EPA in Omega-3 Supplements Improves the Symptoms of ADHD

 

EPA improves ADHD

I have written before about the Omega-3 fatty acids for the treatment of ADHD as well as other forms of ADHD. It turns out that a recent review of the medical literature has found that it is the EPA rather than the DHA amounts in the Omega-3 fatty acids that most improve the symptoms of ADHD.

The researchers of a review paper published this month in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry looked at ten trials involving 700 children and found that supplementation with Omega-3 fatty acids demonstrated a small but significant effect in improving the symptoms of ADHD and that the amount of Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) within the supplement was significantly correlated with the effect of the supplement.

This is very new information. Up to this point we thought that it was the total amount of Omega-3 that made the difference. This report advises that it is the EPA within the Omega-3 that matters. The amount of EPA in Krill oil is minimal. There are supplements that contain a lot more EPA than the Krill Oil including CorOmega for kids and MorEpa for adults.

I have switched my ADHD son from the Krill oil to the MorEpa. The Krill oil has the phophatidyl Serine that has been shown in some studies to be helpful for the symptoms of ADHD but the data behind the EPA is, at this point, stronger than the data showing benefits from the Phophatidyl and I believe strongly in following the data.

This table from the American Heart Association gives you the amounts of EPA and DHA in your most popular Omega-3 supplements. One of the problems with many of these supplements is that the fish oil gives you bad breath and fish burps. The MorEpa and the CorOmega products are both flavored in such a way that these side effects are minimized.

The abstract of the  new study can be found under the fish supplement table.  Send me your thoughts and let me know how you are doing.

Fish Oil Supplements

Supplement Name	Amount of EPA, DHA (in one soft gel or capsule)
Carlson Super Omega-3 Fish Oils	300mg EPA, 200mg DHA
Carlson® Norwegian Cod Liver Oil	460-500 mg EPA, 500-550 mg DHA per 5 ml liquid
Coromega™ Omega-3 Fish Oil	350 mg EPA, 230 mg DHA per packet
CVS® Natural Fish Oil Concentrate 1000 mg	180 mg EPA, 120 mg DHA
GNC Preventive Nutrition® Omega Complex	60 mg EPA, 40 mg DHA
Dale Alexander® Omega-3 Fish Oil Concentrate	234mg EPA, 125mg DHA
Health from the Sun: The Total EFA™ Essential Fatty Acid Dietary Supplement	72mg EPA, 46mg DHA
Nature's Bounty® Cold Water Salmon Oil 1000 mg	80 mg EPA, 120 mg DHA
Nature's Bounty® Natural Fish Oil 1000 mg Cholesterol Free	180 mg EPA, 120 mg DHA
OLAY™ vitamins essential balanced omega 3/6™, Enteric Coated for Better Digestion	93.6 mg EPA, 187 mg DHA
OmegaBrite 100% Natural Advanced Omega 3 Formula, 500 mg	375 mg EPA, 55 mg DHA
PhytoPharmica® ESKIMO-3® Naturally Stable Fish Oil®	70 mg EPA, 42 mg DHA
Puritan's Pride® Cholesterol Free Fish Oil 1200 mg	216 mg EPA, 144 mg DHA
Puritan's Pride® Cholesterol Free Natural Fish Oil EPA 1000 mg	180 mg EPA, 120 mg DHA
Puritan's Pride® Triple Omega 3-6-9 Flax, Fish and Borage Oil	120 mg EPA, 80 mg DHA
Rexall® Flax, Fish, Borage Oil	120 mg EPA, 80 mg DHA
Spring Valley Fish Oil 1200 mg	216 mg EPA, 144 mg DHA
Sundown® Fish Oil 100 mg	180 mg EPA, 120 mg DHA
The Vitamin Shoppe™ Essential Oils & Fatty Acids EPA-DHA Omega-3 Fish Oil 500	300 mg EPA, 200 mg DHA
Triomega® Omega-3	333,3ng EPA, 167 DHA
Vitamin World® Cholesterol Free Fish Oil 1200 mg	216 mg EPA, 144 mg DHA
Vitamin World® Naturally Inspired™ Omega-3 Fish Oil 1000mg Cholesterol-Free	180 mg EPA, 120 mg DHA
Vitamin World® Naturally Inspired™ Super EPA Natural Fish Oil 1000 mg Cholesterol-Free	300 mg EPA, 200 mg DHA
Vitamin World® Triple Omega 3-6-9 Flax, Fish & Borage Oil	120 mg EPA, 80 mg DHA

J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2011 Oct;50(10):991-1000. Epub 2011 Aug 12.

