Hello and Welcome, I don't know enough about the Feingold diet to offer up an opinion. But I can point you in the direction of more information about alternative ADHD treatments and diet options.

Alternative ADHD Treatment: Can Diet Ease Symptoms?

How Diet Impacts ADHD

Balanced Meals, Better Behavior: Treating ADHD with Diet

That should get you started. Good luck, Dena

Quote

My daughter is 12 now and was diagnosed at age 6. I give her the children's formula of FISH OIL, vitamins and DHA enhanced organic milk. I also use organic products whenever possible. This includes all products meat, fish, dairy, eggs and vegetables. We bought a farm share in WA State to help lower the cost of food and have seen real benefits to in season. WE used to be vegetarian but found that our daughter's behavior vastly improved with a lean heart healthy high protein diet. She also occassionaly drinks Focus Factor Water when she has tests etc.... Overall I think the nutrition aspects are very important. She is a straight A student and cheerleader -- I have noticed that when we are running, running and not eating well or eating out alot she is irritable, poorly focused and sleeps poorly. Schedule and nurtrition are huge factors for her. Hope this helps.

Quote

I do not have any experience or knowledge of the feingold diet. However, we started the specific Carb diet (SCD) 5 months ago and have had GREAT success. My daughter (age 9) was dx w/anxiety and ADD. We tried at least 10-12 different meds and behavioral therapy and nothing worked. When we started the diet she was on 2 does of Vyvanse, 75mg of Zoloft and Respiradone daily. Since the meds were not effective anyway, I took her off (tapered) 1 mo after starting the diet. The psyciatrist was less then happy and supportive. She never liked him anyway. When found out she had a yeast overgrowth in the large and small intestine and adrenal gland. The yeast condition also gave her allergy to many foods, some were soy, wheat, gluten, rice, sugar, corn, dairy and others). We were told of those seen w/ADD and Anxiety dx 90% of them have yeast in the gut and once the yeast was gone most of the allergies would go away!! So, she was put on Nystin (oral) to help kill the internal yeast and the diet which is a diet that starves the yeast. We were told when her yeast conditions cleared, I would see a different child. The beginning was difficult but with time and routine we got it down pat. The results were not immediate, however after 3 months we saw the child she really was. We just had her retested (after 5 months) and she is yeast free in her adrenal and large intestine. There is a small amount in her small intestine. She is med free, aside from the Nystatin she is not on any medication and feeling WONDERFUL!! She has joy, focus and is enjoying life. She has learned so much through this. She is in tune w/her body, what a good healthy diet and balance is, the power she has to heal herself and hard work pays off. She talks to her friends about healthy eating habits and shares her foods w/them.

Quote

My son has only be diagnosed with ADHD. We have a great ADHD doctor, and feel so lucky we found her. We tried the Feingold diet even though our doctor had told us that scientifically it does not work to help with ADHD, and she was right. She did say that sometimes in about 15% of the cases ADHD has been reduced by eliminating either dairy, wheat, eggs, soy or other allergens from the diet and if the person is allergic to additives the Feingold might help. But its a trial and error sort of testing to find out what could help. And you need to eliminate the allergen for about 6 months to be sure. We tried eliminating different food groups from his diet but nothing has helped our son as much as meds have. We do give him 2 tbs. of very high quality fish oil a day, actually we all now take fish oil, even the dog. I think my doctor recommended 1500 mg DHA a day and 1600 EPA. He just drinks it straight, I put it on my salad in place of olive oil. We've found that just a normal high protein, high vegetable diet really is the best for our son. We do find that he does better by avoiding a junk food diet, but frankly so do I, so I don't think that is something special about ADHD kids.

Quote

"she was put on Nystin (oral) to help kill the internal yeast and the diet which is a diet that starves the yeast" Hi Julie, after reading about Nystin I think we'll try it. Its the only allergen we haven't eliminated and its worth a try. Wish us luck!

Quote

We've been on the diet for many years and, yes, it works (no more meds). I use the message boards and the stories there are amazing. There are also a lot of good studies the drs should know about. You can go to www.feingold.org Another forum is on the Yahoo groups--Feingold Program 4 Us.

Quote

This diet changed our lives!!!!! We quickly indentified that our son was VERY allergic to food coloring.

And our children are allergic to dairy.

It was a LIFE SAVER!!!!

When we started the diet I had to drive all over town to get food that would work -- that was 3-4 years ago. Now THANKFULLY, even places like Starbucks, there are available foods without food coloring and preservatives.

It is worth the effort because the difference in behavior is remarkable. At first you have to really pay attention to the connections and be strict about the diet. It takes about two weeks to get that stuff out of your system. Then when you slip up or "given in" you will see what a difference in mood, ability, behavior.

I can tell if my child as "snuck" some food coloring purely by how he is acting.

It is AMAZING!!!!

Grown ups benefit too -- less headaches, moodiness, irritiability.

Try it!!!!

Quote