, irregular or fast heartbeat
• Increased blood pressure
• Joint pain
• Skin rash
• Uncontrollable tics
• Fever

Changing one's diet and eliminating certain foods such as trans fatty acids, sugar and refined grain products may impact such a drastic change as to eliminate any need for medication. A nutritious diet for a child or adult may seem nearly impossible and not that important, but it is actually very critical. In order for it to process all the metabolic functions, one's body needs to synthesize, make and process and store more than 100,000 chemicals. It must manufacture these chemicals out of only a few different essential raw materials, which include essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, glucose, and amino acids. If your child consumes the standard American diet (SAD) of starchy refined grains, sugary foods, trans fatty acids, and refined, processed and preservative-laden products, the body is not able to perform the chemical conversions it must have to maintain normal body and brain function. Even a diet following the standard food pyramid is sadly lacking in essential nutrients necessary for proper function.

One of the most important nutrients is essential fatty acids. Deficiency in EFA's has been shown to be one of the hallmarks of ADD/ADHD. What are essential fatty acids? EFA's are a major component of cell function. Each cell in our body has a membrane to separate it and protect it. The membrane is composed of essential fatty acids. EFA's can only come from our food sources such as Grassland ground beef and beef patties. EFA's are of two different types: Omega 3's and Omega 6's. The body cannot make Omega 3 fats from an intake of predominantly Omega 6's and vice versa. Omega 3 fats in the body must come from Omega 3 fats in the diet and similarly Omega 6's come from Omega 6's in one's diet.

The Omega 3 group of fats start with Alpha linoleic acid, and include eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexanoic acid (DHA). The Omega 6 group consists of linoleic acid, cis-linoleic acid, gamma-linoleic acid (GLA), dihomogammalinolenic acid (DGLA), and arachidonic acid (AA). (Stevens, Laura M.S., 12 Effective Ways to Help your ADD/ADHD Child, 2000). Essential fatty acids are critical for a couple of reasons. First the balance of omega 3's and omega 6's affects the properties in the cell membrane and the ability of molecules to enter and exit the cell. Omega 3's and 6's are also used by the body to manufacture prostaglandins. Prostaglandins help cells communicate with one another. Long-chain omega 6's and long chain Omega 3's are more concentrated in the brain and retina than in other cells. They play vital roles in brain and nerve function. They are also critical to proper functioning of the immune system.

Several years ago, studies were conducted on boys with ADHD and it was found that they had lower levels of critical EFA's in their blood than a control group of children with "normal" behavior. About 40% of the boys with ADHD reported many symptoms of EFA deficiency including: excessive thirst, frequent urination, visual disturbances, decreased learning abilities and abnormal behavior. The symptomatic boys showed lower levels of omega 3's and omega 6's. Low levels of Omega 6 EFAs contributed to higher incidents of illness (colds, flu, etc.), and deficits in Omega 3 EFAs contributed to problems with learning, behavior, sleep, and temper. These studies support the case for EFA supplementation as a part of the overall treatment approach to Attention Deficit Disorder - ADD ADHD.

Dietary sources of EFA's
In addition to the much publicized addition of wild caught salmon and other fatty fishes to one's diet, grass fed beef is a healthy and delicious alternative. Changing to grass fed, all natural, additive-free beef will increase Essential Fatty Acids in the diet. Kids love starting their day with grassfed beef bacon or beef sausage. And for a super charged snack, the beef pemmican cannot be beat when it comes to high concentrations of Omega 3's and Omega 6's. The whole family will love the delicious beef brisket, ribs, and stew beef. Everyone in the family benefits from this change. Not only do EFA's help with the symptoms of ADD/ADHD, but other family members benefit by enjoying a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, asthsma, arthritis, high blood pressure, and autoimmune disorders. EFA's also decrease inflammation.

Grass-finished beef such as the ribeye steaks is a great source for this essential nutrient. Research demonstrates that Omega 3 is great for individuals with heart disease, and other studies are showing that Omega 3 may also have an anti-carcinogenic effect. The source of Omega 3 is the green leaves of plants. When cattle eat their natural diet, beef becomes a great source of Omega 3. Grain is not a rich source of Omega 3, so standard, cattle-finishing practices cause the Omega 3 level to decrease dramatically. Our grass-finishing protocol produces a natural source for Omega 3, at U.S. Wellness Meats.

REDUCED FAT - Because U.S. Wellness Meats cattle are raised and finished in their natural environment, eating their natural diet, the meat is much leaner than the beef of standard, grain-finished livestock. Grass-fed beef has a much better fatty acid ration and less total fat than grain-fed animals! The myth is that cattle must be grain-fed to be tender and tasty, but we now know better. U.S. Wellness Meats is leaner, so you'll need to cook it at lower temperatures. Wait until you sink your teeth into the lean, clean flavor of U.S. Wellness Meats. You'll find that regular beef flavor has been replaced by a more robust beef flavor that you will love, AND as an added bonus, it's GREAT for you!

NATURAL, ADDITIVE-FREE BEEF - At U.S. Wellness Meats we eat what we sell! We are absolutely committed to the highest standards of food quality and safety. No pesticides or herbicides are used on the pastures where our cattle graze. No preservatives or additives are in our products. No growth implants, feed grade antibiotics or unnecessary antibiotics are given to the animals. Animals are only given antibiotics when necessitated for the treatment of illness. When this occurs the cattle must meet our required withdrawal time prior to processing, which is double that of the industry standard. Cattle graze on a managed rotation, which provides them with consistently fresh forage.

Make the change to all natural, high in EFA's organic beef, meats and poultry from U.S. Wellness. The positive benefits are noticeable and the change will be amazing!

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Hidden Sources of MSG in regular & organic foods

Do You Know What's in the Foods You're Eating?

The Truth About Non-Nutritive Sweeteners

If you would like to learn more here are two other terrific resources to obtain information that is not biased by some large comapny:

Dr. Mercola simply type in the search box the food or topic of interest.

Weston A. Price Foundation The Weston A. Price Foundation is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charity founded in 1999 to disseminate the research of nutrition pioneer Dr. Weston Price, whose studies of isolated nonindustrialized peoples established the parameters of human health and determined the optimum characteristics of human diets. Dr. Price's research demonstrated that humans achieve perfect physical form and perfect health generation after generation only when they consume nutrient-dense whole foods and the vital fat-soluble activators found exclusively in animal fats.

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