ADHD and Food

When it comes to reducing the symptoms of ADHD naturally, starting with food should be the number 1 place to start. Out of all the strategies I’ve done over the years, including medication, changing what I consume has made the biggest impact. Some of the biggest challenges I’ve found with it is that I’ve had to learn about what I’m eating, be extremely consistent, and do research which takes time. But it’s been worth it!!!!

It’s always ongoing but it does get easier the better you feel. Here are my top points for reducing ADHD symptoms naturally using food:

chemicals in the foods we eat & ADHD

I’m no expert when it comes to chemistry and I’m no dietician, but what I can go on is my own experience of changing my diet and how that’s dramatically affected my health. So hear me out!

Do you live on processed food? Does most of your food come out of a packet? If you answered yes, then you might be just like how I was. I lived on junk food and loved processed food like chips, lollies, fast food, coke etc… But what I realised was there were so many added chemicals to the foods I was eating that it was crazy.

Once I started looking into these things, I realised I was just eating a bunch of fake foods that weren’t even real! There were added colours, sweeteners, and flavours that I had no idea what these actually were and what they were doing to my body, particularly my brain.

The easiest option for me was to reduce all of these things and eventually stop them. It took a long time to reduce my addiction to them but having to eat gluten-free (I have coeliac disease) helped with the transition. I could’ve just eaten gluten-free crap but chose not to and feel much better for it.

high protein diet & adhd

If you read my earlier post about low-carb eating, you would know I have a high-protein diet. I’ve found that this keeps me fuller for longer, reduces my cravings between meals, and I just feel better on it. I don’t feel as full after eating despite eating large meals of usually meat or salmon, and a massive amount of vegetables. It’s also very easy to sustain this way of eating for my lifestyle as I need protein because I’m very active in terms of training and staying fit.

Here are some additional benefits:

switch items so we don't feel like we're missing out

This is where my behaviour modification skills come in handy. If I feel I’m not missing out, then I’m good. So swapping unhealthy foods for healthy options was the way forward for me. I swapped coke for kombucha, sugary treats for fruits like oranges, and allow myself the odd bag of plain chips every now and then as a reinforcer. This is something that’s been easy to maintain long-term for me. It takes practice, patience and consistency but the results are worth it. Give it a try and keep going.

reducing adhd symptoms naturally with food takes time

This is me now but it’s taken a long time to get here where I’m now fully committed to being the best version of myself – I see it as a form of rebellion now in this crazy world we’re living in!!! My advice would be to keep going, tweak what you’re already doing well with, and if you haven’t started, you can literally start right away.

My goal now is to be as healthy as I can possibly be and it feels amazing. The better you feel, the easier it gets and I know that there are no easy ways to feel this good, it just takes dedication and a willingness to completely look after the body we have 🙂

I feel more focused, have almost no external hyperactivity, and my ability to reduce feelings of overwhelm is much easier now. I just feel better in general and that keeps me going.

Refined sugar - reduce or ditch altogether

Sugar addiction is REAL! I was an addict. I’m happy to say I’m a reformed addict now and feel so much better for it. Get off it! It’s highly addictive and it gives us a rush then a crash. As someone with ADHD, I avoid it as it makes my symptoms worse and then has me scratching around for more sugar. The only thing I have now is natural sugar from whole foods. I still enjoy sweet treats but they are made with quality ingredients that don’t contain refined sugar.

Ditching sugar is easy once you get over the first few days. I have also just lost my appetite for products that contain refined sugar because of all the other junk they put in there – colours, flavours, sweeteners. It’s just not worth it to me anymore to consume this stuff.

Here are a few other reasons to ditch sugar:

reducing symptoms by reading food labels so we know what's in our food

I only got used to reading the backs of packets because of coeliac disease. But I’m very grateful that I did because it’s helped me understand just what is going into the food I eat. Checking labels is why I adopted a mainly whole foods diet because I couldn’t be bothered checking every label.

There is the odd time when I will want to add a canned food or sauce to a meal so learning to check labels is still important. Looking for anything artificial is important plus checking if there are any E numbers in there, additives etc… Certain E numbers related to colours can be problematic for individuals with ADHD.

E102 – tartrazine

E104 – quinoline yellow

E110 – sunset yellow FCF

E122 – carmoisine

E124 – ponceau 4R

E129 – allura red

Things like ‘natural flavour’ and ‘natural colour’ are ones to watch for as these can be anything. Genetically modified ingredients are another. I’m not a fan of wanting to eat ANYTHING that’s been genetically engineered.

Start learning to read labels. It gets easier. And remember, whatever we put in our mouths has an impact somewhere in our body. It may not show straight away, but in time, it can cause great problems like it did in me. Our gut health has a massive impact on our brain health.

Research, research, research

I can’t stress enough how important researching about our own health is. It’s so important when it comes to our bodies that we do our own research. Please don’t take my word for it or anyone else. We are all different and have completely different gut microbiomes so what might work for me may not for you. Yes, it does take more time but at the end of the day, it’s our body that will suffer the consequence of our lack of research.

Recently, I made an error myself by using a packaged rice mix I had in the cupboard. I haven’t used these in months but wanted to use it up before I head overseas. I checked the label and it said it had ‘flavour enhancer 621’. So I thought I better check what that was. Turns out it was MSG just under a different name. MSG can cause a multitude of problems for some people and as someone who already had problems with skin, asthma, ADHD and coeliac disease, I don’t want to be consuming it.

eating whole foods & adhd

My diet is not completely whole foods but it probably makes up around 90%. This is a level I can maintain and that’s what it’s all about. It’s a lifestyle, not a quick fad. If we’re wanting to be clearer in the head, less hyperactive, and be able to focus better, then opting for a clean diet is the way to go.

Choosing to eat as close to nature is easy once you get the hang of it. Cooking our own food helps because we can monitor exactly what’s going into it. This also saves us money so it’s a double bonus. And a major bonus is that items like a banana don’t have a label so there’s not a lot of effort that has to go into research on this one!

bottom line

We’re all different so it’s important to do what’s best for our unique needs. Probably I could make the assumption that everyone with ADHD wants to reduce their symptoms in one way or another. Just how we do that is largely up to us. I guess we do have a choice if we select either the chocolate bar or the apple, and we can choose whether we eat McDonald’s or make ourselves a healthy dinner. But whether we have a desire to change than stay the same is largely up to us. We get to choose and I know what I’m choosing. To feel better.

If you have ADHD and are like me and want to improve your health by changing what you eat, check out my ADHD and Food eBook and planning workbook. Click the image to go straight to the product.