The ADHD Diet - ADHD Nutrition for Kids and Adults

The role that nutrition plays in ADHD is, as is true with most other illnesses and afflictions, grossly underestimated. Conventional medicine tends to prefer pills when it comes to the treatment of almost all health conditions; there’s less money in advocating a clean diet & exercise than there is in an expensive prescription drug that needs infinite refills.

The downside is that a lot of the drugs are potentially very dangerous, and they really only partially (if you’re lucky) address the symptoms.

Using nutrition to treat attention deficit disorder is by far and large the safer and more effective way to lessen the symptoms. Keep reading to learn more about how to build the ideal ADHD diet that can help eliminate or reduce symptoms to a point where they are manageable.


“Let Food Be Your Medicine and Medicine Be Your Food”
Hippocrates had it right.


Lean protein – Lean meats, eggs, a large variety of nuts, beans (also a fantastic source of fiber), cheeses, and yogurt are all great examples of healthy proteins that should be made essential staples in this particular type of diet. Similar to someone who is trying to lose weight, ADHD sufferers should include a serving of protein along with a specific quality of carbohydrates (see below) with each meal in order to minimize the intensity of symptoms.


Complex carbohydrates and whole grains – Fruits and vegetables are the healthiest forms of carbohydrate that you can ask for. They offer a wealth of health benefits in the form of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

In terms of grains as a carb source, switch the focus from flour and corn products to grains in their most untouched, whole form. Good examples of this are steel cut oats, quinoa, couscous, brown rice, whole wheat pastas, and beans. Not only are these options significantly more nutritious and filling overall than flour or corn products, they are far less likely to be paired with additives and preservatives, which have long been suspected to spike ADHD symptoms.


Healthy fats By now you have likely heard of heart healthy fats. Those same kinds of fats can also go a long ways in reducing the severity of ADHD in both children and adults. Nuts, avocados, olive oil, and certain fish – specifically salmon, halibut, herring, and tuna, are great food sources of the Omega-3 fatty acids that are great for an ADHD diet and healthy bodily function in general.


Relevant Read: Ten Health Conditions Treated More Effectively with Exercise than Medication


Drink plenty of water Hydration is absolutely essential to literally all bodily processes, and yet 75% of Americans are regularly dehydrated. An astounding 80 to 85% of the brain is actually water – doesn’t it make sense that being persistently short on aqua could cause a bit of a lag, at the very least, on the performance of that complex and delicate machine? At the very least, adequate water intake will help flush toxins from the body at a faster rate.


What will work best to treat YOUR attention deficit hyperactivity disorder?
One of the best things you can do to treat ADHD with nutrition is to start keeping an in-depth food diary. At times when you notice that your symptoms have worsened, look over your food journal and take notice of what you’ve consumed. Take brief notes throughout the day about upswings in anxiety and any amplified issues with focusing. After a while, you will very likely find a pattern between the things you’re eating and the prevalence of your symptoms.


As you can probably tell from the ADHD nutrition guidelines above, eating a diet to lessen the implications of this disorder is much less about a specific, strict regime of foods than it is about embracing a wholesome, clean foods approach. Don’t buy into the hype of a low calorie, reduced sugar, organic “health” bar; eat a piece of fruit with a handful of nuts. Clean up your diet by going back to the basics, things that you can find in nature.

There are a lot of things that you should steer clear of if you have this diagnosis, foods that will exacerbate your symptoms, further shorten your focus and increase your discomfort. Learn more about those offenders in ADHD Foods to Avoid.

Via : https://boutder.blogspot.com