The Ultimate Guide to Treating ADHD Naturally

Do you wonder if treating ADHD naturally is even possible? If so, you’re in the right place. This comprehensive guide will cover how it’s possible plus specific techniques you can use right away.

If your child has been diagnosed with ADHD, you’re likely familiar with the daily challenges it brings. From difficulties in paying attention to managing impulsive behaviors, ADHD can make school, home life, and social interactions difficult.

While traditional treatments often focus on medications, more parents are now exploring natural ADHD treatments to help manage symptoms without the side effects of prescription drugs.

This Ultimate Guide to Treating ADHD Naturally in Children will provide you with proven strategies for treating ADHD naturally, including creating an effective ADHD diet for kids, addressing gut health, and choosing the right nutrients and supplements for your ADHD child. You’ll discover how to eliminate common dietary triggers, prioritize the right nutrients, and address underlying gut imbalances that may be contributing to your child’s ADHD symptoms.

In this article, you will learn:

✔ Proven natural ADHD treatments that can easily fit into your child’s daily routine
✔ Effective strategies for creating an ADHD diet for kids that goes beyond simply cutting out sugar
✔ How to identify and address gut health issues, which often underlie ADHD symptoms
✔ Guidance on choosing organic foods, supplements, and other natural remedies to optimize your child’s focus and behavior

Whether you are just beginning your journey into natural approaches or are looking to fine-tune your child’s current plan, this article will provide you with actionable insights and practical tips to support your child’s health naturally.

Let’s dive in and take the first step toward a more holistic approach to managing ADHD.

Treating ADHD Naturally

Navigating daily routines can be challenging for most families. Your children are often balancing school, homework, activities, and social commitments. If your child has a complex condition like ADHD which can affect their learning and behavior, these everyday tasks can become even more difficult.

Types of ADHD

ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) can interfere with your child’s ability to focus, making it harder for them to succeed in both academic and social settings.

There are three subtypes of ADHD

1. Predominantly inattentive: Most ADHD symptoms fall under inattention.
2. Predominantly hyperactive/impulsive: Most ADHD symptoms are hyperactive and impulsive.
3. Combined: There is a mix of both inattentive symptoms and hyperactive/impulsive symptoms.

Common Symptoms of ADHD Inattention

🔸Lack of focus on tasks or play
🔸Difficulty paying attention to details
🔸Making careless mistakes in schoolwork
🔸Trouble following through on instructions and completing schoolwork
🔸Avoidance of tasks requiring focused mental effort
🔸Not appearing to listen, even when spoken to directly
🔸Not able to organize tasks and activities
🔸Losing things
🔸Easily distracted
🔸Forgetting to do chores and other daily activities

Common Symptoms of Hyperactivity and Impulsivity

🔸Fidget or squirm in their seat
🔸Have difficulty staying seated
🔸Difficulty doing an activity quietly
🔸Be in constant motion
🔸Run around or climb in inappropriate situations
🔸Overly talkative
🔸Interrupt and blurt out answers
🔸Interrupt in conversation
🔸Intrude on conversations, games or activities
🔸Struggle waiting for their turn

In my practice, I focus on reversing ADHD naturally. This includes a focus on diet, targeted supplementation, detoxification, and techniques that regulate the nervous system. First and foremost, however, we need to heal the gut and optimize digestion in order to ensure the proper absorption of nutrients.

Gut Health and ADHD

An imbalanced gut microbiome can affect nutrient absorption, immune function, and inflammation levels, which in turn can impact brain health and behavior. Improving gut health is known to support both mental and physical health. By optimizing our children’s digestive functioning, we can also alleviate many of their ADHD symptoms through promoting better attention, mood regulation, and overall functioning.

The Gut-Brain Connection

Did you know that the gut and the brain are in constant communication and are connected by the vagus nerve -the longest nerve in the body?

These two vital organs also communicate via neurotransmitters – chemicals that influence feelings and emotions. Neurotransmitters are manufactured in both your brain and throughout the digestive tract. Serotonin, a neurotransmitter that promotes feelings of happiness is produced primarily in the small intestines. Your gut also creates gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), an important neurotransmitter that helps soothe anxiety and fear, as well as dopamine, a neurotransmitter key to focus and memory.

