In homes, schools, medical clinics and even insurance agencies, people talk about psychological health and well being and the great numbers of adults and children with attention deficit, hyperactivity, anxiety or depression. How health insurance plans or medical offices will deal with a person’s situation depends upon each case and coverage. Costs for dealing with these conditions can be quite high.

 Millions of children in the U.S. are medicated for ADHD alone, according to the Center of Disease Control (CDC). Over a million preschool children in the U.S. are said to be depressed. North Carolina has more parents who report their children as having ADHD than any other state. Yet parents and children everywhere are happiest when both parents and children feel great without requiring prescription medication for mood, impulses, behavior and so on!

 The vast subject of ADHD, depression and anxiety and their counterpart (a positive sense of well being) aren’t that well understood. Our diet is a big part of our environment and the diet greatly impacts how we feel.

 Google search “ADD+diet” and we find over 128 million pages results! Googling “depression+diet” brings over 17 million page results. While such isn’t solid research, it would be a bit silly to think that diet and chemistry do not affect our minds and our sense of well-being. Attention to diet can often identify various causes of imbalances so we can rectify the imbalances make needed changes serious medical conditions develop. Parents report amazing results for both themselves AND for kids when they remove dietary items proven to create difficulties.

 A most helpful method to finding answers is the do-it-yourself Rotation Diet. This method of rotating foods and observing changes was developed by obesity expert, Martin Katahn, PhD.

 Since it’s a highly individual matter, people can observe their reactions to items with the rotation diet and learn exactly what foods subtly (or not so subtlety) disagree with them. Depression, anxiety, hyperactivity, sluggishness, digestive upsets, headache or migraine, feeling “scattered” and unfocused, etc., are sometimes only a result of a few key food choices that don’t support one’s chemistry.

 It’s common for people to put up with feeling poorly over many years, to later learn that discomfort, headache, aches and pains, arthritis and mood issues were food sensitivity related. (Allergy tests don’t typically reveal such sensitivities, which are different from allergy.)

 There are a few essentials that every human needs. In addition to supporting our physical wellness, these nutrients also support our moods, behavior and general feeling of wellness:

 Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) — A guaranteed-pure fish oil benefits the brain and nervous system and virtually every other system in the body. In research studies, fish oil has often proved to be beneficial to those with depression. Not only are EFAs good for feelings of well-being, they are needed for correct adrenal and thyroid function, the development and function of the brain, healthy hormonal activity, breaking down fats and many other things! EFAs are in fish, especially the skin of the fish, as well as nuts, flax, green and leafy vegetables.

 Adequate magnesium is a must. 80% of Americans are said to have a magnesium deficiency. Signs include anxiety, irritability, hyperactivity, confusion, fidgeting, difficulty sleeping, learning difficulty, constipation and even dangerous heart rhythm problems. Magnesium is found in beans, nuts and other vegetables.

Zinc is a common nutritional deficiency among children who are hyperactive. A person with zinc deficiency has trouble thinking, and is prone to being anxious. Zinc is found in meats and grains.

B vitamins give people lots of energy and a good feeling of vitality. Bs are found in meats, milk,  whole-grain cereals, eggs, fish, yogurt, nuts, fruits and many other foods.

Vitamin E is a calming vitamin. Without enough of it, we have poor nerve conduction in the brain, among other problems. Almonds, olive oil, wheat germ oil and many other foods have vitamin E.

Vitamin D deficiency if rampant! It causes depression. D comes from the sun. D is a powerful immune system supporter and is needed for strong bones. Many adults and children are highly deficient in D, which also offers protection against many cancers, viruses and infections. D3 is said to be the health promoting and non-synthetic form of the vitamin which is added to milk and other products.

 How we eat can indeed be our “medicine” and help us to feel at our best.

 We at www.nchealthplansonline.com wish you a happy and healthy season ahead! Call Judy Goloff for NC health insurance information. Judy’s primary focus is on identifying and meeting your individual medical care needs with a variety of health and life insurance plans from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina ® (BCBSNC). She will walk you through the entire process to make sure you get what you need in a health plan. 1-800-582-2262.

Cooking for yourself can have many advantages. When you prepare your own food, you can cater to your own dietary needs, as well as you own tastes. Besides making food to your own likes and dislikes, you control what goes into your food, whether it be leaving things out of or adding to a recipe.

 We all know that you have to have salt in your diet. But too much salt can be a bad thing. So by controlling the amount and type of salt that you use in your food, you can reap the health benefits. Using sea salt for example, you can use less and it tastes much better. When trying to lower the sodium intake of you or your family, reading labels is one of the best things you can do. Knowing what you are eating is the first step to eating healthy. Boxed, canned, and bagged foods (even low sodium options) contain high sodium levels. I can’t stress enough how important it is to read your labels, and knowing what they mean. Once you start paying attention to the labels and what you are consuming, the more you will enjoy preparing, tasty foods that are better for you or your family. And the self gratification that comes from making flavorful, healthy food is good for ones self esteem, and boosting your mental health is directly related to your physical health.

 The more you prepare food for yourself, the more you will tend to have on hand the items you will need to make better food for yourself. Things like better oils for cooking and eating, like a good olive oil for example, or garlic is another ingredient that is really good for you and makes almost anything taste better. By no means do I mean garlic powder. I mean real garlic, even if you buy the pre-chopped kind, like all foods fresh is better, in taste and health benefits, so buy in small batches. The fresher and less processed your foods are, the better they will be for you.

 By preparing the food yourself, the more you can cater to your own personal dietary needs. Controlling your diet is one of the best things you can do to impact your health. And by diet, I am not talking about some gimmick based diet. Diet is your intake of food everyday! Whether or not your diet (eating habits) works for you is very easily controlled by cooking for yourself.

 It is a lot easier to make food taste the way you like it, when you make it yourself. Liking the food you eat makes it easier to eat foods that are healthier for you. With all the gimmicks out there, eating better is not one of them. Eating right and regular exercise are the cornerstones of healthy living. So why not learn to make delicious food for yourself and your family. You have to eat anyway, so put food to work for you. Because with better eating comes better living.