What should I feed my child who has ADHD? - Blog post

Are there specific foods that I can feed my child to help him with his ADHD?

As I came to terms with the fact that my child has ADHD I started thinking about all the things I could’ve potentially done wrong as a parent to cause this. One of the things I thought about first was nutrition.

I’ve done a lot of research on food and nutrition over the years. I’ve had stomach issues for a long time. I’ve done all sorts of different diets including paleo, and gluten-free. I’ve done cleanses, worked with nutritionists, and functional medicine doctors. Everyone has a different diet they recommend.

Is that the case with ADHD? Do we need to eat clean, dye-free, sugar-free, or gluten-free?  Does he eat enough vegetables?

As I started looking into this topic I consulted the book by Russell A. Barkley, PhD entitled “Taking Charge of ADHD”.  Dr. Barkley does recommend limiting junk food including sugary snacks.

He argues kids with ADHD are prone to obesity. My child, however, struggles to gain weight, is a late bloomer according to our endocrinologist, and has been around the same weight for a few years.

I really worry about my son’s eating habits.

Literally, his feet haven’t grown for over 3 years. It’s crazy. He doesn’t sit still for meals and he is not food motivated at all. I can leave his entire bag of Halloween candy in his room for months and he will not eat it.

So, next, I consult one of my favorite nutritionist’s Instagram/YouTubers “Growing Intuitive Eaters”. She has a whole 6 video set called “Feedings Kids with ADHD”. She argues there is no scientific evidence behind any diet such as dye-free, sugar-free, or gluten-free that helps kids with ADHD.

Could my son’s diet have caused him to develop ADHD?

When my son was younger, I was very strict about what he ate. He had plantain chips instead of potato/corn chips. We did so many veggie/fruit packets and we were always gluten-free because I had to be. He basically ate “paleo” with me but I tried to increase his carb load because according to my research kids need more carbohydrates.

Then his Dad and I got divorced. I knew his Dad was going to be feeding him more junk food. I’ve always been the cook and I had all the food allergies/stomach problems. My ex has an iron stomach.

I decided to relax about the food with my son a little. Especially with how picky he is. I also didn’t want to be the “mean” food parent. I have enough issues with food as it is. I didn’t want my son to develop any of them.

I also really enjoy learning from Growing Intuitive Eaters about how to present food to my son differently than I learned. You don’t have to be a member of the clean plate club. Serve a small portion of dessert with dinner instead of as a treat for finishing all your dinner.

My son had also gone through a rough time with us trying to force him to eat more since we were so concerned about him not gaining any weight. We had doctors tell us all sorts of different things like feed him whatever he wants to get him to start growing, weigh him regularly, or don’t weigh him. 

It was very confusing!

So back to the question. “Could my son’s diet have caused him to develop ADHD?” According to my research and “Growing Intuitive Eaters”. No. No, it didn’t cause his ADHD.

However, food can impact the symptoms of ADHD and my son’s quality of life.

Another piece of the food puzzle is the medication my son now takes to help with ADHD.

He takes Adderall every single day. This impacts his hunger during lunch time and he often comes home without eating lunch.

He also struggles to sit still and focus on his lunch. Especially, at school with all his friends around him and with no parental oversight to keep him in his chair and encourage him to eat.

He even told me recently one of his friends at school made fun of him for never eating his lunch.. It hurt his feelings when his friend made fun of him.

I’m lucky he eats anything for lunch. His doctor and recently his endocrinologist told us it’s okay if he doesn’t eat much for lunch as long as he gets an adequate amount of calories in by the end of the day.

He will forget to eat unless I specifically ask if he’s hungry or what he wants for breakfast. So, I ask him frequently throughout the day but even still he’s always starving right before bed. I have a hard time deciding if I should let him eat a snack even though it will delay bedtime or make him a quick protein shake.

But I know it’ll take him a while to actually eat it. I try to give him an 8 pm deadline to eat any snacks. I also think he uses this technique to stall before bedtime but he always tells me he’s absolutely starving.

He also often does not leave enough time to eat breakfast before school. I will bring it with me in the car and try to get him to eat it once we start driving. This is frustrating to me with his issues gaining weight and I know he won’t eat much for lunch due to the medication he is on.

 I know he never eats his snack at school either because it always comes home with him or I find it weeks later stuffed into his backpack. 

How do we optimize nutrition for kids with ADHD to help them feel their best?

According to Growing Intuitive Eaters, the same things you would feed any kid. Offer a variety of fruits, vegetables, lean meat, whole grains, dairy, and fat. Prioritize offering a wide variety of different food items and having fun with food.

You don’t need to avoid food dyes or track food dyes in your kid’s food. Unless your kid reacts to food dyes and has an allergy to them. I have an allergy to the dyes in Gatorade. Or I’ve had a mast cell disease reaction to the dyes in Gatorade. I can’t be sure. So, I avoid it.

There is no research out there showing a direct correlation between a regular amount of food dyes that kids eat and increasing hyperactivity or aggression.

But again, food does not cause ADHD.

Currently, no research shows a direct relationship between dietary habits and the risk of ADHD, Autism, or other mental illnesses in children and adolescents.

While combing through the research, I only found studies on supplements, and more research is recommended.

 Recent research does show the possibility of benefits for ADHD with nutritional supplements such as omega -3 and vitamin D. Larger randomized controlled trials need to happen in the future to confirm the benefits of using these supplements.

A recent systematic review of the effects of prebiotics and probiotics shows a positive benefit on children with ADHD. Check out the recent review here.

Here are the recommendations on nutrition and ADHD:

·      Supplement with Omega -3, Vitamin D, prebiotics and probiotics

·      Offer a variety of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, whole grains, diary and fat

·      Make food fun by including your child in meal planning, grocery shopping and cooking

·      Limit junk food, including sugary snacks

·      Make having a healthy relationship with food a priority

·      Make an effort to choose the food or snack without the food dye if it’s in your budget

For additional information on ADHD and nutrition check out Growing Intuitive Eater’s YouTube videos.