The gut and the brain share so many functions that scientists have nicknamed the gut the “second brain.” This second brain is known as the enteric nervous system (ENS).

Because of this intimate connection between the gut and the brain, the health of one affects the health of the other. What happens in the brain directly impacts the gut. But the reverse is also true. What happens in the gut is reflected in the health and functioning of the brain.

Leaky Gut/Leaky Brain

Leaky gut, or increased intestinal permeability, occurs when the tight junctions in the gut lining weaken, allowing undigested food particles, toxins, and microbes to escape into the bloodstream. These foreign substances can trigger systemic inflammation and immune responses that impact the brain and behavior.

What Causes Leaky Gut?

One of the main regulators of gut barrier integrity is zonulin, a protein that modulates the permeability of tight junctions. The release of zonulin can be triggered by:

• Chemical exposures: Pesticides, toxins, and particularly glyphosate.
• Inflammatory foods: Gluten, sugar, dairy, and soy.
• Chronic stress: Persistent stress affects gut health and contributes to leaky gut.

Leaky Gut and ADHD

Research indicates that children with ADHD are more likely to have gut dysbiosis and intestinal permeability issues. These disruptions can lead to a “leaky brain,” where the blood-brain barrier is compromised, allowing harmful substances to impact neurological function.

Addressing leaky gut is therefore a critical first step in managing ADHD symptoms naturally. Let’s dig into how following an ADHD diet helps to heal leaky gut and accelerate healing.

Healing the Gut with the Althea ADHD Diet for Kids

Because the gut and brain are so closely connected, when you improve gut health, you also improve brain health. Creating an ADHD nutrition plan is the first vital first step in this process,

An effective ADHD diet for kids involves identifying foods to avoid that are toxic to the body and promote inflammation.  These include fake foods, foods laced with toxic chemicals, and otherwise problematic foods that negatively impact your child’s attention, brain health, gut health, and overall school performance.

Implementing the Althea ADHD Diet For Kids

💡 Avoid Foods Sprayed with Glyphosate

What is Glyphosate?

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, is a widely used herbicide that has been shown to disrupt gut health, fuel inflammation, and cause leaky gut. Originally patented as an antibiotic, glyphosate preferentially kills beneficial gut bacteria, particularly those microbes involved in producing our “feel good” neurotransmitters, serotonin and dopamine.

How Does Glyphosate Impact ADHD?

• Glyphosate promotes intestinal permeability, leading to increased neuroinflammation and blood brain barrier disruption.
• Glyphosate reduces neurotransmission and neurotransmitter production, particularly the production of serotonin and dopamine, neurotransmitters key to focus and calming.
• Glyphosate acts as a glycine analog, replacing glycine in our collagen matrix, leading to structural instability and systemic inflammation.
• Glyphosate disrupts gut microbiota, promoting dysbiosis and leading to poor nutrient absorption,
• Glyphosate is associated with cognitive decline as well as behavioral and motor disorders including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and ADHD.

How to Avoid Glyphosate in the Diet

• Choose organic foods, as they are grown without synthetic pesticides and herbicides.
• Avoid processed and genetically modified (GMO) foods.
• Look for labels like “Non-GMO Project Verified” or “Certified Organic.”
• Avoid Roundup Ready foods (see below)

💡 Avoid Roundup-Ready Foods

Roundup-ready foods are foods that have been genetically modified. Originally developed to aid farmers in the battle against weeds, these crops are bioengineered to be resistant to glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup).

If you remember from our earlier discussion, glyphosate is an effective, but indiscriminate killer. Creating Roundup-resistant crops allows farmers to spray glyphosate liberally on fields to help control weeds without negatively impacting crop yields.

