Barbara Reed Stitt

About the Author

In 2009, Barbara Reed Stitt became the second recipient of the Abram Hoffer, MD, Ph.D. Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Community Addiction Recovery Association (CARA).

An article about Dr. Barbara Reed Stitt's amazing results with probationers when she served as Chief Probation Officer in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, first introduced CARA's Executive Director to the usefulness of food in the treatment of addiction in 1984. Like Dr. Abram Hoffer, the namesake of the award who bucked conventional wisdom to focus on the biochemical basis of addictive and mental health disorders, Barbara was willing to stand out among her peers doing what worked even if it wasn't the standard of care in her day. She fine-tuned her program for seven years until courageously revising the modus operandi of the Cuyahoga Falls Probation Department, beginning in 1970 and only ending in 1982 when she married biochemist Paul Stitt and moved to Wisconsin. Thus Dr. Stitt has been proving the relationship between food and behavior for the betterment of clients for well over 40 years.

An astute medical detective, Dr. Stitt looked for hypoglycemia, food allergies, adrenal gland fatigue, heavy metal accumulation, and B vitamin and other nutritional deficiencies. She knew these five problems led to distortions of thinking and decision--making. When these were addressed the results were astounding: Even though it is common for over half of arrestees to be drug dependent and for recidivism rates to be as high as 77% - over 80% of her probationers stayed out of the criminal Justice system during the last twelve of her 20 years of work in Ohio. The Wall Street Journal featured her success in a front page story titled “Can Chocolate Turn You Into a Criminal? Some Experts Say So” June 2, 1977. Numerous scientific studies have also found high success rates of probationers staying out of crime, including CARA's own program in the Sacramento County Drug Court, wherein (over a 10 year period) 87% of the addicts were successful in staying free of addiction - saving the County $22-million in the process helping thousands of people have happier, successful lives.

Barbara Reed Stitt eventually turned her focus to prevention, reaching out to schools in the hope of changing the future for students and for society that suffered from the consequences of their biochemical imbalances. For 16 years, beginning in 1983, Dr. Stitt and her husband underwrote a 'school healthy eating program'. They owned an all-natural whole grain bakery and provided whole grain bagels and a flax drink high in omega-3 that was given to students in 30 - 40 different classrooms each morning and afternoon in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. They provided newsletters each month teaching teachers, parents and students about healthy eating. After 6 - 8 weeks of the healthier foods they required the teachers to hold a 'junk food day' when the students returned to eating as they were doing before starting the program. Repeatedly, the teachers found that after about two hours of eating the typical donuts, sweet rolls and other 'junk foods,' the teachers lost control of their classrooms. The parents reported the children were more argumentative and had trouble sleeping and behaving. One teacher who was in the program for 12 years followed up with her students who were in college and found that the experience had a lasting influence on their lives and their ability to better learn and concentrate.

In 1999 they were invited to provide the foods for Wisconsin's Appleton Central Alternative High School, which was so out of control they had a full time police officer on staff! The Stitts replaced soda machines and refined and processed, sugar-artificial-color-corn syrup-laden cafeteria food with water and wholesome fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. Within less than two months of being provided with healthier foods, the school had NO discipline problem. The high school students’ behavior changed dramatically and was so consistently good the Superintendent extended the wholesome foods to the entire school system of 15,000 students. While the high school drop-out rate was considered fairly low at an average of 450 students per year, after two years this number had dropped to an average of 16 per year! (See the 5 year story on a 14 minute DVD - "Impact of Fresh Whole Foods on Learning and Behavior" - www.naturalpress.info or naturalpress@gmail.com)

In June, 2012, The Alliance for Addiction Solutions held a three day training in Winchester, Virginia - teaching physicians and counselors how to provide a Clean and Sober Brain: Using Amino Acids and a Pro-Recovery Diet to Transform the Addictive Brain. To learn more, join or support The Alliance for Addiction Solutions at: www.allianceforaddictionsolutions.org

Barbara Reed Stitt, Ph.D. is the author of

"Food & Behavior, A Natural Connection"

"Nutritional Guidelines for Correcting Behavior"

(both available as e-books at www.amazon.com)

and co-producer of the DVD: "Impact of Fresh Healthy Foods on Learning and Behavior"