Do you know what food sensitivity is most frequently connected with ADHD? Gluten.
In fact, some researchers believe 70-80 percent of ADDers have a gluten sensitivity.
Gluten is a protein substance found in most grains, (wheat, barley, rye) and food processed from those grains, such as, cereals, breads, processed and packaged foods. These products play a big part a standard western diet.
Gluten sensitivity affects the frontal and pre-frontal lobe of the brain, which is where our executive functions are housed, (short term memory, planning, etc). We know that the executive functions are impaired when you have ADHD, so by cutting out gluten you can improve that functioning.
How do you find out if you are gluten sensitive? The best way is to cut out gluten for 30 to 60 days and see if you notice an improvement in how you feel and think. It is possible to ask your doctor to test you, but the tests are expensive and not very reliable (lots of false negatives). Also, the result can also be misleading. For example, the results might say your sensitivity is ‘mild’, but don’t let that trick you. What is mild on the medical spectrum is not mild for you and could mean a huge difference in how you function and operate.
Changing the way you eat does involve a bit of discipline, creativity as you will be overhauling a lifetime of food habits. However, researchers found that everyone who has a gluten sensitivity and gave up gluten noticed improvement with their ADHD symptoms. That is an astounding result! Researchers barely ever say everyone!
Your challenge this week is to give up gluten! It’s a big challenge I know, but worth it if you notice an improvement in your behaviour and how you function in the world.
Jacqueline,
I am glad that you wrote about gluten sensitivity. For any doubters who need to hear a real-life success story, I am one. I eliminated gluten from my diet 8 years ago when I was 35 years old. I have enjoyed vast improvements in my physical health, emotional well-being, and cognitive function ever since. Never did I fit the bill for Celiac Disease so gluten was overlooked as a culprit. Then one day I read about “wheat sensitivity” and put a check mark by every symptom. After that, I sought the help of a holistic nutritionist and I eliminated gluten. I went from being sick all the time with colds, bugs, hay fever, sinus and ear infections to having an occasional cold that is manageable and short-lived. I went from taking antibiotics 3 or 4 times a year since I was born to taking antibiotics maybe 4 times over the past eight years. I went from feeling chronically fatigued to feeling energized and well every day. I no longer have hay fever type allergies and no longer buy or use allergy medications. My productivity in my work life soared with this change if for nothing more than the fact that I no longer felt sick and fatigued every day. My mother wishes she had known about this when I was a child now that she has seen the improvements in my well-being. Of course, in the 1970′s the mainstream didn’t consider bread and pasta to be unhealthy for anyone. And as the packaged and processed foods industry gained more and more steam through the 80′s and 90′s, gluten began appearing in items that weren’t grain-based at all. For instance, modified food starch is often made from wheat and is used as an additive in most prepared foods. So as I grew up, my diet included more and more gluten when I wasn’t even intentionally eating it.
I am willing to bet that more people than not have gluten sensitivity. While it is a very hard change to make, it is well worth every bit of time, energy and effort it takes. This is a change with a tremendous payoff. And even if you try it and realize that gluten is not your culprit, the work is still worth the effort to have given your body a break from packaged and processed foods, and from refined grain products.
Again, I am glad that you brought attention to this in your blog. Eliminating gluten is another great non-drug strategy that can improve an AD/HD person’s well-being by leaps and bounds. It did mine!
Susan!!! what a wonderful testimonial to being gluten free!! Thanks for sharing all your benefits! There are so many health benefits both for ADHD and overall health. One reader emailed me to say when her daughter stopped eating gluten her teacher thought she was on Ritalin. Incredible.
I stopped eating gluten on the 1st of November 2012, as an experiment. I feel so healthy, and my dyslexic brain feels sharper and I generally feel happier, even though I didn’t feel sad before.
I hope all the benefits you shared will inspire anyone to give up gluten, even for a little while so they can experience the benefits themselves.
Jacqui