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Study: Healthy Diet Helps Kids With ADHD When Meds, Therapy Fail
A review of diet studies showed that healthy eating can be a big boon for kids with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Although a healthy diet can’t replace medicine and therapy for those with ADHD, the study shows that it’s a great complement to those treatments. It also showed that when medications and therapy just aren’t enough, healthy food might just be the ticket to clearer thinking.
Approximately 9.5 percent of U.S. children have ADHD. One of those 5.4 million children is my ten-year-old daughter, who was diagnosed in fourth grade. While filling out forms as part of my daughter’s diagnosis process, I realized that I have it, too. I was formally diagnosed two months after my daughter.
This is the kind of extensive pediatric study review that is incredibly important to my family. I take medication every day to manage my symptoms, but we only give our daughter medication on school days. Her medication significantly affects her appetite, so we need her to be able to chow down on the weekends. As a result, her behavior is, um, somewhat less awesome on the weekends.
The study review, which was published yesterday in Pediatrics, was authored by J. Gordon Millichap, MD, and Michelle M. Yee, MD. Seventy studies on ADHD and diet were looked at for the review.
So which diets and supplements were shown to help kids with ADHD, and which ones had no benefit?
Echoing what millions of moms have been saying for decades, the study showed that a healthy diet, rich in fish, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes was found to be the best for children with ADHD. Additionally, several specialized “ADHD diets” were shown to not be helpful in treating or managing ADHD.
The study review also showed that eliminating allergens does help reduce ADHD symptoms in children. (Mom note: Ya think? Does it come as a surprise that if your kid is allergic to something, maybe you shouldn’t give it to her?) Hypo-allergenic diets typically remove common allergens such a dairy and wheat, and replace then with typically nonallergenic foods, like rice and lamb. (Another mom note: this is only a good idea if your kid is not allergic to rice and lamb. My middle daughter was fine on both wheat and dairy, but was severely allergic to both rice and lamb. At the same time, her older sisters were both allergic to dairy and wheat, so mostly ate rice and lamb. Because Mother Nature is hilarious like that.)
Besides eating a healthy diet, one change that may help children with ADHD is supplementing their diet with Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids found in fish oils. The study showed that some children with ADHD who received these supplements saw their ADHD symptoms reduced, and got better grades in school. However, the effect wasn’t proven for all ADHD kids across the board. That being said, will I be asking our pediatrician if it’s okay to have my daughter try fish oil supplements? You bet your sweet Adderall I will.
Diets that were shown not to be beneficial in the study review:
- The Feingold diet, which eliminates preservatives, artificial colorings, apples, grapes, hot dogs, lunch meats, and soft drinks.
- Restricted-sugar diet. Studies have failed to demonstrate that a diet high in either sugar or artificial sweeteners has any impact on cognitive function or behavior. That being said, clearly, a high-sugar diet is unhealthy. Also? While eating a crapload of PixyStix may not make my daughter’s ADHD worse, it’s not going to help her behavior any when she comes crashing down off her sugar high. So on a personal note, we’ll continue to reasonably limit sugar for our kids.
Talk back! If you have a child with ADHD, have you tried changing his or her diet? Did it make a difference?
(Photo Credit: nixxphotography)
You can read more from Joslyn at her blog, stark. raving. mad. mommy., where sometimes ADHD is hilarious. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter for even more funny.
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9 Comments
santana hawman commented on Jan 10 12 at 1:35 pmI DISAGREE with the last two dietry study statement you wrote. My son has made a significant change. He went from going timeouts every…I would say 15 mins to not even have 1 IN A WHOLE DAY! Plus I babysit a young boy (6) who has Asperger Syndrome…his parents did a detox with him, changed his diet….no surgar or artificial flavors or dyes…added more protien and do a herbal suppliment ( some old tree tea) and you would never guess this boy has the syndrome. He went from making his teacher cry to being polite and careful! So what do you think about that.
Gabrielle commented on Jan 10 12 at 2:08 pmMy brother was severe ADHD/dyslexic and with the added bonus of testing out so far above gifted level as to be classified as genius. Medications did nothing for him- sure, he stayed still in class, but he also lost all appetite, became violent and moody as the day wore on, and was suffering some growth retardation in the joints (a lesser-known side effect of certain ADHD meds). In desperation, my mother pulled out her Adele Davis books and changed his entire diet. The change took about a month but the difference was amazing. He took calcium and cod liver oil supplements, lots of protein and fresh produce and as much dairy as he wanted (he had no food allergies, thank goodness).
