Anti-Stress Nutrition Programme to Improve Mood,
Health, Behaviour and Learning
By Brenda Sampson
VITAMIN AND MINERAL SUPPLEMENTS FOR ALLERGIC OR HYPERACTIVE CHILDREN AND ADULTS
The ones I see mentioned over and over again are vitamin C, B-complex (especially B3, B5, B6). B6 is pyridoxin, B5 is pantothenic acid or pantothenate, B3 has two names, niacin and nicotinic acid. The useful minerals are zinc, magnesium and manganese. Useful essential fatty acids are evening primrose oil and cod liver oil.
A Wellington member had a seven year old son who was hyperactive. He responded partially but not completely to the Feingold diet. However his mother said he was fine if she gave him the following supplements. When she stopped giving them for a month, his behaviour worsened and changed dramatically for the worse after about three weeks, so she put him back on the pills and he improved again after about three weeks.
The supplements taken daily were: One tablet of calcium with vitamin D or one dolomite tablet (dolomite is a mixture of calcium and magnesium). Two 250mg tablets of vitamin C Two B-complex tablets, high potency (the label said "Child dose 1 to 2 daily") One capsule of vitamins A,D,E (in one capsule)
She used calcium and dolomite alternatively; a bottle of one, then a bottle of the other.
Adelle Davis was a best-selling nutritionist in the 50's. In her book "Let's have healthy children", the last chapter is entitled, "Allergies? Why keep them?" She believed that allergies can be cured with vitamin and mineral supplements, and cited her own case. She adopted a daughter who turned out to be very allergic, but the allergies were reversed with vitamins and minerals. (note: from a grain sensitive person who tried following Adelle Davis's nutrition advice and found she felt a lot worse on the breakfast cereals recommended. She found she was allergic to most grains except corn.) The following letter supports her claim. It is from the mother of a hyperactive boy aged four, who improved greatly with the Feingold programme. She writes, "My mother-in-law came to visit us. She is into Adelle Davis, and thought that my son's sensitivities were nutrition-oriented and that with adequate supplements he could eat anything. So I allowed her to give Danny a teaspoon of dolomite powder twice a day, 25mg vitamin B5 four times daily, and about 250mg vitamin C daily. After a few days of these supplements, we gave him, within a week, tomatoes, apples, a peach, plums, cucumber and an orange. We had no reaction at all. Since Mum went home, I have not been keeping up his vitamins and an orange last week had him vomiting, etc, as it used to. The dolomite seemed to help him sleep better too; he was in bed asleep most nights between eight and nine, instead of his usual go-to-sleep time around eleven pm."
Here is another letter from a mother in Brisbane: "I'm writing this letter in the hope that others may benefit from my experience and not lose precious years in obtaining help for their child.
Four years ago my boy (twelve years now) went on the Feingold diet after eight years of "sheer hell" for him and his family. Dramatic response in a few days; a complete reversal of personality, behaviour, etc. After six months we reintroduced salicylates but to no avail; the diet has to be as strict now as it was then. It is a way of life now. Lots of work has been put into co-ordination problems, with gradual improvement. A series of tests by an allergist revealed how allergic he is to environmental allergens; moulds, dusts, etc, and also the hydrocarbons are bad. Any strong smells affect him.
So like a lot of children we have contact with, he has a double-barrelled health problem:
1) Sensitivity to artificial colour, flavour, salicylates and additives and
2) Allergy to food and environment. By controlling these two health factors, day-to-day living, learning and coping are achieved. But how can we give that "bit extra"?
The answer for this boy came by way of supplementation with vitamins. He was having a bad patch with depression, emotional crying, like a person having a nervous breakdown. In despair I rang a Brisbane doctor who saw him and put him on large doses of sodium ascorbate, zinc, vitamin B6 and magnesium. The change after two months is dramatic. He has a zest for life, all the time now, is happy, outgoing, fearless, growing like a lion, is loveable and loving. He has that bit extra that he didn't have before, on a controlled diet."
The supplements for the twelve year old were:
Vitamin C in the form of sodium ascorbate, one gramme (half a level teaspoon) taken three times daily.
A tablet containing 25 mg vitamin B6, 25 mg zinc sulphate, 50 mg magnesium. This was taken twice daily. Later half a teaspoon of dolomite powder was added daily.
ZINC
(Reprinted with permission from "Nutrition Summary" by Earl Conroy.) Zinc is increasingly being noted as a deterrent of infections and unmanageable behaviour including poor sleeping habits.
Zinc and unmanageable children: Children that are unsettled, frequently demanding attention, upset much of the time, and whose sleep is regularly broken during the night can be very wearying on parents.
