ADD and the Holidays
ADD and the Holidays
It is time again for another holiday season. Those of you reading this probably has or know of someone who has ADD, so I will share some pointers with you regarding what to expect during this long holiday season.
According to some researcher and clinicians, ADD is a bioneurochemical imbalance disorder. Applying this argument, it is likely that the imbalance of “bioneurochemicals” could make you feel the holiday highs even higher; the holiday lows even lower (i.e. clinical depression). When you add the holiday self medications associated with alcohol, food, and other pharmaceutical agents, you’re going to have an interesting holiday experience… So, beware of what goes into your body for a balance and happy holiday.
Holiday and diet. Most of us will be eating an extraordinary amount of food in the name of enjoying the annual holiday feast. There will also be many ADD unfriendly foods for your consumption. Let’s pretend we are going to the traditional Christmas family feast at Grandma’s house. Most women of the family will start their baking early and bring their pastries, cookies, bread, etc to the family gathering. The “All-American” diet will probably consist some type of meat (prime ribs, fowl meat, pork, game meat, etc) as an entree. There’s stuffing, mash potatoes, sweat potatoes, and a host of other high carbohydrate foods to complement the meat entrée. When you start the feast, you will inadvertently overstuff yourself (literally stuff yourself up to your face). After dinner, the dessert with whip cream on top will be plentiful. To add insult to injury, there’s the traditional egg nog.
Did I hear someone asked for a bowl of salad during Christmas? Oh my, something is wrong with this picture. When was the last time you show up at a Christmas party where the host was pushing the salad as a dietary choice? You get my point.
Here are the physiological rationales for avoiding the ADD holiday blues when you eat appropriately. The ADD physiology is unique and in a tender and delicate balance. It is a “finely tune machine” with narrow tolerances. Any unusual and ADD-unfriendly foods will offset this delicate physiological balance. So, let’s start the Holiday Feast again using some common sense plus taking advantage of ADD compatible eating techniques.
Let’s start our eating journey with the entrée and work our way down to dessert,. The main course of meat is fine for the ADD physiology. However, during the holiday season, we tend to ingest 2-5 times the normal portion. That’s really going to slow you down because you body is so busy trying to cramp, digest, absorb, and utilize the excess intake of food. Next comes your “simple carbohydrates” in the form of fresh baked breads, cookies, mash potatoes, stuffings, and so on. When you have a super massive load of “simple carbohydrates” dump into your gut (the gastrointestinal tract), the digestive enzymes, insulin, catecholeamines, and pH is going through some serious roller coaster peaks and troughs. A great deal of digestive hormones, neurochemicals, co-factors, and various biochemicals are trying very hard to balance out each other in the body. In an ADD person having a “bioneurochemical disorder or imbalance”, this simple process of hormonal balance is like having a “Hurricane Katrina” hitting you when you least expected as compared with the less sensitive non-ADD physiology. Get the picture!
Now a simple explanation on a molecular level of the interacting bioneurochemicals. Begin by picturing the “simple carbohydrates” invading the gut through every gulp of food you swallow. These “simple carbohydrates” will quickly breakdown into glucose (the usable kind of sugar for cells). When the glucose level is higher than threshold (i.e. greater than 150 mg/dl), the beta cells of the pancreas produce insulin in an attempt to normalize or lower the high blood glucose level to less than 80mg/dl. With so much glucose out there, the beta cells of the pancreas continue to work overtime to manufacture more insulin to balance out excess glucose. With continued excess insulin production, the blood glucose level may drop precipitously below the glucose threshold level. When the blood glucose is below threshold, catecholeamines (i.e. adrenaline) is produce to stimulate the breakdown of glycogen to make extra glucose for cells to use as fuel. This is physiological homeostasis to keep your body glucose in physiological balance.
Imagine this. Grandma asks you to eat one more piece of her delicious cinnamon apple pie made from scratch with the backyard apples that you love as a kid. Wham, another glucose load into the already overloaded gut. But wait, glycogen is already being broken down to make more glucose because the body physiology is sensing a low glucose level due to the catecholeamines release in order to prevent a potential low glucose level. Again, more insulin is produce to offset the higher glucose. This type of hormonal control is a vicious malfunction cycle (or chaos) makes you feel so blah and feeling “not yourself”.
