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As far as children’s nutrition and behavioral issues go, most parents would only worry about the occasional “sugar high”. Giving a five-year-old a soda pop or 100% fruit punch in the evening is probably not a good idea if they are going to sleep easily at night. Sugar, often identified as sucrose or fructose in labels, is usually the only culprit parents look out for, but what if it’s just one out of a worrisome array of ingredients that may impact behavior negatively?
The impact of nutrition on a child’s mental and emotional wellbeing is more than just mood swings and fluctuating levels of energy. Several past and recent studies have extensively explored the possible connections between certain nutrients/artificial additives and the rise in behavioral anomalies in kids and teens. Certain categories and types of foods have been found to trigger or aggravate the symptoms of behavioral disorders such as ADHD, depression, anxiety, and others.
Consider the common food dyes and artificial colorings – Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Blue 1, and Red 40. They have all been severally linked to aggravating hyperactivity and symptoms. Dairy is also a known trigger for children with ADHD. According to Dana Kay, a board-certified Holistic Health and Nutrition Practitioner, these studies are not exactly proclaiming that feeding kids certain types of foods will cause them to develop behavioral issues. However, the correlation, as seen in thousands of cases, cannot be ignored.
“Take a quick peek at the backs of many packaged goods and you’ll likely find artificial flavors and colors, preservatives, emulsifiers, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oil, and glyphosate in many of them. These man-made “ingredients” that are unfortunately found in many popular “kid” foods are causing so many issues in our bodies and minds,” she said.
Several food ingredients and additives approved by the US FDA are banned in many other countries, and it’s worrisome how porous the food regulatory system might be. For a few examples, genetically modified fruits and vegetables, part of GMOs, are highly restricted and exclusively banned in many countries across Europe. Meat fortified with additives such as ractopamine is illegal in many countries including Russia and China. Across most countries in the world, the known carcinogen used in bread-making, potassium bromate, is banned, although it remains legal in the US. Food dyes are still loosely regulated whereas, in the EU, they come with warning labels stating that they “may have an adverse effect on activity and attention in children.”
Propelled by personal struggles
Dana Kay is the founder and CEO of Our Road to Thrive, a resourceful community helping families of kids dealing with ADHD, and also the creator of the “ADHD Thrive Method 4 Kids” program. Kay’s first career was in business and accounting but her personal experience down the ADHD management path spurred her onto a new purpose: helping families identify the most natural ways of managing and reducing ADHD symptoms for the children.
When Kay’s first son was only 18 months old, she began to notice he was a bit hyperactive for his age. At the age of 4, the little boy was diagnosed with ADHD and placed on a strong stimulant medication routine. It seemed to work for a while but the respite was far too short.
“The doctor increased the dose from 5mg to 10mg, and then 15mg and again to 20mg,” Kay recalls. “But then, he couldn’t sleep. He started losing weight. He started to get extremely anxious. Instead of halting the prescription, my son was given even more drugs. They added another medication for his sleep problems and then a booster dose for the afternoon as the other ADHD medication started to wear off.”
While Kay admits that while medications have their purpose, upping a child’s doses so relentlessly and adding new medications to treat the symptoms of the other medication is not right and was not great for her son’s general health or mental status. She spent the next few years researching and studying the less-regular options and eventually stumbling on the powerful correlation between nutrition and behavioral disorders.
Kay began by cutting out foods and snacks containing gluten, dairy products, soy, and other foods that are believed to negatively affect the brain and gut in some people. Following his dietary overhaul over the next two weeks, her son’s condition improved so remarkably that she decided to dig deeper and identify the actual underlying issues aggravating his symptoms. A stool sample examination revealed that her son had a candida overgrowth and a leaky gut.
“What people don’t know is that 95% of your serotonin, and 50% of your dopamine, is made in the gut,” Kay explains. “These hormones help regulate your emotions, maintain your mood balance and your cognitive function, something that kids with ADHD have trouble with. If your gut isn’t functioning well, you are not able to produce these critical neurotransmitters.”
The boy is now 11, happy, and thriving to the point that he’s no longer on strong medication andNutrition Practice plus pediatrics specialty, Nutrition & Health Coaching, and Epidemic Answers Health Coaching. no longer considered ‘hyperactive’ or to have ‘behavioral issues’ at school. Kay’s son got to this point with a well-thought-out holistic plan focusing on his diet, lifestyle, targeted supplementation, mood management, and general wellness.
Dietary upgrades for long-term wellness
These days, very few people have the time to create menus for their families, let alone carefully crafting specific meal plans to avoid certain nutrients. It’s tough, especially for busy parents, and the temptation to just order pizza every night and let every child down a glass of milk is often overwhelming.
Kay has spent over a decade studying, researching, and acquiring the necessary degrees and certifications that would allow her to properly help and advise families on pediatric nutrition. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Holistic Health Science and certifications in Functional Diagnostic Nutrition, Bio Individual
“Healthy food is more expensive and our lives are so busy that it feels almost impossible to move away from boxed, frozen, or canned foods,” she says. “Well, that’s where my team comes in. We know how hard it can be to overhaul your family’s diet, and we want to help make it easier for you. We offer a step by step plan including strategies, links to replacement products, recipes, guides, one-on-one coaching, group calls, and so much more to help make the switch to healthy eating do-able, even for the busiest of families!”
Kay runs her online program and communities aimed at supporting families of children with ADHD. These dietary overhauls and lifestyle management are also effective for kids battling SPD, Brain Fog, Anxiety, Asthma, Autism, celiac, Crohn’s, and several others.
She runs the ‘ADHD Parent Nutrition Support Group, an online community of 13,400 parents sharing tips, accessing premium resources, and helping each other improve their children’s lives and wellbeing.
She says, “What I have is what I used to dream of, and that’s what I want for the families I help every day. My ‘ADHD Thrive Method 4 Kids’ step-by-step plan helps parents and children fight ADHD symptoms without the stress, and without the length of time that it once took me. Life is better knowing that people have a chance at creating a healthier future for their kids.”