Omega-3 Fatty Acid supplementation for the treatment of children withattention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptomatology: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Bloch MH, Qawasmi A.

Source

Yale Child Study Center and Yale University.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Several studies have demonstrated differences in omega-3 fatty acid composition in plasma and in erythrocyte membranes in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) compared with unaffected controls. Omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory properties and can alter central nervous system cell membrane fluidity and phospholipid composition. Cell membrane fluidity can alter serotonin and dopamine neurotransmission. The goal of this meta-analysis was to examine the efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in children with ADHD.

METHOD:

PubMed was searched for randomized placebo-controlled trials examining omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in children with ADHD symptomatology. The primary outcome measurement was standardized mean difference in rating scales of ADHD severity. Secondary analyses were conducted to determine the effects of dosing of different omega-3 fatty acids in supplements.

RESULTS:

Ten trials involving 699 children were included in this meta-analysis. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation demonstrated a small but significant effect in improving ADHD symptoms. Eicosapentaenoic acid dose within supplements was significantly correlated with supplement efficacy. No evidence of publication bias or heterogeneity between trials was found.

CONCLUSION:

Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation, particularly with higher doses of eicosapentaenoic acid, was modestly effective in the treatment of ADHD. The relative efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation was modest compared with currently available pharmacotherapies for ADHD such as psychostimulants, atomoxetine, or α(2) agonists. However, given its relatively benign side-effect profile and evidence of modest efficacy, it may be reasonable to use omega-3 fatty supplementation to augment traditional pharmacologic interventions or for families who decline other psychopharmacologic options.

ADHD and Brain Antioxidants.

ADHD and Brain Antioxidants.

A study just published and cited below has shown that salivary protein thiol level can be used to identify children with ADHD. Salivary protein thiol levels are good indicators of the antioxidant status of the brain. Increased brain protein thiols signal a poor antioxidant brain status.


I know that you know what antioxidants are but as a brief reminder, antioxidants are micronutrients that are typically found in foods that protect the tissues in our bodies from harm. These micronutrients do this by blocking chemical reactions that cause oxidation.

Oxygen can 'rust' or corrodes our brain tissue similarly to the way oxygen rusts metal. This oxidation harms the brain because it causes the chemicals inside our brains to not work as they should. Damage caused by oxidative stress has been known to be the cause of many illnesses. ADHD is one of the many conditions that may be the result of a poor brain antioxidant status.

The National Institutes of Health has developed a score for foods that are good antioxidants. They call this score the ORAC score. The way it works is that each fruit, vegetable and spice has a certain score based on well each food raises the level of blood antioxidant levels. Brightly colored foods such as blueberries and raspberries and some types of apples, and beans have very high antioxidant ORAC scores. Your can find the ORAC food scale here.

Researchers have found that increasing daily intake of micronutrients to between 3,000 and 5,000 ORAC units seems significant increase the blood, brain and tissue antioxidant capacity. It is probably a good idea to increase our antioxidant intake to these recommended levels so as to minimize the symptoms of ADHD.


Neurochem Res. 2011 Oct 1.
Altered Biochemical Parameters in Saliva of Pediatric Attention Deficit HyperactivityDisorder.
Archana E, Pai P, Prabhu BK, Shenoy RP, Prabhu K, Rao A.

Creatine for ADHD

Creatine for ADHD?

Is supplementing with Creatine effective for improving the symptoms of ADHD?  It might be.  This very inexpensive supplement has been found in an Australian study to help working memory and intelligence.  It has been used by body builders and athletes for years to improve sports performance and it has been recently found to improve brain functioning.

What is Creatine?  Creatine is compound that our bodies make naturally and that is abundant in people who consume a lot of meat but is known to be deficient in some vegetarians.  Creatine is essential for the normal functioning of both our muscles and our brains. 

Creatine work on the brain’s Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP).  If you have Inattentive ADD, as I do, you probably will not remember the lecture on ATP from your high school biology class.  I will not bore you with the details but ATP is something that our body uses to produce all sorts of cell energy.  Creatine may improve Inattentive ADD by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the ATP function in our brains and in our muscles.

