9 Foods I’m Eating for Managing ADHD Symptoms Naturally

Now that I’m looking for ways to manage ADHD without medication, I’ve been learning about the impact of diet on managing ADHD symptoms. When you have ADHD, food is often a difficult area. We have texture aversions, struggle with executive dysfunction, and are often impulsive – all things that can lead to an unhealthy diet.

Trying to get yourself to stick to a strict diet you don’t actually enjoy is never going to work long term. However, if you’re looking for help managing ADHD symptoms, diet is a key place to start. As I’ve been learning more about what foods to eat and what foods to avoid to naturally manage ADHD symptoms, I’ve been tweaking my diet a bit. I’ve spent a lot of time in therapy working on my all-or-nothing, perfectionist AuDHD habits, allowing me to utilize those new tools to make healthy adjustments to my diet.

Rather than trying to make drastic changes, I’ve been making easy swaps to things I already eat. My ADHD is by no means cured but I do notice enough of a difference that I think food is indeed useful in managing ADHD symptoms. Read on for nine food swaps I’ve been making as natural remedies for ADHD!

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1) Healthy Swaps for Morning Oatmeal

I make oatmeal for breakfast most mornings. I’ll admit, I used to hate oatmeal as a kid. My only association with it was the mushy, processed quick oats and I hated the texture. When I learned how to make oatmeal using full oats, it was a game changer. Oatmeal is already a great breakfast option for people with ADHD as it can help with memory and provides a good dose of protein and fiber which can improve focus. However, there are ways you can load your oatmeal up into an ADHD power meal.

• Use almond milk with no sugar added or another plant-based milk if you avoid dairy. Do not use oat milk as it leads to a high glycemic index score which is bad for blood sugar and leads to energy crashes. Vanilla almond milk is also a great way to add flavor to your oatmeal.
• Swap coconut oil for brown sugar to sweeten up your oatmeal while adding in some healthy fats. Coconut oil can also be helpful for inflammation, including acne-inducing inflammation so it’s truly a great addition to your diet.
• Add fruit to your oatmeal. Admittedly, this is often the only fruit I get in a day so I love to load up on berries and/or bananas. Apples and kiwis are also fruits that can help with naturally managing ADHD symptoms so toss those in there too if you like them!
• Flaxseed and chia seeds are another great addition to your morning oatmeal. They are high in antioxidants, fiber, and Omega 3s as well as being great hormone balancers. Save yourself time with your food processor and get ground flax seeds and ground chia seeds.
• Get organic oats because non-organic oats can have a build-up of heavy metals due to the soil they’re grown in. Organic oats are also free of synthetic pesticides, which have been linked to worsened ADHD symptoms.

2) Organic Peanut Butter

Protein can often be a struggle for people with ADHD but it’s crucial for managing ADHD symptoms. In my perpetual quest to force protein on myself, I often grab a spoonful of peanut butter when I know I need a protein boost or should eat something but have no appetite. However, recently I’ve learned that most non-organic peanut butters contain numerous ingredients that research has shown can exacerbate ADHD symptoms.

Let’s use Jif for example. In addition to the peanuts, Jif contains sugar, salt, molasses, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, and mono and diglycerides. Jif offers a “natural” peanut butter option but that still contains palm oil, which is high in saturated fats and not good for managing ADHD symptoms. Organic peanut butters like Crazy Richards are made only of peanuts. No salt, no additives, just peanuty perfection.

3) Less Candy, More Dried Fruit

I admit, I don’t think I’ll ever cut candy entirely out of my diet. However, I am no longer in my reckless twenties and I feel unhealthy foods on my body so much more heavily now. To satisfy my very demanding sweet tooth, I’ve been keeping more dried fruit or even healthier candy options around. Dried mango and dates are my personal favorites. Also, zinc and magnesium are nutrients that can help with managing ADHD symptoms. Know what’s high in zinc and magnesium? Dark chocolate. I’ve never been a huge dark chocolate fan but dark chocolate covered raisins help balance out the flavor profile, in my opinion.

4) Wild Rice Instead of White Rice

I love rice and it’s a staple in my diet. As much as I love sticky white rice, white rice is a simple carbohydrate. Don’t trust the name, simple carbohydrates are not simple on your system. Most of the nutrients are removed from simple carbs which causes them to be digested quickly. This leads to spikes in blood sugar and feeling hungry sooner which can lead to high blood pressure and weight gain. For people with ADHD, this also means a decreased ability to focus and more impulsive behavior.

Substituting wild rice in place of white rice can help you naturally manage ADHD symptoms. Why not brown rice you ask? Well, brown rice has been found to have higher arsenic levels than white rice. Compared to brown rice, wild rice has 30% fewer calories while having 40% more protein as well as more fiber, zinc, and potassium which makes it a great addition if you’re starting an ADHD diet.

5) Choosing Cheeses With Higher Protein

I love cheese and it’s the main reason I could never be vegan. However, for the last four years I was having cystic acne problems due to taking hydroxychloroquine and now I’m on a skin healing journey. Unfortunately, dairy can flare autoimmune issues and inflammation in a way that can cause skin issues for some people so I’ve been trying to cut back on dairy. It’s worth noting that dairy isn’t a food people with ADHD should avoid, unless they have food sensitivities to it.

As a result of this dairy reduction in my diet, I’m trying to be more mindful about my cheese habit by only keeping high protein cheeses around. Cottage cheese is a great source of protein but I understand the texture isn’t for everyone. Where I live, you can get cottage cheese that’s made with garlic which is so delicious. It’s one of my go-to snacks. I’ve been making pasta bakes with cottage cheese to satisfy my love of pasta while getting some more protein (and delicious cheesiness) in there.

