Healthy Diet for ADHD

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurological and cognitive behavioral disorder that first appears in childhood. Symptoms of ADHD include difficulty paying attention, poor impulse control and hyperactivity. ADHD is a catch-all diagnosis for a group of disorders that have different causal pathways that involve common mechanisms in the central nervous system. Food allergies, food-additive sensitivities, environmental allergies and metabolic, hormonal and varied psychiatric disorders can create ADHD symptoms. Have a full physical and mental evaluation to diagnosis ADHD. Rule out contributing physical and mental health issues. Improve your diet and nutrition to improve ADHD symptoms.

Diagnosis and Rule Out Other Possible Causes

• Get a formal diagnosis from a physician and a psychiatrist or psychologist. Make sure that tests are performed to identify and rule out hypoglycemia, endocrine disorders, nutritional deficiencies, learning disorders, anxiety and depression.

  Evaluate for environmental allergies. Sensitivities to high levels of dust, mold, pet dander or toxins in the home can contribute to ADHD symptoms.

  Try an elimination diet to identify foods that can worsen symptoms. This involves removing all foods that might possibly cause or aggravate symptoms and then slowly adding foods to the diet while monitoring symptoms. Food allergies and sensitivities that are most likely to create ADHD symptoms involve dairy products, wheat products, refined sugar, processed and manufactured food, foods containing artificial colors, flavorings, monosodium glutamate (MSG) and foods that contain salicylates. Foods with salicylates include almonds, apples, apricots, berries, cherries, cucumbers, currants, oranges, peaches, peppers, plums, prunes and tomatoes.

  If you are not committed to doing a full elimination diet, you can also do elimination "experiments" to evaluate the effect of risk foods. For example, eliminate processed and junk foods from the diet, and see if this improves attention and reduces hyperactivity and impulsivity. Then reintroduce this food and observe the results. Repeat this experimental process with the other foods in Step 3. For example, try a low-sugar diet. See if there is an improvement. Then, add sugar to the diet and observe. If you see impulsivity or hyperactivity after a sugar binge, then avoid sugar in the future.

  The full elimination diet has a greater potential to identify problem foods because there can be multiple foods that have an accumulative effect, and these may not be identified with simple elimination experiments.

Improve Diet and Nutrition

• Follow a diet low in simple carbohydrates and high in proteins. Hypoglycemia can create ADHD symptoms. A diet rich in proteins and complex carbohydrates enhances metabolism and stabilizes blood sugar levels. Foods that provide protein include beans, cheese, eggs, meat and nuts. Add these high protein foods in the morning and to snacks in the afternoon to improve concentration.

  Include in the diet fresh fruits and vegetables, except for those listed above that contain salicylates. Fresh fruits and vegetables provide dietary fiber and have complex carbohydrates that stabilize metabolism.

  Include foods that contain omega-3 fatty acids, such as cold water fish like tuna, salmon and herring. Also, walnuts, Brazil nuts and olive and canola oil provide essential fatty acids.

  Add a 100 percent multivitamin and mineral supplement to your daily routine.