ADHD: disruptive or deficient?

ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is a prevalent worldwide behavioral disorder with serious negative outcomes for individuals and their families and has a strong link to deficiency of essential omega-3 fatty acids. The consequences of ADHD are dire with poor academic performance, abnormal social functioning and reduced capacity for fine motor skills noted along with stunted height and growth in children. Families can expect to experience a higher financial burden and increased stress.

 The evidence reveals that children of ADHD present more commonly with omega-3 deficiency than other cohorts in studies with lower blood levels of n-3 (omega-3). There’s suggestive evidence of omega-3’s importance in brain grey matter, with optimistic findings linking dietary consumption of omega-3’s to effects on grey matter volume and preliminary findings showing a strong link between ADHD and deficits in grey matter maturation.

Omega-3 supplementation remains among the top studied alternative treatments in ADHD, leaving it fair to say that at least for some individuals if not all, omega-3 supplementation improves some of their symptoms. Which children would still avoid omega 3’s and choose evening primrose oil instead? Children with high pyrroles but this will be discussed in another post.