Best Herbs For Stress

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been a commonly diagnosed illness occurring in children since the 1980s. Many people argue that ADHD should not be categorized as a disorder, but rather a set of problems that are normal to childhood. Either way, ADHD’s symptoms consist of wandering attention, nervousness, and hyperactivity. These symptoms can be extremely troubling for the parents and teachers that have to work with children suffering from ADHD. Drugs like Ritalin have been promoted ADHD treatments for many years, but have been found to have highly dangerous side effects and not be a solution to everything. Meanwhile, many nutritionists have discovered that many of the answers to ADHD can be found in a child’s diet in the form of food additives, sugar, and the missing essential nutrients.

One child who was horribly hyperactive, out of control, and diagnosed with ADHD by a school psychologist was taken off any foods that contained a particular red dye. Almost immediately, the child’s hyperactivity ceased and he began paying attention and living the life of a normal child. A study recently completed at Yale University School of Medicine supported this result, showing a direct connection between food additives and hyperactivity. This study consisted of 297 children who were given drinks that contained common artificial food colorings and additives that are usually found in food and candy. Meanwhile, a control group was given drinks without additives. The children who drank the additive-enhanced drinks showed a significantly greater amount of hyperactivity and had shorter attention spans.

Another common cause of ADHD symptoms in children is overdosing of sugar. With all the snack-like breakfast cereals available and the high sugar-constant treats, hyperactivity should be expected. Once a child consumes a large quantity of sugar, he will hit a high of out-of-control hyperactivity and then quickly become grouchy and prone to tantrums. This is often called a “sugar rush” and can easily be solved by taking children off sugar.

After removing chemical additives and processed sugar from the diet, ADHD symptoms have also been traced to a lack of mineral magnesium. This nutrient is essential and often missing from most diets today. Kids who drink a lot of soda or fruit juices are getting high amounts of sugar but not magnesium. Those children without magnesium often suffer from irritability, insomnia, and constipation. These symptoms, which are commonly diagnosed as ADHD, can be cleared up quickly by putting your child on a magnesium supplement. Most nutritionists agree, believing that many ADHD symptoms come from a high sugar diet and a magnesium deficiency. Sugar and over-stimulation, such as stress, actually exhausts a child’s nervous system. This can be cured with a magnesium supplement which allows the nervous system to rebuild. In addition, this supplement will assist the child in relaxing. Since children are the future for our society, helping them to survive in the best way possible, naturally, is something each and every one of us should take much more responsibility for. Magnesium and other natural supplements can be found at your local or internet vitamin store.

Magnesium Anxiety ANSWER, Children, Could, Drugging, Help, Magnesium, Natural, Supplement

A behaviour that is very common to many children with ADHD is a sense of fearlessness. I recall my first experience of a pupil running on to the 4th storey roof of a pupil referral unit I once worked at. Heart in mouth, I watched as he scaled window sills and roofs to perch himself on the top of the roof. I discovered in a very short time that many children presenting with this condition follow similar patterns of behaviour and very often run to the highest places and spaces.

Another familiar scenario is leaping out of bedroom windows to the ground below, without any consideration of consequences, running off and dashing across the road without looking and the list of fearless behaviours grows.

As I can vouch, this often leaves onlookers in a state of disbelief and anxiousness regarding their safety.

Why do these children exhibiting ADHD behavior do this? Well the whole concept of fear and not learning through previous experiences is very interesting. Fear is a lower brain emotion and as these incredible young people appear to have their brain wiring routed in other pathways, these normal fear reactions do not even equate in the level of choices they make.

There is of course the thrill factor which is coupled with the satisfaction of them often being unable to be reached. The entertainment values of watching those around them stand with heart in mouth as I did and a sense of them being in control. They are also in the position of higher ‘authority’ when in this position.

Of course, it also represents an opportunity to escape the situation and isolate them from what is going on and is a behaviour which is often triggered by a stress situation. It is however worrying and perplexing for those who can only stand and watch.

So how can such ADHD behaviours be addressed in a natural way?

I would personally start with the Bach Flower remedies to support the emotional state.

Chestnut bud works with failure to learn from previous experience, combined with Rescue Remedy to deal with the stress that it is prompting the fight or flight reaction, Cherry Plum for losing control, vine for defiance and control and impatiens for impulsive behaviour and crab apple for compulsive or obsessive behaviours.

These remedies are safe and simple with no side effects have an emotionally calming effect.

Bach Flower Rescue Remedy Adhd, Children, climb, Natural, Remedies, roofs, Support, This

Dyssomnia consists of many different sleep disorders. Those with dyssomnia may have difficulty falling asleep, may wake up during the night, may have night terrors, or may walk in their sleep. Even though these sleep disturbances may be temporary, up to thirty percent of children suffer from them. Another condition that affects many children is motor restlessness, in which children are unable to sit still and concentrate, especially in situations demanding discipline and attention. Some situations of general motor restlessness may be temporary, but it can also be a personality characteristic that continues beyond childhood. Clinical trials that have occurred in the past have shown that the combination of valerian root and lemon balm herb can improve sleep quality and mood in those adults who have sleep disorders. Both of these herbs have been approved by the Commission E of the German government to be taken for sleep disorders.

The purpose of the following study was the test the effectiveness and tolerability of valerian and lemon balm on children who have motor restlessness and nervous dyskoimesis sleep disturbance. The study was conducted in 207 pediatric clinics across Germany on 938 children under the age of twelve. Each child was asked to complete a baseline study visit which included a complete medical history, a review of his or her current diagnosis, and documentation of the incidence and severity of symptoms by the doctor. Each child was instructed to take four tablets daily of valerian and lemon balm tabs, which contains 160 mg of valerian root dry extract and 80 mg of lemon balm leaf dry extract. The child was instructed to return for a second and final visit after four weeks. During the visit, the child was examined and his or her doctor recorded the incidence while assessing the tolerability of the product. Both the doctor and the child’s parent had to complete a questionnaire to evaluate the child’s response to the product.

With a total of 918 children evaluated in the study and the average age being 8.3 years, the average duration of this study was 31.9 days. The percentage of children who were reporting daily symptoms dropped from 61.7% to 12.5% after taking valerian and lemon balm tabs for four weeks. At the final visit, symptoms of restlessness or dyssomnia were rated as absent or mild in the majority of children, compared to the moderate or severe symptoms reported in the majority of the children at the beginning of the study. Most of the doctors and parents rated the efficacy of the product as being good, while doctors rated the tolerability of the product as very good or good for 96.7% of the children. Only two adverse events were noted, vomiting and urinary tract infection, but neither was attributed to the valerian and lemon balm tabs
.
The authors of the study believe that taking the valerian and lemon balm combination for four weeks allowed children to experience fast and significant improvement of their symptoms. They also concluded that valerian and lemon balm tabs are well-tolerated and effective in the treatment of children who have restlessness or dyssomnia. Because current treatments for restlessness and dyssomnia include synthetic psychotropic drugs which may cause addiction or adverse side effects, authors recommend conducting a head-to-head comparison of valerian and lemon balm tabs with synthetic drugs in children.

Valerian Aids, Balm, Children, Extract, Restlessness, Valerianlemon