ADHD: Natural Nutrition Strategies

Transcript:

KARA: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition, brought to you by Nutritional Weight & Wellness. Let me start off by asking you a question. When you think of your diet and nutrition impacting your health, what thoughts come to mind? Maybe you're thinking about how it impacts your cholesterol or if it contributes to things like diabetes, obesity, or even cancer.

But for many, it's not as common sense to think about what kind of an impact does food have on your brain? As you saw when you hit play on this episode, today's topic is how nutrition impacts ADHD. We often think of ADHD as mostly affecting children. But actually, 5 percent of adults have ADHD as well. Many don't even know it.

Symptoms of ADHD

How would you know? Some of the symptoms will show up as things like distractibility, difficulty completing tasks or a short attention span, restlessness, poor time management, being disorganized, impulsive or the tendency to procrastinate. I heard somebody with ADHD explain it to me once. You know, it's like being in a TV control room with several TVs on and just impossible to focus on anyone.

What might cause someone to have ADHD?

What causes someone to have ADHD? Is it genetics? Is it environmental factors? Many people say, my child is bound to have ADHD because I had ADHD problems as a kid. Or maybe the other parent has ADHD. You might also hear people say, well, my doctor said medication's the only solution to control a condition like this.

In fact, the Centers for Disease Control reports that 70 percent of children, and this is in Minnesota, where we live, 70 percent of Minnesota children with ADHD were receiving medication treatment and a lot of the medications can come with unwanted side effects; things that can get pretty serious, like loss of appetite or trouble getting to sleep.

Understandably, these symptoms and side effects leave many adults and parents of children with ADHD seeking more natural solutions. What if I told you there are ways to support your brain or your kiddo's brain to make those ADHD symptoms less severe, make life a little bit easier for everybody. So today, we're going to share how what you eat can affect ADHD negatively or positively.

I'm Kara Carper. I'm a Licensed Nutritionist. I have a master's degree in holistic health, and I'm also a Certified Nutrition Specialist. Holistic health, that just means taking into consideration all aspects of a person's life to support their health and well-being. It's a mind, body, spirit approach.

Everything's connected. That approach really applies to ADHD as well. Someone who struggles with ADHD needs support in all areas, not just a single solution. But of course, we are a nutrition-based company, so today we're going to focus on how nutrition can support ADHD symptoms. As a mom of a teenager, I personally understand how prevalent ADD and ADHD are in our kids today and adults, too. I understand how life disrupting this condition can be. So I'm excited to be back with Brandy Buro joining me as my cohost. Welcome Brandy.

BRANDY: Thanks Kara. I'm happy to be here. And like you said, this topic, this condition affects a lot of people, a lot of kids. Maybe you are somebody that has ADHD, maybe your child has ADHD or in my case, you know, I have a nephew that has ADHD, so I've definitely observed how this can impact, you know, the home dynamic and what goes on at school, relationships with friends, you know.

So it is something that you have a little more control over than you might think. So I hope the ideas that we share today are useful. And it's, you know, it's not just kids. Like you mentioned, Kara, I have clients that, you know, book an appointment specifically to talk about how to manage ADHD a little more naturally.

Sometimes I do have parents that will make an appointment for both them and their child, you know, because they have concerns, not only with, you know, behaviors at school or at home, maybe their grades are suffering, but it's starting to impact family dynamics too, and they're just trying to get a handle on it.

They're just looking for solutions. And I've even known of cases of children as young as three being diagnosed with ADHD. So, I think the earlier you can start working on this, the better the outcome will be. And for parents looking for more natural ways to manage their child's ADHD symptoms, they are making appointments with Nutritional Weight & Wellness to learn about food.

You know, how can food impact these symptoms? How can it impact their brain health or their behaviors or their ability to learn at school? So that's a really big focus that we talk about with our clients here.

What foods or ingredients do we recommend avoiding for ADHD?

