Many of you are going to hate me for say this…but the truth needs to be told.

I cringed every time someone tells me “we eat a healthy diet” because I know this is the worst diet for kids with ADHD.

I’ve seen many kids in my practice who become malnutrition because parents feed them the “healthy diet” – low fat, low salt, low calories and full of “healthy junk”.

You might ask, “It’s the healthy diet that everyone talks about and follow, shouldn’t it be good for kids with ADHD too?”

The “Healthy Diet” that we’ve been told to follow since the 1970’s are actually backed by fake science.

From magazine ads to TV commercials to your doctors, families and friends, and nutritionists. They all tell you “eat low calories, eat low-fat, eat low cholesterol, eat low salt, eat sugar-free food, eat whole grains, eat whole wheat” and so on, and on…

Did you know this is the worst diet advice for kids with ADHD?

I’m going to bust all of these and explain why the conventional “healthy diet” is harmful for kids with ADHD.

Calories does not matter. Calories is a man-made concept that the body does not understand or care. What the body understands or cares about is real nutrients, such as glucose, amino acid, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, etc. Because these are what the human body survives on.

The other problem with focusing on calories is that you’re not focusing on nutrients. And you end up eating all the “healthy junk food” within the “low-calorie” limits. In the end, you’re losing out on essential nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

Fats are good. Fat matters even more so to your child than you think. Kids need fats to build new brain and organ tissues. Your body can only get fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K from fats only.

A low fat diet is deficient in fat-soluble vitamins and energy. Dietary cholesterol is not the cause of high blood cholesterol or the causes of cardiovascular diseases either. The 300mg cholesterol daily limit is fraud, and is supported by no studies.

In fact, your body makes 85% of the cholesterol in your blood in response to inflammation caused by excessive carbs intake. The question you should be asking is why is your body making so much cholesterol?

By the way, children need cholesterol in their diet because cholesterol is needed to stabilize cell membrane, including brain cells. If the cell membrane is unstable, the cell cannot function properly. Kind of like driving a car that’s falling apart.

Low-salt intake is a huge contributor to the mineral and electrolyte deficiencies seen in kids with ADHD. Growing children need salt or sodium chloride for proper biochemical functions and maintaining normal blood pressure. Focus on using unrefined sea salt, which retains most of the minerals from its source.

A “healthy diet” is excessive in carbs. People everywhere eating beans, whole wheat and whole grain thinking that these the magical healthy foods.

I’m sorry to burst your bubbles. But granola, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread and beans we eat today are highly modified genetically. Meaning our human body cannot recognize and process these grains.

Besides, kids with ADHD do not process carbs well. And remember we talked about the gluten sensitivity in kids with ADHD? People with ADHD are also more likely to have Celiac disease, which I talk about in my training videos and book.

The studies that showed artificial sugar are safe are studies paid for by the manufacturers. And the reason why these artificial sugar has no calories is because the body cannot recognize it and cannot use it.

Recent new studies show that these sugar-free food or artificial sweetener still stimulate the same reward receptor in the brain (aka the dopamine center) just like real sugar, that means they still trigger that sugar cravings in the brain.

Scientists also show that these artificial sugar increase risk of insulin resistance and obesity. In ADHD, this means the brain has an even harder time to use sugar and carbs from the diet.

The diet that kids with ADHD should eat is one that’s low carb, high fat, and high protein with no processed junk food including “healthy junk” (junk food marketed as healthy, but in fact, they’re still junk).

Ok, there you have it…

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.