ADHD, Fasting and disordered eating
The promotion of fasting has been increasingly prevalent over the last year or two, which can be problematic for many people. When fasting is recommended as a necessary health habit on huge platforms, such as podcasts and social media run by established health experts, it’s heard by many different people with different needs, medical histories and mental health experiences.
In terms of ADHD, it’s dangerous because there is already a link to disordered eating, for various reasons. For example, symptoms such as executive function challenges, time blindness and poor impulse control can throw consistent eating habits out of the window. Sensory processing challenges can also leave people out of touch with the signals their bodies send to their brains. Not to mention that the co-occurring anxiety often accompanying ADHD can leave your stomach in knots and your hunger non-existent.
When I started working for myself, I discovered that without the structure of a set lunch break I had in previous employment, I often struggled to eat lunch at regular times, if at all on some days. This really shocked me, as my internal clock had always been religiously aligned with the appropriate hours for chowing down, my belly never failing to alert me with rumbles when I was due for breakfast, lunch or dinner on someone else’s clock. When I became more in control of my own time as a freelancer, I ironically lost control of my mealtimes.
So the often-tricky ADHD eating habits aren’t even necessarily about having an unhealthy relationship with food in the sense you might expect, i.e. not being all that fond of eating. No matter how much you love food (as I do, and have never been a fussy eater nor a faster), when you’re hyperfocused on something, it’s near-impossible to tear yourself away to do something else. There are other reasons too. Deprioritising the most basic of self-care activities, such as feeding yourself, is far from uncommon for ADHDers.
On days of overwhelm, when it feels like everyday responsibilities are all-consuming, the thought of having to prepare food can feel embarrassingly daunting - if the thought even enters your mind at all, when time blindness renders any glances at the clock utterly alien. I’ve talked to other ADHDers about this and they concur that this can lead to beige food often being the order of the day. Bagels and toast are better than nothing, but it’s hardly earning us any points for food group box-ticking.
What’s more, when I first started hearing this modern-day advice about fasting (apparently 16 hours should be left between dinner and breakfast, and breakfast isn’t even necessary because the Italians just have coffee and they’re Mediterranean; yes I really did hear one nutritionist podcast guest say this), I had a strange low-level guilt for eating breakfast, which I had to quickly get a handle on.
I know that when I don’t eat breakfast, particularly if I’ve also had coffee, my nervous system becomes wired, I feel erratic and I don’t feel in a healthy place. Most importantly, I feel hungry in the morning. So I don’t see it as a healthy choice to ignore that. (I should note that I don’t struggle with remembering/prioritising breakfast, as it’s usually always been something I’ve prepared the night before and consumed first thing, before the day threatens to devour me in unnecessary busyness. So taking cues from that and committing to lunch prep has been a recent revelation.)
Look, I’m not saying fasting won’t have its benefits for some. I know there’s a lot of science around it, and everyone loves a good stat these days. And sure, some people might just feel better not having certain meals sometimes, in order to feel energised or jump-start their digestive system if it’s been sluggish lately (and hopefully make up for it by getting enough nourishment/portions from their other meals). But you have to be in a grounded, self-aware place with food to go down that road, with full control over where you draw the line or an ability to abandon the experiment if it doesn’t suit you.
If you do decide to try fasting and start to feel you’re in a worrying state of mind, perhaps becoming hooked on a feeling of emptiness without any benefits, don’t continue. Focus more on enjoying foods that nourish you, avoiding or limiting certain ingredients that make you feel bad, and cultivate the healthiest possible connection between your mind and your gut. Of course, consulting your GP would be better than listening to me, but for what it’s worth, just, you know, look after yourself.
I don’t want to generalise around ADHD symptoms, as we’re all different. This article has referred more to the undereating, but it can also be the case that some neurodivergents can become hooked on the dopamine that food provides, so they might struggle with overeating instead. In fact, ‘how to stop binge eating with ADHD’ is one of the popular Google search terms related to ADHD and food. Other ADHD symptoms thought to correlate with this are poor impulse control and struggles with emotional regulation.
Duke University’s research around this found that 30% of people with Acute Binge Eating Disorder also struggle with ADHD. Similarly, studies conducted by Harvard Medical School found that people with ADHD have a greater risk of developing binge eating disorder or bulimia nervosa than their peers without ADHD. But that doesn’t mean fasting is any safer for those groups than those who undereat.
Equally, some people with ADHD may never struggle to maintain healthy eating habits, or some may be further along in their journey post-diagnosis/self-diagnosis and have a good handle on how they manage symptoms. But if you’ve recently been diagnosed and are still figuring out how to manage your health and feel your best, it might be a helpful area to exercise caution around.
In any case, it’s a good idea for anyone to be mindful of the advice they take on, particularly around diet and nutrition. Never do something because you feel like you *should*. What works for other people might not work for you, so remember that a personalised approach is better than following the latest trends.
Listen to a discussion around late-diagnosed ADHD, fasting and a personalised approach to managing symptoms in the latest Same Shit, Different Brain podcast (on any podcast player - click straight through to Spotify or Apple).
