An ADHD-friendly diet takes a little know-how, but with a better understanding of what you need – both for ADHD, and for your personal situation – it’s completely possible to eat in a way that leaves you feeling your best. I don’t know a whole hell of a lot about this kind of stuff, but thankfully, I’m working with nutritionist Niki Carr, who was kind enough to share her two main tips on how to eat in an ADHD-friendly way.
As always, you can watch this. The link is here. You can also listen to it here, or on your favorite platform.
Note: This is part two of a four-part series about the connections between ADHD and nutrition. Part one, with Coach Dre Williams, is here.
Tip 1: Remember to eat regularly
You probably just snorted hard, because it’s pretty obvious that remembering things can be a tall order for us. Add to that the fact that our medications can suppress appetite, and that choosing foods can be overwhelming, and you’ve got a recipe for disaster. This is exactly why Niki suggests listening to your personal cues in regards to hunger, and when you think you’re ready to plan out how to bust that hunger.
“…maybe you’re like a mid morning kind of person, maybe you’re an evening person, but basically taking that time when you have good energy and thinking for a whole 24 hours about meals.” Carr suggests. “So for instance, at mid-morning think about what are you going to eat for your snack and for your lunch and maybe for dinner and then what are you going to eat for breakfast the next morning and have that all set out and planned.
“…that really helps because sometimes we’re in that state of flow and we don’t want to take a break because we just want to plow through. And I can sometimes do that if I already know what my lunch is because I don’t have to spend that brainpower thinking about my lunch because I can just go grab it and sometimes even eat it while I’m still focusing because I want to kind of capitalize on that, that time of energy and something else.”
Niki also suggests that you check in with your body often. This is when you try to make sure you’re paying attention to your physical cues. Carr suggests a “food-water-bathroom-stretch” approach. Meaning you ask yourself: Are you feeling hungry? Thirsty? Stiff? Do you need to go to the bathroom? This is more easily done if you ensure that you schedule breaks for yourself, but it can even be in between meetings, or when you have a quiet moment.
By the way: “eating regularly” means something different to everyone. You may need to eat numerous small meals throughout the day, while someone like me can’t eat between 1 PM and 4:30 without feeling sick for some inscrutable reason. When you’re learning this stuff, approach it as if you’re trying to learn more about a new friend, or as Niki describes it, “with an air of curiosity instead of judgment.”
Extra tip: Keep food nearby
To ensure that you get those snacks in during the day, Carr suggests keeping snacks nearby so that you don’t have to go far to remember to eat. This works especially well if it’s within grabbing distance, as there’ll be times where your hands may need something to do while you’re sitting idle; so why not make sure you’re feeding yourself?
Tip 2: Eat things that help your brain
An ADHD-friendly diet is going to usually need to be pretty focused on your brain. While there are a number of things that we might be short on for healthy processing, a big one that most of us know right off the bat is good ol’ dopamine. So, Niki suggests going after foods that are going to boost your dopamine production.
“Look for the the amino acid called L-tyrosine. It is one of the building blocks for the production of dopamine in the body…Most of our animal protein is high and all the amino acids because it’s protein that’s what you’re eating. So any kind of lean meat typically like turkey or chicken, shrimp, that kind of stuff. But do watch out for some processed meats because they might have some chemicals in it that might have an opposite effect. And something that can be really key for folks is to incorporate those lean proteins into breakfast.”
Basically, L-tyrosine occurs in a number of foods that are also high in protein, like eggs, milk, tofu, and beans. What works for you will obviously depend on you as an individual, but it’s a good place to start.
Other foods that Niki suggests for boosting dopamine include:
- Almonds
- Oatmeal
- Apples and bananas (these also include fiber and complex carbohydrates, which we also need)
- Beets
- Leafy greens
- Whole grains
- Rosemary
- Turmeric (just be sure to include some fat and black pepper wherever you include this, because our bodies don’t digest it easily)
Extra tip: Take care of your stomach, too
Gut health is a thing we hear a lot about pretty regularly. And, to be fair, it is pretty important. So while you’re trying to craft your own ADHD-friendly diet, make sure that you’re caring for the natural flora in your stomach.
“The majority of our neurotransmitters– and dopamine is a neurotransmitter – they’re produced in our gut. So having a healthy microbiome is really an important process in regulating the production of dopamine.” Niki says.
You can do this with fermented foods, like kimchi or kombucha, with yogurt, or with a probiotic.
In the end, everyone with ADHD is not the same. You’re going to have to ensure that your particular diet is targeted to your particular wants, needs, and body chemistry. It can take some playing around to figure out, but if you approach this with an air of interest and curiosity, you’re sure to come up with an ADHD-friendly diet that supports better energy, focus, and symptom control.
Niki is one of the nutritionists I work with, and if you feel you need us both, please let me know so that we can get something started for you. If you’d prefer to simply work with Niki, you can do so by emailing her at niki@ancorawellness.com .
