There are 3-4 pounds of bacteria in the gut working diligently for us. In fact, there are at least 500-1,000 different species of bacteria in the intestines, mostly in the large intestines.

These bacteria help to move food through the intestine, ease food cravings and regulated appetite, keep intestine lining strong and intact, activate gut-based immune system, make hormones, vitamin Bs and vitamin K, and boost absorption of nutrients.

These bacteria are scavengers inside our body. As we all know, we eat food, digest food, then absorbs the nutrients from the food. These all happens in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

We always think that this is a very efficient system at least it has stayed pretty much the same over last millions of years with the first human on earth.

Anyway, most foods we eat are not 100% digested and absorbed as we most assumed. When the leftover food gue gets to the large intestines or colon, someone has to take care of that. Just like we have garbage man who takes care of our garbage in the city.

The intestines provide the perfect environment for these critters to survive on – moisture, nutrients and protection from outside threats.

While our intestines provide a nurturing environment for these critters, they’re also working for us.

There are more to this.

Since probiotics is “good” bacteria, that means there must be a “bad” bacteria.

Let’s talk a little about the good vs bad bacteria.

First of all, they both eat our leftovers. But they don’t like the same foods.

The bad bacteria prefers processed sugary junk food, chips, cookies, cakes, poptart, cheetos, granola bar, etc.

The waste products that they make are harmful to the human body. And some studies is showing that having a well-fed robust population of bad bacteria in your gut is the probable cause of many chronic diseases, mental health issues and obesity.

The good bacteria (probiotics) prefers healthy foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, nuts, organic meats and animal protein, and they help us to break down the undigested food more so our body can get more nutrients out of our food. Kind of like recycling, and renewable energy.

Even though conventional ADHD treatment often focus on treating what’s happening in the brain, but most of the explosive and aggressive behaviors in ADHD kids seem to stem from the gut.

When the gut balance is disrupted and out-of-balance, mental and physical health issues, such as anxiety, depression and even cancer can happen.

In recent years, scientists have discovered the connection between the gut bacteria and many psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders, ADHD, depression, anorexia nervosa, and Rett syndrome.

They found that brain chemical imbalances may actually start in the gut, causing the more aggressive and explosive type of symptoms often seen in ADHD.

What scientists learned was that the gut is actually talking with the big brain (aka central nervous system that includes the brain and spinal cord) continuously through hormonal, immune and nervous systems.

The gut bacteria does not live for free in our intestines. They do pay rent by making precursors that the big brain can use to make brain chemicals, such as dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin, that help to calm the ADHD brain.

Scientists are now learning more about the gut–brain connection, and has concluded that our gut is possibly the second brain.

Does your ADHD child suffer from stomach pain, bedwetting, stool incontinence, diarrhea, loose stool or constipation?

Does your ADHD child also have food allergies or intolerance, asthma, ear infections and unexplained skin rash?

Or does your child crave milk, cheese, sugar, bread, noodles, pasta, crackers, or any carbs?

Digestion issues, such as  constipation, diarrhea, bedwetting, stool incontinence are very common among children with ADHD. 75% of the body’s immunity is in the gut.

A study of more than 700,000 children found that children with ADHD are 3 times more likely to have chronic constipation and six times more likely to have fecal incontinence than kids without ADHD.

Recurrent and frequent antibiotic use for ear infection destroy good gut bacteria. And this can cause yeast and bacterial overgrowth, which causes hyperactivity, anger, irritability, mood swings, poor memory, poor attention, sleep problem, and other inappropriate behaviors.

Children with ADHD are also more likely to have allergy (immune-mediated) disorders such as food allergy, asthma and atopic dermatitis (eczema).

The answer is “yes”.

And here are the 4 Benefits of Probiotics Supplements for the Gut Health in ADHD.

Digestive issues are common is children with ADHD. Constipation and stool incontinence being the most common. High dose probiotics is an effective treatment to correct gut microbiota imbalances, improve nutrient digestion and absorption and heal the leaky gut.

