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Bipolar Kids Need Nutrition, Not Drugs |
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Bipolar Kids |
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Orthomolecular Medicine News Service,
October 16, 2008 Bipolar Kids Need Nutrition, Not Junk Food
and More Drugs
(OMNS, October 16, 2008) The NY Times
Magazine's cover story, "The Bipolar Kid" (September 14, 2008), is
a very bleak article. While emphasizing the miseries of living with such a
child, Jennifer Egan's article offers little hope except for ever-increasing
doses of lithium. Long on discussions of definitions and diagnoses, it is
remarkably short on treatment alternatives. Not a word about diet. Not a word
about vitamins. Indeed, in this 9,500 word feature, describing the daily life
of an out-of-control, beyond-ADHD boy, the word "nutrition" is not
mentioned at all. Neither are the words
"sugar" or "caffeine." What astounding omissions. Pediatrician
Lendon H. Smith, M.D., nationally famous as "The Children's
Doctor," was very plain in stating that sugar causes profound mood
disorders. He specifically advised parents to give their children a
"sugarless diet without processed foods." (1) It is not easy. The
Center for Science in the Public Interest has reported that children between
the ages of six and eleven drink nearly a pint of soda pop a day. 20% of
toddlers drink soda pop, nearly a cup daily. (2) And, of the seven best
selling soft drinks, six have caffeine in them. In sensitive persons,
caffeine can cause psychotic behavior. (3) Food colorings and benzoate preservatives
increase childhood hyperactivity, according to research published in Archives
of Disease in Childhood, June 2004. (4) The study, involving 277 preschool
children, also demonstrated that withdrawing these chemical additives
decreased hyperactivity. When additives were reintroduced, there was once
again an increase in hyperactivity. "Additives do have an effect on
overactive behavior independent of baseline allergic and behavioral
status," said lead author Dr. J.O. Warner. So many parents, and any of
us who have taught school the day after Halloween, can verify this. It is possible that the children profiled
in the NY Times story are unusual in that they do not consume any sugar, or
any artificial food colorings, or any benzoate preservatives, or any
caffeine-laced soft drinks. But it is much more likely that they do. The
article ignored these important factors even though health professionals are
increasingly aware that the normal functioning of the brain and nervous
system is nutrient-dependent and additive sensitive. Ian Brighthope,
M.D., says, "What is going on in the mind can be influenced by the
nutrients and chemicals going into it. You can't get anywhere with a patient
with psychiatric symptomatology if their brain is hungry, starved, or
poisoned." (5) Yet in the entire Times article, the words
"allergy" and "junk food" are not mentioned, not even
once. Children's learning and behavior problems often begin in their parents'
grocery carts. Allergist Benjamin Feingold, M.D., was convinced of the
negative effect of food chemicals on children's behavior and the role of good
nutrition in treatment. (6) Says the Feingold Association: "Numerous
studies show that certain synthetic food additives can have serious learning,
behavior, and/or health effects for sensitive people." (7) Another word totally absent from the Times
article is "vitamin." Psychiatrist Abram Hoffer, M.D., has had
decades of experience and considerable success treating children's behavioral
disorders with vitamins. High doses of vitamin B-3 (niacin, or niacinamide)
were first used by Hoffer and colleague Dr. Humphrey Osmond in the early
1950s. The trials were double-blind and placebo controlled. Over half a
century later, vitamin therapy has still been largely ignored by the
psychiatric profession, and, evidently, by some newspapers. What a loss to patients and their families.
I know and personally observed a preadolescent who was having serious
behavioral problems in school and at home. Interestingly enough, the child
had already been taking physician-prescribed little bits of niacin, though
totaling less than 150 mg/day, but evidently it wasn't enough to be
effective. When tried, drugs (especially Adderall)
actually made him worse: far more angry and dangerously
confrontational. I was present when his parents had to hold him down while he
screamed death threats at them. In desperation, his mother finally tried
giving him 500 mg of niacin, three times daily (1,500 mg total). There was
some improvement. With about 500 mg every two hours (an astounding
6,000-8,000 mg/day), the boy was a new person. He was now a cheerful,
cooperative, affectionate youngster. Adding vitamin C and B-6 to his regimen
helped even more. His school performance soared, the teachers loved him, and
they repeatedly said so. At age 15, his maintenance dose was about 3,000
mg/day. He has since graduated from high school and is successfully employed.
This is exactly in line with what Dr. Hoffer has repeatedly demonstrated for
over 50 years. (8) People often ask, "If this treatment
is so good, how come my doctor doesn't know about it? How come it is not in
the newspaper?" Those are good questions. The NY Times should know that reporting one
side is not good reporting. To tell the whole story, we need nutrition. So do
bipolar children. References: (1) Smith L. Foods for Healthy Kids. The peer-reviewed Orthomolecular Medicine News Service is a non-profit and
non-commercial informational resource. Editorial Review Board: Damien Downing, M.D. Andrew W. Saul, Editor
To Subscribe at no charge: http://www.orthomolecular.org/subscribe.html Andrew Saul is the author of the books FIRE
YOUR DOCTOR! How to be Independently Healthy (reader reviews at
http://www.doctoryourself.com/review.html
) and DOCTOR YOURSELF: Natural Healing that Works. (reviewed at http://www.doctoryourself.com/saulbooks.html
) For ordering information, Click Here .
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