Brain food: ADHD unfriendly foods and nutrition impact
- allisonmostowich
- Aug 22, 2024
- 5 min read
I’ve been looking more and more into the effects of food on my symptoms. I’ll try not to get too sciencey, but be prepared to nerd out a little.
When I was little, my best friend had ADHD. There were certain foods that made her behaviour even more irascible than ADHD alone. Her parents were eventually able to ascertain that red dye was a huge contributor. Her parents substituted fruit for candy, which pretty much all came with some sort of dye in the 80’s and 90’s. I have never eaten so much papaya in my life.
I personally love a good cold brew with salted caramel foam as a nice pick-me-up in the afternoon. I’m increasingly finding that caffeine significantly affects my anxiety. I seem to be okay with one half-caf first thing in the morning, but any more has adverse affects on my mood and emotional stability. I eat pretty healthy (within reason). I don’t eat dessert unless it’s a special occasion, I try to eat veggies with every meal, and I don’t drink that often. However, there is a time and a place for everything, and I definitely eat and drink these things every so often.
As I get older, and maybe a bit more conscious of the effects of food on my body, I also find that a big dose of sugar makes my heart race, and increases my symptoms. Sugar can disrupt the balance of neurotransmitters in the body of people with ADHD, namely dopamine and norepinephrine, which will increase the symptoms of ADHD. 14, 15, 19 Other foods that have been shown to exacerbate ADHD symptoms to different extents (in children, at least) are:
Artificial colours
Soy
Milk
Chocolate
Wheat (celiac disease is overrepresented among people with ADHD; if you don’t have celiac it’s likely not an issue2)
And a few other like corn, rye, legumes, etc1.
In relation to treating ADHD with diet or supplements, the studies currently out there have some limitations, like too few participants or too short a time period to really determine impact.2, 11, 13 In addition, many (most) of the studies are done with children. We need more quality, randomized control trials to understand how foods or diets impact ADHD, especially in adults and women.
Beyond diet, here are a couple things I’ve learned:
Not all probiotics are the same
When I go to the store, I used to look for the highest count of probiotics in a single pill format that I could find. More is better, right? Turns out which stain you pick is actually more important. Only one strain has been linked to improvement in behavioural symptoms - Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG - although multi-species probiotic supplementation have shown positive effects.2, 23
Others have been linked to improvement in stress and anxiety. This cool chart shows brands that include Mood and Affect proven strains. Look for M/A in the Applications column. Don’t forget to take them!
Artificial sweeteners don't impact ADHD, but beware
Studies to date show that there are no adverse effects of sweeteners, including aspartame or sucrose, on the behaviour or cognitive performance of children.16, 17, 18 A large meta-analysis from the World Health organization sites no adverse effects on mood, neurocognition or behaviour of adults. 20
However, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention other health impacts. There is some concern that they can have a causal and harmful effects on metabolism and the gut microbiome, especially sucralose and aspartame.18, 19 Chemical non-sugar sweeteners have also been linked to higher rates of cardiovascular disease mortality, cardiovascular events, and stoke.20
So… choose wisely. You’re better off to go with sugar alcohols and natural caloric sweeteners, some of which actually have health benefits.19
Dyes are everywhere… pickles, salad dressing, marshmallows, cosmetics, vitamins, prescriptions, etc. Dyes can cause irritability, restlessness and sleep problems.1, 11, 21 We don’t need any more of that, let’s be honest.
We NEED good fats!
Essential fatty acids are critical to our bodies. We can’t make them. They form our cell membranes (cell structure and ability to intercept messages), and they are the building blocks for molecules that are communicators between cells. This includes neurotransmitters. There is, however, limited evidence that Omega-3 supplementation has a positive affect on symptoms,2, 3, 5,11 though different findings exist.4,11 Many of the studies are done with children.
People with ADHD have significantly lower Vitamin D levels
Vitamin D is involved in making neurotransmitters, in neurotransmission, and controls free radicals. Vitamin D and vitamin D + magnesium has also been shown to improve ADHD symptoms when baseline levels of vitamin D were insufficient/deficient.2, 7
ADHD can often mean deficits in other nutrients like magnesium and zinc, though supplementation has not shown an improvement in symptoms. This is definitely an area in which more research is required. 6, 11, 15, 22
If you have kids, heathy diets reduce the risk of ADHD
There are multiple… and I mean multiple… studies that show “healthy diets” reduce the risk of developing ADHD, whereas “unhealthy” diets increase the risk. 9,10
What about you? Do you have any foods that make your symptoms worse? What about things that helped?
Articles I read/referenced:
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