ADHD

Creatine helps ADHD because higher brain creatine is associated with improved neuropsychological performance.  Creatine supplementation has been shown to increase brain creatine and creatine kinase (CK).  CK has been found, in studies, to both protective the brain and to improve brain functioning. One study reported that, in animal studies, Ritalin increases creatine kinase.  It is possible that this increase in creatine kinase is one of the ways that Ritalin improves the symptoms of ADHD and Inattentive ADD.

Creatine Supplements for ADHD

You would have to eat lots of meat to get the amount of creatine that has been found in studies to improve brain functioning.  Fortunately, creatine, which costs about 10 cents a dose, is available in supplement from.

Creatine can be taken as a supplement and the therapeutic dose for Inattentive ADD would be between 2-5 grams a day for adults and about half that dose for children. Supplemental Creatine is showing great promise in the treatment of Parkinson's disease and is also currently being studied to determine it's effectiveness for the treatment of other diseases such as congestive heart failure (CHF), depression, bipolar disorder, high cholesterol and rheumatoid arthritis

Studies have shown that Creatine has very few side effects.  One study reported brain benefits at levels of 2 grams a day in adults.  Reports indicate that the side effects of this supplement which can include stomach bloating, diarrhea and body odor are minimal when taken at these doses.

Creatine may help Inattentive ADD by helping the brain's cell energy system.  It may work similarly to Ritalin and act as both an anti-oxidant and as fuel for amino acid and neurotransmitter functioning.  The use of Creatine supplementation for Inattentive ADD has not been specifically studied but there is reason for me to believe that Creatine supplementation may help the symptoms of Inattentive ADD.

Amino Acids. 2011 Mar 11. [Epub ahead of print]

Use of creatine in the elderly and evidence for effects on cognitive function in young and old.
Rawson ES, Venezia AC.

Amino Acids. 2011 Mar 30.
The creatine kinase system and pleiotropic effects of creatine.
Wallimann T, Tokarska-Schlattner M, Schlattner U.

Proc Biol Sci. 2003 Oct 22;270(1529):2147-50.
Oral creatine monohydrate supplementation improves brain performance: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over trial.
Rae C, Digney AL, McEwan SR, Bates TC.

Life Sci. 2008 Dec 5;83(23-24):795-800. Epub 2008 Oct 5.
Methylphenidate increases creatine kinase activity in the brain of young and adult rats. 
Scaini G, Fagundes AO, Rezin GT, Gomes KM, Zugno AI, Quevedo J, Streck EL.

DMAE and ADHD

Will Help Inattentive ADHD? I was reviewing the most recent ADHD articles on Pubmed when I came across a review article that listed some of the non-prescription treatments and the article reported that DMAE could offer some help for the symptoms of ADHD. Apparently in the 1970s DMAE was used as a stimulant and some people with ADHD had improved symptoms while taking this supplement.

DMAE is Dimethylaminoethanol and it is one of the building blocks for acetylcholine. Acetylcholine helps with cell communication and it is a neurotransmitter. Many researchers believe that neurotransmitter issues are what causes the symptoms seen in people with ADHD.

DMAE is found in salmon and fish oil and is marketed today as a supplement that helps memory and aging. In the seventies it was prescribed by physicians for ADHD under the name Deanol and several studies reported benefits in behavior and learning at a dose of 500mg a day.  I have included a summary of a study comparing Ritalin and DMAE below.

The FDA removed DMAE which was called by the prescription name 'Deanol' from it's list of approved medications for ADHD in the early 1980s because of a lack of research on it's effectiveness and it became an orphan drug which means it was a drug that no one was interested in testing any further so it fell by the wayside.

When I trolled the ADHD forums for information on DMAE, I got a mixed bag of reports from parents and patients who reported some success and some non-success with the use of this supplement. Apparently some company named Nature's Plus makes a product called PediActive that has 254mg of DMAE as well as Phosphatidylserine and Phosphatidycholine in a chewable tablet form that is marketed for the "Active Child". The Amazon reviews for this product are few but all positive.

When I went to Amazon to find out how adults where faring on the DMAE tablets, most all the reviews reported positive results.  People reported that they were more focused, had more energy, were more productive, etc but I have found that people tend to write more positive Amazon reviews than negative ones and it is entirely possible that the folks that got no results from the DMAE tablets did not bother to write a review.

So will DMAE help ADHD Inattentive. I don't know. All indications point to this supplement being safe and well tolerated.  The only ill effect that I read about were people who reported that there dreams were more vivid.