KARA: Yeah, that's just a critical connection and when you think about food and ADHD. What specific food or maybe what ingredients in certain foods or beverages come to your mind? I mean, we've all probably heard that that sugar high can make kids kind of hyper, not be able to settle down and focus. But you may have also heard about that connection between artificial food dyes and ADHD symptoms being exacerbated. Many studies are now showing that some synthetic food additives, including things like artificial coloring, which is super common in our food supply, unfortunately;

But things like chemicals, coloring can lead to learning issues or behavioral issues for some kids. Could be even more serious neurological issues. Some are very sensitive to these chemicals. In fact, one of our clients at Nutritional Weight & Wellness, I just heard this recently, discovered that food dye was causing her teenage son to have symptoms that mimicked stroke like symptoms.

BRANDY: Oh wow.

KARA: Half of his face and body would go numb. I think how terrifying that was, but fortunately, they discovered the root cause. It was a specific food dye. You know, he's a teenager, so of course he's going to want to eat what his friends and his peers are eating, but to avoid these serious neurological symptoms, he has to be really diligent to stay away from these food dyes.

And we know that some of the food dyes are toxic to kids’ brains. Well, for that matter, adults’ brains as well, and that the symptoms can vary. Some of the more common symptoms are going to be hyperactivity and ADHD, that limited ability to focus.

You may have even noticed in your children of any age, after they eat artificially colored foods. Maybe they start acting out and misbehaving. It might be hard to get them to calm down and sit still and focus.

Where are common food dyes & sugar found in foods & beverages?

That being said, we should start with where are common food dyes found in our foods and our beverages?

BRANDY: Yeah. So a few things that come to mind for me, just thinking back to my nephew and knowing that this was something that they really had to be careful with, the food dyes. So I find, I found that it was often in like little fruit snacks, obviously candy is a big one. But sports drinks, you know, sports drinks, those electrolyte drinks, sodas, juices, a lot of artificial dyes and a lot of those beverages coincidentally also have a lot of sugar in them.

KARA: There's a double whammy, right?

BRANDY: Definitely. So sugar is already going to, at least for my nephew, kind of trigger some of those symptoms, especially like the hyperactivity. You layer on food dye on top of that and it can be quite a scene.

And those sugar sweetened beverages, you know, for all children in America, it contributes to obesity and kids are even getting diagnosed with diseases that were often only observed in adults like type two diabetes and fatty liver disease.

But when you think about how it also impacts the brain, it gets kind of scary. So, when it comes to sugar, sugar for anybody is sort of a stimulant for the brain. It will stimulate the reward centers of our brain. It's kind of a dopamine rush. So, it's not difficult to see why a kid might be searching for sugar, you know, just to kind of get that little boost of dopamine constantly throughout the day.

And these drinks are really accessible. I know for high schoolers, oftentimes they have freedom of choice with what they purchase at vending machines or even, maybe they get a break for their lunch and they can go off campus and get something at the gas station; even something that might be perceived as a healthy beverage, like those pre made smoothies.

You know, you think it's just some good wholesome fruit, but actually, if you look at the label, oftentimes there's a lot of sugar in them and oftentimes food dye. So it's no wonder that kids might have a hard time paying attention at school if they're drinking these sugary drinks all day.

KARA: Right. And even like you had mentioned, the sports drinks. Think about all the kids that are in extracurricular activities. And maybe they're feeling like they need to replenish electrolytes, but in fact, most or many on the market are just loaded with sugar and chemicals. So you have to be really careful with reading labels and avoiding high fructose corn syrup, aspartame, sucralose, but also those toxic food dyes that you talked about.

So in addition to beverages that Brandy was just mentioning, excess sugar and dyes are found in a lot of foods that kids love: things like fruit snacks, flavored yogurts, those little squeezy yogurt tubes. Mostly that's for younger kids. But a lot of breakfast cereals, those cold breakfast cereals, jam, maybe a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You might find some food dye in that jelly or jam. Candy, that's a big one. Look at, look at the wrappers of candy, candy bars, and think about all the bright colors in there. That is not a natural food that you can pick from the ground or the bush.

BRANDY: I've even seen food dyes in savory things that you maybe wouldn't expect, like hot dogs, even like chips. So, you know, there's really no safe processed food. It's really important to read the labels to watch out for those dyes. Red 40 is probably the most common food dye in our food supply, at least here in the United States. But this actually is going to change. There was a law that recently passed, and maybe you heard about this in the news, that red 40 dye will be banned from our food supply.