Roundup-ready crops are problematic, however, because they are both genetically modified (GMO), and because they are doused with glyphosate. Although glyphosate is not an ingredient listed on packages, I recommend opting for organic, especially when choosing highly sprayed, Roundup-ready crops and foods, including:

• Soy
  • 94% of soybeans are GMO
  • Used for animal feed (conventionally raised animals)
  • Soybean oil, soy lecithin
  • Found in processed foods, including cereals, baking mixes, tortillas, tofu, granola bars, etc.
• Corn
  • 92% of US corn is genetically modified
  • Used for animal feed (conventionally raised animals)
  • Found in processed foods as cornstarch, corn oil, corn syrup, etc.
• Canola
  • 95% of canola crops are GMO
  • Canola oil
  • Sugar Beets are commonly found in the following foods:
    • More than 50% of sugar beets used to make granulated sugar are GMO

💡 Adopt a Gluten-Free Diet for ADHD

Gluten is a family of proteins, called prolamins. And it’s one of the biggest culprits when it comes to leaky gut. You find these proteins in specific grains including wheat, rye, and barley. Glutinous grains are often used in baked goods because their elasticity helps increase the strength and rise of the bread.

In fact, gluten is so helpful in baked products that food producers will often add in extra – called vital wheat gluten. Gluten even helps extend shelf life.

But gluten has a dark side. Gluten is difficult to digest, and it is highly inflammatory. In the United States, the vast majority of gluten-containing products are sprayed with glyphosate.

What is wrong with gluten?

• Gluten causes leaky gut by stimulating the release of zonulin- a protein that regulates gut permeability.
• Consuming gluten is correlated with an increase in anxiety disorders, depression, mood disorders, and ADD/ADHD
• Gluten exerts an opioid effect on the brain.
• Gluten causes dysbiosis (the overgrowth of bacteria in the gut).
• Gluten causes malabsorption in the gut, leading to nutritional deficiencies.
• Gluten is often contaminated with mold.
• Gluten is highly correlated with the onset and severity of such inflammatory intestinal disorders including Celiac disease, Crone’s disease, IBS, and IBD.
• Gluten is inflammatory, whether or not you have a diagnosed allergy or sensitivity.

In order to remove gluten from your child’s diet, you will need to read labels as gluten can be a hidden ingredient in many packaged foods, including:

❌ Baked goods made with wheat flour – bread, cakes, cookies, donuts, muffins, and more
❌ Sauces and gravies, including soy sauce
❌ Cereals that don’t say “gluten-free” on the label
❌ Wheat-based pasta

Avoiding gluten is a challenge, although it has gotten easier in recent years. As the symptoms of gluten intolerance have become more widely recognized, markets have responded by developing a variety of convenient, and delicious gluten-free products.

The best way to avoid gluten, however, is to focus on fresh, grain-free options like organic meats, fruits, and vegetables. If you do have to include packaged foods from time to time, always look for the “gluten-free” label.

💡 Cut Down on Sugar

It’s no secret that sugar does more harm than good. Unfortunately, in recent years with the increasing reliance on packaged and processed foods, sugar has become a significant part of the Standard American Diet.

In fact, the average American child eats 65 pounds of added sugar annually. For many children, that’s more than their body weight.

If you’re concerned about your child’s brain health or ability to pay attention in school, reducing or eliminating sugar can make a profound difference.

Why is sugar an issue for our kids?

😳 Sugar is known to cause brain atrophy or shrinkage
😳 Sugar is highly inflammatory
😳 Sugar suppresses the production of human growth hormone (HGH)
😳 Sugar causes memory impairment
😳 Sugar suppresses the immune system
😳 Consuming sugar alters the microbiome by feeding dysbiotic bacteria, including candida
😳 Sugar is full of glyphosate. More than 50% of sugar beets used to make granulated sugar are GMO

Avoiding processed foods, packaged treats, and soda will make a big dent in your child’s sugar consumption. Reading labels is always important, as sugar is a hidden ingredient in many foods that might not otherwise seem sweet.

💡 Avoid Dairy Products

Dairy products can be problematic for people with gut issues, autoimmune diseases, and ADHD. In most instances, diary reactivity can be traced back to casein, the most abundant protein in milk, and to Casomorphin, the peptide derived from the digestion of casein.

Why is casein problematic?

• 80-90% of protein found in dairy products
• Causes the body to release inflammatory cytokines which damage the gut lining
• Many are also sensitive or allergic to casein. Often goes undiagnosed because casein sensitivity can be delayed by days and even weeks

Why is Casomorphin problematic?

• Opioid peptide derived from digestion of casein
• Damages lining of the small intestine
• Causes malabsorption
• Implicated in behavioral and cognitive issues in autism
• Correlated with brain damage

Dairy is also mucous forming and is highly correlated with leaky gut.

