I read the PDF about how diet can affect ADHD, and WOW does it ever make sense. https://www.adhdmarriage.com/files/add/Food%20for%20Thought%20Nutrition%... Good stuff this! And it certainly confirms my thoughts about what sugar and carbohydrates do to the brain... cant argue the science...
I am working hard to manage myself, and while I am a "non" ADHD spouse in the process of letting go of my relationship, I am absolutely terrified that I might have my own symptoms of ADHD. So while I have no diagnosis, and as far as I can tell - no one has ever said anything about me having problems, I do recognize that I can get hyper focused at work. And I know that I am getting older and can be more forgetful. So I am actually using some of the stuff here on this site to help with those things and make sure that I do not do the things that upset me. I started taking the Omega 3s, and really cut back on carbs (was doing this anyway for weight management, but this really just seals the deal for me to make this a long term change).
Has anyone had any luck or experience with success by adding a strong diet and exercise with their ADHD? I know when my husband was actually doing Crossfit and eating low carb, taking his meds regularly and even working with life coach - he was literally the happiest ever saw him and at his BEST ...and what a glorious site to behold... I was so proud, and so amazed at what he did. For real, he was like a beautiful rocket about to launch into space.... I dont think there could have been anything that ever stopped him. But I was so very wrong. Sadly he crashed after a few months of making incredible strides because of remembering a trauma that happened to him as a child, and his daughter choosing to live with her mother (instead of HIS mother where she had been living). He never recovered and has given up, so I have to make my own changes. So while I did see improvement, it was short lived because he stopped.
Has anyone here been able to keep the focus on managing their diet and had success enough to keep at it? I
I am a little surprised I don
Submitted by rricenator on
I am a little surprised I don't see responses to this post. I was looking to see if anyone else has first-hand experience with these treatment tactics. I am the ADHD spouse, and am also willing to pursue this avenue. It makes sense, and having been periodically athletic in my life, it seems that when most active is also when I have been most clear-headed and confident. But independent confirmation would be awesome.
RR...........Confirmed and Validated
Submitted by kellyj on
From the time I was 6 years old until I was out of college....I swam everyday, sometimes morning and afternoon before and after school. Our couch actually had us do carb loading before meets to store carbs to convert to sugar as needed on performance days and we ate hard boiled eggs and honey during the day of performance meets starting at age 6. After college...I continued with training and performing in Tri-Athelons and continued with the same routine and diet. Heavy on both carbs and proteins only and again...with simple sugars and high fructose drinks like Gator Aid on performance days followed imediately with Banana ( for magnesium ) for recovery after the event. I forgot to mention calcium to reduce or prevent muscle cramps as well. I did this up until the time I actually had to start working full time at a job and career and when I was about 25....I stopped this routine for the first time in my life? That was also the first time I experienced any difficulties or noticed a problem associated with ADHD. When I stopped. Before that....I was not diagnosed and I took no medication what so ever?
My excesses program now is hit and miss but the second I get back into the pool....I can substitute swimming for Adderall and need no medication at all? And what I notice is...exercise alone...is far better overall than stimulant medication alone in that my moods are stable...and I feel great in general with no swings up and down? Without the exercise...I need the medication as a poorer substitute;.....while the best alternative yet I have found?
I've found for myself....that diet alone is marginal or almost not really noticeable as far as anything I can really tell the difference? The same combination that my coach taught us back then seems to have always workd. Heavy on the carbs....heavy on the proteins....and heavy on the simple sugars on performance days or any day in general...when heavy aerobic and anaerobic exercise is used? That means...a heart rate sustained at a minimum of 120 bpm or above for over 20 minutes non stop....and then intermixed alternatively with set of exercise of 150bpm then alternating at 180 bpm sustained for a minimum of 3 minutes at 150bpm with 30 seconds rest....then 3 minutes at 180bpm with 30 seconds rest...for an extended period of total of 20 minutes total...with 5 minutes rest then moving on to wind sprints at 100% exertion for an extended period of no less than 1 minute to 30 seconds total each sprint.... exceeding sometimes 200 bpm at a maximum 100% exertion ..with 1 to 2 minutes rest in between each for a total set of 10 minutes total elapsed time. This would be close to approximate of 1 hour of exercise in this configuration on going if needed to. That is for the first hour? The same would apply for each consecutive hour depending on your condition at the time? We use to build up to 3 hours a day minimum at this basic condition and hold it there indefinitely in an on going way. 1 hours in the morning. 2 hours in the afternoon 2 work outs each day using this same configuration.