Top 10 cheeses with the highest protein content per 1 ounce/28 grams

1. Parmesan – 10 grams of protein
2. Romano – 9 grams of protein
3. Gruyere – 8.5 grams of protein
4. Swiss – 7.7 grams of protein
5. Provolone – 7.3 grams of protein
6. Edam – 7.1 grams of protein
7. Gouda – 7 grams of protein
8. Mozzarella – 6.9 grams of protein
9. Cheddar – 6.9grams of protein
10. Colby – 6.8 grams of protein

6) Healthy Chip Alternatives

Next on our list of food swaps for naturally managing ADHD is chips. I love snacking on chips. I mean, who doesn’t? But when you have ADHD, sometimes a texture craving can be so consuming that the only thing you want is that chip texture, and nothing else will satisfy you. The flavor varieties! The salt! The crunch! It’s all so dopamine-inducing it’s hard to resist. So in my quest to eat more foods that are ADHD friendly, I knew I needed to find some healthier chip options.

Things to look for in healthy chip alternatives:

• Made with olive or avocado oil instead of vegetable oils
• Chips are baked not fried
• Include more than just potatoes such as kale, sweet potato, beetroot, corn, black beans, snap peas, or popcorn
• Have a higher protein count by using chickpeas or lentils

Healthy Chip Alternatives recommended by nutritionists:

• Terra Exotic Vegetable Original Chips
• Trader Joe’s Vegetable Root Chips
• Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Tortilla Chips
• Siete Sea Salt Tortilla Chips
• Pulp Pantry Jalapeño Lime Chips
• HIPPEAS Chickpea Tortilla Chips, Rockin’ Ranch
• Splitz Original Crunchy Split Pea Crisp Snacks
• Back to Nature Rosemary Garlic Dipper Crisps
• PopCorners Popped Corn Snacks
• Black Bean Multigrain SunChips
• Jackson’s Avocado Oil Sweet Potato Chips
• Beanitos White Bean Tortilla Chips 
• Barnana Organic Plantain Chips
• Tia Lupita Cactus Grain-Free Tortilla Chips

7) Less Diet Coke, More Seltzer

It’s anecdotal based on people I know, but I swear neurodivergent people have a disproportionate love for Diet Coke. I try to avoid sodas in general but I tend to make exceptions for Diet Coke more than I should. That being said, I’ve read enough of the research to understand that soda can exacerbate ADHD symptoms and negatively impact fertility. Since that’s the complete opposite of my goals as of late, I’ve cut back on the Diet Coke. Soda/seltzer water is a staple for me anyway (and a good boost of magnesium) but sometimes I just need more flavor (and dopamine from said flavor.)

Some seltzer drinks on the market include artificial flavorings, artificial sweeteners, caffeine, and sodium. That means it’s important to check the ingredients and not just assume that because it’s water, it meets your nutrition goals.

Dietitian-approved flavored seltzer drinks:

• Spindrift Sparkling Water
• San Pellegrino Mineral Water
• Waterloo Sparkling Water
• Aura Bora Herbal Sparkling Water
• Liquid Death Convicted Melon Sparkling Water
• LMNT Sparkling Electrolyte Water
• Hal’s New York Seltzer Water

8) Stove Top Popcorn Instead of Microwave Popcorn

Microwave popcorn has been linked to increased levels of PFAS. It also includes high sodium levels and artificial flavoring that won’t help manage your ADHD symptoms. An easy solution is to swap stove-top popcorn in place of microwave popcorn. It may seem like more work but it honestly takes the same amount of time!

For healthy popcorn, use walnut oil, avocado oil, or extra virgin olive oil to pop it. You can also use coconut oil if you love sweet popcorn snacks. Looking for more flavor than that? Check out different natural popcorn seasonings.

9) Natural Fruit Snacks in Place of Artificially Flavored Fruit Snacks

I know we already went through candy swaps on this list of foods for managing ADHD but I think this is worth mentioning as well. Many of us convince ourselves that eating fruit snacks in place of candy is a healthy swap. To some extent, it is because they’re usually less sugar and less fat but that’s not always the case. Even with ones that have less sugar, fruit snacks often contain artificial food dyes, artificial flavoring, and preservatives. This ain’t it if your goal is naturally managing your ADHD symptoms.

Opting for fruit snacks that have natural ingredients can help you satisfy that sweet tooth without the risk of exacerbating your ADHD symptoms. Pretty much all fruit snacks are still going to have added sugar but I wanted to give you some options that have less sugar and fewer other additives compared to most fruit snacks.

Healthier Fruit Snacks:

• Annie’s Organic Bunny Fruit Snacks
• BEAR Real Fruit Snack Rolls
• Chum Fruit Bites
• Yum Earth Fruit Snacks and Gummy Bears (and really anything they make as they’re a personal favorite)
• Soley Organic Whole Fruit Gummies
• Black Forest
• Stretch Island Fruit Strips
• Black Forest Juicy Burst Fruit Snacks
• Organic 365 Fruit Strips\
• Plum Organic Teensy Snacks
• Simple Truth Freeze Dried Fruit 
• Good & Gather Fruit Leather

Managing ADHD Symptoms With Food

I want to keep your expectations in check. No matter what you do, your ADHD won’t just go away and make you completely symptom-free. However, eating a healthy diet is a crucial building block for managing ADHD symptoms rather than being ruled by them.

When you follow an ADHD diet, you’ll be able to focus better, be less impulsive, and feel more regulated throughout the day. Don’t be hard on yourself and expect yourself to flawlessly stick to some new strict ADHD diet regimen. I am by no means perfect with mine but I do feel a lot better and have an easier time naturally managing my ADHD symptoms when I’m eating with these things in mind.

I hope this list of foods as natural remedies for ADHD is helpful for you. Have you noticed the impact food has on your ADHD symptoms? Tell me about your experiences in the comments!