💡 Avoid Bad Fats

Given that the brain is made up of 60% fat, it goes without saying that eating a diet filled with healthy fats is essential to brain health. Unfortunately, many of the fats our children encounter through the Standard American Diet include fats that are toxic to the brain and body.

These include:

• Trans fats, including “partially hydrogenated vegetable oil”
• Vegetable and seed oils, including canola oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil, and safflower oil.

Replace these toxic fats with extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, and avocado oil.

💡 Avoid inflammatory foods

Sometimes, when your child has a food allergy or sensitivity, even otherwise healthy foods can cause reactivity. Food sensitives stimulate the immune system to react as if the food were a toxin, prompting the release of histamine and other inflammatory mediators. The result is an increase in inflammation which fuels both leaky gut and leaky brain.

Some of my top recommendations for isolating foods that might be causing reactivity include:

• Food sensitivity testing
• Food journaling and/or or rotation diet
• Avoiding gluten cross reactive foods

💡 Eat Organic (as much as possible)

You are what you eat. We’ve all heard that before, and in a sense, it really is true. The foods we put into our bodies fuel our systems, repair our cells, and keep us in homeostatic balance. Eating a nutrient-rich diet of wholesome foods is critical to health.

This is especially true when managing a neuroinflammatory condition like ADHD.

When you are focused on a natural ADHD treatment plan, including specific foods in your child’s ADHD diet can help manage symptoms and address some of the underlying root causes. With ADHD, nutrition can make a tremendous difference.

Organic foods are grown without:

👎 Artificial chemicals
👎 Hormones
👎 Antibiotics
👎 Genetically modified organisms (GMOs)

Organic food products also cannot contain artificial food additives, including artificial sweeteners, preservatives, coloring, flavoring, and monosodium glutamate (MSG).

How Eating Organic Helps ADHD

While organic foods may be richer in nutrients than conventionally raised foods, the main advantage for kids with ADHD is the avoidance of harmful substances often found in non-organic foods.

Pesticides, hormones, and other additives that are commonly found in non-organic foods have been linked to ADHD. A 2010 study of 1,100 children found those with higher pesticide levels in their urine were twice as likely to have ADHD.

The best way to reduce your family’s pesticide exposure is to eat organic. In fact, eating organic fruits and vegetables cuts pesticide levels by 80%.

Any time you can reduce your child’s exposure to chemical toxins, they will benefit. Detoxification can be tricky though. And if it’s not done well, the toxins can be released back into your child’s body and allowed to roam free and cause additional damage.

There are a number of advantages to eating organic for ADHD:

✅ Organically raised animals are not given antibiotics or hormones
✅ Organic foods generally contain higher levels of certain micronutrients, including vitamin C, zinc, and iron
✅ Antioxidant levels can be up to 69% higher in organically raised foods
✅ Organically grown crops have less nitrate and pesticide residue
✅ Organic meat and dairy products have more omega-3 fatty acids
✅ Eating organic can reduce your exposure to toxins, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Affording Organic Foods

Organic foods cost more than their conventional counterparts. And for families with a tight budget, this can be an issue. You may not be able to switch to all organic foods overnight. But there are ways you can make eating organic more affordable.

💡 Shop at stores like Trader Joe’s, Walmart, and Costco for lower-priced organic food.
Organic foods are generally more expensive. But the cost varies from one store to the next. If you avoid higher-end stores and opt for lower-priced retailers, you can stretch your food dollar.

💡 Invest in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership.
When you join a CSA, you get a box of locally grown, organic produce either weekly or bi-monthly. You have to be a little flexible and creative because you don’t get to choose which items you receive. A membership like this is easy to figure into your budget because it costs the same every month, and you do tend to get a lot of organic produce for your money. You can find a list of CSAs here.

💡 Switch to organic for just the most problematic foods.
Not all non-organic foods contain the same level of pesticides, which means going organic on just the most chemically laden foods can make a difference. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) is a great resource for choosing which foods to switch. Each year they create their Dirty Dozen, a list of the worst produce items in terms of pesticides. If you can’t switch over completely, buying organic versions of the dirty dozen foods is a powerful first step.

Finding Organic Foods

Reading the labels is the best way to determine if you are feeding your child organic foods.

