ADHD Diet: Best Food to Manage your ADHD

Posted on January 28, 2024 by Karina Schneidman, One of Thousands of Business Coaches on Noomii.

There is a famous saying, “you are what you eat.” That saying is especially true for those affected with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). As a rule of thumb, a diet is an individual choice, and may differ depending on each person’s unique needs. Advising with a health wellness coaching specialist is essential to making the right choices for you. However, there are general guidelines that can help or hinder how well an ADHD brain functions.

According to WebMD, there are three things to consider when deciding on what your ADHD diet should be:

What to eat
What not to eat
How to supplement what you eat

All this means is that there are some foods that are very good for helping your brain function better. There are some foods that may lessen your focus and attention, make your mood swings worse, or make you more depressed, which is why it may be better to avoid these foods. Additionally, using supplements, such as vitamins or minerals, can help you gain important nutrients you may not be getting through your diet.

ADHD Diet: What to Eat

Protein
One of the most important staples of your ADHD diet should be protein. Many life coaches for teens and adults find that their ADHD patients critically lack protein, which prevents the body’s amino acids from carrying important information our brain needs to effectively function. It’s a known fact that individuals who have ADHD have less dopamine, the happy chemical our brain produces. Protein helps to create dopamine, which leads to better moods, better concentration, motivation and alertness. So, add eggs, meat, beans, cheese and nuts to your diet.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Did you know that our brains are made up of 60% of fat? The brain needs a steady supply of fat to maintain that level to function properly, creating less dopamine and serotonin, happy chemicals that affect our mental health and functioning.

“Our hunter-gatherer ancestors ate a diet with a ratio of about 2 to 1 omega-6s to omega-3s,” according to Attitude Magazine. “Today, we eat a diet with the ratio of 15 to 1.”

Fatty fish and fish oil helps to improve memory, lessen hyperactivity, lessen hostility and misbehaving, and so on and so on. Along with tuna and salmon, add olive oil and walnuts to your ADHD diet.

Many individuals choose to manage their ADHD with medication, and studies have found that omega-3 fatty acids can help manage symptoms so that the medication is more effective. Some patients have even been able to lower their doze of meds once they started supplementing their diet with Omega-3 fatty acids.

ADHD Diet: What Not to Eat

Carbohydrates
It’s important to understand what carbohydrates really are. Although all carbs often get a bad rep, there are carbs that are good for you, such as those found in fruit. However, carbs from sugar, white flour, white rice, and corn syrup, should not be an ADHD diet staple.

Our bodies very quickly absorb these simple carbs, which leads to a huge increase in our blood sugar levels, followed by a crash. Try to substitute your simple carbs with complex carbohydrates, which your body takes longer to digest, and maintain sugar and energy levels more consistently throughout the day.

Supplements

Omega-3s
If you are not able to gain enough fatty oils through diet (for example, you hate fish and nuts), it’s easy enough to supplement with a daily dose of capsules or liquid of fish oil.

Magnesium

One of the most important ADHD supplements life coaches recommend is magnesium. Common symptoms of ADHD are restlessness and inability to relax. Magnesium has been found to improve sleep, less restlessness and promote relaxation.