Why Are ADHD Deficient in Their Minerals: Calcium, Magnesium, and Zinc?

Q: You mention in your blogs that ADHD are highly deficient in their minerals (zinc, calcium, and magnesium). Why are they so deficient? You also mention that your son started off with 2 serving of Cal/Mag twice a day. Does he not take that amount anymore? If not, when did you know to cut back his serving size?

Carol

A: ADHD are deficient in their minerals because of their inability to properly digest food and absorb nutrients. Poor diet is also a factor. We worked up to 2 servings (2 scoops) of Cal/Mag a day. Lucky for us, it only took a week. We gave Charlie 1 serving (1 scoop) after breakfast to keep him calm during school. But by the time the got home from school he had already burned off his B vitamins and cal/mag. So we would have to give him a small serving after school. Depending on how hyped up he was, we would give him either 1/4 to 1/2 scoop. When it was time for him to go to bed, I’d give him another 1/2 scoop. It really depends on what’s best for them. And I found that this is what worked best for Charlie. Biometics Cal/Mag is PERFECT for ADD/ADHD. This product is a calcium citrate form which absorbs 2.5 times faster than calcium carbonate. One scoop not only has 1000mg of calcium and 300mg of magnesium but it also contains zinc (15mg), vitamin C (60mg), vitamin A (beta carotene 2000IU), and vitamin D (200 IU). Having this combination of vitamins and minerals not only ensures that you absorb all the calcium but that that your body holds on to it. Without vitamin D or magnesium, calcium would just pass right through your body. It be more like a “drive by.”

Be careful when you start out on this product. The citrate form can make your stomach bubbly if you do not have the proper amount of good bacteria in your gut. If you do not ease into a full serving, you may end up with diarrhea. So always start out SLOWLY and on a FULL stomach. The goal was to keep Charlie on 2 servings of cal/mag a day until his hyperactivity seized. Although Cal/Mag offered pleasing results, it did not stop him from being fidgety. However, once he finished his heavy metal cleanse, we found that we were able to drop him down 1 serving (1 scoop) size of cal/mag (before bed).

Enthusiastically yours,

This entry was posted on 1. November 2009 at 00:30 and is filed under Questions From My ADD/ADHD Website. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.