Are there any food allergies or intolerances that can cause ADD-like behavior?
PS - I’d prefer not to have the thread hijacked by a discussion as to whether or not ADD is a real disease, or whether it’s over-diagnosed. I am just wondering if there’s a scenario where a non-medical person (such as a teacher) might suspect a student has ADD, when the symptoms could be explained by a food allergy or intolerance.
This is not for diagnosis of any individual. Thanks for your help.
I’ve heard people make claims that a connection exists between food allergies (not intolerances) and ADD.
As far as I’m concerned, this is pure quackery. I know of no large-scale epidemiological studies that provide any support for this.
I’d call the police if some some non-medically trained person dared tried to make such a diagnosis of my child. It can’t be done and most certainly shouldn’t be done.
I have a girlfriend who makes sure her kid doesn’t get red dye, red dye - in her opinion - turns the child into an uncontrollable demon.
Whether this is true or not, the daughter and her mother both believe it to be true, and therefore the child is much better behaved without red dye.
I guess I should clarify. I’m not asking if food allergies can cause ADD. I’m asking whether food allergies can present symptoms that are similar to ADD, or if food allergies can cause general behavioral problems in children.
Thanks for the response, but I’m trying to avoid this kind of thing in the thread. As I stated in my OP, this is not for diagnosis purposes, so the issue of diagnosing your child is not relevant. I’m not trying to be rude, I just don’t want the thread hijacked into a discussion of the appropriateness of making diagnosis for children. If it helps, this is for a story I’m writing, so no actual children will be harmed.
Red dye is a new one on me. Isn’t it commonly used in candy? Is her red-dye avoidance linked to sugar or caffeine reduction from candy?
Some allergy medications which are usually sedating can, in a certain percentage of people, have the opposite effect. Benadryl, for example, will cause “hyper” behavior in some children, so it is a possibility that some medications given for allergies could cause symptoms that might be mistaken for ADD, among other things. High doses of oral steroids can also cause behavior changes. This doesn’t mean ALL children or people will allergies will have that effect, but it is possible. In that case, the allergy is not the cause but rather the treatment of the allergy is.
Food allergies and intolerances can cause symptoms of tummy upset, itching (I don’t mean a little itching - I mean claw-your-own-skin-off itching), and other very uncomfortable physical symptoms. Particularly in young children, I could see how such symptoms could cause restless behavior, lots of squirming, and even inappropriate behavior (itchy toddlers have been known to disrobe in public to get at their itches if it gets really bad). Again, I could see these behaviors being attributed to ADD or some other behavior disorder.
Food intolerance can cause nervousness or irritability that can be misdiagnoses as something like ADHD.
There also seem to be papers connecting ADHD and food colorings.
Thanks for the responses. I had never heard about the food coloring issue until today.
I’ve stumbled on some websites that link Celiac’s disease to behavioral problems, but they were all non-medical sites. Anyone know if this is true?
An allergy is an autoimmune response. A lot of things that people call allergies are not.
It is a hypersensitivity and involves antibodies and the body thinking a normally benign substance is a germ of some sort and it activates the immune system to destroy it, much as the same way it would destroy a virus.
So a lot of food intolerances are called allergies when they are not