3 steps to improving your relationship with food. A guide for Adult ADHDers.
The numbers don’t lie: those with ADHD have a higher risk of developing an eating disorder, three to six times the average. Alongside ADHD comes unique factors that take a hit on your relationship with food, so the link isn’t completely unexpected. Think impulsivity, too little dopamine, overwhelm from the idea of preparing food, difficulty recognising hunger and fullness sensations and more. If your relationship with food could do with some tender loving care, here are three foundation steps every ADHDer should take to bring balance and joy back to your plate.
Step 1: Eat Regularly
Regular eating with ADHD is hard. Forgetting to eat, appetite-suppressing medications, finding it too hard to prepare food and difficulty recognising hunger and fullness often mean the day slips away without eating at all. Come evening, intense hunger, overeating or even binge eating can happen. This erratic eating pattern easily triggers guilt, shame and an unhappy relationship with food. Instead, prioritising eating at regular times across the day gives your body a steady source of energy, stabilises blood sugar levels and sidesteps the self-blame in overeating from feeling famished.
Step 2: Ditch Restrictive ADHD Diets and Food Labels
With ADHD often comes navigating a sea of information… and misinformation. There's a lot of chatter about ADHD and food. Avoid this, eat only that, eliminate this. But here's the catch: overly restrictive rules backfire. Labeling foods as “good” or "bad" leads to guilt, deprivation and a drive to overeat what feels forbidden. Embracing a more balanced and flexible approach to eating is essential. There's no one-size-fits-all diet for ADHD, so reel in support from an Accredited Practising Dietitian. What you’ll get is personalised guidance tailored to your unique needs and challenges, without falling into the trap of restrictive diets.
Step 3: Build a dopamine toolkit
In ADHD, the brain has lower levels of dopamine, the “reward hormone”. Food, especially carbs, is a quick, easy way for your brain to get dopamine and feel stimulated. Reaching for food as stimulation is especially enticing when doing tasks that feel boring. It is 100% okay to use food for stimulation at times. But, when food is your only tool for stimulation, this is where overeating and binging can occur. Building a list of non-food activities that you enjoy to engage your senses helps strike a peaceful balance. Examples include fidget toys, listening to music, dancing, getting outside, puzzles, knitting or doodling.
Nurturing your relationship with food is a journey. But starting with regular eating, ditching restrictive diets and building a dopamine toolkit are fantastic first steps to a healthier, more positive connection with food to fuel your body and mind. To continue your journey with gentle expert support, our team of Accredited Practising Dietitians are here to help.