And as far as nutrition goes....you ate until stuffed ( or full ) as much food into your body as you could eat at any one meal of given point in time. My total body fat during this time...was 4% or less meaning.....almost no body fat what so ever and I was as skinny as a rail and I ate like a horse all the time and ate anything and everything from junk food....to fruits and vegetables and everything in between. I even had a chocolate milk shake every night and sometimes with a raw egg in it....every single night after gorging my face with food but mainly....heavy on the carbs and proteins.....meat and potatoes man....and pure honey and sugar cubes on race day with lots and lots of liquids sugars like Gator Aid to drink non stop. If Gator Aid wasn't around.....Coke was a good substitute but not quite as fast in recovery. Oh...and don't forget the calcium and the bananas ( Potassium for electrolyte recovery ...and calcium for muscle cramps during work out or an event ahead of time )
And for calcium....I ate pure dairy products cheese , whole milk, real butter and cottage cheese with fruit added for good measure. Pure animal fat and as much as I could eat any time I wanted. When you are working out at this level....that fat gets burned and never goes on you. Like I said....I was 4% body fat...with not a stitch of fat anywhere and looked as skinny as a rail after all of that?
Now of course....I've had to modify this quite a bit and watch my diet more closely but to say I have ever "dieted" or restricted my intake? I have never done that in my entire life? I eat when I'm hungry..and eat what ever I want and as much as I want but saying....I have never been a big portions eater and eat until I'm full and stop when I am even if I haven't cleaned my plate? I'm 6' 0" inches.....32 inch waste and 180-190 lbs now...compared to the same back then but only weighing 16o to 170 lbs at the time so you can see the change in fat or stored fat compared to when I was training like I was in my past...but that is evenly distributed and not all in my stomach or belly with only 1 inch difference?..and can still wear the same pants I did in high school and college with the only change being from 31 to 32 inch waste......to now 32 to 33 inch waste with only 1 inch difference? If I can't see my ribs...then something is wrong and I reduce the intake accordingly and don't use a scale? I use the mirror and whether my pants are tight or not.....instead which is a better way to indicator intake and monitor amount of intake than a scale since scales are pretty worthless in telling you much more than gross ( tonnage ) LOL .
Another side note I just remembered too? My father was of the mind that you cleaned you plate clean before you left the table as he was brought up to believe and my mother put a kibosh to that old outmoded way of thinking and put her foot down there too? I ate until I was full..and stopped regardless of what was on my plate which is exactly what you should do? The idea or concept of cleaning your plate came from the depression when food was scarce and that no longer applies to reality or a good idea even then? Stuffing yourself...is the worst thing you can possibly do and throws your blood sugars and body for a loop and take more energy to digest...than the food energy you store when you do that? Any time you eat more than you need at any given time...that food has got to go somewhere and you know the only two options there......don't you? LOL
That's the program and it worked for me? Like they say...if it's not broken....why fix it?
edited: bananas for potassium not magnesium sorry I got those mixed up:)
J
ADHD and Nutrition - Not what you think
Submitted by MelissaOrlov on
Sadly, you can argue the science, and since that article was posted by the Hallowell Center, the study that was cited suggesting that a specific diet would help 'cure' ADHD has been debunked. The research methodology was worse than flimsy. Instead, a meta-analysis of whether or not diet impacts ADHD suggests it does so only is very specific instances. The biggest is when a person with ADHD also has undiagnosed Celiac Disease. This is more common that you might think, as about 15% of the ADHD population has Celiac, vs. about 1% of the general population. Treating the Celiac by going on a Gluten Free diet dramatically impacts the symptoms associated with ADHD.
I STRONGLY suggest that you download the FREE chapter on effective treatment of ADHD that is available here at my online treatment guide. That provides a good overview of various treatments available, as well as providing a good framework for figuring out how to optimize your ADHD treatment.
If you want more information about the diet meta-analysis, look up The ADHD Report Vol 20, number 5 from Oct of 2012.
My apologies for leaving that incorrect info about diet up on the site.
Melissa....... On Nutrution
Submitted by kellyj on
After reading what you just said....a couple of things occurred to me that am still wondering about myself? I kind of left what I said with the impression the nutrition didn't really make that much difference in terms of exercise at a level that I assume most would not voluntarily do? And I don't do what any more by a long shot which was only to say....at that level of excerption...I did find I could get away with murder nutritionally speaking. More of just throwing what I could get my hands on..and just providing my body with the fuel necessary which really was the case under those circumstance using that as the base line? It also works in survival situations out doors when you're goal is just to keep your body saturated with the things it's needs under high stress situations like that which is true...under those conditions.
