ADHD

I just read an interesting report. I've heard before that caffeine can help kids with ADHD, but I hadn't thought much about it since David and Lilly don't seem to have ADHD. I wanted to pass this info along to all of you, though, in case you want to look into it further. Obviously, I am not a doctor and you need to do your own research.
The energy drink that Chris and I love, Spark from Advocare, has caffeine in it, along with lots and lots of vitamins. It's delicious, convenient, and is an awesome alternative to pop/soda and coffee. As a vegetarian, it is important for me to get enough vitamin B12 in my diet. I get way over my daily need of B12 in one serving of Spark. It also helps me get over the mid day drowsiness.
Here is what I recently found about Spark and ADHD:

Spark Study
Texas Tech Medical Center
Department of Pediatrics
(806) 212-3553
A COMPARISON OF THE NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF
METHYLPHENIDATE AND NUTRITIONAL BEVERAGE VERSUS PLACEBO ON CHILDREN WITH ATTENTION-DEFICIT HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER. SC SCHNEIDER, GB TAN, DR EGERTON, TW HALE. TX Tech Univ. HSC, Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has become a prominent disorder in children, adolescents, and adults. Current treatment modalities generally include the use of stimulant medication, methylphenidate the most frequently used. Typical and potential side effects have many parents requesting alternatives to prescription medication. This study, conducted from May through September 1998,compared the effectiveness of SPARK!!, a nutritional beverage marketed by Advocare International. SPARK!! contains neuro-active ingredients such as choline, GABA, phenylalanine, and taurine, with methylphenidate when administered to children (6-17) previously diagnosed with ADHD. The study was a placebo-controlled, double-blind study randomly assigning 72 subjects to three treatment groups: methylphenidate group, the SPARK! group and a caffeine group in order to control for caffeine as it is one of the ingredients in SPARK!. All treatments were administered in drink form. Two evaluative sessions were scheduled for each subject: one with a placebo administered two hours prior to testing and one with treatment administered two hours prior to testing. Assessments consisted of the administration of the Test of Variables of Attention (T.O.V.A.), a computerized neuropsychological continuous performance test. Four indices were measured: omission and commission (both indices of accuracy of response to presentation of visual stimuli), response time (speed from visual stimulus to response) and variability of response time (constancy of response speed). No treatment was significantly different from placebo on commission (response to non-target stimulus) index. All treatments were significant relative to placebo for three of the four indices: omissions (0), response time (RT), variability of response time (VAR). SPARK! (0/p=.007; RT/p=.0001; VAR/p=.005), methylphenidate (0/p=.032; RT/p=.001; VAR/p=.007), caffeine (0/p=.007; RT/p=.0001; VAR/p=.0001). The results indicate that SPARK! is as effective as methylphenidate on three of the four measures. Mean differences suggest that it may be more effective on all three measures. Further studies are needed to identify which of the ingredients in the nutritional beverage are most effective and to quantify the differences in the efficacy of SPARK! relative to methylphenidate in a longer trial and with measures directly generalizable to the academic environment.

If you want to try Spark for yourself, or someone you know, I'll get you some to try for free. We love it. :o)
Thanks for reading!!