I've been having some issues with my 15yo daughter. She's type O negative and I strongly suspect she's an Explorer.

She had ADD symptoms as a young child, helped greatly by The  Feingold Program (avoiding artificial colors and flavors) and helped even more by avoiding wheat.

She had some sleep issues for the past year, but those mostly cleared up when she started taking methyl B-12. The sleep issues return when she "forgets" to take the pills. Like the past few weeks.

I've had her on the type O diet for about 2 years, but I'm not sure how compliant she is away from home, and she's a very picky eater. If the taste or texture is "off" she simply won't  eat it. She does eat plenty of apples, sweet potatoes, veggie soup (I try to get as much nutrition into these soups as possible, as she doesn't eat too many vegetables otherwise.) She won't eat salad, will occasionally eat broccolli or green beans (only if cooked "just right") and does eat broccolli quiche for breakfast sometimes. She doesn't consistnely take any vitamins, though I'm trying to get her to take a multivitamin (one that Dr Henninger approved for DD1.) She could also stand to lose about 15 lbs,  but that's not my top priority right now.

When she doesn't like the taste or texture of a food, she'll stop eating. When her blood sugar gets too low, she completely spaces out. She drinks a lot of apple juice in the mornings when she's  too tired to  eat. She also eats a LOT of chocolate chips, often to the exclusion of more balanced foods. I'm hesitant to stop buying the chips, because I've run out in the past and she's ended up simply not eating enough and being even less focused  than usual. Lately she's also had issues with mild reflux, usually after drinking too much fluid at once, and sometimes she'll vomit a small amount when she tries to swallow pills.

She's also showing signs of fighting off a virus right now. She "felt feverish" this morning (though I didn't actually take her temperature) and had some ear pain. She was tired and "spaced out" yesterday, and I just found out that she's been "spaced out" in chemistry class as well (and presumably other classes too,  but only the science teacher called me.)

There are a lot of behavioral concerns I have with her, which I will address with her, but my gut feeling is that there's something unbalanced in her body chemistry at the root of her behavioral problems. Why is it so hard for her to focus on assigned tasks? Why can't she remember to do her homework or her household chores without numerous reminders? Why does she keep getting sick?

Have to admit to feeling spaced out myself.....I had some dental surgery last week and my sinuses are a mess.  Been using the Neilmed thingy which is like a squeezable neti pot but the headaches make it hard to concentrate.  Not sure if it's from the surgery or from the mold from the leaves finally starting to fall.  There are a lot of people complaining of similar symptoms, Ruthie.  It's hard to concentrate when you have a wicked sinus headache.

Yeah, I'm trying to be sensitive to her needs becase I've been very "unfocused" lately too. I've got some kale chips in the oven right now, even though I'd intended to make them around 10:00 AM!!!

But there still must be some way to help her. Some food to emphasize or eliminate? Would chewable vitamins (with type O avoids) be a better choice than "not taking vitamins" when she's sick?

She's napping right now, but I need to wake her shortly so she can do her homework before dinner. I mentioned earlier that she's fighting a virus right now, and her response was "I think the virus is winning."

If I were you, I would get rid of the chocolate chips and replace with dried cherries or...? if she sometimes needs a sweet....(better not to, but she's a kid)
there's a tea that might fill the bill: double dark chocolate mate' by republic of tea.....mate' gives a gentle lift...

I like the double dark choc. mate too but too much of it gives me palpatations.  

The options for unadulterated dried fruits are pretty slim. I have yet to find dried cherries that don't also have sugar, sunflower oil,and/or sulfates added. Plus, dried fruit is practically fat-free, and is metabolized like pure sugar. The choclate chips at least have a decent amount of fat in them. I do have raisins in the house, but she  doesn't really like them.

She resisted efforts to wake her up. I told her, very calmly, that by choosing to stay in bed, she's choosing to stay home tonight (and not go to the youth group meeting.) I'll do my best to remind her of that tonight without any anger in my voice "You're sick, you still have homework to do, you need to stay home tonight." rather than "I TOLD YOU TO DO YOUR HOMEWORK EARLIER!!!! YOU'RE GOING NOWHERE, YOUNG LADY!!!! Wish me luck talking to her later!

