I was reading an article in ADDitude, a magazine for different groups like parents, students, teachers adults interested about ADHD. One of the topics I was reading was entitled “Ten Foods to Boost Your ADHD Brain”. Since I am a homemaker this kind of articles interests me because I basically plan, buy, prepare and cook all of our meals. I live with two ADHD people in our household: one adult and one tween and so I breathe and eat ADHD all day.

However, it has always bugged me to see a really good dish and be frustrated that the ingredients are not available here in the Philippines. Sounds like a South Beach Diet right? That’s why I am making a response post for that article with I think an appropriate title: Ten Foods to Boost Your ADHD Brain here in the Philippines.

Group 1: Food for FOCUS

PROTEIN

Why eat protein? Protein can prevent surges in blood sugar which increase hyperactivity. Here in the Philippines, what can be readily available protein food?

For Snacks: Peanuts

For Viands: Fish like Galunggong, Bangus, Meat like Pork, Beef, Chicken

For Vegetables: Munggo, Toge

BALANCED MEALS
According to Dr. Edward Hallowell, M.D., coauthor of the book Driven to Distraction to get a balanced meal we must divide our food plate in the following proportions: Half of the plate should be filled with fruits and vegetables, one fourth with a protein, and the remaining fourth with a carbohydrate.

When I attended the Ceelin Plus Seminar at Shangrila Hotel last year 2012, I was reminded that the food pyramid is now outdated. The new way or presenting a balanced meal is using the food pie although the concept has been around for more than 5 years now if I’m not mistaken.

Group 2: Brain Boosting Supplements

1. MULTIVITAMIN/MULTIMINERAL

When my chid was younger we started with Ceelin. Until he was about 11.5 years old, he was still drinking Ceelin Syrup until one day when we were traveling and the bottle cracked inside our luggage that was the end of our vitamin-syrup days. Now my son takes Cherifer multivitamins with Zinc. For traveling, he brings Vitapops for Kids so that he will not forget to take his vitamins and he can take it anywhere anytime. We love vitapops because it contains 5x less the sugar of most vitamin syrups and its so fun to eat. My child enjoyed it so much he even made a video about his Vitapops experience.

2. B VITAMINS

I made a quick search of what are the vitamin B rich foods available to us mothers and I found that legumes, potatoes, bananas, tuna and beef are examples of vitamin-B rich foods. We live near a talipapa (a small wet market) so I can buy bananas every week. Because they can ripe quite fast, I buy about P50 worth of Lakatan which is good for us for two days if each of us eats one banana a day. If the banana is over-ripe already, I can make a mango banana shake since mangoes are another perennial fruit here in the Philippines. For legumes, baguio beans are always available in the market. You can add potatoes and ground beef to make “guisadong giniling”. For tuna, who doesn’t know about Century tuna here in the Philippines? The boys love the adobo flavor but I always make sure we have the chunks in water because it is so versatile and you can use it for different recipes like pasta, taco filler, lumpia, and sandwich spread.

3. Zinc, Iron and Magnesium

During the Ceelin Plus event, one doctor said that one way that we can prevent stunting is by fortifying our food with the trace nutrients that we miss if we eat limited kinds of food only. If your child is a picky eater, stunting can also be a concern for you. My child used to be a picky eater because his father is also one. But they know the importance of these trace nutrients so we try to get it one way or another. Like I mentioned my child’s multivitamin supplements also contain zinc. Iron can be found in meat and Magnesium can be found in guess what, our staple food – Rice. Another magnesium rich food readily available to us is cocoa so if your child likes to drink hot drinks early morning maybe you can give him hot cocoa instead of coffee.

We have two more groups to cover but for now Special Education Philippines would like to know your thoughts about the example of foods we have covered in this post. I am sure that you can add so much more for food you actually eat at home. Now that you know that they are good for people with ADHD, do you have any plans about your diet or meal-planning at home. Share it to us by commenting below.

Watch out tomorrow as we cover where you can get omega-3, picaminol, gingko, ginseng, pycnogenol and rhodiola rosea. If you have any concerns about the items covered here in this post, you can always ask me questions by sending us an email at specialeducationphilippines@gmail.com. Just remember that before making any significant changes in your food habits, it is always best to consult your doctor or a dietician before making a life-altering decision.

Sources: Ten Foods to Boost Your ADHD Brain by ADDitude

Photos from Google Philippines

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