ADHD And Diet

If you search for ADHD and Diet in Google right now, you will get over 40 million results.

With all these results, it can be incredibly hard to know where to start – and what to start with!

For most people wondering about ADHD and Diet, I direct them to the Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf. I’ve been eating based on Robb’s outlined program for some time now, and have never found my ADHD to be as under control and tamed before. My focus is clearer, I can concentrate for longer and I have a consistent flow of energy – not random bursts.

Another great benefit of the Paleo Diet is that it eliminates all of the individual ‘dietary causes’ of ADHD in one go.

How Paleo Works For ADHD And Diet

The Paleo Diet promotes a simple diet based on the foods consumed by humans prior to the Agricultural Revolution, and promotes that they are still the best foods for our genetics today. As such, the following foods are staples in the Paleo diet:

  • seasonal fruits and vegetables
  • protein from free-range chicken and eggs
  • grass-fed meat and wild-caught fish
  • healthy fats from olive oil, avocado, coconut and occasional nuts and seeds.

This means that the majority of foods and additives that are proven to inflame ADHD are removed. One offender in particular, gluten, is nowhere to be found.

Why Is There No Gluten?

Paleo is a gluten free diet as gluten was not a part of standard diet prior to the Agricultural Revolution. Gluten is a protein that you will find in grains like wheat, oats and rye, and can cause diverse health problems (as well as severe damage in sensitive individuals).

In fact, a study in the November 2006 “Journal of Attention Disorders” showed that a gluten-free diet was able to significantly eliminate the effects of ADHD – particularly in people intolerant to Gluten.

A great way to test gluten sensitivity is to simply follow the Paleo Diet for 30 days to see if ADHD symptoms improve.

Goodbye Processed Foods

Time and again, processed foods have been found to have all sorts of junk in them that’s simply no good for your body. More often than not, you’ll find the following in your processed foods:

  • Food Colourings
  • Additives
  • FD&C Yellow No. 6
  • D&C Yellow No. 10
  • FD&C Yellow No. 5
  • FD&C Red No. 40

All of these have been shown to trigger worsened behaviour in ADHD, and these cannot be found on a Paleo Diet.

So How Can I Start Paleo?

If you have ADHD, or know someone who does, and want you or themselves to start:

  • Feeling Better
  • Having more constant energy
  • Reducing and reversing the effects of ADHD, and
  • Looking, feeling and performing at your best

Then I recommend starting your introduction to Paleo with Robb Wolf’s 30 Day Paleo Transformation.

It’s a great introduction to the Paleo Solution, and will give you an overview of all the information you need. In it you’ll also find extra resources, recipes to follow, shopping lists and so much more – Robb takes care of everything.

Rather than picking up his rather science-heavy book, The Paleo Solution, begin your introduction to Paleo with his short 60 page guide. Currently this is the number one lifestyle change I recommend for improving ADHD.