So that is in the works, basically, food manufacturers have until January of 2027 to eliminate it from their products. So they're going to have to reformulate everything and figure out how to make their products without red 40, but at least for the next couple of years and maybe even the next three years, knowing that some of these products will probably linger on the market, you're still going to have to be really diligent in reading the labels for a while.

KARA: It's a step in the right direction, but it's a very lengthy process. It reminds me of in 2018 when hydrogenated oils or trans fats were banned. And that was a great step in the right direction, but it took years to get things off the shelf. Many of our savvy listeners still know that you can find hydrogenated oils on a label if it's less than a half gram per serving. So we still have to be very diligent consumers.

BRANDY: But the fact that a law was passed to ban these additives must tell us something about what they were doing to our health.

KARA: And other countries have preceded us in that decision. We're a little late to the game here, but nonetheless, yes, we're very thrilled about that. But now we must ask the question, is there a connection? So this is the question of the day. Is there a connection between red dye 40 and ADHD?

BRANDY: Right.

KARA: Well, the fact that it has been banned, like you said, is a telltale sign. Artificial dye consumption in kids, it's over five times what it was in the 1950s. Kids nowadays are consuming five times the amount of artificial food dyes that their grandparents were consuming. So if you've been wondering how when you were a kid, ADHD wasn't as common and now it is, really just look to food sources as being a major contributor. And if you look at the rates of ADHD and how they have steadily risen over the generations, there's definitely a connection.

BRANDY: Well, and like I mentioned, there's certainly a connection for my nephew. You know, that's a very clear trigger that they identified early in this diagnosis. So they're very careful about red 40, but it's not just red 40. So there's other dyes that could be harmful that you need to watch out for. Yellow 5 and yellow 6 are probably the next most common dyes in our food system. And these are in all sorts of products.

Again, they'll be in things like candy and kids cereals, but there are some foods that they're added to that are pretty surprising. So fake butter is one, like those margarine spreads. Even like microwave popcorn or the popcorn that you get at the movie theater with that neon yellow fake butter that comes in a squeeze, what does it come out of, a pump?  

KARA: Oh yeah, I think, I think, how many pumps of butter would you like? Right?

BRANDY: Zero. One that surprised me was jarred pickles. You know, these foods that you wouldn't necessarily expect need any enhancement. Beef jerky, even ketchup, other condiments, frozen dinners like pizza and frozen lasagna, almost anything with like a tomato based sauce might have that red 40 added to it to brighten the color.

KARA: And one of the more surprising healthy foods that commonly will have food dye added is salmon. Think about that, either fresh or smoked from the deli. So next time you're purchasing salmon, take a look at those ingredients.

BRANDY: Yeah, you know, if there's an ingredients label, look at it, see if there's anything other than salmon added, because it's really frustrating when you're going in with the best intentions. You're buying salmon, right?

KARA: Mm hmm.

BRANDY: It's one of the healthiest foods you can put on your plate, and then you discover there's red dye in it.

KARA: Yeah, actually, we're trying to make a healthy choice. Getting some nice salmon, a good protein for dinner, not realizing it's chock full of food dye, to give it that bright pink color.

BRANDY: Right.

KARA: So we have to kind of think where are we at as a society where we're expecting our food to all be brightly colored.

BRANDY: Right.

KARA: When in its natural form, it's actually not meant to be a certain color.

BRANDY: Right. And that kind of skews our perception of what food should look like, you know, not really doing us a lot of favors. Yep. If you can get, salmon that's wild caught, doesn't come with a label, that's probably your best option. One other thing I want to mention, you know, just in this thought about good intentions, you're trying to do what's right for your health, for your kid's health, a lot of children's supplements, you know, those chewable vitamins will often contain some kind of dye. Red 40 might be one of them.

So again, you think you're doing a good thing for your health, for your child's health, not knowing that there's some of these additives in it. But there are some good options now for children's supplements. Nutrikey.net has a nice collection of children's supplements that do not contain any artificial dyes.

Shop Nutrikey Supplements

They're of really great quality. So these are all vetted so you can purchase in confidence knowing that you're not introducing any harmful additives. The brands that we carry are SuperNutes and Suppys. So again, these are chewable or liquid vitamins, really easy for kids to take. So nice to have some reliable options at your fingertips.

