Nutrition Can Help

I have just been to a very exciting conference in Oxford where leading experts in dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD and autism told us all about their latest research findings. There was so much detail that I can only give you a very brief overview. If there is anything that interests you, or you would like to know more, please get in touch with me.
There is a tremendous overlap between developmental disorders. Someone suffering from dyslexia may also have elements of dyspraxia, ADHD or even autism. (This is why I have always preferred to say that people have 'learning differences'.)

Although some of the information was very academic - long lines of equations and so on - we delegates needed to understand the whole picture. In short, the body converts fatty acids, especially Omega-3 and Omega-6, into enzymes, which are essential for brain development among other things. You need a balance between these fatty acids otherwise the body cannot make all the essential enzymes. Problems arise for three main reasons:

• Modern diets, especially those containing a lot of convenience food and junk food have fewer fatty acids and in imbalanced amounts. A diet containing plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables and fish, is better.
• A combination of many factors of modern life (stress, contaminants in the atmosphere, drug residues, vaccines and others) reduces the body's ability to make use of fatty acids.
• Some people's bodies are unable to process fatty acids efficiently anyway.

The net result is a variety of symptoms. Taking a supplement can restore quantities and redress the imbalance. They also said that the general quality of nutrients in food has reduced over the years. Did you know that the body needs 89 different nutrients daily to function? (But the solution is not to eat more!)

It was frightening to see the huge worldwide increases in depression, violence and autism, linked it would seem to changes in diet, the environment and culture. We cannot change all of these quickly, but we can each think more carefully about our diet. As someone once said, 'We are what we eat'.

Many of the experts had carried out double-blind experiments into the effect of fatty acid diet supplements. They found that the supplements made a marked improvement in many academic areas. Right from the foetal stage the developing brain is affected by the fatty acids in the mother's diet. They proved beyond doubt that breast milk is best; it is thanks to their research that formula milk now contains fatty acid ingredients. You will be pleased to know that the old wives tale that brain cells die off as we get older has been found to be untrue. Improving your diet at any point can increase those 'little grey cells'.

They stressed that taking fatty acid supplements is not a 'cure-all' but merely an aid. There is also no way that the fatty acid supplements can do any harm as the body does not store the enzymes created from the fatty acids which in turn make our brains function more efficiently.
Great emphasis was also placed on the fact that every person is unique; you may have to experiment to find the correct dosage and combination of supplements. (I would say that in the same way different approaches to education suit different people - you have to experiment until you find the right one!)

The conference certainly convinced me that fatty acid supplements could help most people. There are several such supplements on the market; I think some of your children are already taking Efalex. You might like to consider Eye-Q, which has a slightly different combination of fatty acids. If you want to find out more, please look on their web page at www.equazen.com or contact me and I will explain the differences mentioned at the conference.

The conference was organised by The Dyslexia Research Trust. They have a very helpful web page (www.dyslexic.org.uk) and within the next few days they intend to put the information from the conference onto it. They are also looking for people to help with on going research. They particularly need families with at least two dyslexic children and individuals between 18 and 60. If you are interested please contact them directly.

Finally as a result all my family are now taking fatty acids including myself…