Consequently, you may wish to self-mediate by adding another sympathomimetic drug to the mix in the form of a cup of strong black coffee. A strong black cup of coffee will help the person “hang” with the holiday crowds so he/she could feel awake enough to interact with holiday guests. But wait, isn’t caffeine an “upper”? Chemically, caffeine is similar to the actions of catecholeamines. What does catecholeamines do? They break down glycogen to produce more glucose and make you awake. Oh my goodness, more glucose loads to my gut and I’m wired from the caffeine. This is not happening! What do I do now? Let’s have some alcoholic beverages to mellow out. Wine, champagne or spiked egg nog anyone? Since “I don’t feel so good, I am going to try to sleep it off as soon as I get home”. The sensation of sleep creates more inclination to sleep and thus, sleep some more. Besides, “I need my beauty rest to prepare for the New Year’s Eve party”. The more you sleep, the more you feel out of it (feeling kind of lethargic and depress?). And the cycle continues until after the New Year or until you finally “wake up” and make your New Year’s resolutions.
Here are some holiday suggestions. First, pace yourself on the eating circuit during the holiday extravaganza. You know you will be invited to multiple eating feasts throughout the holiday season. Try not to overdo it. Eat sensibly. There will be office parties, family parties, football playoff parties, college bowl playoff parties, sports events, and other festive eating events. When you go to potluck style gatherings, bring food that are ADD friendly and eat your food and minimize all the portions so you can have a large variety and still maintain the same volume of food. For example, have only one small slice of prime rib (not the 2” thick covering my entire plate-size prime rib), whole grain bread, small amount of stuffings, lots of vegetable and salad, a small glass of wine, tea, generous helpings of fresh fruits, and very little dessert. Remember, you can always go back for seconds. Don’t rush your eating. Take your time and enjoy every bite and morsel in your mouth.
Enjoy the holiday feasts. Eat sensibility. Merry Christmas and have a Happy Holiday.
It is time again for another holiday season. Those of you reading this probably has or know of someone who has ADD, so I will share some pointers with you regarding what to expect during this long holiday season.
According to some researcher and clinicians, ADD is a bioneurochemical imbalance disorder. Applying this argument, it is likely that the imbalance of “bioneurochemicals” could make you feel the holiday highs even higher; the holiday lows even lower (i.e. clinical depression). When you add the holiday self medications associated with alcohol, food, and other pharmaceutical agents, you’re going to have an interesting holiday experience… So, beware of what goes into your body for a balance and happy holiday.
Holiday and diet. Most of us will be eating an extraordinary amount of food in the name of enjoying the annual holiday feast. There will also be many ADD unfriendly foods for your consumption. Let’s pretend we are going to the traditional Christmas family feast at Grandma’s house. Most women of the family will start their baking early and bring their pastries, cookies, bread, etc to the family gathering. The “All-American” diet will probably consist some type of meat (prime ribs, fowl meat, pork, game meat, etc) as an entree. There’s stuffing, mash potatoes, sweat potatoes, and a host of other high carbohydrate foods to complement the meat entrée. When you start the feast, you will inadvertently overstuff yourself (literally stuff yourself up to your face). After dinner, the dessert with whip cream on top will be plentiful. To add insult to injury, there’s the traditional egg nog.
Did I hear someone asked for a bowl of salad during Christmas? Oh my, something is wrong with this picture. When was the last time you show up at a Christmas party where the host was pushing the salad as a dietary choice? You get my point.
Here are the physiological rationales for avoiding the ADD holiday blues when you eat appropriately. The ADD physiology is unique and in a tender and delicate balance. It is a “finely tune machine” with narrow tolerances. Any unusual and ADD-unfriendly foods will offset this delicate physiological balance. So, let’s start the Holiday Feast again using some common sense plus taking advantage of ADD compatible eating techniques.
