People diagnosed with ADHD (and also those who have not yet been) sometimes forget that they need to eat, and sometimes they also forget to buy themselves food. What seems to many of us like an obvious task is a significant difficulty for quite a few people, so if lately you have found yourselves hungry simply because you forgot to nourish your body - experts have several recommendations that can help in terms of menu as well as general habits.
All the symptoms and traits associated with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder can affect the way people buy food, cook it and eat it. Problems with executive functions like planning ahead can affect meal preparation or the ability to follow recipes. Hyperfocus on tasks can lead to completely missing meals - which ultimately affects the body’s ability to function over time and overall health.
Impulsivity leads to finding quick and convenient snacks of meals that are not nutritionally balanced, and due to emotional dysregulation, people with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder may eat under stress more than others. All these elements can accumulate into an unhealthy relationship with food in general, and create a kind of vicious cycle of poor nutrition that affects the symptoms of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, which in turn affects eating habits.
Is poor nutrition a sign of ADHD?
Some believe that better nutrition can help manage ADHD symptoms - but this is a controversial point. With the increase in diagnoses and the growth of waiting lists for ADHD assessments, there are those around the world who argue that there is overdiagnosis of the condition. The picture is further complicated by the fact that this is a heterogeneous condition, meaning it is not one uniform group of symptoms that can be easily linked. Experts say that ten people dealing with ADHD can have ten different profiles of the condition, and their nutritional needs are also different.
One thing researchers are clear about is that diet of any kind does not cause attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. However, they claim that there are overlapping circuits in the brain that are affected by attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder - and also control eating. When these circuits are affected by attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder, an impact on overeating can be seen. Similarly, overeating can worsen some of the existing symptoms of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder.
Habits that can help people with ADHD
In recent years, awareness of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders has increased greatly, alongside existing diagnoses and the types of treatments that can help those dealing with the condition. Experts believe that the medications currently on the market are the most effective way to deal with the condition, but there are also quite a few psychological methods you can try to ease things for yourselves, for example cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which already has many years of proven experience in the field, alongside methods like mindfulness that reduce stress and are beneficial for physical and mental health.
Another habit worth using is mindful eating - practicing full presence while eating, focusing on the food as well as the body’s signals of when to start and stop. This usually involves very slow eating at the beginning of the meal, or avoiding screens throughout the meal so as not to be distracted.
Experts also suggest using timers and reminders on the phone between meals or just before they begin as a cue to check your level of hunger. This way you can remind yourselves that you need to eat, or understand that the snack you were thinking about is actually not a physical need of the body. Phone reminders can also help with planning food shopping and meal preparation, and in creating healthier habits in general.
Planning can also be a key way to avoid missing meals and other factors that may lead to unnecessary overeating. Keeping an order for delivery from the supermarket, especially one that includes a lot of nutritious food that you know you like, can be a simple way to bypass decision fatigue or the urge to buy snacks and sweets.
Changes in the menu that can help you
Reducing sugar as much as possible is a good way to maintain focus, and there are studies showing a correlation between high sugar consumption and increased hyperactivity and lack of attention, especially in children. However, the evidence is not conclusive. It seems that there is a connection, - but it is still not completely clear whether sugar increases the symptoms or whether the symptoms cause people to seek foods high in sugar. Alongside this, a review of existing data from 2023 found that protein, omega 3 fatty acids, magnesium, iron and zinc and several vitamins are all common deficiencies among those dealing with ADHD, and addressing these deficiencies can positively affect overall well-being and coping with the condition.