Dr Joseph T. Hart, a paediatrician of Portland, Oregan, has found that by supplementing zinc you may be able to eliminate the problem of sleeplessness. He has supplied zinc drops to hundreds of children and in the majority of cases the chronic sleeplessness has disappeared.
Dr K.M. Hambridge of Denver, Colorado, observed that zinc-fed babies were much less irritable.
Dr Carl C Pfeiffer of Princeton, New Jersey, demonstrated that supplementing zinc to pregnant women who had high copper levels would result in healthier babies
.Dr Hart observed that in babies who habitually wake up many times at night, with zinc supplementation ... in two or three nights the children are responding and sleeping through till morning, and continuing to do so.
Hart reports that zinc supplementation also produces improvement in appetite, daytime irritability, diarrhoea, skin rashes, and pallor. Older children whose wakefulness was followed by climbing out of bed, getting in bed with parents, lost those annoying habits.
Zinc also helps to get rid of the terrible two's. Within a week we often see a definite settling down and reduction of tantrums and terrorizing of poor mother.
Zinc is being successfully used for learning-disabled children, for kids with seizures, skin lesions, and histories of infections.
Zinc is essential for new tissue formation. It is essential for white blood cell and antibody formation. It helps to neutralize toxic minerals in the body such as lead, cadmium and copper. It also seems to make other nutrients work better.
Zinc drops may be made by putting one saltspoon of zinc sulphate into 50 ml bottle of rain or well water and shaking thoroughly.
Fill a second 50ml bottle with water and five drops from first bottle. This is readily absorbed with no side effects whatsoever. Use 10 drops a day for children, 10 drops twice a day for adults.
ZINC AND ZINC DEFICIENCY
Zinc deficiency is common; there are several reasons for it.
1) Poor dietary intake. The chief food source of zinc is red meat, and there is a move towards vegetarian diet. Oysters are said to be rich in zinc; also pumpkin seeds; there is not much in fruit or vegetables. When cooking pumpkin don't discard the seeds; whizz them with water, strain, and use the liquid in soup and gravy. Or boil the seeds with the pumpkin, then split them with the teeth and eat the nut.
2) Poor absorption. Things that help the absorption of zinc are vitamin C and manganese.
3) Increased need, as in pregnancy and in stress.
4) The contraceptive pill makes women zinc-deficient (also deficient in some vitamins)
5) The use of copper water-pipes in plumbing. Water (especially soft water or hot water from copper-lined cylinders) becomes loaded with copper. A label on a new hot water bottle said, "Do not fill with water from a hot tap; it will be loaded with copper, which will shorten the life of the bottle".
A tiny trace of copper is needed in the body, but too much is poisonous, and causes headache, migraine, joint pain, arthritis. Don't ever drink or cook with water from a hot tap.
In the body, zinc and copper bond, and when the body is trying to excrete excess copper, zinc is excreted at the same time, leaving zinc deficiency. One advantage of zinc supplements is that zinc, plus B6 and vitamin C, helps to reduce excess copper in the body. Carl Pfeiffer says that over several months this will reduce arthritis. One research showed that 90% of a group of hyperactive children tested, were deficient in zinc, compared with only 26% of non-hyperactive children.
WHY ZINC IS IMPORTANT
There are trillions of chemical changes going on in the body every fraction of a second. Hundreds of enzymes are the catalysts for these changes. A great many of the enzymes require the help of zinc in order to work correctly; probably also vitamins C, B6 and other B vitamins. Adequate zinc and vitamins C and B6 are needed for a strong immune system. In animal research, zinc deficiency in pregnant females, led to immune deficiency in the offspring for three generations.
The human foetus requires zinc for brain development; the male foetus also needs a lot for the development of the testes. There is also zinc in human milk. It is thought that if a mother enters pregnancy zinc-deficient, the foetus may almost exhaust her supplies; when she begins breast feeding this may take her last traces, and post-natal depression results.
An article in the journal of the American association for learning disability, suggested that the reason why there are so many more hyperactive and learning disabled boys than girls, may be because of zinc deficiency in pregnancy. In male foetuses, the zinc available goes first to form the genitals, leaving an inadequate supply for brain development.
SIGNS OF ZINC DEFICIENCY
1) White spots on nails. If these are present, take John Peters' zinc tonic till they disappear.
2) Skin problems : eczema, dermatitis, acne
3) Impaired immunity and susceptibility to infections
4) Impaired wound healing
5) Low birth weight and retarded growth
6) Failure of sexual development or function, prostate problems in men, (I know of two men who avoided a prostate operation by taking zinc).
7) Impaired taste and impaired sense of smell. This lack of taste and smell leads to poor appetite and anorexia. Both improve with zinc supplements. If you cannot taste zinc, it means that you need it.