Organic labeling is highly regulated in the US. You’re looking for one of the following:

👍 100% organic – made entirely from organic ingredients.
👍 Organic – at least 95% of the ingredients are organic.
👍 Made with organic ingredients – at least 70% of the ingredients are organic.

Sometimes the most effective way to improve your or your child’s health is to make small, but meaningful changes over time. Switching to organic produce to reduce overall toxic exposure is a powerful first step.

Regardless of where you are on your journey to healthier eating, prioritizing certain key nutrients can have a major impact on your child’s brain health and ADHD symptoms. Let’s explore some of the most effective nutrients to include in your family’s diet.

Nutrients to Include in Your Child’s ADHD Diet

In our fast-food culture, many (dare I say most) people are undernourished. Most of us get plenty of calories, however, when those calories come in the form of drive-thru and processed food, they fill you up without providing the nutrients you (or your child) really need.

As part of a comprehensive ADHD diet for kids, I recommend including key nutrients that can support brain health and help manage symptoms effectively. Often, just making a few small changes can make a noticeable difference in reducing the symptoms of ADD/ADHD.

Protein for ADHD

Protein is one of the major macronutrients, along with carbohydrates and fats. Most people tend to overdo it on carbohydrates and under-eat protein. An adequate protein intake is critical for a number of body functions.

✔ Proteins are the building blocks for tissues, muscles, cartilage, skin, and bones
✔ Proteins are the building blocks for neurotransmitters, which are our chemical messengers regulating brain function including mood and cognition.
✔ Proteins are the building blocks for enzymes. Enzymes power every action and reaction in the body
✔ Proteins are the building blocks of antibodies, which are an essential part of the immune system
✔ Proteins are the building blocks of hormones
✔ Proteins are essential for growth and development
✔ Consuming protein regularly helps to stabilize blood sugar

Sometimes it can be difficult to include adequate protein in your child’s diet. If you are having trouble getting your child to eat enough protein, try some of these tips:

💡 Add an unprocessed meat stick or bar to their snack. Look for brands like Epic, Chomps, or Paleo Valley. For a curated list of products we trust, download our Grab and Go Snack Ideas here.

💡 Include a high-protein food with each meal or snack – eggs or good-quality nut butters are easy options

💡 Sneak protein-rich foods into things they already eat. Add flaxseed to a smoothie or nutritional yeast to a casserole.

Supplements for ADHD

💡Probiotics for ADHD

It’s important to replenish the “good” bacteria – especially species that heal the gut lining and species that promote the production of GABA and other calming neurotransmitters.

While there are many excellent probiotic supplements on the market, I also recommend using probiotic-rich foods as often as you can.

Raw, probiotic foods include:

✔ Sauerkraut
✔ Kimchi
✔ Beet kvass
✔ Kombucha
✔ Pickles
✔ Kefir
✔ Yogurt
✔ Tempeh
✔ Fermented Veggies

💡B Vitamins for ADHD

There are 8 B vitamins:

🐟Thiamine (B1)
🥗Riboflavin (B2)
🍗Niacin (B3)
🍄Pantothenic acid (B5)
🥑Pyridoxine (B6)
🥚Biotin (B7)
🥦Folate (B9)
🥩Cobalamin (B12).

Of the B vitamins, only B12 is easily stored in the body, which means you need to make sure your child is consuming foods rich in B vitamins consistently to maintain adequate levels of these nutrients.

B vitamins carry benefits like increased alertness and reduced anxiety symptoms. When a child with ADD/ADHD is deficient in the B vitamins – particularly B6 – they may experience irritability and fatigue.

Foods rich in B vitamins include:

✔ Wild-caught tuna and salmon
✔ Bananas
✔ Meats like beef, pork, chicken, and turkey
✔ Leafy greens like spinach
✔ Liver and organ meats
✔ Eggs
✔ Legumes
✔ Nutritional yeast
✔ Sunflower seeds

💡Magnesium for ADHD

Magnesium is a mineral that regulates a variety of biochemical processes including protein synthesis, muscle and nerve function, blood glucose control, and blood pressure regulation.

Moreover, magnesium is calming, neuroprotective, and can have antidepressant effects. Certain types of magnesium also cross the blood brain barrier and exert positive impacts on cognition including memory, learning, and executive functioning.

