TP: What inspired you to write this book?
Sears: A patient came to see me, worried about her son. She said, “Johnny’s teacher says he has ADD.” He was struggling with paying attention, learning and so on. So I asked her, “What was his breakfast?” And she named some sugary cereal and junky juice. Then I asked, “What was his snack?” And she said, “Oh, he doesn’t get a snack at school.” Then I asked, “So what was his lunch?” and it was the typical junk- food, low-nutrient lunch. And so on it went. I became angry with this mom. I said to her, “He doesn’t have ADD; he has NDD — nutrition deficit disorder.” I had to give it a name. And she understood right away because we all know about “the D’s” — these disorders.

TP: What do you mean by nutrition deficit disorder?
Sears: It isn’t a real disorder — I gave poor eating habits a name so that parents would understand how important it is to feed kids properly. You see, the brain is the organ most affected by food — more affected than the heart, the liver, the kidneys and so on. So if you eat junk food, you get a junk brain. Parents don’t make the correlation between junk food and junk learning and junk behaviour. There’s just so much information out there — so many diet books and shows and news, and people get confused about how they should eat or feed their children. And they ask me, what should I do?

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The answer is simple: Just eat real food — like fish, whole grains, vegetables, milk — that you prepare at home. But to make it really simple for parents, I have a list of don’t-eats.

TP: In your book, you talk about the importance of omega-3s. Explain why.
Sears: The brain is basically a lot of connections, like a circuit board. And coating all the nerves that make up that circuitry is something called myelin. It’s like the coating around the wires of an electrical circuit. Omega-3s make myelin so that it helps reinforce those connections so the brain works better. And kids are better able to think, and focus, and learn and so on.

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I get annoyed about all this low-fat diet business, especially when it comes to kids. Children don’t need a low-fat diet — they need a right fat diet. And how do we know? Well, Mother Nature is very clever. We know that the brain is 60 percent fat. Breastmilk is 40 to 50 percent fat: That’s the food that nature supplies for babies and the brain grows the most in a child’s first three years. So a breastfed child is getting a lot of fat.

TP: What about foods — like orange juice, bread and granola — that have omega-3s added to them?
Sears: You have to be careful with foods that shout out “contains omega-3s” on the label because they may be using a low-grade omega-3. You want it to say that it’s marine source or that it’s DHA or EPA omega-3, or sometimes it has a little fish symbol. The reason is that this is the best kind of omega-3 — the kind that the body can make use of. It creates a long-chain carbon — what I call the tall guys — and this is only from fish oil. And the body can use these for the brain, the immune system, the internal organs — everywhere.

But omega-3s that come from flax or canola oil form a shorter carbon chain and the body can’t use it until it’s converted into a long chain. The problem is that our diets are so inadequate that most people probably don’t have the necessary enzymes to convert the short-chain carbon into a long-chain carbon. Junk oils use up the enzymes. So you can’t make use of those omega-3s.

TP: How can you tell if your child might have NDD?
Sears: There are four clues:
1. There will be some kind of learning problem — he can’t pay attention, he’s not learning, he can’t focus — something along those lines.
2. He’ll have frequent mood swings. Now, all children have mood swings, but these will be more noticeable and more persistent.
3. He’ll have dry, flaky skin. People don’t realize just how much skin is affected by nutrition, but skin really responds to what you eat.
4. He’ll be frequently ill because his immune system will be depressed and unable to fight infection.

And there’s one extra — his family eats mostly packaged foods — foods from cans and boxes. The answer is what I call the Real Food Diet — just eat real food. And graze.

TP: What can parents do to help fix nutrition-related behaviour problems?
Sears: First, eat more of the top four — fish (and seafood), blueberries, spinach and nuts.

Second, follow my rule of two: Eat twice as often; eat half as much; chew twice as long. You want to raise a grazer. The reason is that the brain thrives on sugar. So you need a steady supply of carbohydrates. And unlike the other major parts of the body, the brain does not store carbohydrates. So if you don’t graze, you run out of carbohydrates and the brain crashes. So you actually need to nibble on good carbohydrates all day.

What are good carbs? Well I tell the children that fibre and protein are the two friends of a good carb. A good carb (like blueberries and yogurt, or celery with hummus or peanut butter) doesn’t play alone. Fibre and protein hold back the carb so that it can play longer. In other words, you get a slow and steady release of energy. A bad carb (like cookies or white bread) has no friends and plays alone. It quickly runs out of energy.

Finally, keep a diary of your child’s eating and behaviour; note patterns in his problems. And I say “his” because it’s usually boys who are identified and medicated for ADD.

The doctor's do's and don'ts
According to paediatrician William Sears in his new book, The NDD Book: How Nutrition Deficit Disorder Affects Your Child’s Learning, Behavior, and Health, and What You Can Do About It — Without Drugs , there are certain additives that you should avoid since they’re harmful to your family’s health. Plus, he writes, “if a packaged food contains any of these chemicals, the rest of the ingredients are nutritionally suspect.” Here are Dr. Sears’ not-so-fab four:

  • high fructose corn syrup
  • hydrogenated anything
  • any ingredient with a number beside it, like red dye #4
  • artificial flavours

So what should you and your child be eating? “Number one is omega-3s,” says Sears. “You find the best ones in fish oil, or by eating wild salmon. Why is this oil — this fat — so important? The brain is 60 percent fat, and the top fat is omega-3. So you want to feed your brain the best fat possible.”

Information is current as of the original date of publication.