Instead of giving children drugs, why don't we give them all a Newfoundland puppy?

No child has a deficiency of Adderall but many children can most certainly have a deficiency of the neurotransmitter Dopamine. Dopamine is a chemical messenger in the brain that creates focus, initiative and drive. ADHD and ADD are low-Dopamine syndromes. Dopamine deficiency can be caused by emotional or physical trauma as well as by a diet low in animal proteins and dairy products or alcohol and drug use coupled with a low-protein diet. B Vitamin deficiency can also be a contributing factor to low-Dopamine syndromes as microwaved foods are depleted of B Vitamins during the cooking process and many children today are fed almost entirely from the microwave. B Vitamins are an essential dietary co-factor to Dopamine production.

Alcohol consumption washes B Vitamins out of the system and teenagers experimenting with alcohol are at a very high risk for Dopamine deficiency. RX Drugs can work if administered properly but why administer drugs to children and young adults that deplete their systems of available Dopamine which is how these drugs work? Adderall and Ritalin work by using the body’s available stores and do not actually put any Dopamine back into the system. Crystal Meth works exactly the same way.

If a child is exhibiting symptoms of low-Dopamine then there is already a deficiency and drugs will not fix this and in fact will further deplete already limited stores. Once the available Dopamine runs out, the child associates using the RX drugs with the feel-good focus they provided and addiction ensues. This is why people “crash” on RX and recreational drugs alike: because the drugs deplete them of Dopamine that they were already low on in the first place! The best way to address a Dopamine deficiency is with food: Meat, Wheat and Dairy to be specific as these are the best dietary substances for providing a human with adequate supplies of Dopamine; nothing else puts it into our bodies, certainly not stimulants.

Providing a supportive, loving environment that speaks openly and honestly about the mental and physical health risks of alcohol and drug use will also prevent the use and abuse of RX and recreational drugs. Use and abuse of RX and recreational drugs can ultimately lead to suicide in at risk teens because of the chemical imbalance that using creates. Making sure that children and young adults have homemade food (not microwaved) might also help tremendously. We have to stop drugging our children into a chemical imbalance and start feeding them the foods that put Dopamine back into their systems. A great place to start is by first understanding how neurotransmitters work and then learning how to replenish them naturally with the foods we eat.

Articles referenced:

http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijped/2010/767318/

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/89/3/940S.short

http://hmg.oxfordjournals.org/content/15/14/2276.short

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