His behavior did a complete 360. Now with a boyfriend who is every bit as ADHD as my brother was, nI yanked out those Adele Davis books and have started modifying our diet- and things are improving for my boyfriend as well. he’s calmer, less volatile under stress, and focuses better. If I could just get him to eat fish/seafood, we’d be even better!
Krysta Dancy commented on Jan 10 12 at 2:10 pmCool post. Will read the study later for sure (when I have time). But I do have to mention, I don’t know where the author got her info… but it was inaccurate (on the Feingold diet). Given the typo, I’m wondering if there was a misprint here.
It primarily eliminates ALL artificial colors and petroleum-based (artificial) preservatives. I’ve read the whole book and haven’t found anything about cold drinks. The fruits mentioned are high in a particular chemical that *some* kids are sensitive to… so a 2 week elimination of that chemical is recommended… and then you slowly add them back in and see how it goes. (Still leaving out the artificial preservatives and colors always).
The list didn’t really seem to reflect that and I just wanted people reading it to know that (I think) it’s still really worth looking into. We’ve seen a big turn around since using Feingold. Could be due to the millions of other things we’re doing too! lol. Of course! But really, it doesn’t HURT anything to avoid artificial preservatives and colors… so I don’t think it’s a “crazy” idea like it was portrayed in that short list.
Leanne commented on Jan 10 12 at 3:04 pmPeople in the paleo community have long noticed that kid`s behaviour and mental function improves when you remove all grains, dairy, legumes and sugar from kid`s diet – and continually verify the ill effects of those things every time they get loose or the kids stay with family who don`t follow the food rules. While we aren`t paleo (we eat whole foods with a leaning towards paleo), I DO see a change in my ADHD 8yo`s behaviour on the days when doesn`t eat enough protein and too much grains and processed foods and an improvement on a higher protein, restricted grains/processed foods days.
joslyngray commented on Jan 10 12 at 3:42 pmThanks for the corrections on the Feingold Diet; I’ve updated the post and included a link to the Feingold organization for more information. You’re right, there was a misprint! It eliminates SOFT drinks, not COLD drinks, which makes a LOT more sense!
Regardless, the authors of the study did not see evidence of the Feingold diet improving kids’ behavior or cognitive abilities. So then why do I hear from so many parents that eliminating food dyes, for example, helps their kids? My guess is that while it helps some kids, it doesn’t help enough kids to affect the studies.
As the mom of a kid with ADHD (and another with autism), though, I’m always interested in hearing what works for other families. Thanks so much for sharing what has worked for you!
Maggie commented on Jan 10 12 at 7:30 pmMy son, now 40, was hyperactive. By trial and error we found that we could entirely eliminate his symptoms by removing ALL refined sugars from his diet, including the small amounts found in canned chili. He was able to eat small amounts of honey and lactose, but even those we needed to limit. By the time he was in his teens he was able to manage his own sugar intake and to comment on his out-of-control wackiness when he exceeded his usual limits. Now in adulthood he still eats sugar sparingly, and reports that having a donut or a candybar feels somewhat similar to going out to get drunk (in terms of how much it alters his perceptions and behavior).
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michelle commented on Jan 11 12 at 10:54 amOh please. First, many the incidence of allergies in children is way overstated. It is usually moms who take it upon themselves to “diagnose” allergies where none exist, because they believe that food is at the root of every medical or behavioral issue. Food allergies are actually very squishy to diagnose and what someone thinks is a food allergy may actually be an intolerance, or may be nothing at all. Second, ADHD itself is also overdiagnosed, and medication is overused. Has anyone done longitudinal, controlled studies of the long-term physiological effects of such powerful drugs in children, not to mention whether they actually lead to improved life outcomes? No one in this article even asks any of these latter questions.
Sanriobaby =^.^= commented on Jan 12 12 at 6:27 pmI’m not sure if this study proves that a healthy diet can actually help curb the symptoms of ADHD, but I know it can’t hurt them! I’m all for getting kids to eat better anyway!
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