KARA: Yeah. It's great to have those good quality practitioner brand products, and we know they're third party tested and an independent lab, and we can be confident of the ingredients or lack of extra ingredients, which a lot of kind of the drugstore brands, unfortunately, will have some of those dyes and chemicals.

BRANDY: Right.

KARA: So we need to take a quick break. You're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition and our topic today is ADHD and nutrition, foods that will help and heal. I'm Kara Karper here with Brandy Buro and we'll be back in a moment.

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Welcome back. You're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. I'm Kara Carper here with Brandy Buro, and we're discussing ADHD and nutrition foods that will help. So before break, Brandy was just mentioning that we have some really high quality kids supplements that do not have artificial dyes and coloring, and they don't have trans fats, artificial sweeteners. So it's important to look for high quality supplements when you want to support your kid's brain.

BRANDY: Yeah.

KARA: You don't want to be adding a bunch of extra junk found in the ingredient list.

BRANDY: Exactly.

Plain water alternatives

KARA: Also, you know, it's just important to look at ingredients as we've been talking about in foods and beverages, just be really diligent label readers. And it can be tough, especially with kids of all ages. I have a 13-and-a-half-year-old and she gravitates towards sweetened foods and sweetened beverages. But we are a house that doesn't have soda and we don't really have the electrolyte replacement drinks that can get very high in sugar and other chemicals.

So I have to be creative when I'm trying to figure out what to give her that's not just plain water because if I do that, she tends to not drink enough fluid at the end of the day. So we do a lot of different flavors of sparkling water.

BRANDY: Oh yeah.

KARA: Like right now we have, I can't even remember the brand, but it's vanilla orange cream. And there's nothing in it except for some carbonation and natural flavor.

BRANDY: Yeah. My, my nephew really enjoys a sparkling water. My nieces as well. It's kind of their treat at grandma's house. Cause she'll also not have soda in the house for them. So it does make it easy. Cause there's no, there's no dyes, there's no sugar.

KARA: Yeah. You can travel with it too. Often we'll go to like a party. And I'll bring just a couple for her. And then she feels like she has something to participate that's not just a glass of water.

BRANDY: Perfect.

KARA: So that's a great option. Also, we do carry a product, it's called Key Greens & Fruits, and we have several flavors. In my refrigerator, I think right now we have the chocolate and the strawberry kiwi.

BRANDY: Mm. Yep.

KARA: The chocolate, you know, I put in my smoothies or my daughter's smoothies, but in plain water, we will often put the strawberry kiwi, just half a scoop and maybe 16 ounces of water. You could even shake it up in a blender bottle and she will drink that. And she's much more likely to drink fluid that way because it's got a little sweetener with stevia or monk fruit, just depending on the flavor. So no added sugar. It's all natural. So kids really do like that as well.

BRANDY: Yeah. It's like a, an innocent Kool Aid.

KARA: That's a great way to describe it.

BRANDY: Yeah. So really good alternative. If that's something that they want, I think most kids are down with that. And you get a little boost of antioxidants, so that's nice.

Gluten can disrupt brain health

So we've talked a little bit about sugar and food dyes as it relates to ADHD. But I want to talk about something that's maybe a little less obvious when it comes to managing ADHD symptoms.

Something that's not as obvious in your child's diet, your diet, that could be disrupting your brain health. And that is gluten. We've talked about it before in the show. And for some people, consuming gluten may trigger neurological symptoms or at least make them worse. So there is a condition called non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

This is when some people experience symptoms from eating gluten, but they don't have celiac disease. Celiac disease is a little more serious. It's an autoimmune condition, that you'll probably have some digestive symptoms along with a whole collection of other symptoms. But with non-celiac gluten sensitivity, you may not have any digestive symptoms, but you could experience brain fog, fatigue, big mood swings, difficulty focusing.

And a gluten sensitivity can show up in all sorts of ways throughout the body, but a lot of those symptoms can overlap with symptoms of ADHD. And what's interesting is people with ADHD may actually be more likely to have a gluten sensitivity, either celiac disease or that non celiac gluten sensitivity compared to people that don't have ADHD. And the the reverse is true as well. So people with non-celiac gluten sensitivity or celiac disease are at a higher risk of developing ADHD.

