Food and adult ADHD: what studies found

On food and adult ADHD, an expert review found evidence for diet approaches still limited (Breda, 2022). One Israeli survey found lower cooking confidence with ADHD (Stern, 2026), and a clinic measured more night eating syndrome in its ADHD group (Gürbüzer, 2023). In a small pilot, college students did better on some thinking tests after breakfast (Brandley, 2020).

Food and adult ADHD: do eating habits differ?

A survey of 105 university students aged 22 to 30, all from one faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, found that students with ADHD reported eating foods the researchers classed as healthy less often, and the less healthy ones more often, than students without ADHD (Hershko, 2022). Yet both groups rated the foods about the same for how attractive, convenient and risky they were. The authors describe this as a gap between how people see food and how often they reported eating it.

A study at a university psychiatry clinic compared 70 adults with ADHD, aged 18 to 65, with 47 adults who had no active psychiatric diagnosis (Gürbüzer, 2023). Night eating syndrome was more common in the ADHD group, at 37.1% compared with 4.2%, as that study measured it. A night-owl body clock was the dominant type in the ADHD group. A questionnaire on eating attitudes found no clear difference between the two groups.

A Swedish twin study of almost 18,000 adults aged 20 to 47 found an unhealthy eating pattern went with more inattention and hyperactivity, but the link was negligible to very small (cited in Breda, 2022). It measured self-reported traits, not diagnosed ADHD. An expert review of diet research concluded that evidence on diet-based approaches for adults with ADHD is still limited, and that cause and effect can't be drawn from what exists (Breda, 2022).

Hershko's 2022 survey and Gürbüzer's clinic study each took a single snapshot, so they show that two things go together, not that one causes the other. For the wider picture, including research in children, see Food and ADHD: does what your child eats make a difference?.

Cooking confidence and planning skills

An online survey of 164 adults in Israel, mostly women recruited through social media, compared 63 people with a formal ADHD diagnosis with 101 without (Stern, 2026). The ADHD group reported moderately lower confidence in their ability to prepare food. They didn't clearly differ in attitudes toward cooking, and a gap in the overall score didn't hold up once the researchers allowed for running several comparisons.

The survey also measured executive functions, the mental skills for planning, starting and keeping track of tasks. More ADHD symptoms went with weaker executive functioning, and one of the survey's two executive function scores showed the clearest indirect link to lower cooking confidence. The authors call this exploratory, and a one-time survey can't show which came first.

How food looked also mattered in one study. In a picture-rating task with 172 students aged 19 to 40 at one faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, food that looked attractive or was convenient appealed more, whether or not a student had ADHD (Hershko, 2020). Students rated pictures on a screen, not real food.

A cafeteria study at that same faculty looked at real purchases (Hershko, 2019). With no advertising running, 19 of 71 students with ADHD chose a healthy item, compared with 64 of 85 students without ADHD. When a sandwich was advertised and placed at eye level, students with ADHD bought more of it, whether it was the egg and vegetable sandwich or the high-fat cream-cheese one. Students without ADHD weren't swayed. While the egg sandwich was promoted, 62% of students with ADHD chose a healthy item, close to the 70% of students without ADHD. The advertising and the eye-level spot always ran together, so it isn't known which one made the difference.

Try this today: If food and your ADHD are on your mind, write down one question about it to raise at your next clinician appointment. An expert review says patients should know how little evidence there is for specific diet approaches in adult ADHD (Breda, 2022).

What breakfast and sugar studies found

A small pilot study tested 46 college students aged 18 to 25 at a mid-Atlantic university, 19 with ADHD and 27 without (Brandley, 2020). Most were white and female. Each was tested before and an hour after a nutritionally balanced breakfast shake. Each group improved in 4 of 8 areas against its own scores before eating: both in processing speed and executive function, students with ADHD also in complex attention and cognitive flexibility, the others in psychomotor and motor speed. Students with ADHD were slightly more likely to improve in reaction time. The authors say the small sample could detect only the largest effects.

Another study followed 36 adults with ADHD and 137 without for 3 days, repeatedly asking what they had eaten and how impulsive they felt, while their activity was recorded as movement (Ruf, 2023). In either group, it found no link between the sugar, saturated fat or protein eaten in a stretch of time and feeling impulsive in that stretch. Being more active than usual went with a slightly higher chance of feeling impulsive, which the authors stress isn't cause and effect. Three days is short, and food and impulsivity were self-reported.

For most nutrients, the expert review, which drew on studies of children and adults, found too few trials or participants to guide clinical practice confidently (Breda, 2022). For supplements, see Omega-3 and fatty acid supplements for kids and teens with ADHD and Vitamin-mineral formulas and adult ADHD: what researchers tested.

Stern's survey, Hershko's 2022 survey and Gürbüzer's clinic study each took a single snapshot and leaned on self-report, so they show links, not causes. Hershko's 2019 cafeteria study was a field study, and Hershko's 2019, 2020 and 2022 studies each drew students from one faculty of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Brandley's pilot tested college students, and Breda's review was an expert summary with no new data that kept lower-quality studies. A question nobody has answered yet isn't a settled no.

If you're thinking about food and your ADHD, talk to a clinician about your situation.