Kids and sugar rush
Toward the end of the column, it says, “…studies have suggested there’s some correlation between ADHD and diet, so maybe every so often you’ll get a kid whose condition really is exacerbated by sugar.”
I have seen no scientific evidence that there is any correlation between ADHD and diet. Please provide references for this.
Bump.
JillGat’s link isn’t quite right. This one works.
Note also that even if there is a correlation shown in the literature the “maybe” would still be pretty strong. Causation could run the other way or be driven by a third factor, even if the correlation were really there.
I’ll second JillGat’s request as I also have seen no such evidence for, and much evidence against (the most salient example being the failure of the Feingold diet to show any significant benefit).
Jumping on the bandwagon here, I guess. I’m curious about this, as well–also, about whether people with ADHD could have different reactions to certain chemicals like caffeine. Really any information in this area.
I know three people with ADHD, and they all crave sugar far more than I consider “normal,” but aren’t affected differently that we can tell. One says caffiene mellows him out, and the other two say that caffiene makes them insanely jittery. I wonder if we’re just noticing a connection that’s not really there, or there’s any evidence at all about whether certain chemicals affect them the same way or not.
And while we’re on the topic of the column, what the heck is “cognitive rigidity” Cece refers to? I’m guessing it means the mothers in question were ‘…unlikely to have their minds changed once they had decided on a position…’ but that’s an assumption on my part. A brief web search has revealed no precise definition of ‘cognitive rigidity’.
Of course, part of the reason I’m curious is because I know a few cognitively rigid people, and if there’s an area of study on the topic, I want to read up. (Particularly if there’s a section on ‘dealing with a cognitive rigid personality’.)
Google is your friend. From the first link that returns in a search (WARNING! .pdf file!)
Thanks!
Um, isn’t that Yahoo!? 
<chuckle> Um, I’ve found a new corallary to Gaudere’s Law, apparently. :smack:
Back to the original topic of this thread, I am still waiting for cites of evidence of any link between ADHD and diet.
Will this do?
"Egger et al. (1985) considered 7-year-olds with the hyperkinetic syndrome of whom a high proportion had a history of allergic problems… At the initial open stage of the study, the elimination diet, 62 out of 76 children improved to the extent that normal behaviour was reported with 21 children. The picture was of an idiosyncratic response. In total, 48 foods were incriminated (Egger et al., 1985). The artificial colourant tartrazine and the preservative sodium benzoate were the most common substances to which these children responded, a reaction they found in 79% of their sample. However, not a single child was sensitive to these additives alone. In addition, each responded to other food items, although the pattern differed from child to child. It was not possible to single out additives, or particular foods, as a unique or universal cause of problems. Cows milk caused an adverse reaction in 64% of children; chocolate (59%), grapes (49%), wheat (49%), oranges (45%), cows cheese 40% and hens egg (39%) also frequently produced an adverse reaction. In the nine studies in Table 1, the percentage of children who responded to aspects of their diet in open trials varied from 11% to 82%, with an average of 60%.
…
There is consistent evidence from well-controlled studies that some children with ADHD and related diagnoses respond adversely to food.
There are dozens of foods to which a reaction has been demonstrated; among the more common are wheat, dairy products and chocolate.
The pattern of foods to which a response occurs varies from individual to individual.
Reactions are not observed in all members of groups chosen because they share a common behavioural designation such as ADHD."
Benton, D.
The impact of diet on anti-social, violent and criminal behaviour
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 31 (2007) 752–774
Like the man sais, some correlation between ADHD and diet. Not a strong correlation, and far from perfect, but some correltaion nonetheless.
The first quote, by Eggers (over 20 years ago), doesn’t show any kind of convincing link between diet and ADHD. The “elimination diet” has been pretty thoroughly discredited since then. And what is that second quote supposed to mean? “some children with ADHD and related diagnoses respond adversely to food.” Compared to what other groups? I don’t see any current evidence that shows a correlation, and most of the experts in the field of ADHD don’t think there is one, either.
