Many parents have found that switching to an organic diet can greatly help their child with ADHD. It raises many questions about whether or not there may be a link between ADHD and the pesticides in our food.
A study conducted by researchers from the University of Montreal and Harvard University according to an article published by Time Magazine (2010) found that children with concentration levels of pesticides in their urine were 35% more likely to be prone to develop ADHD. The higher these levels, the more and more the risk multiplied.
This study, while not the most current, has been a topic of big debate, simply because more and more people are starting to question the effects of pesticides and food preservatives and other toxins in our environment and how they relate to our health. All of us want to be healthier – but often times we do not know the right information to make healthy choices.
What Most People Don’t Realize: Most Food is Poisoned
Unless you purchase food that is certified organic, you are consuming pesticides. It is otherwise impossible to avoid them. Even foods that say “all natural” may contain toxins that can negatively impact one’s health. Reading labels is not enough – you need to be sure that the foods you eat are organic in order to avoid pesticides.
This is hard for a lot of parents to grasp, especially because there are many name brands we have come to trust or use quite a bit. For example, a recent study on apple juice found that well known companies such as Motts apple juice tested unacceptably high for having arsenic in apple juice – up to 5 times higher than the considered “safe” level by the EPA. We are talking about microscopic particles here of course, but when you consider the whole entire human body is made of microscopic particles, it is not that surprising or astonishing that it could have an effect on some people, especially children who have a smaller body weight and are in their early developmental stages.
While some foods are better than others (ie: spinach absolutely should be organic, while foods that need peeled generally contain much less) – it’s very hard for a parent with a child with special needs (and likely a picky eater) to find foods that are safe. Even if you are lucky enough to live near a grocery store that offers organic food, it can be extremely expensive and out of budget for many families. Sometimes however, the cost of food far outweighs the negative effects of pesticides.
Why Would Pesticides Have a Role in ADHD?
It is hard to understand why pesticides may have such a big role in ADHD symptoms. However, if you understand the science of food and digestion and how it makes the brain function, it makes it much easier to see the potential for a link.
Leaky Gut Syndrome:
Many kids with ADHD experience digestive problems that can cause constipation and malabsorption of nutrients (which then also factors into behavioral issues and the way the brain functions). It also suggests that perhaps these children simply have a compromised immune system that cannot simply process all the toxins in our every day world.
This is a concept often associated with the term leaky gut syndrome and is also a common topic of discussion amongst autism researchers. (Leaky gut syndrome suggests that food particles and toxins are permeating through the intestinal wall into the bloodstream, causing food allergies and toxin overload).
Toxic overload is not a surprising concept in the research associated with ADD. Many people have discovered that symptoms of ADHD are actually symptoms of poisoning from heavy metals or other dangerous chemicals that are present in our environment.
For example, studies are now finding that flouride, which is found not only in toothpaste but also in most public drinking water, can cause the very same symptoms of ADHD. Mercury is another hot debate, as it is often found in vaccines (though many are now changing their formula) as well as in dental fillings. All people who experiment the symptoms of ADHD should also be screened for lead, as the symptoms for lead poisoning are often similar as well.
Do leaky gut sydriome and toxic overload explain everything? Unfortunately, not always.
It is important to remember that ADHD is a set of symptoms, that describes hyperactivity and the inability to focus or concentrate or complete tasks. These symptoms likely have a variety of different causes, and most likely there is no one single cause to pinpoint that would be true for all children. For example, a child with food allergies and sensitivity to preservatives, may display similar characteristics of a child with lead poisoning. Both may experience chronic constipation and an ability to focus and concentrate. A child may also have ADHD from other reasons, such as a genetic disposition for the way the brain functions or how the body’s immune system works.
Bottom Line: There is no conclusive evidence about the link between ADHD and pesticides. Finding a doctor who you can trust (and is not just some quack looking to make a fortune at your expense) is extremely difficult to do. But, what I can tell you, as a mom of an eight year old boy, switching to an all organic diet has made all the difference.
