Nutrition & ADHD (2012)

This study investigated nutrition & ADHD. A recent review of the current evidence for using diet to help manage ADHD in children concluded that a simple, healthy diet which was low in unhealthy fats and high in fruits, vegetables and fibres may work best. They found that ‘junk food’, fizzy drinks and ice-cream are probably the worst for affected children. They also found some evidence for the benefits of omega-3 and omega-6 essential fat supplementation.

Their review considered a range of other dietary interventions but weren’t able to come to any solid conclusions. This is most likely because of a lack of quality studies to review and the complications of studying dietary changes in children – it’s very difficult to study dietary changes in a double-blind, randomised, controlled fashion where the researchers, subjects and their parents don’t know who is eating the modified and diet and who isn’t, thereby making it impossible to rule out the placebo effect.

Millichap JG, Yee MM (2012) The Diet Factor in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Pediatrics. Jan 9. [Epub ahead of print]

Click here for the abstract