Magnesium-rich foods include:

✔ Dark leafy greens
✔ Nuts and seeds
✔ Beans
✔ Pumpkin and chia seeds
✔ Almonds and cashews
✔ Spinach
✔ Brown rice and oatmeal

If you’re going to use a magnesium supplement, I recommend a combination of magnesium threonate and magnesium glycinate.

How to Ease into an ADHD Diet for Kids

Transitioning to an ADHD diet for kids doesn’t have to be overly challenging. The key is to move slowly and seek out support when needed.

Start with easy food swaps – trade and upgrade. And remember, we are always here to help!

Beyond simply adjusting your child’s diet, understanding the underlying factors affecting their gut health can be key to managing ADHD symptoms effectively. Let’s explore how testing for certain gut imbalances, like H. pylori and clostridia, can offer deeper insights into your child’s health.

How Testing for H Pylori and Clostridia Might Help

We’re all physiologically unique – and that includes our children. Each child has different food tolerances and sensitivities, nutrient deficiencies, brain chemical imbalances, etc.

In my practice, I’ve found that focusing on gut health is a crucial part of treating ADHD naturally and can significantly impact brain-related conditions.

Gut Health and ADHD

If your child’s microbiome is out of balance, it can also affect their brain health.

Two of the most important brain chemicals – serotonin and dopamine – are manufactured in both the brain and the gut. In fact, 50% of dopamine and 95% of serotonin are made in the gut. So, if your child’s microbiome is out of balance, these important brain chemicals may also be out of balance.

When it comes to brain health and ADHD, there are two bacteria that can have profound, negative impacts: Clostridia and H. pylori.

Clostridia and ADHD

Clostridia (Clostridium difficile or C.diff) is a bacterium often found in the microbiome. The presence of clostridia isn’t necessarily an indication of a problem. But if there is too much of this bacteria, it can affect the delicate balance of brain chemicals, causing psychological and behavioral symptoms.

You’ve probably heard of the brain chemical dopamine. This neurotransmitter is involved in motivation, pleasure, and learning.

An overgrowth of clostridia interferes with the conversion of dopamine into the stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine, keeping these brain chemicals out of balance. As a result, your child may struggle with a variety of symptoms including anxiety, poor concentration, difficulty focusing, and memory issues.

Testing for a Clostridia Overgrowth

If you suspect your child has a C. difficile overgrowth, there are several ways to assess a possible infection, including both stool and urine testing. In my office, we offer GI Map testing, which uses quantitative PCR testing to isolate pathogenic organisms in the stool, and Organic Acid testing, which identifies metabolites of biochemical processes in urine, including the byproducts of clostridia difficile metabolism in the gut, as well as the byproducts of dopamine metabolism, which is often altered in the presence of C diff.

If your child has a clostridia overgrowth (or you suspect they do), there are ways to address it. For a deeper dive into C. difficile, how it accelerates the symptoms of ADHD, and what to do about it, take a look at my blog article here.

H. Pylori and ADHD

H. Pylori is another troublesome bacteria that grows in the digestive tract and can interfere with your child’s brain chemical balance, although this one is a bit more indirect.

H. pylori is a spiral-shaped bacteria that embeds itself into the walls of the stomach and interferes with the production of stomach acid. When your child has inadequate stomach acid, it can prevent nutrient absorption and impact gut health.

In my practice, I’ve often seen a connection between H. pylori and a clostridia overgrowth.

The most common symptoms of H. pylori are related to digestion – including nausea, bloating, and even ulcers. But it can also lead to anxiety, reflux, picky eating, food aversions, poor chewing, and chronic fatigue. Moreover, H. pylori has the potential to create an environment wherein dysbiotic bacteria like clostridia can thrive in the gut.

Testing for H. Pylori

There are a variety of tests available that can identify H. pylori – blood tests, stool tests, and even a simple breath test.

The good news here is that H. pylori is fairly easy to treat.

Tackling specific imbalances like clostridia and H. pylori can make a big difference in symptom management, but they are only part of the picture.

Let’s take a look at other natural treatment strategies that can be game-changers in reversing the symptoms of ADHD.

