Medpagetoday.com REPORTS HERE that "a relatively simple diet low in fats and high in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables is one of the best alternatives to drug therapy for ADHD. Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid supplements have also been shown to help in some controlled studies."

Researchers reviewed "nearly 70 publications on diet-based interventions in ADHD, emphasizing recent research and controlled trials. They noted that diet is one established contributor to ADHD that parents can modify."

"One of the most provocative findings in recent years came from the Australian Raine study, which was a prospective cohort study that followed children from birth to age 14 …. It found that development of ADHD was significantly associated with so-called Western diets rich in saturated fats and sugar, compared with a "healthy" diet of proteins derived from low-fat fish and dairy products and with a high proportion of vegetables (including tomatoes), fruits, and whole grains."

"However, their review indicated that controlled trials had failed to show significant benefits for such intensive modifications as oligoantigenic, elimination, or additive-free Feingold-type diets except in small subgroups. Such diets also "are complicated, disruptive to the household, and often impractical," they wrote."

"In another finding likely to raise eyebrows, if not hackles, researchers concluded that only weak evidence supports the widespread belief that refined sugar promotes hyperactivity. Some effects on brain electrical activity have been documented, and reactive hypoglycemia following big jolts of sugary foods may account for behavioral changes seen in some ADHD children. But studies linking sugar consumption to ADHD have also been compromised by methodological problems. For example, one trial gave children sugar or placebo at breakfast with a high-carbohydrate cereal, which may have contributed to subsequent reactions to the sugar. Researchers cited a separate study that demonstrated when children ate a protein meal before or simultaneously with sugar, no hyperactivity reaction occurred."

"Still, the researchers conceded, the notion that sugar exacerbates ADHD has become so entrenched it may not matter whether it's true or not."

"No controlled study or physician counsel is likely to change this perception. Parents will continue to restrict the allowance of candy for their hyperactive child at Halloween in the belief that this will curb the level of exuberant activity, an example of the Hawthorne effect. The specific type of therapy or discipline may be less important than the attention provided by the treatment,"

They also reviewed studies exploring the potential roles of zinc and iron deficiency in ADHD. … They were more impressed with the literature on polyunsaturated fatty acid supplements, especially the 2005 Oxford-Durham study. In that trial, several ADHD symptoms were significantly improved in children receiving omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid supplements, "an effect duplicated in other...supplement trials."

"Supplemental diet therapy is simple, relatively inexpensive, and more acceptable to patient and parent," the researchers concluded. "Public education regarding a healthy diet pattern and lifestyle to prevent or control ADHD may have greater long-term success."