Let’s start our eating journey with the entrée and work our way down to dessert,. The main course of meat is fine for the ADD physiology. However, during the holiday season, we tend to ingest 2-5 times the normal portion. That’s really going to slow you down because you body is so busy trying to cramp, digest, absorb, and utilize the excess intake of food. Next comes your “simple carbohydrates” in the form of fresh baked breads, cookies, mash potatoes, stuffings, and so on. When you have a super massive load of “simple carbohydrates” dump into your gut (the gastrointestinal tract), the digestive enzymes, insulin, catecholeamines, and pH is going through some serious roller coaster peaks and troughs. A great deal of digestive hormones, neurochemicals, co-factors, and various biochemicals are trying very hard to balance out each other in the body. In an ADD person having a “bioneurochemical disorder or imbalance”, this simple process of hormonal balance is like having a “Hurricane Katrina” hitting you when you least expected as compared with the less sensitive non-ADD physiology. Get the picture!
Now a simple explanation on a molecular level of the interacting bioneurochemicals. Begin by picturing the “simple carbohydrates” invading the gut through every gulp of food you swallow. These “simple carbohydrates” will quickly breakdown into glucose (the usable kind of sugar for cells). When the glucose level is higher than threshold (i.e. greater than 150 mg/dl), the beta cells of the pancreas produce insulin in an attempt to normalize or lower the high blood glucose level to less than 80mg/dl. With so much glucose out there, the beta cells of the pancreas continue to work overtime to manufacture more insulin to balance out excess glucose. With continued excess insulin production, the blood glucose level may drop precipitously below the glucose threshold level. When the blood glucose is below threshold, catecholeamines (i.e. adrenaline) is produce to stimulate the breakdown of glycogen to make extra glucose for cells to use as fuel. This is physiological homeostasis to keep your body glucose in physiological balance.
Imagine this. Grandma asks you to eat one more piece of her delicious cinnamon apple pie made from scratch with the backyard apples that you love as a kid. Wham, another glucose load into the already overloaded gut. But wait, glycogen is already being broken down to make more glucose because the body physiology is sensing a low glucose level due to the catecholeamines release in order to prevent a potential low glucose level. Again, more insulin is produce to offset the higher glucose. This type of hormonal control is a vicious malfunction cycle (or chaos) makes you feel so blah and feeling “not yourself”.
Consequently, you may wish to self-mediate by adding another sympathomimetic drug to the mix in the form of a cup of strong black coffee. A strong black cup of coffee will help the person “hang” with the holiday crowds so he/she could feel awake enough to interact with holiday guests. But wait, isn’t caffeine an “upper”? Chemically, caffeine is similar to the actions of catecholeamines. What does catecholeamines do? They break down glycogen to produce more glucose and make you awake. Oh my goodness, more glucose loads to my gut and I’m wired from the caffeine. This is not happening! What do I do now? Let’s have some alcoholic beverages to mellow out. Wine, champagne or spiked egg nog anyone? Since “I don’t feel so good, I am going to try to sleep it off as soon as I get home”. The sensation of sleep creates more inclination to sleep and thus, sleep some more. Besides, “I need my beauty rest to prepare for the New Year’s Eve party”. The more you sleep, the more you feel out of it (feeling kind of lethargic and depress?). And the cycle continues until after the New Year or until you finally “wake up” and make your New Year’s resolutions.
Here are some holiday suggestions. First, pace yourself on the eating circuit during the holiday extravaganza. You know you will be invited to multiple eating feasts throughout the holiday season. Try not to overdo it. Eat sensibly. There will be office parties, family parties, football playoff parties, college bowl playoff parties, sports events, and other festive eating events. When you go to potluck style gatherings, bring food that are ADD friendly and eat your food and minimize all the portions so you can have a large variety and still maintain the same volume of food. For example, have only one small slice of prime rib (not the 2” thick covering my entire plate-size prime rib), whole grain bread, small amount of stuffings, lots of vegetable and salad, a small glass of wine, tea, generous helpings of fresh fruits, and very little dessert. Remember, you can always go back for seconds. Don’t rush your eating. Take your time and enjoy every bite and morsel in your mouth.
Enjoy the holiday feasts. Eat sensibility. Merry Christmas and have a Happy Holiday.
posted by Dr Chan at 5:07 PM
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