15 Home Remedies for ADHD

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ADHD, or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, is a chronic condition that typically develops in childhood and persists throughout life. People who suffer from ADHD often have difficulty concentrating that can seriously impact their ability to perform well at work or school. Many people turn to home remedies for ADHD to address this problem.

This guide will introduce you to some of the best home remedies for ADHD. Step-by-step instructions are included with each remedy, so you can easily give it a try.

1. Dietary Changes

When it comes to ADHD, there are a number of foods that you could be eating to help you feel and perform at your best. It goes without saying that foods with sugars should certainly be avoided. This may make the person with ADHD feel even more hyperactive and unable to focus. You should also avoid foods such as:

  • Artificial sweeteners
  • Caffeine
  • Conventional dairy products
  • Food dyes and colorings
  • Gluten
  • Hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP)
  • Monosodium glutamate (MSG) or Sodium glutamate
  • Nitrites
  • Soy 

The foods that you should eat include:

  • Foods high in B vitamins
  • Foods with tryptophan, such as poultry

This helps calm the body down:

  • Breakfast foods in the morning to ensure your blood sugar is stabilized
  • Wild caught salmon and tuna

Directions

  • Make your food for breakfast, lunch and dinner to eat as much of it as you can.
  • Prepare meals in advance so that you are more likely to eat them.

2. B Vitamins

B vitamins are great for those with ADHD because they help to sustain and balance out a healthy nervous system. You can get these vitamins by including green leafy vegetables and organic, wild animal products. Vitamin B6 is needed for the body to use essential brain chemicals and make them as well. These include dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. A study shows that vitamin B6 may be more effective than Ritalin in improving the behavior of those with ADHD.

Necessary Items 

Directions

  • Take these supplements as directed on the bottle or by your doctor.
  • Add foods rich in Vitamin B such as: bananas, grass fed beef, tuna, wild salmon.
  • Prepare your food ahead of time in little containers. This will help you want to eat the right food.
  • Try to eat them for all three meals.

3. Fish Oil 

Fish oils are important for a person with ADHD. They come with those all important vitamin B6 compounds, but they also include omega 3 fatty acids. These are thought to be essential for improving behavioral and learning problems like those that come with ADHD. Fish oils and fish, in general, should be consumed at least twice a week, especially by children who have been given an ADHD diagnosis.

The fish that should be consumed include tuna and salmon. They should be wild caught if you can choose what kind of fish you are eating.

4. Minerals

Getting enough minerals in your diet is an important way to ensure that you are giving your body what it needs to feel and function at its best. This means taking a mineral supplement if you do not think that you are getting enough of the necessary minerals from your diet alone. The minerals that are most important for those with ADHD include:

  • Calcium
  • Iron
  • Magnesium
  • Melatonin
  • Protein
  • Valerian
  • Vitamin C
  • Zinc

Directions

  • Eat as many of the other beneficial minerals that your body needs every day to be safe.
  • Pay attention to what vitamins you might need to be consuming as well and take them as directed.

5. Probiotics

There is evidence to suggest that ADHD, like a number of other atypical problems with the brain, can be caused by issues in the gut. It is said that if one can balance out the bacteria in their gut, the rest of them will soon follow. It is for this reason that probiotics are recommended. Digestive issues that could possibly be connected to ADHD may be alleviated by taking probiotics.

Probiotics are available at most drug stores, and you can even find them in the medicine aisle of most grocery stores as well.

Necessary Items

  • Probiotic pills/supplements

Directions

  • Take the probiotic capsules as recommended on the label or by your doctor.

6. GABA

GABA is an amino acid. This amino acid is known to soothe people’s minds and nervous systems. Taking GABA may help people to think more clearly, focus more easily and behave better. It can help hyperactivity by calming the body long enough to sit still, listen and pay attention. GABA is a supplement that can be found in most drug stores. You will also likely find it in grocery stores in their health and medicine aisles.

Necessary Items

Directions

  • Read the instructions on the bottle.
  • Take these supplements according to the instructions that are listed on the bottle.
  • You should take them according to your doctor’s instructions if her or his opinion is different.

7. Rhodiola Rosea

Rhodiola Rosea is great for those who would like to improve their focus while living with ADHD. Rhodiola Rosea helps to increase a person’s sensitivity to the world around them. In a physical sense, it also makes their nervous and neurological systems more sensitive as well. This allows them to create more serotonin and dopamine.

Necessary Items

  • Bottle of Rhodiola Rosea oil
  • Pure vegetable oil or olive oil

Directions

  • Mix the Rhodiola Rosea with the pure vegetable oil. The vegetable oil will help carry the oil into the skin
  • Dab the Rhodiola Rosea onto an area where you can smell it throughout the day.
  • The Rhodiola Rosea can also be burned in an oil burner to help provide a stimulating environment for you to work in or study in.

8. Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

Ylang Ylang is a lot like lavender in the way that it provides calmness to the person who takes it or uses its oil. This oil is ideal for those with ADHD who suffer from anxiety.

Necessary Items

  • Bottle of Ylang Ylang oil
  • Pure vegetable oil or olive oil

Directions

  • Mix the Ylang Ylang with the pure vegetable oil. The vegetable oil will help carry the oil into the skin.
  • Dab the Ylang Ylang onto an area where you are able to breathe it in throughout the day.
  • The Ylang Ylang can also be burned in an oil burner to help provide a stimulating environment for you to work in or study in.

9. Lavender Essential Oil

Lavender oil is great for those who need to deal with the hyperactivity aspects of ADHD. This oil is shown to calm down those who inhale it and can make it easier for them to sit still. This, in turn, can help make it easier on those with ADHD to focus on their work or their studies more easily.

Necessary Items

  • Bottle of lavender oil
  • Pure vegetable oil, coconut oil or olive oil

Directions

  • Mix the lavender oil with the pure oil. The pure oil will bring the herbal oil into the skin.
  • Dab the oil mixture onto an area where you can smell it as the day goes on.
  • The oil mixture can also be burned in an oil burner to create a more relaxing environment.

10. Frankincense Essential Oil

A little talked about symptom of ADHD is a somewhat unstable emotional well-being. This can possibly be quelled with the help of essential frankincense oil. This oil could improve a person’s emotional health, especially those who are living with ADHD.

Necessary Items

  • Bottle of frankincense oil
  • Pure vegetable oil or olive oil
  • Pure Coconut oil

Directions

  • Mix the frankincense with the pure vegetable or olive oil and coconut oil. The oil will help carry the herbal oil to the skin.
  • Put the mixture onto an area where you will be able to smell it during the day.
  • The frankincense oil can also be burned in an oil burner to help provide a stimulating environment in which to work or study.

11. Rosemary Essential Oil

Rosemary oil is beneficial for those who need to put emphasis on the concentration difficulties that come with ADHD. This oil is incredibly aromatic and stimulating, helping to keep you alert when you need to be paying attention. It has been shown to also improve a person’s memory.

Necessary Items

  • Bottle of rosemary oil
  • Pure vegetable oil or olive oil

Directions

  • Mix the rosemary oil with the pure olive, vegetable or coconut The pure oil will help carry the oil into the skin.
  • Touch the oil mixture onto an area where you can smell it throughout the day.
  • The rosemary oil can also be burned in an oil burner to help provide a stimulating environment for you to work in or study in.

12. Peppermint Essential Oil

Peppermint oil is also a great one for those who need to be able to better concentrate when living with ADHD. This oil is minty and mentally stimulating which can help you stay alert when you need to be paying attention. Peppermint oil may also allow for better recollection of memory.

Necessary Items

  • Bottle of peppermint oil
  • Pure vegetable oil or olive oil

Directions

  • Mix the peppermint with the vegetable or olive or oil. The oil will help carry the oil into the skin.
  • Dab the oil mixture onto an area where you can smell it throughout the day.
  • The peppermint oil can also be put into in an oil burner to provide a stimulating environment for you to work in or study in.

13. Vetiver Essential Oil

If you want something that can both calm down a child with ADHD and help them focus, look no further than vetiver oils. This oil is both calming physically and mentally stimulating to possibly help a child sit still and pay attention.

Necessary Items

  • Bottle of vetiver essential oil
  • Pure vegetable oil or olive oil

Directions

  • Blend the vetiver essential oil with the pure vegetable or olive oil. The vegetable oil will help carry the oil into the skin.
  • Put the oil mixture onto an area where you can smell it throughout the day.
  • The vetiver essential oil should also be burned in an oil burner to give you a great environment in which you can work or study.

14. Cedar Wood Essential Oil 

Cedarwood is also an excellent way calm a child with ADHD and improve their focus. This oil could physically calm them down while making them more alert mentally.

Necessary Items

Directions

  • Blend the cedarwood essential oil with the coconut oil and vegetable or olive oil. The pure kind of oil like this can help carry the oil into the skin
  • Dab the oil blend onto an area where you can breathe it in throughout the day.
  • The cedarwood essential oil can also be burned in an oil burner to help provide a stimulating environment in which to work or study.

15. Exercise

For both adults and children alike who have ADHD, exercise is important. Stress can make symptoms worse, so getting out and doing something active, whether it means working out or playing with the family, can significantly help their symptoms.

Getting to move around also expends some of that nervous energy. This can help them better focus after playing. 

Conclusion

ADHD may seem like a curse to have to live with sometimes, but there are ways that you can help yourself and your children learn to manage it. Our list of these home remedies for ADHD should give you a good place to start. Tell us about your favorite ADHD remedies below.

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