If anyone has had experience with this supplement I would love to hear about it.  please comment and let us know. If I decide to give DMAE tablets a try, I will let you know how it

Rhodiola for ADHD

Rhodiola for Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD, ADHD-I, ADHD-PI)

Rhodiola is occasionally recommended for the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or ADHD.  This herb is also known as Golden Root and Siberian Ginseng though it is not in the Ginseng family at all.   This post discusses the use of  Rhodiola for Sluggish Cognitive Tempo but it does not address the issue of whether Rhodiola can be used for ADHD.

Rhodiola, like Ginseng is an adaptogen. You will remember that adaptogens help our bodies cope and recover from stress. In China and Russia this herb is used to counter the effects of fatigue and to help athletes recover from extreme physical activities. It is also frequently used to help people who work long shifts without sleep such as soldiers and physicians deal with sleep deprivation and to help the ill recover from illness.

It is Rhodiola's anti-fatigue effects that make it especially useful for people with Sluggish Cognitive Tempo but recent studies have found Rhodiola to be very helpful for not only fatigue but also for depression, anxiety and memory.

Rhodiola, in research studies, has been found to act on an area of the brain knows as the hypo-pituitary axis or the HPA to regulate stress hormone levels and to improve the symptoms of anxiety and depression and it has also been found in studies to regulate neurotransmitter levels which is why it might prove helpful in improving the symptoms of ADHD-PI.

A review article published in the Journal Phytomedicine last year reported that Rhodiola had been found in studies to help anxiety, depression, fatigue, stress and cognition and that it did so through various brain enhancing mechanisms. I have included the abstract below.

The specific benefits that can be had from the use of Rhodiola in people with ADHD have not been studied. Like the Indian herbs Bacaopa Monieri, Ashwagandha and Shankhapushpi (Evolvulus alsinoides), Rhodiola has been used to treat ADHD symptoms in other countries but studies that establish the dose and benefits of these herbs have not been performed by doctors or scientist in the U.S.

As with all herbs and supplements, these products should not be taken if you are pregant or nursing and should only be used under the supervision of a licensed physician. Andrew Weil, MD, the well known Harvard trained physician and herbal specialist reports on his website that, "Studies of its medicinal applications have appeared in the scientific literature of Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, the Soviet Union and Iceland. Today in Russia, rhodiola is used as a tonic and remedy for fatigue, poor attention span, and decreased memory; it is also believed to make workers more productive. In Sweden and other Scandinavian countries it is used to increase the capacity for mental work and as a general strengthener."

The bottom line is that Rhodiola may prove useful for the treatment of  ADHD but no studies have confirmed this.  The usual dose of Rhodiola is between 100mg and 200mg per day. The active ingredients are Salidroside and Rosavin and herb specialist report that unless the herb has 1% salidroside it is not worth taking.


Phytomedicine. 2010 Jun;17(7):481-93. Epub 2010 Apr 7.
Rosenroot (Rhodiola rosea): traditional use, chemical composition, pharmacology and clinical efficacy.
Panossian A, Wikman G, Sarris J.

Ginseng may help ADHD

Ginseng may help ADHD

I would now like to write about some of the ADHD vitamins and supplements that may help ADHD.

Ginseng may help ADHD.  Ginseng is a supplement that has long been used in Asia to treat everything from viruses to impotence. It has been studied extensively in the U.S. and is Asia. Ginseng’s active ingredients work together to provide many brain benefits but this supplement has, to date, mostly been used by medical experts as an adaptogen. An adaptogen is a substance that helps the body adapt to stress and keeps the body from becoming ill in the face of stressors.

The benefits that can be derived from taking Ginseng may be far greater than what it is most currently used for and I will outline why some researchers believe that Ginseng may be helpful for the treatment of ADHD and for the learning problems that frequently co-occur in people with the symptoms of ADHD.

Studies on Ginseng have found benefits from taking this substance in many areas of the brain. Ginseng has been found in several studies to improve memory, learning and sleep. Studies in the elderly have found that Ginseng protects the aging brain by decreasing the inflammatory processes and cell death that inevitably occurs with aging.

Few studies have been performed looking at the benefits of Ginseng for the treatment of ADHD but there is good reason to believe that Ginseng might help treat ADHD. The most compelling reason to find Ginseng potentially helpful is the fact that Ginseng, in animal studies, has been found to improve the functioning of brain neurotransmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine.