KARA: So my daughter has a gluten sensitivity. We did have her tested. She is considered neurodivergent. And so we, you know, work with a therapist and I work with her on nutrition at home, but I did have her tested many years ago and she has non-celiac gluten sensitivity.

So I'm grateful she does not have celiac disease, but it is challenging to again, have a teenager where you're trying to not let them have a lot of sugar and also remove the gluten. That might be surprising for some of you listeners to hear that just because someone isn't having a digestive concern there can still be a gluten sensitivity with brain related repercussions.

So, for many people, like my daughter, eating gluten can lead to inflammation in the brain and that can impact things like cognitive function and attention to detail, executive functioning, things like that. It's really easy to miss this connection though between a functioning brain and eating gluten. Especially if someone's been living with the symptoms for a long time. They sort of become the new normal.

BRANDY: Right.

KARA: And so what's happening on a chemical level in the brain is this inflammation that's caused by eating gluten when there's a sensitivity to it can really disrupt the production of our neurotransmitters, things like dopamine, serotonin, you know dopamine is actually a very key player when it comes to ADHD.

BRANDY: Yes.

KARA: There's often a dopamine deficiency. So, for someone sensitive to gluten, if they continue eating it, that inflammation caused by the gluten can aggravate ADHD symptoms and create the, you know, poor focus, behavioral issues or being impulsive. It does make sense, though, when you think about that gut brain connection. We talk about that a lot. You talk about that with your clients. For many of us, whether we realize it or not, gluten, if we're consuming it, will damage our gut and our gut is very strongly tied to mental health.

BRANDY: Yes. The gut and the brain connection. They're almost, they are inseparable.

KARA: They are. Yeah. And I don't think people knew that until maybe 10, 20 years ago. There's been so much newer research. Yeah. So eating gluten when someone has a sensitivity can really worsen mental health symptoms, including some of those symptoms associated with ADHD.

BRANDY: Exactly. And that's why if somebody is making an appointment with me for advice on how to manage ADHD, I will always encourage a 100 percent gluten free diet, at least for a few weeks, hopefully six weeks, just so that they understand how it impacts them. And of course, I'm going to help them figure out a meal plan that works for them, something that they are willing to do because I don't want my clients to feel overwhelmed or deprived.

You know, giving up some of their favorite foods. So we put together a meal plan that is totally gluten free filled with foods that they still enjoy eating. And it is really interesting when somebody commits to that real food, gluten free diet. It doesn't take very long before they experience the benefit.

They start feeling better sometimes within two or three days, and sometimes their health improves in unexpected ways; things they didn't know could be impacted by gluten. And for some people it might be less brain fog improves their ability to focus. Others might notice more energy or just a better mood. It is really just kind of based on the individual.

KARA: And so this is reminding me of one of my mentors in the nutrition field. His name is Tom O’Bryan.

BRANDY: Oh, yeah.

KARA: And we I always refer to him as like the king of gluten. I mean worldwide he is known for all of his research and his speaking on gluten sensitivity or celiac disease. And also like all the different health issues that can occur when someone continues to eat gluten. In fact, his father died at a very young age from heart disease and it was discovered late in life, right before he died, that he had, he had had celiac disease.

BRANDY: Oh dear.

KARA: But he had continued to eat gluten his whole life. And that created a lot of inflammation that ultimately led to this cardiovascular disease. So Tom O'Bryan states that really digestive symptoms occurring from a gluten sensitivity, that only happens in one of eight cases. So think of all the other symptoms and health conditions that people can have from eating gluten. And you know, we're here to talk about the brain related issues today.

What does going gluten free look like?

So let's just talk for a minute, Brandy. What does it look like if somebody is going gluten free? And we know, first of all, gluten is found in grains such as wheat, rye and barley. But it's hidden in a lot of foods that may not be obvious. So people really have to look closely at ingredient lists because gluten can be hidden in sauces, marinades, dressing, even dry rubs. Luckily, any food that contains wheat is required to, have a label that says contains wheat. So that makes it pretty easy to spot, but you have to be looking.