But under normal conditions of every day living and with me for example...trying the nutrition route first before I did anything else ( including Adderall )...I found in comparison to exercise alone..that I really wasn't noticing all that much difference and I concluded that it was an augmentation to doing the list of things on the list but certainly no cure all by itself and this is what I found as well?
But now going in reverse kind of...and being on Adderall that does make a significant impact for sure....it's very hard to tell anything noticeable....other than a general feeling that just having a good diet to start with and eating healthy foods in general seems to make a difference for sure?
I guess what I'm saying is......the fish oil and a couple of other things I have tried undoubtedly work...but I really can't tell that much difference in the way it makes me feel any differently or if it is really doing much good even though....I might not be able to feel it as much as I think saying....it might be subtle enough for me not to notice it working....like the Adderal does which has a pronounced effect?
The thing about metaboisms being different from one person to the next....really makes this difficult to apply to myself and see anything noticeable and that makes me second guess some of things in applying to myself compared to the general consensus without considering the effects from one person to the next and waiting for something to happen...when in fact...it might not depending on? I am truing to listen to my body and see what it tells me....but I was listening and listening...and it wasn't telling me much of anything I wanted to hear as far as things like fish oil for example as just one of the items listed?
So I guess if I did have a question along these lines...and that would be only specific to me now on an individual basis: If I can't hear my body telling me anything or notice a difference that I can actual notice....is that too much to expect and just do it anyway and take it for granted that it is doing something none the less?
Even if there is no cure all for sure and like you pointed out....specific conditions do exist? Is there a case to be made that says....sometimes it works for some people...and not for others even though saying for most...it does? I guess I was expecting something to happen...and notice a difference and that was the main point in saying this? Is it possible that some of these things...really won't make much of a difference at all....but that would be somewhat normal? I just can't really know what to expect.....in comparison to say the Adderall which definitely made and impact without question along with the exercise which I indicated can virtually replace the stimulants for me if I stay at that level of intensity however ....I did forget to say one thing here about exercise?
Even at that level.....exercise alone only took me so far? Even in the extreme version of what I did....if I dropped from there at all....I didn't get the same benefits any more and right to the point....I am not in school and have that much time to invest as well as just simply not wanting that to take up my entire motivation just to treat my ADHD?
In comparison....the Adderall takes up no time out of my life or schedule...and is equally effective to all that exercise so without saying any more here.....the Adderall works as it should and with the expected results and is not so variable and difficult to know that it's working and helping as it should just by isolating these two things independently from one another by themselves?
But that come back to he nutrition again? That's the hard part to tell and I know I haven't been as diligent with the nutrition because of it myself so I didn't want to leave that out of what I was saying for sure. I no longer eat that much fat in my diet and everything under the sun thinking this is the healthiest way to go!! LOL For good reason too. At this point...that no longer works...just so everyone knows that as well? What is not broken in respect to what I said...was the entire program which I do feel made a gigantic difference long before I new I even had ADHD?
Nutrition
Submitted by MelissaOrlov on
There are a million reasons to have a good diet for general mood and body stabilization, heart health, brain health (though sleep helps even more with brain health)...food is your fuel...don't fill up on sodas and carbs. Have small amounts of healthy protein at each meal.
But the article in question talked about nutrition as having a big impact on ADHD symptoms - and it turns out that food has a very small impact on symptoms with a few exceptions - fish oil, some dyes for some kids, gluten for those with Celiac.
When you compare food to medications, you are talking about 'effect size,' i.e. how effective something is. The effect size for medications are, on average, sizeable. The effect size of food is miniscule on average (again, with exceptions). Exercise is in the middle.
Research done by Ari Tuckman suggests that those who are doing multiple types of treatments are happier with their relationships - and it's linked - the more treatments, the greater the satisfaction (i.e. 5 is better than 3...but doesn't say why...so we don't know if they are doing more because they are happier, or if they are happier because they rae doing more, or if they have less extreme ADHD , which allows them to do more...you get the idea.)
Best advice on treatment - look at covering all three legs, with as many treatments as make sense for you. Download the chapters at the online treatment guide if you have no idea what I'm talking about.
Thank You
Submitted by kellyj on
It's kind of what it seemed like for me too. I get it...the cumulative effect of all that you can do together and getting as optimized as you can? I just wasn't sure about the part I was saying if for some....it might not work at all....but the word "miniscule" seems to be what is probably the case with me too and not to say it doesn't work at all? Thanks again for verifying just to be sure?
J