Food intolerance and sensitivities are common in children with ADHD, especially casein and gluten sensitivity. The partially digested casein and gluten form opioid protein that attach to the morphine receptors in the brain causing the aggressive behaviors seen in ADHD, such as anger, agitation, anxiety, mood swings, etc. High dose probiotics treatment can improve digestion and heal leaky gut, so no more partially digested peptides end up in the brain.

Excessive metabolites from C. diff overgrowth causes an excessive accumulation of dopamine, resulting in aggressive behaviors, anxiety and agitation. And excessive metabolites from candida overgrowth travels to the brain and interfere with the prefrontal cortex, which we now know is smaller and less metabolically active in the ADHD brain. Both of these overgrowth can be corrected with a high dose of probiotics supplement regimen.

This is a huge plus. As you just learned, gut bacteria can influence brain chemistry by providing the brain with the precursors to make neurotransmitters, i.e. dopamine, noradrenaline, serotonin. A recent study shows that probiotics supplement intake improved depression symptoms, anger and fatigue in children with ADHD.

Eating food naturally rich in probiotics is the best gut maintenance program. But if you struggle with bacterial and/or candida overgrowth, food sensitivity and/or leaky gut, you need much higher dose of probiotics that you cannot get from eating fermented food alone.

1. The ideal probiotic supplement to treat bacterial and candida overgrowth needs to provide at least 50 billion CFUs a day. CFUs stand for “colony forming unit” for older children (6 years and up) and adults. For infants and toddlers, I usually recommend starting at 1 billion CFU, and 10 billion CFU for kids up to 6 years old.  
2. Choose a probiotic supplement that contains both Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus GG.
3. Your probiotics also should include the beneficial yeast, saccharomyces boulardii. You might have to get separate Saccharomyces Boulardii supplements. You need 5 billion CFUs of this yeast daily.

For young children up to 6 years old, I recommend the Love Bug Probiotics for Toddlers because it has about 15 billion CFUs per sachet. For older children (6 years and up) and adults, I recommend the Physician’s Choice Probiotics – 60 billion CFUs daily for children and 120 billion for adults. I love the Physician’s Choice because it contains not only the probiotics bacteria, but it also contain prebiotics, food that feeds the good bacteria to keep them healthy.

This high dose of probiotics is meant to crowd out the bad bacteria and bad candida. Many people stop taking probiotics because they think it does not work. But the most likely reason it did not work is they’re not getting the right dose (too low) or the wrong bacteria strain. Don’t waste your time and money with anything less.

Remember, taking the probiotics supplement alone is not enough. You need to feed your “pet” (probiotics) with a healthy diet. Otherwise, the good bacteria will keep dying of hunger and starvation. And you’ll be replenishing your probiotics and be wasting your probiotic supplements.

While on probiotics, also avoid eating things that would kill them, such as chlorinated water and cola beverages with phosphoric acid. If you have been on antibiotics recently, you definitely need a course of probiotics to reboot your intestinal gut bacteria.

Antibiotics kill both good and bad bacteria. That’s why a course of probiotics during antibiotic therapy is beneficial. Be sure to take the probiotics and antibiotics at least 2 hours apart from each other.

Once the GI symptoms resolve, you can then transition to relying on natural probiotics food to maintain that healthy gut microbiome.

Ok, there you have it…The 4 Benefits of Probiotics for ADHD Gut Health.

Correcting gut imbalance is the second step of the Eat to Focus Protocol.

I hope you find this information helpful. Let me know what you think and comment below. 

Remember ADHD does not doom your child to a life of under-achievement. You know your child is bright, full of potential, and deserves the best. In fact, many of the world’s greatest discoveries and inventions were made by people with ADHD.

I helped my crazy wild child who couldn’t read or write when she was little overcome her learning difficulties and become a merit scholarship student majoring in premed at Loyola Chicago University.

So don’t give up, everything is possible. 

If you’re just starting out on this natural ADHD treatment journey and still in the research phase, check out my new book Eat to Focus.

Inside this book, you’ll learn why your ADHD child is always hungry, why he or she seems addicted to milk and bread, the reason why most ADHD treatments do not work, and the exact four strategies I’ve used for my daughter to help her calm down to focus and finally learn normally.