Recent studies indicate a 330% increase in psychotropic drug use in children under age twenty over the past 10 years (study was over a population base of 990,000 individuals).  This is staggering, both for what it represents to us personally as families and parents, and to our culture and society.

There are many things that can be employed nutritionally to turbo charge the brain function and perhaps make drug intervention unnecessary.  Everyday research finds new applications of safe and known nutrients to assist the normal physiology of mentation and concentration.  These things work!  It is vital to try the lesser measures before beginning to medicate a young child in the developmental years, as it is so easy to interrupt the subtle mental, emotional, and social evolution occurring.  Some people say that addictive patterns can be introduced in childhood, pre-disposing individuals to addictions later in life.

Currently school systems are experiencing a 400% increase in autism over the past 10 years, each individual requiring extensive support and special attention.  The cost of this is staggering and crippling.  It is well known that essential fatty acids are very influential in assisting normal brain function.  Every impaired individual should be supported with basic foundational nutritional approaches to observe how optimized their function can become.

Sugar and the high American glycemic diet have been implicated for years in ADD and hyperactive disorders.  Simple and appealing diet modifications directed by profound nutritional understanding may significantly enhance cognition and attention span.  Food allergies are also a culprit robbing the body of its vitality and over stimulating the adrenals creating a cascade of behavior disturbances.  When these chronic immune burdens are removed within three days, improvement is obvious.  The most suspicious food allergies are cow milk products, corn, wheat and soy.  By eliminating these things for 2 weeks and then reintroducing them one at a time, it is demonstrated which one(s) are offending.

Our children are not temperamental biological mechanisms with inherent Ritalin stimulant deficiencies – they are profound miracles of biochemical individuality.  They must be given the opportunity to achieve their full genetic potential.  It is vital that we find more natural means of supporting childhood developmental challenges, and only medicate if all other alternatives prove inadequate.