Natural ADHD Treatment Strategies

In addition to diet and infection remediation, there are many easy regulation strategies to help reverse ADHD symptoms and improve cognition. Here is a list of some of my favorites.

💡 Alternate Nostril Breathing

This breathing technique helps regulate the nervous system and calm fear and anxiety. Have your child go through the following steps:

1. Sit down and relax.
2. Place their right hand over their nose with their thumb on the right side of their nose and their ring finger on the left. (Their pointer and middle finger will hover above their nose.)
3. Cover the right nostril with the thumb while inhaling and exhaling.
4. Release the right nostril.
5. Cover the left nostril with the ring finger while inhaling and exhaling.
6. Repeat the process twice more.

💡 Grounding

When your child needs some help settling down, grounding can help them connect to their bodies and the world around them. This simple and effective practice can help calm down and focus. There are a number of child-friendly grounding methods:

Senses Countdown: Guide your child to find 5 things they can see, 4 things they can touch, 3 things they can hear, 2 things they can smell, and 1 thing they can taste.

Be a Tree: Have your child pretend to be a tree. Their body becomes the trunk, their arms become the branches.

Box Breathing: Breathe in for a count of 4, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, hold for 4. Do this a few times. If visual images help your child, have them picture a box while they breathe, with the four sides representing the four steps in the process.

💡 Exercise

Moving the body is great for physical health, emotional balance, and regulating the nervous system. It’s important for all kids to get daily exercise, but there are added benefits to children with ADD/ADHD. Exercise doesn’t have to be complicated – playing, dancing to music, or participating in a game or sport will all do the trick.

💡 Getting Outside

A recent study concluded that ADHD symptoms are reduced for most people by being in green outdoor settings. When the weather permits, take your child outside – preferably somewhere with grass and trees, or at the beach. You can practice the above techniques outside as well.

💡 Sleep

Sleep is critical for brain health. The brain detoxes at night, so if your child is not sleeping deeply or for long enough, their detoxification system will not be able to effectively clear and clean out the brain. If your child is having trouble sleeping, try these sleep techniques:

✔ Create a bedtime routine to add consistency and calmness so your child can fall asleep more easily.
✔ Improve sleep hygiene to make sleeping more comfortable. Darken the room, remove extra toys from the bed, and turn down the temperature.
✔ Avoid evening screen use. The blue light emitted by electronic devices has been shown to interfere with circadian (sleep) rhythms. Putting away electronic devices in the evenings can help your child tune into their natural sleep rhythms.

Putting Natural ADHD Treatment into Practice

Helping your child navigate the complexities of ADHD can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. By focusing on treating ADHD naturally, you’re embracing a holistic approach that addresses the root causes rather than merely managing symptoms.

From dietary changes and detoxification to improving gut health and incorporating calming exercises, these strategies offer a well-rounded way to support your child’s development and well-being. Remember, small changes can add up to significant improvements over time.

It’s also important to keep in mind that every child is unique. What works well for one may not be as effective for another. The key is to stay patient, keep experimenting, and find the right combination of techniques that work best for your family.

Additional Resources:

• https://www.webmd.com/balance/what-to-know-about-alternate-nostril-breathing
• https://www.counselorkeri.com/2019/04/02/help-kids-manage-worry/
• https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321805#how-to-do-it
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1448497/
• https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/adhd/symptoms-causes/syc-20350889
• https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sugar/how-much-sugar-is-too-much
• https://hms.harvard.edu/news-events/publications-archive/brain/sugar-brain
• https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/the-sweet-danger-of-sugar
• https://diabetesjournals.org/diabetes/article-pdf/13/4/355/338421/13-4-355.pdf
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6662517
• https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/172329
• https://www.healthline.com/health/what-is-c-diff
• https://drnicolecain.com/clostridia-the-gut-brain-axis
• https://www.healthline.com/health/helicobacter-pylori
• https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-is-gluten
• https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-gluten-bad#gluten
• https://www.glutenfreelabels.com/gluten-free-diet/gluten-free-foods/gluten-free-diet-tips/30-places-gluten-hides/
• https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-is-organic-food
• https://www.additudemag.com/diet-to-help-adhd-using-food-to-treat-tough-symptoms/
• https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/
• https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/vitamin-b-foods
• https://www.additudemag.com/treatment/vitamins-and-supplements/