By Paul H Kemp
ADD-ADHD and energy drinks are, at times, a marriage that seem to be made in Heaven. Some of these drinks can help the symptoms without causing the side-effects of Ritalin, Concerta, and Adderall. Most energy drinks, though, create short and long-term damage of their own on the health of the users.
Why are so many kids being diagnosed ADD-ADHD these days? Is this just a convenient response to medicate and neutralize children that are in some cases disruptive because they have not been properly socialized and nourished by two loving parents? This is another question best left for another article.
Is it because these children are bored with the schoolwork or the way it is presented?
I know I was. I was always making wise-cracks in class. I was impatient with the speed of the class, perhaps because I had actually done my homework and understood the material which was now being laboriously rehashed in class.
Some of my impatience might have come from the fact that my father started giving me a cup of coffee diluted with milk and lots of sugar before school. I did well in school, even though I was a cut-up. I knew not to push the teachers too far.
I don't think I ever heard the term "Attention Deficit Disorder" when I was in K-12 classes.That is probably a good thing because I might have been diagnosed with it and put on their one-size-fits-all remedy. I wouldn't have liked Ritalin from what I have heard about it from the kids who were dosed on a regular daily basis.
(I find it very amusing that our country spends billions of dollars trying ineffectively to keep drugs like methamphetamine out of the country, but then lets doctors and teachers insist that 8-year-olds take Ritalin daily! Too funny!)
To get back to the topic of ADD-ADHD and energy drinks, specifically their use as -- ideally speaking -- a natural alternative to synthetic pharmaceutical drugs, there is so much misinformed static being put out by doctors and other spokespeople for the pharmaceutical industry that it takes a lot of education before the public is even willing to consider that there might be better ways to deal with the symptoms of this common disorder.
I will be the first to admit that most energy drinks on the market are not designed with the users' health in mind. Usually there is either far too much sugar or too much caffeine to be healthy for anyone, especially for those with existing emotional/physiological issues.
Then, to avoid caffeine, many people blithely go with Aspartame or Sucralose-sweetened energy drinks, which pose health risks of their own. Dr. Mercola and Dr. Russell Blaylock have provided extensive analysis of these documented dangers.
Another problem someone with ADD-ADHD might have with the heavily-promoted energy drinks is their use of extreme levels of caffeine, especially in the form of caffeine anhydrous, which -- together with the large amounts of sugar -- causes a quick rush and just as impressive "crash", which is not helpful for one who is simply trying to feel normal.
I have found Guarana, Yerba Mate, and Green Tea are far better choices for providing long-lasting focus.
In studying the potential causes of ADD-ADHD, it makes sense that exposure to environmental toxins, such as cigarette smoke, pesticides, herbicides, dangerous drugs -- coupled with changes in child-raising brought on by increased divorce and single-parent households -- might have a lot to do with the increase of children with very real problems focusing on learning in school and getting along with others.
Kids with ADD-ADHD need something to help them cope, but it doesn't have to be dangerous drugs.
I can't speak for anybody else, but it doesn't make sense to me to add one more synthetic drug to a child's damaged nervous system when there are natural herbs and nutritional supplements our body is more familiar with -- that perform the same function, with no ill-effects.
With 80-90% of the adults in this country using some form of caffeine on a daily basis to help them cope with the accelerating speed of life, it strikes me as the height of self-serving hubris for the pharmaceutical cartel and their med-schooled mouthpieces to condemn a blend of herbs and vitamins, while pushing controlled substances onto schoolchildren.
Paul H. Kemp writes about Natural Health Remedies at http://www.healthyplanetdiet.com
Although never officially diagnosed as ADD-ADHD, he has recently begun to suspect he has been dealing with the "disorder" all his life, in his own way with herbs, exercise, and nutritional remedies.
He is a big fan of searching the medical literature for natural herbal ways of dealing with ADD-ADHD and Energy Drinks
Visit his Web site for a wealth of information about choosing a healthy energy drink and other nutritional remedies for health.