BRANDY: Yeah. And I think one of the, the most surprising foods to me when I first started experimenting with a gluten free diet was soy sauce, you know, soy sauce, you don't think there's going to be any wheat product in there, but there is not a gluten free food unless you get the specific gluten free soy sauce. When we talk about going gluten free, we don't mean just switching out your bread and pasta and crackers for gluten free versions of those foods.

Because then we're just replacing one processed food with another processed food. What we're really looking for is eliminate those processed gluten filled foods and replace them with real foods. So instead of bread, we're looking for more like sweet potatoes, wild rice, fresh fruits and vegetables. Also meat, eggs, fish, nuts and seeds, avocado. These are all delicious foods that are naturally gluten free. You know, so there's plenty to eat.

KARA: Yeah, those are some great examples. And we like to focus on the outlook of filling up on naturally brain supportive foods. And not focusing on the deprivation point of, oh, I can't eat this because it has gluten.

BRANDY: Right. Think of all that you're adding in.

KARA: Yeah, all those rich nutrient dense foods that are going to support the brain and things like omega-3s are very important and we can get those from some foods. We can also get them from supplements.

Omega-3s are important for brain health

BRANDY: Yeah, but omega-3s are really important for the brain, especially when we're talking about managing symptoms of ADHD. There's a lot of really solid research around this. So studies have found that omega-3 fatty acids can boost your brain's use of that neurotransmitter, dopamine. So we already talked about how important dopamine is in ADHD.

It could be a dopamine deficiency, like you said, Kara. So by making sure you're consuming enough omega-3 rich foods, or maybe even supplementing with omega-3s, you are supporting your body's ability to utilize dopamine better, which is going to help improve focus and memory.

Consider a dopamine detox

And you've probably heard about dopamine more in the media lately. Frankly, I think our society is really obsessed with dopamine, you know, the heavy hitting headlines, those attention grabbing headlines, social media, all the likes and little hearts that you get for any social media posts; really distracting.

And it is a little dopamine hit anytime you get that exciting or breaking news. So lately what I've heard in the wellness community is the term dopamine detox. So basically this means you're trying to put away all your technology, avoiding any distractions from your tablet or your phone. Maybe you just take a walk without your phone.

You spend some time before bed with a book instead of your phone. Really, I think we're all guilty of being over distracted these days. It's too easy when we're kind of surrounded by all these devices. It can make it really impossible for somebody with ADHD to concentrate.

Kind of like you said earlier, that somebody once called ADHD, it's like being in a room filled with a hundred TVs or something like that. That's kind of like the world that we live in already. So pile that on to somebody with ADHD and it's, it's a big battle. But the idea behind this dopamine detox is that it's giving you a break from that constant stimulation, but if you think about somebody that is constantly scrolling their phone or checking their phone, you could be looking for a little bit of a dopamine boost.

KARA: Yeah, and that's so interesting. I don't know if people realize that when they're scrolling and especially some of those shorts or the reels, they only last a couple of seconds, maybe five seconds, and then people are scrolling and they're on to the next one. That is constant, a constant trickle of dopamine.

And then when someone stops scrolling, the dopamine actually just plummets. And then when people don't feel good, they might feel antsy or uncomfortable. They want to scroll again for that distraction. And that can perpetuate, especially someone who has ADHD already. So we are a nutrition show and I'd love to talk more about that. Cause it's, I see this in my house with screens, but we're going to, we're going to circle back to the nutrition part. 

More on omega-3’s & their importance for brain health

BRANDY: Yeah, I think, maybe giving a little more attention to these omega-3s, you know, because that is one thing that you can do very easily in your diet with your supplement routine is making sure that you're getting enough omega-3s.

Because remember it is really important for proper dopamine receptor function and signaling. It is helping your brain utilize dopamine more efficiently. The omega-3 called DHA is especially helpful. That's one of our omega-3 fatty acids. And most of our brain is made up of DHA, a type of omega-3 fatty acid.

So, some great food sources to get that high quality omega-3 fatty acid, including DHA, would be eggs, pasture raised eggs. They're going to be a great source of DHA. Also, wild caught fatty fish, salmon being a really lovable source, but also sardines. And if we think back to our very first exposure to omega-3 fats and DHA, breast milk.

