<<snip>>
children with ADHD had significantly higher blood iron levels
<<snip>>

J Nutr Biochem. 2004 Aug;15(8):467-72.  Related Articles, Links  

Dietary patterns and blood fatty acid composition in children with
attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in Taiwan.

Chen JR, Hsu SF, Hsu CD, Hwang LH, Yang SC.

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences, Taipei Medical University, Taipei
110, Taiwan.

Nutritional factors may be relative to attention-deficit hyperactive disorder
(ADHD), although the pathogenic mechanism is still unknown. Based on the work
of others, we hypothesized that children with ADHD have altered dietary
patterns and fatty acid metabolism. Therefore, the aim of this study was to
evaluate dietary patterns and the blood fatty acid composition in children with
ADHD in the Taipei area of Taiwan. The present study found that 58 subjects
with ADHD (average age 8.5 years) had significantly higher intakes of iron and
vitamin C compared to those of 52 control subjects (average age 7.9 years) (P <
0.05). The blood total protein content in subjects with ADHD was significantly
lower than that in control subjects (P < 0.05). On the other hand, children
with ADHD had significantly higher blood iron levels compared to the control
children (P < 0.05). Additionally, plasma gamma-linolenic acid (18:3 n-6) in
children with ADHD was higher than that in control children (P < 0.05).
Concerning the composition of other fatty acids in the phospholipid isolated
from red blood cell (RBC) membranes, oleic acid (18:1n-9) was significantly
higher, whereas nervonic acid (24:1n-9), linoleic acid (18:2n-6), arachidonic
acid (20:4n-6), and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3) were significantly lower in
subjects with ADHD (P < 0.05). Our results suggest that there were no
differences in dietary patterns of these children with ADHD except for the
intake of iron and vitamin C; however, the fatty acid composition of
phospholipid from RBC membranes in the ADHD children differed from that of the
normal children.

PMID: 15302081 [PubMed - in process]

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Who loves ya.
Tom

The answers are simple.  Just read Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
by Weston A. Price.  If you truly want to educate yourself about
nutrition and its effects on mind and body of adults and children
Price's research is the way to go.  He did the most extensive studies
and observation of more than a dozen cultures and population groups
all around the world through his 10+ years of traveling and studied
their diets and the effects it had on their health and reproduction as
well as the health of their children.  He discovered long ago what
most "researchers" today are just beginning to admit.  That diet plays
an important role in the physical and mental ability and development
of children as well as their behavior.

You might want to check into allergies.  There are many web sites with
information about this, but
http://www.pulsemed.org/adhd-food-allergies.htm is one of the most recent.

Ed Friedman

Consider fish oils. They might be the most important supplement.
http://tinyurl.com/4t49e

Regards
Jan