ADD-ADHD and energy drinks are, at times, a marriage that seem to be made in Heaven. Some of these drinks can help the symptoms without causing the side-effects of Ritalin, Concerta, and Adderall. Most energy drinks, though, create short and long-term damage of their own on the health of the users.
Why are so many kids being diagnosed ADD-ADHD these days? Is this just a convenient response to medicate and neutralize children that are in some cases disruptive because they have not been properly socialized and nourished by two loving parents? This is another question best left for another article.
Is it because these children are bored with the schoolwork or the way it is presented?
I know I was. I was always making wise-cracks in class. I was impatient with the speed of the class, perhaps because I had actually done my homework and understood the material which was now being laboriously rehashed in class.
Some of my impatience might have come from the fact that my father started giving me a cup of coffee diluted with milk and lots of sugar before school. I did well in school, even though I was a cut-up. I knew not to push the teachers too far.
I don't think I ever heard the term "Attention Deficit Disorder" when I was in K-12 classes.That is probably a good thing because I might have been diagnosed with it and put on their one-size-fits-all remedy. I wouldn't have liked Ritalin from what I have heard about it from the kids who were dosed on a regular daily basis.
(I find it very amusing that our country spends billions of dollars trying ineffectively to keep drugs like methamphetamine out of the country, but then lets doctors and teachers insist that 8-year-olds take Ritalin daily! Too funny!)
To get back to the topic of ADD-ADHD and energy drinks, specifically their use as -- ideally speaking -- a natural alternative to synthetic pharmaceutical drugs, there is so much misinformed static being put out by doctors and other spokespeople for the pharmaceutical industry that it takes a lot of education before the public is even willing to consider that there might be better ways to deal with the symptoms of this common disorder.
I will be the first to admit that most energy drinks on the market are not designed with the users' health in mind. Usually there is either far too much sugar or too much caffeine to be healthy for anyone, especially for those with existing emotional/physiological issues.
Then, to avoid caffeine, many people blithely go with Aspartame or Sucralose-sweetened energy drinks, which pose health risks of their own. Dr. Mercola and Dr. Russell Blaylock have provided extensive analysis of these documented dangers.
Another problem someone with ADD-ADHD might have with the heavily-promoted energy drinks is their use of extreme levels of caffeine, especially in the form of caffeine anhydrous, which -- together with the large amounts of sugar -- causes a quick rush and just as impressive "crash", which is not helpful for one who is simply trying to feel normal.
I have found Guarana, Yerba Mate, and Green Tea are far better choices for providing long-lasting focus.
In studying the potential causes of ADD-ADHD, it makes sense that exposure to environmental toxins, such as cigarette smoke, pesticides, herbicides, dangerous drugs -- coupled with changes in child-raising brought on by increased divorce and single-parent households -- might have a lot to do with the increase of children with very real problems focusing on learning in school and getting along with others.
Kids with ADD-ADHD need something to help them cope, but it doesn't have to be dangerous drugs.
I can't speak for anybody else, but it doesn't make sense to me to add one more synthetic drug to a child's damaged nervous system when there are natural herbs and nutritional supplements our body is more familiar with -- that perform the same function, with no ill-effects.
With 80-90% of the adults in this country using some form of caffeine on a daily basis to help them cope with the accelerating speed of life, it strikes me as the height of self-serving hubris for the pharmaceutical cartel and their med-schooled mouthpieces to condemn a blend of herbs and vitamins, while pushing controlled substances onto schoolchildren.
Paul H. Kemp writes about Natural Health Remedies at http://www.healthyplanetdiet.com
Although never officially diagnosed as ADD-ADHD, he has recently begun to suspect he has been dealing with the "disorder" all his life, in his own way with herbs, exercise, and nutritional remedies.
He is a big fan of searching the medical literature for natural herbal ways of dealing with ADD-ADHD and Energy Drinks
Visit his Web site for a wealth of information about choosing a healthy energy drink and other nutritional remedies for health.
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