You know, just to highlight how important that is to baby's brains, it is kind of built into our first food, but if you weren't breastfed, you know, you may kind of be missing out on some of that DHA, those fatty acids, and it could increase your risk of developing ADHD, but there are really great ways to support omega-3 intake and kind of bring yourself up to speed.

KARA: And we encourage both food and supplement sources of omega-3 DHA. We always say food first, but because omega-3 by nature is one of those more challenging nutrients to get from food sources, especially when maybe kids don't like fish or cold water fatty fish.

My daughter, she doesn't really like salmon. She will eat eggs and that's one source for her. But I actually do give her a Nutrikey DHA supplement. That's 200 milligrams per softgel. And interestingly that we're talking about this today because I recently increased that actually just a couple of days ago to three of the 200 milligram softgels per day.

BRANDY: Yeah.

KARA: I'm doing a little experiment. It might be too early to tell, but I feel like I'm noticing some improvement with mood, behavior, focus, things that she often struggles with. But that's a very high quality supplement and just to kind of give an example, like one egg, especially the yolk will contain about a hundred milligrams of DHA.

So if. someone is willing and able to eat a couple of eggs for breakfast, they would be getting 200 milligrams of DHA, which is equivalent to one of those softgels.

BRANDY: hat's perfect. Yeah. DHA from eggs; I think that's a pretty accessible way to get it. If you like salmon, more power to you. Another way that I like to get my omega-3s, and maybe this would be good for kids as well, would be the liquid omega-3. Really easy to swallow. It almost has kind of like a lemony flavor to it.

KARA: Yeah, don't be afraid of that option, listeners, because it does not taste bad. Yeah, especially if someone isn't able to swallow a softgel.

BRANDY: Yeah, so a little goes a long way with the liquid omega-3, and this isn't just for children, even adults. I would encourage adults to make sure they're getting a daily dose of omega-3s. So if you're out there and you're still eating egg whites, please include the yolk. That's where all the good stuff is. I used to be an exclusive egg white eater for probably until my late twenties, honestly, but those omega-threes, that's liquid gold there in the yolk.

Foods to include if you have ADHD 

So we've talked about some foods that people who have ADHD should not eat or drink. Now I do want to move on to what are some foods that should be in your diet if you have ADHD. What are some foods that you need to support your brain? So, first and foremost, your brain needs protein. Your brain needs protein to function.

I do recommend adults eat at least three, if not four ounces of protein three times a day. Some people even need a fourth dose in there. Most people, in my experience, benefit from eating protein four times a day. So with your meals, with your snacks. Some really good choices would be eggs, like we just talked about; fish, but also poultry, pork, chicken, beef, even; all great protein options.

KARA: Yes, those are some great ideas, Brandy. And when we talk about these protein rich foods, what exactly do they do for our brain? Well, biochemically, when we eat protein rich foods, the things you just mentioned, the meat, fish, poultry. Even, you know, dairy, a lot of people can tolerate things like cottage cheese or plain yogurt or whey protein powder.

All of those proteins are broken down into amino acids. They're digested in our intestinal tract. That's where we absorb them. And they're really the building blocks that make our neurotransmitters such as that dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter we've been talking a lot about today. So protein is the main building block that we need from our food sources. That's going to help make the neurotransmitter, dopamine.

And if you remember, you know, this is the neurotransmitter that's really important for focus. And so when we have enough dopamine, people, especially with ADHD, they're going to just have better brain health. They're going to have an easier time focusing.

They're going to be able to have less impulsivity and behavior problems; some of the symptoms we've been talking about. And Brandy, you and I, I mean, we prioritize having protein at breakfast. It's just a great way to start the day with balanced blood sugar, because we know that blood sugars that crash can also exacerbate ADHD symptoms.

And I really prioritize protein for my daughter's breakfast as well. She may not if she was left to her own devices, she would, you know, be looking for some oatmeal and that's it. But I get up every day and I make sure she has like some nitrate free Applegate sausages.

BRANDY: Good.

KARA: I might scramble an egg. Sometimes I do both and give her a little bit of fruit as a carbohydrate. Another thing that's very simple is just a plain whole milk yogurt. She's able to tolerate dairy. Now, that doesn't taste very sweet, so I will add a little bit of vanilla bean whey protein powder.

BRANDY: Oh, nice. Clever.