Is it possible that the chocolate chips could be contributing to the sleep issues, Ruthie.  

I love the title of this post! Your children are very lucky to have such an aware parent. Goodluck  

Maybe it's time to measure and troubleshoot the problem.  Will she eat protein?  That would be my first guess.  I would take the chips away     and replace them with snacks only from the genotype list.  

It's definitely possible, but I'm not sure how to get her to eat healthier  foods. I don't want to just stop buying chocolate chips because I've tried that in the past and it didn't work- she whined about being hungry, snacked on handfuls of brown sugar, and/or zoned out even worse than usual.

I need to convince her to cut back on chocolate consumption all by herself and help her make better choices. She's too big for me to micro-manage her diet. Heck, I didn't even micro-manage her diet when she was 8 months old. Numerous times, her 2yo sister handed her some snack from the other seat in the double stroller, something that I'd intended to introduce after 12 months old.

Sugar isn't helping at all .. but I see the dilemma you are in.

Maybe give Clematis (Bach) a try.  

Quoted from Victoria

Sugar isn't helping at all .. but I see the dilemma you are in.

Maybe give Clematis (Bach) a try.  

Yes maybe try some essences.

I can identify with the chocolate thing.  I think when I quit the coffee I craved the chocolate even more.

Well just using the blood type O list why not have her snack on beefy jerky, pumpkin seeds, figs, sliced banana, brown rice crackers with goat cheese, almond butter ezekiel toast, rice milk etc.

Ruthie we love your oatmeal cookies. I use 2cups of quinoa flour (because of it's protein)  and top with 1 large chocolate chip, I use honey, or molasses. My daughter take three to work, if she can't get a break and feels her blood sugar starting to drop she eats one. This a been really been a lifesaver for her. We like them for breakfast and two will keep me going all morning. (not bad for a gatherer)  Would this work for her?  

The only way I can remember to take my B12 (s) at night to to use one of those weekly pill boxes and put it on my bed stand so I'll see it. I keep a closed water cup there so I can take them without ever leaving bed.  

I pack her cookies to eat in school; she doesn't usually want any more afterwards. Some days she eats quiche before school, other days just juice. Then she has some veggie/bean soup for lunch after school (she doesn't have a lunch period this year.) Sometimes another meal/snack after the soup and before family dinner, but not always.

I know sugar isn't helping her at all, but I can't "do this" for her.

At this point, she's most definitely sick. I made pizza for dinner, she had only one (usually she has 2 or 3 personal pizzas) and then threw up half of it. After her tummy settled, she had some more soup and that stayed down.

So the immediate issue is to get her through this illness, but the long-term goal is still to optimize her health. Part of her "forgetting the rest of the world exists" seems to come when she's fighting off an illness- even when she doesn't fully get sick, she often feels like she's going to, but manages to sleep it off. In the meantime, she's ignoring the world around her. She needs to learn how to tune in to the world around her even when she's feeling tired, and  it takes more energy to do so. So, something to help her focus her mind, plus something to keep her healthy.

Hang in there Ruthie.  I think you do an awesome job with your kids.  It's SO hard when they are sick.

My guess for her mental clarity, she needs physical exercise.  You have a difficult road Ruthie.   I can only imagine how difficult it must be since I don't have children.

I started exercising when I was about her age, it helped me a lot.  Will she eat vegetables with butter?  She needs cholesterol to think more clearly... well that is what I would give my Hunter child, if I had one.  Have you guesstimated a genotype?  You said Explorer.

Zinc, and then pumpkin seeds after some zinc supplementation for a snack from now on. That is for the ADD. Also Parmesan cheese, she must have bacterial issues for the low immunity. The sugar is a huge problem. It seems many people with bad gut flora get picky on food. Does she like bananas? They would help balance her and keep blood sugar from dropping too much. She sounds very sensitive to wheat, like more of a problem than just being Blood Type O. When you are very sensitive it does serious damage to gut flora.

