Researchers compared the diets of people with and without ADHD in two groups. One was 45 children aged 7 to 12 from the Pacific Northwest. The other was 51 college students aged 18 to 25 at a private East Coast university. Most college students with ADHD took stimulant medication, but fewer than a third of the children with ADHD did.
Overall, people with ADHD ate about the same as those without it. For most vitamins and minerals, intake in the two groups was within 20% of each other.
In the children only, more aspartate and glycine, two amino acids, went with higher odds of ADHD, and more glutamate with lower odds. No amino acid showed a clear link in the college students.
Shortfalls were common with or without ADHD. Only one child and only one college student got enough vitamin D. Nearly everyone fell short on potassium. The one clear difference was that more college students with ADHD met the iron target.
The authors call the results preliminary because the groups were small. Teens aged 13 to 18 were not studied. The authors conclude the findings do not support the idea that ADHD is driven only by poor nutrient intake. They suggest better nutrition education is needed, especially for college-age students.
Anyone with questions about diet and ADHD should talk to a clinician about their own situation.
The numbers Stats and what the terms mean
The statistics behind the plain-language claims above.
- Holton, 2018: overall diet quality (Healthy Eating Index) and ADHD in children, after adjustment, OR (95% CI) = 1.06 (0.97 to 1.15), p=0.19.
- Holton, 2018: overall diet quality (Healthy Eating Index) and ADHD in college students, after adjustment, OR=1.03 (0.95 to 1.11), p=0.48.
- Holton, 2018: vitamin and mineral adequacy (Micronutrient Index) in children with ADHD, OR=1.74 (0.91 to 3.34), p=0.09.
- Holton, 2018: vitamin and mineral adequacy (Micronutrient Index) in college students with ADHD, OR=0.52 (0.18 to 1.50), p=0.22.
- Holton, 2018: aspartate intake and odds of ADHD in children, OR (95% CI) =12.61 (1.79 to 88.91), p<0.01 (the abstract prints P = 0.01).
- Holton, 2018: glycine intake and odds of ADHD in children, 11.60 (1.02 to 131.68), p=0.05.
- Holton, 2018: glutamate intake and odds of ADHD in children, OR=0.34 (0.13 to 0.90), p=0.03. All three child results held after Benjamini-Hochberg correction.
- Holton, 2018: glycine intake and odds of ADHD in college students, OR=5.88 (0.91 to 37.93), p=0.06 (not significant).
- Holton, 2018: tryptophan intake and odds of ADHD in college students, OR<0.01 (<0.001 to 1.43), p=0.06 (not significant).
- Holton, 2018: share meeting the recommended iron intake, 57% of college students with ADHD vs. 30% of college controls, p=0.05. What the terms mean:
- OR An odds ratio compares the odds of having ADHD at higher versus lower intake; 1 means no difference, above 1 means higher odds and below 1 means lower odds.
- 95% CI The range the true value likely falls in; when it includes 1, the result could be no difference at all.
- p How likely a result this large would be by chance alone; smaller numbers mean chance is a less likely explanation.
- Benjamini-Hochberg correction A check that adjusts results when many things are tested at once, so chance findings are less likely to slip through.
Source: Holton K, Johnstone J, Brandley E, et al.. Evaluation of dietary intake in children and college students with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Nutritional Neuroscience (2018). doi:10.1080/1028415X.2018.1427661