I seem to recall that maternal environmental exposures (e.g., smoking while pregnant, exposure to chemicals) were found to be associated with ADHD in children in some studies, but I never remember reading that a child’s poor diet being a risk factor for ADHD.
Jill, just because a study isn’t showing a convincing link, or a person’s diet has been discredited doesn’t mean that they don’t exist. Your original post was:
“I have seen no scientific evidence that there is any correlation between ADHD and diet. Please provide references for this.”
Now, you seem to be saying, “I don’t think that the reference provided is particularly believable.” That’s a different concept. Since the column in question doesn’t say that a link exists, but only that some studies have drawn the conclusion one exists, if there are such studies, then the article is not in error.
Of course, it would be nice if Cecil himself would respond to your question, with a list of the references which inspired the line in the column in question.
I have no dog in this fight, but you are aware that “convincing” isn’t a scientific term? It convinces Eggert and it convinced Benton so it clearly is convincing. The fact that it doesn’t convince you is pretty much irrelevant. A peer reviewed study exists in which the authors and the reviewers found the argument convincing.
First off “pretty thoroughly discredited” means it in fact hasn’t been discredited at all. Discrediting is all or nothing. If you think the theory has been discredited that is of course your priveilege, but so long as a single nutitionist or psychologists gives it credit then it remains scientifically credible, by definition.
Secondly even if we accept that the diet itself has been discredited the data presented remains valid. The data may have been used to provide evidence for a secondary theory that has been discredited while in fact the cause may be attributable to somehting else altogether, but the fact remains that in Eggert’s experiment a modification of diet caused a reduction in ADHD.
The article I quoted from is copyrighted, so I can’t quote the whole thing here. I have provided some of the releveant experimental data, and I have provided a complete reference if you wishy to peruse it yourself. The point being that a reference has been provided that suports Cecil’s comment. That was what you asked for.
As I say, I have no dog in this fight. However I will say that claiming that diet has no influence seems absurd. We know that children who are malnourished become listless and nevere exhibit signs of hyperactivity, so obviously diet can eliminate the symptoms of ADHD. To suggest otherwise is to suggest that a person who is on the verge of starvation will be running around like a madman.
The real questionis not “will diet have an effect” because it seems extreme diets must have an effect. the real question is "to what extent can an averege diet"have an efefct on ADHD. That I don’t know enough about to comment.
Firstly, Benton listed numerous studies, over 12 IIRC, that showed evidence. I can’t go into detail on them all them all for copyright reasons.
Secondly what “most of the experts” think is irrlevant. We don’t do science by consensus. Most of the experts thought that ulcers were caused by stress and that Fruedian psychobabble was an sound explanation of human psychology in my lifetime. Prior to that most experts thought that malaria and yellow fever were caused by foul air and that washing the hands after surgery was unhelathy for your patients. The world of medicine is full of examples of where most of the experts have been dead wrong and where the minority, often a single individual, have been dead right.
Thirdly a quick searh of the journals using the rms ADHD and diet turns up 6 journals published in the last 12 months suggesting a link between diet and the syndrom in rats and humans. So the issue clearly isn’t as setteld as you seem to think.
And finally, even if the issue is largely setteled in your favour that doesn’t invalidate Cecil’s comment.
Cecil said that studies exist that suggest a correlation between ADHD and diet. I have provided an example of a metastudy published in the past 12 months that draws precisely that conclusion and states it unambiguousy (“There is consistent evidence from well-controlled studies that some children with ADHD… respond adversely to food”). It in turn utilises a dozen or so other sudies that draw the same conlusion. So Cecil was perfectly correct: studies have suggested there’s some correlation between ADHD and diet.
Whether you and the majority of experts accept those studies is totally irrelevant to the accuracy of Cecil’s article. He said the studies exist and the do indeed exist.
Sure, Blake, there are always examples of that. But we have a thing called epidemiology to weed out the quirks and outliers.
Epidemiological evidence does not show that ADHD is caused - or exacerbated - by diet. Showing association does not prove causation, and that’s the point I wanted to make.
ADHD=Adults Didn’t Hatrbor Discipline,
Bogus term by a bogus industry in a too pc world that shirks personal ResponseAbility.