She needs exercise. If you read this you will immediately recognize the correlations. Hunter

Quoted from ruthiegirl

In the meantime, she's ignoring the world around her. She needs to learn how to tune in to the world around her even when she's feeling tired, and  it takes more energy to do so.

Let me know if you come up with something that works.  I struggle with the same thing.  I think some people (like me) will push themselves right up to the edge of their capability on a regular basis, and to make matters worse, won't sit still for long enough to fully recover.  As soon as we are "well enough", we're right back out there, full steam ahead, until we start falling apart again.  That sort of cycle keeps you from being at your best, even when you are at your "best", if you follow me.

It's like building a wooden chair and sitting down in it before the glue has finished drying.  It will hold you up, but the weight is going to separate the joints.  At some point you will have to take it apart, re-glue it, and let it sit long enough for the glue to dry, if you want it to be sturdy.

Is she a diabetic?  Has she been checked?

I'll tell you what really helped pull my son out of his downward trend.  There is a book by Judy Converse called, "Special-Needs Kids Eat Right."  She also does counseling for children up to age (I think) 21.  She also has a website, nutritioncare.net.

The most primary thing she emphasizes is to check the child's nutritional status first, make sure the child is getting enough calories.  She has a 7 step treatment to follow in the correct order.  And the first step is so important -- and so important to do FIRST -- that she highly emphasizes it.  Without checking this first and addressing it, in her experience, all other interventions don't go as well.  (I found this to be the case for my son, that he needed more calories since everything else I was trying wasn't working.)  Many people do not realize the importance of the first step.

The first 4 steps out of the 7 steps are:
1.  Check the nutrition status.  Is the child getting enough calories?
2.  Fix the gut bugs.  Candida?  Probiotics...
3.  Remove foods not tolerated.  Replace with more nutritional foods (or at least equal value).
4.  Micronutrients (which ones, and dosage amounts, depends on the signs/symptoms)

I think step 5, 6, and 7 are if things aren't working still after some time passes.  So I only remember off the top of my head the first 4.

Anyway, so if she eats apples, sweet potato, and veggie soup, if it were me, I would try to fill her up with foods like these to make sure her calorie requirements are met, and then all other diet/nutritional interventions are more likely to succeed.

I wish I could still do the counseling with her, but it was too expensive to continue.  However, I find the book to be so very helpful.

My mom said she was raised to eat what was put in front of her.  My dad, a Virgo like me, got in to "health food" and gourmet cooking when I was a teen.  I think both parents may be Hunters.  Dad has digestive problems and is athletic and both have the "personality". My parents were strict well my dad was more than my mom but no one knew anything about what to eat back then so no one could set any kind of real rules.  

I don't have my own children but I would combine my parents views though I remember as a teen I ate sporadically    and still have issues but actually also had a chocolate chip type phase that preceded the aerobics dance phase.  I think genotype will help a lot.  You can control her snacks to some extent or maybe set a rule of one healthy nutritious snack then send to room to study before dinner.

OK, so if step one is "make sure the child has enough calories" then I'm even more hesitant to cut out the chocolate chips! She does seem pretty intuitive about which foods do and don't agree with her. She craves apples, which are an Explorer superfood. She doesn't seem to like any nuts or seeds. She does eat plenty of meat- not too much at one time, but she never feels satisfied if we don't have meat so we have it almost every day, and plenty of cheese and/or fish on other days. I make sure to always have healthy "real food" available to her- veggie soups,  broccolli quiche, and cookies she can take with her to school.

Momotaro- I just reserved that book you suggested, even though it's labeled as a book to help kids with autism- is ADD considered part of the spectrum?

Geminisue- she's not showing any other signs of diabetes, and her pediatrician knows about the diabetes in the family. I think she  gets the A1C blood test every 2-3 years.

DOS- I would be very surprised if she turned out to be a Hunter. She's about 4'10" tall and 130 lbs, wearing a woman's size 6-8. All her height is in her torso- when sitting down, she doesn't look so short. Even without actually measuring her, I can tell you her torso is longer than her legs. Besides, looking at her food preferences and aversions, she seems to fit the Explorer diet more than the Hunter or Gatherer diet.