8) In women, depression and post-natal depression (baby blues).
9) In children, disturbed behaviour, learning difficulties, sleeplessness.
10)Weak, brittle nails, dry, brittle hair.
ZINC SUPPLEMENTS AVAILABLE
The recommended minimum daily allowance for adults is 15mg of pure zinc. Health shops sell tablets of chelated zinc; the zinc is bonded with a protein to make it more easily absorbed. John Peters, owner of the Mall pharmacy in Upper Hutt, phone (04) 528 5188, makes a liquid zinc supplement containing vitamin B6 and also manganese to help zinc absorption.
JOHN PETERS' ZINC TONIC
John kindly gave me a copy of the recipe; readers can ask their own pharmacist to make it for them. Tell your chemist the age of the person you want it for. If you want to use B-complex as well (which we recommend, because B vitamins are the "good-temper" vitamins) the B6 in the zinc recipe could be reduced by the amount in the B-complex tablet.
The zinc recipe
1) for adults or teenagers: zinc sulphate 65mg; manganese chloride 7.2mg; magnesium chloride 50mg; vitamin B6 100mg; water to 5ml. Dose 5 ml once or twice daily depending on need;
2) children 7 to 12 years: Vitamin B6, 50mg; zinc, manganese and magnesium 66% of adult recipe; water to 5 ml. Dose 5ml daily or 2.5ml twice daily;
3) children 3 to 7 years: Half the adult amounts for all the ingredients, water to 5ml. Dose 5ml daily or 2.5ml twice daily;
4) infants up to 3 years: The same recipe as for children 3 to 7 years, but half the dose, 2.5ml daily.
Take it with food, preferably early in the day. This zinc tonic has no preservatives or additives, so order only a month's supply at a time. Ask your chemist for a measuring spoon to measure 5 and 2.5mls. John Peters recommends a multi-vitamin liquid to give with the zinc tonic, Vita-Fit Liquavita, "Hi-Vita".
Vitamin C
It is important to take vitamin C with the zinc liquid. Dr Kalokerinos, the Australian "vitamin C doctor" recommends the sodium ascorbate form available from chemists. The daily requirement varies a lot from one individual to another. Dr Kalokerinos says to start with a small amount and work up. If you take more than necessary it will cause diarrhoea, in which case merely reduce the dose. He said a small amount for an infant would be sodium ascorbate as big as a match-head, but when that is tolerated, increase it.
Magnesium ascorbate is also good, and provides magnesium. It is not easy to buy, but can be made at home. Ask a chemist for a small quantity of light magnesium carbonate and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Before breakfast, take half a small, level teaspoon of the mixture and stir it into a cup of hot water. It will fizz slightly and make a new compound, magnesium ascorbate. Add a teaspoon of John Peters' zinc mixture and drink.
VITAMIN C AND SALICYLATE SENSITIVITY
Some salicylate sensitive people are afraid to take vitamin C, because one research showed that it competes with salicylate for excretion; that is, surplus vitamin C will prevent salicylate from being excreted. But when the body is under any internal stress, it uses up its vitamin C rapidly. Hyperactivity is a sign of great internal stress, so maybe the vitamin C will be used up, instead of being excreted.
BOOKS, ETC. ABOUT ZINC
Bryce-Smith, D., The zinc solution
Pfeiffer, C., Mental and elemental nutrients
Pfeiffer, C., Zinc and other micro-nutrients
Rodale, J., Zinc and the healthy prostate
There is a connection with zinc deficiency and skin diseases.
ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS (EFA's)
(1) Evening Primrose Oil (EP Oil) Allergic and hyperactive people often benefit from supplements of EFA's such as evening primrose oil and cod liver oil. Excessive thirst is a symptom of EFA deficiency, and hyperactive children with excessive thirst are specially likely to benefit; also children or adults with eczema or asthma. EP oil seems to benefit many conditions that stem from allergy; this is because it helps to strengthen and regulate the immune system. The dose for infants is 1 or 2 capsules a day; for children 3 a day, for adults 6 to 8 a day. The oil is absorbed through the skin; if a baby is too young to swallow a capsule without choking, soften the capsule by leaving the lid off, pierce it with a needle and rub the oil gently onto the soft skin of the tummy, or inside the thigh or forearm.
For the best results, take the following supplements with EP oil; they are needed for the oil to be correctly metabolised in the body: vitamins C and B-complex; especially B3, B5, B6, also zinc, magnesium and manganese. Evening Primrose Oil should not be used in cases where there is epilepsy. Toxins that block the use of EP oil in the body are: artificial food colours, anti-oxidant preservatives in cooking oil, hydrogenated fats (oils that have been chemically changed into a solid as in margarine), and opioid peptides that are produced in the stomach when milk and wheat proteins are not properly digested. Our members can obtain EP oil from Analytical Nutrition, PO Box 35 127, Browns Bay, Auckland at a discount. Firstly, check to see if if this source is still available.