KARA: Just a little bit of that, a half scoop. And I do like the Key Greens & Fruits we talked about. And I will sometimes make her chocolate yogurt. I call it chocolate yogurt. And then I'll just cut up half of a banana.

BRANDY: Oh.

KARA: And that's a very hearty breakfast that contains that protein that she needs just before going to school and really needing to be on top of her game.

BRANDY: Yeah, that sounds awesome. Yeah, definitely better than the Lucky Charms I had every day before I went to school as a kid, which I'm sure is a common breakfast for a lot of kids still today is cereal or Pop Tarts. But, you know, like we mentioned before, those foods are usually filled with artificial dyes, really high in sugar, double whammy when it comes to how it might impact focus and attention.

But what we're really looking for is something that is protein rich, has some healthy fats, some real food carbohydrates. That is going to set you up for success for the rest of the day. And it is so important to have some protein right away in the morning because it does help provide you those building blocks for dopamine. It helps improve your focus for the rest of the day.

One thing that I might suggest for somebody that needs a little more support with their dopamine is a supplement called DopaBoost. So this is a supplement from Designs for Health. It's on the website, nutrikey.net. But what DopaBoost has in it is the amino acid called tyrosine.

Tyrosine is the building block for dopamine. So it is an amino acid that's naturally found in all of the protein sources that we just mentioned, but DopoBoost is just a more concentrated form, so you do get a little boost. You get a little extra boost for the building block of dopamine. So the ingredients in that product help your body's natural production of dopamine. So it could give similar effects to some of the medications for ADHD and where it helps you improve productivity and focus.

KARA: And the nice thing is too, no side effects from a natural supplement.

BRANDY: Yeah, that is, that is the benefit. It's, it's all natural. It's not a pharmaceutical. You know, the side effects for some of the medications to manage ADHD, what I see with my clients is poor appetite.

KARA: Yeah.

BRANDY: You know, so they're often skipping breakfast completely and are having a really hard time regulating blood sugar. They're not getting the nutrients they need throughout the day and then they kind of crash in the evening and struggle with a lot of cravings.

KARA: That can be a vicious cycle.

Recap

BRANDY: Yeah. So, Kara and I have been talking about different dietary strategies to manage symptoms with ADHD. We've mentioned reading labels for eliminating food dyes, eliminating sugar in highly processed carbohydrates, even going gluten free. And we know all of these changes to your diet or your child's diet can feel overwhelming.

It can be a lot of change. You don't have to do it all at once. You can take it step by step. Even one step might feel overwhelming. You might get some resistance. And you might ask yourself, is it really worth all the hassle? But remember, real food has no side effects. You can't go wrong by eating real food, even if it takes some time to implement some of those changes.

You're going to set yourself up for life with better health. And in the short term, you're probably going to feel better. You'll probably have better focus, better performance at work and school. So if you ask yourself, is it worth it? I would say yes. It can be challenging, but the best things in life don't come easy. So it might be worth a little bit of time, effort, some trials to figure this out because it's going to be easier to do it now than it will be later. I'll promise you that.

KARA: Right. And we understand that it can take some time to make these adjustments. There's no quick and easy way to solve the concern about ADHD, but the ideas we discussed today are natural ways to heal the brain. We know that real food does not have side effects.

BRANDY: Right. And sometimes just starting with eliminating artificial food dyes that can have amazing results, then work on eliminating sugar and processed carbohydrates, then maybe next you can tackle gluten. It can be a little bit more effort, but it is possible.

You will see positive results over time, and we are here to help you. That's what the dietitians here at Nutritional Weight & Wellness are here for. If our topic was of interest to you today, and this is resonating with you, I highly encourage you to make an appointment with one of the dietitians here at Nutritional Weight & Wellness.

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Here at Nutritional Weight & Wellness, it is our expertise, our passion, our job to make what seems overwhelming realistic and doable to you. You don't have to do this alone. So give us a call to set up an appointment at 651-699-3438 or you can visit us online at weightandwellness.com to learn more.

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If you haven't visited our website already, there are tons of free resources. More on this topic, all about ADHD, picky eating, so much more; going gluten free, we have guidance for you there. Well, we hope you got something out of this episode today. We hope to hear from you soon. Have a great day.