Common Symptoms of Hyperactivity
Many alcoholics and drug users trace their difficulties with concentration back to childhood. They often tend to be fidgety, easily distracted, impulsive, and clumsy. Some say they use alcohol and drugs to calm their hyperactive behaviors.
Doctors once believed that children outgrow hyperactivity in adolescence, but we now know there is no magic age at which symptoms disappear. Without help, troubled children grow into equally troubled adults. They are sometimes ostracized because of their aggressive, defiant personalities. Many adults exhibit telltale signs of hyperactivity, including nervous habits: nail biting, foot jiggling, workaholic habits, unstable emotions, insomnia, restless sleep, irritability, speaking with a louder or more highly pitched voice when stressed, and adult temper tantrums. If this sounds like you … you may have undiscovered food allergies/sensitivities that hijack your brain.
The Underlying Causes off ADD and ADHD
Rather than mask symptoms by pouring toxic psychiatric drugs into the brain, Health Recovery Center chooses to identify and treat the underlying causes of the ADD/ADHD. A number of studies have linked hyperactivity and other childhood problems to food additives. There is persuasive circumstantial evidence to support this connection: In Europe, with less than twenty food additives approved for use, hyperactivity among children is comparatively rare affecting only one child in two thousand, as compared to one in four in the United States, where more than four thousand food additives are in use!
In addition, studies from Germany have shown that many children are highly sensitive to the phosphate (the bubbles) in soda pop. Researchers have found that phosphates can induce aggression and violence and may underlie handwriting changes and even dyslexia.
Often the root of these problems is the inhibiting effect certain foods and chemicals have on crucial enzymes needed to produce GABA, a calming neurotransmitter in the brain.
These enzymes may be inhibited by a number of substances or conditions, including:
- Food additives (artificial dyes)
- Salicylates, natural chemicals abundant in almonds, apples, apricots, berries, cherries, grapes, nectarines, oranges, peaches, plums, prunes, and raisins
- A low-protein diet
- Estrogens
- Oxidation
- Vitamin B6 deficiency
Many HRC clients have overcome hyperactivity, irritability, and poor concentration by taking GABA supplements along with lifestyle changes based on pre-screen tests, lab results, and common sense: avoid chlorinated water, refined sugars, dyes, food additives, salicylates, etc.