(2) Cod liver Oil This contains vitamins A and D, as well as a valuable essential fatty acid. Vitamin A keeps the mucous membranes in the body healthy, and cod liver oil helps to keep children free from coughs and colds. A teaspoon daily after breakfast will cure a persistent cough in a week. It is easier to take if a few grains of salt are added. Eaten with a pinch of salt between two slices of bread it tastes like a sardine sandwich.
All oils should be kept in the fridge. Don't force a child to take oil that is disliked; it may be rancid, and that is toxic. To prevent rancidity, wipe the top of the bottle with a tissue before replacing the cap. Or the child may be allergic to the oil, making it toxic to him. For more information bout EFA's, read "Superimmunity for Kids ids" by Leo Galland.
ENZYMES CAN IMPROVE DIGESTION AND THUS REDUCE ALLERGIES
Digestive enzymes are now available in tablet or capsule form. There is a good brand called "Pancrex V" which contains three enzymes to assist digestion of fat, protein and carbohydrate. It is avaialble from chemists either without a prescription, or with one if your doctor will give it.
NUTRITION IS A BETTER WAY TO CORRECT HYPERACTIVITY/A.D.D.
The British Hyperactivity Association, the Hyperactive Children's Support Group (HACSG) pioneered the use of evening primrose oil with a vitamin/mineral supplement called Efavite and found it effective in reducing hyperactivity and disturbed behaviour. A Dunedin doctor Dr Les Simpson has also researched EP oil and found it effective for allergic and hyperactive children.
Research has shown a brain abnormaility in hyperactive children. A part of the brain called the striatum has a reduced blood flow and does not function properly. This is the part of the brain that screens out unwanted stimuli and allows the person to concentrate on what is important. The discovery could explain why some children have poor concentration and attention deficit.
Stephen Schoenthaler has done research with thousands of young offenders in USA which has shown clearly that improved nutrition improves behaviour. In one research he studied six subjects who were deficient in vitamins and minerals, as shown by blood assays. They were given brain scans which revealed a total of 22 brain abnormalities. Four were given vitamin/mineral supplements for 13 weeks; the other two were given placebos. In the second round of tests, the four who had received supplements had normal levels of nutrients and 12 out of their 14 brain abnormalities had disappeared! The control group of two still had low nutrient levels and their eight brain abnormalities were unchanged.
Schoenthaler points out that his subjects have not shown physical signs of malnutrition; he therefore believes that the brain is far more sensitive to malnutrition than the body. Blood assays to determine nutrient levels are not common in New Zealand. But the question arises, could the malfunction of the striatum in hyperactive and ADHD children be due to nutrient deficiencies, and could it be corrected with nutrient supplements? Research to answer this question would be invaluable.
Schoenthaler did research with 615 school children, from four schools. One was in a poor area, two in middle class areas and one in a wealthy area. Some were given vitamin/mineral supplements for three months; some had placebos. 45% of the children on supplements benefited from them. Their non-verbal I! (their "native wit") rose by an average of 20 points. This implies that for almost half the children, their previous diet was so deficient in vitamins and minerals that malnutrition was retarding their mental ability. So give hyperactive and ADHD children vitamin/mineral supplements to bring possibly low levels of these up to normal, and at all times give food as rich as possible in vitamins and beneficial minerals; ie vegetable proteins or fresh, unprocessed meat, fish, free-range chickens; plenty of fresh vegetables, raw or lightly cooked; raw fruit in moderation; bread and baking made with whole grain flours and pure water to drink.
Raw food is far richer in vitamins, minerals and enzymes, than is cooked food. If you do not have time for cooking, do not buy fast foods or convenience foods. Instead, save time by NOT cooking! Eat as much food as possible raw. Leslie Kenton, in her book "Raw Energy" says that cooking may damage your health! If one is well and wishes to stay that way, half the food should be eaten raw. If one is sick and wants to get well, 75% to 80% should be eaten raw.
Dr Eva Hill, a New Zealand doctor who cured many people of terminal cancer with a raw food diet, told one of her patients, "You can eat anything you like, as long as you don't cook it". This woman had lumps all over her body, but they were going away. I met her thirty years later, still in good health.
PYCNOGENOL
Pycnogenol is a new vitamin supplement that has become available in the 1990's. It seems to help with a number of diseases including some cases of ADD and hyperactivity. Possibly something to trial.
