Treating ADD With Alternative Medicine

Alternative medicine is a practice which people either live by or laugh at; there does not seem to be any middle ground. When it comes to treating Attention Deficit Disorder, alternative medicine refers to any treatment technique which falls outside the realm of standard behavioral treatments and medication.

Dietary intervention is one such treatment in which certain foods are eliminated from a childs diet to reduce or eliminate the negative effects of ADD. This is based on the misguided belief that ADD is caused by food allergies or certain manufactured products, such as food dye or preservatives. While many people strongly trust this belief, there does not seem to be any scientific foundation for it.

Another alternative treatment is the taking of nutritional supplements, which, of course, is the opposite principle of dietary intervention. Specifically, the use of glyconutritional supplements, megadose vitamins, amino acid supplementation, Gingko biloba, or any number of other herbal remedies have been touted to cure ADD. Special care should be taken in consuming herbal remedies as they are not regulated by the FDA. Children are also especially susceptible to...