Ericka and everyone.
As far as I know the Feingold diet has never been proven as being valuable in ADHD in controlled studies. I will check the Australian article. As I recall there were studies in the 70's that attempted to prove it by pitting the subjects on the diet and then giving the kids a cookie either containing the potential allergens or not and the conclusions were that there were not statistical differences between the 2 groups (although there may have been some individuals who benefited). I think the dietary causes of ADHD have been largely discredited. While I support research in all aspects of PD I doubt that a link will be found between diet (with the exception of pesticides) and PD.
The link between PD and ADHD is another matter. I also have a son with ADHD. While I think the chance of a child with ADHD developing PD is small I would like to see some good research in the subject especially since a link with dopamine is apparent.
Charlie
Charles T. Meyer, M.D.
Middleton(Madison) WI
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----- Original Message -----
From: John Lawley
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Saturday, December 18, 1999 12:32 AM
Subject: Re: ADD symptoms like PD?
Dear Susan, Mary Ann, Kathy and others,
The possible connection between PD and ADD/ADHD is an interesting one which I have thought about for quite awhile. What intrigues me is the studies that have been done in relation to ADD/ADHD and everyday foods showed a link.
Ben Feingold years ago discovered a connection between ingestion of foodcolorings and hyperactivity. Further studies carried out at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney Australia showed MSG, amines and salicylates (natural chemicals that occur in varying quantities in some everyday foods) affected many of their testsubjects. Foods low in these natural chemicals were almost never a problem.
It is only "susceptible" people that have problems. This makes me wonder if this is a genetic susceptibility. A book published a few years ago called "One Man's Food ......Another Man's Poison" written by McGrath (i think), described her ceaseless efforts to get to the reason for her children's hyperactivity, which she found was also caused by food intolerances. She spent much time at chemists and chemistry laboratories looking for answers and I recall that she found that the final item on the list of foods that caused her family hyperactivity problems was MODIFIED CORNSTARCH, not straight cornstarch. Only the modified form appeared to find it's way into the brain and wreak havoc.
I wrote to Anne Swain, one of the dieticians involved in the Royal Prince Alfred- Allergy Clinic Studies and co-author of the book "Friendly Food" and asked if any studies had been done in relation to food intolerances as a possible cause for Parkinson's disease. She replied that neither she nor Dr Loblay or Dr. Soutter know of any published work nor had they seen any patients with Parkinson's disease at the clinic.
It is a pity that there is no money to be made by eliminating foods from the diet, yet there is a lot of money to be made from medication. Studies in the field of food intolerances obviously attract little if any funding.
It is a subject that keeps "nagging at me" because we are all prepared to add drugs to our daily intake, although often reluctantly, but we do not know how the particles of everyday food that we ingest mostly without second thought, affect our brain, and how eliminating them may alter the chemistry.
I wonder if the Hallelujah Diet, mentioned on this list before, is so beneficial because it cuts out the processed foods hence also foodadditives, modified starches etc.
Did you manage to go back on the diet Susan?
Sorry being so longwinded. Just had to get this off my chest.
Has anyone on the list with ADD/ADHD been involved in foodintolerance studies?
Peace and love to you all from Erika.
