Best foods and supplements for children

Ned Hallowell, MD, EdD, shares advice for parents on which foods and supplements are best for children to keep them healthy and support their development
Best Foods and Supplements for Children
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Best foods and supplements for children

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Nutrition has a major impact upon your brain. Obviously, if you didn't eat, your brain would die. So what you eat matters. Now, what is the right diet? That's up for grabs. It's pretty clear that vegan is the healthiest diet. It's hard for most of us to adhere to that, but the closer you can come to that, the healthier you will be. Stick with whole foods, stay away from additives, junk food, sugar. And then in terms of supplements, I'm a big fan of fish oil, Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamin D as well. Beyond that, it's up for grabs. There's a whole slew of supplements that are recommended. I've tried a lot of them. I often jokingly say if nothing else, I have the most expensive urine in town. So by and large, I don't think you need to give kids supplements; you might give them a multivitamin, I would recommend fish oil, Vitamin D. Beyond that, a whole foods diet is the best thing you can do. Make sure they have breakfast and have some protein in their breakfast so their blood glucose doesn't bottom out around 10:00 in the morning, and stay away from junk food and you've probably done the best.

Ned Hallowell, MD, EdD, shares advice for parents on which foods and supplements are best for children to keep them healthy and support their development

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Edward Hallowell, MD, EdD

Psychiatrist, ADHD Specialist, & Author

Edward (Ned) Hallowell, MD, EdD is a Harvard-trained Child and Adult Psychiatrist in practice in Sudbury, MA (outside Boston) and New York City. The author of 18 books, Dr. Hallowell specializes in learning differences such as ADHD and dyslexia, both of which he has himself.  He has also written extensively on general issues of parenting and living in our modern age. He lives in the Boston area with his wife of 23 years, Sue, and their three children, Lucy, Jack, and Tucker.

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