When your child is diagnosed with ADHD, you have several decisions to make with regards to his or her treatment. You may wish to treat the ADHD with medications prescribed by your child's doctor. However, some parents would prefer trying to rein in symptoms of ADHD without the use of conventional medicines.

Diet

Altering your child's diet may prove beneficial in controlling his ADHD. Some cases of ADHD have been found to involve nutritional deficiency or food allergies, and working to correct these can help your child have more focus and self-control. Cut out processed foods, refined sugar, MSG and other unhealthy foods and additives from your child's diet. These foods can often lead to your child becoming more hyperactive than usual. Buying foods that are organic can help remove pesticides and other negative enhancements from your child's diet. Up your child's protein intake while lowering refined carbohydrates. Omega oils, found in fish, may be good for your child as well. Try altering your child's diet with a two-week detox method. During the two weeks, cut out dairy products, junk foods, sugar, fruit juices, processed foods, MSG, fried foods and foods with added colorings. After the two weeks, start adding in one restricted food per day. This way, you can see which foods your child can eat without adverse reactions and know what to remove from her diet permanently.

Behavioral Therapy

Embarking on behavioral therapy for your child is a serious commitment. You will need to find a behavioral therapist to work with you and your child to alter the behavior and control ADHD. Behavioral therapy is not as fast-acting as medication, but many parents feel the pay-off is worth the time it takes. Behavioral therapy aims to alter negative behaviors by emphasizing positive ones. Behavioral therapy works best when utilized in all areas of your child's life, including at school. You will need to get your child's teacher as involved as possible in order for the treatment to work. During behavioral therapy, the therapist will work to discover your child's main symptoms and thus teach both you and your child how best to deal with them. For example, the therapist may ask you to come up with a reward system for your child based on his good behavior. Having a reward system in place will encourage more of the good behavior and eventually diminish the negative behavior. Punishments should be in place for the negative behaviors, but focusing on punishing rather than rewarding can be detrimental. When working with a behavioral therapist, make sure that the behavior modification plans that you agree to put into place are used consistently for best results.

Source:

Treating ADHD Without Medication

ADHD Diet