Most researchers believe that the stimulants used to treat ADHD work by improving neurotransmitter function and for this reason it is possible that Ginseng may provide benefits as well. Ginseng has also been shown to improve the functioning of a substance called brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Some researchers believe that genetic difference seen in people with ADHD cause them to have faulty neurotransmitter and BDNF functioning.

Ginseng has been found to regulate and improve the way the brain utilizes and metabolizes glucose. Some researchers believe that the brains of people with ADHD improperly metabolize glucose and that this leads to problems in the areas of the brain that cause most ADHD problems. Ginseng may help ADHD by assuring that the glucose needed to energize certain ADHD brain problem areas is available.

The learning and memory problems frequently seen in people with ADHD, especially people with the Inattentive type of ADHD is thought, by some researchers, to be the result of the failure of proper cell communication and proper cell development in the ADHD brain. Ginseng has been found in studies to improve the way that brain cells communicate with each other which, in turn, is thought to help memory and learning.

Problems with ADHD often improve with age and this is thought to be the result of brain cell development. Ginseng, is some studies, has been found to help nerve growth and brain cell growth, especially early in life. These benefits to cell development may also be the reason why Ginseng has been found to help with memory and learning and is one more reason why Ginseng may be useful for the treatment of ADHD.

Several studies have found increased levels of toxins such as pesticides and heavy metals in children with ADHD. Animal studies report that Ginseng can alleviate the brain damage caused by these toxins and there is reason to believe that Ginseng, acting as an adaptogen, can remedy the brain damage caused by other environmental toxins as well.

Few studies have been performed looking at the benefits of Ginseng for ADHD but there is reason to believe that Ginseng may be useful for treating ADHD by acting on the ADHD brains as:

1. An adaptogen
2. A neurotransmitter booster
3. A brain cell communication enhancer
4. A brain glucose moderator
5. A brain development tool
6. A brain toxin remover
7. An aging brain repairer

Ginseng can be found in pills and liquid form at most health food stores. The dose of Ginseng that is typically used to treat memory and learning problems is 200mg of Ginseng twice a day.

ADHD Vitamins that do not help ADHD Symptoms

Some vitamins and supplements do not help ADHD symptoms

I would like you to not waste money on vitamins for ADHD  and supplements for ADHD that do not help the symptoms of ADHD so
before I move on to the ADHD Vitamins that perhaps are helpful for ADHD but that need more study I would like to mention some ADHD vitamins and supplements that simply do not help ADHD symptoms. This is the group of vitamins and supplements that has been studied extensively and has been found wanting

According to a survey performed by the National Institutes of Health, the drug that is used by parents and patients the most to treat the symptoms of ADHD Inattentive, Hyperactive, and Combined type is St. John's Word or hypericum. This herb has been found very useful in the treatment of depression but study after study has found it useless in the treatment of the symptoms of ADHD.

Forty percent of patients diagnosed with ADHD also have a co-diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder, the St. John's Wort will only help your ADHD symptoms if these symptoms co-exist with depression. For the sixty percent of people with ADHD symptoms without depression, the St. John's Wort is goint to be a waste of money because it does NOTHING for ADHD symptoms.

Valerian root is used by a great deal of people with ADHD. This is an herb that works fairly well to alleviate the symptoms of anxiety. Some people report that valerian is as good as Valium for anxiety but unless you have ADHD and anxiety symptoms, about 25% percent of patients with ADHD have a co-diagnosis of anxiety disorder, you should stop taking the Valerian. Valerian has been studied extensively and has been found to NOT help the symptoms of ADHD without anxiety.

Homeopathic remedies are not ADHD vitamins but they are ADHD supplements that rarely if ever help ADHD symptoms There are many on the market that are supposed to help ADHD. Homeopathic remedies are supposed to help attention, hyperactivity and to improve cognition but repeated studies have not shown any benefits in treating the symptoms of ADHD. Some badly performed studies have been done where they first determine if a person will benefit from the homeopathic remedy and then include only those subjects in the study of homeopathic remedies and these studies have shown positive results but if you only include people in your study who say the remedy helps them before hand, you are always going to get a positive result.

Tyrosine and all the other amino acid supplements have very mixed results for ADHD. I have posted about amino acids and ADHD in a previous post but the crux of the problem is that these amino acids need to go through a very complicated process that involves a million other connections and unless everything is in place in just the correct amount and order, these amino acids will not help. Many studies have looked at the amino acids and they have mostly shown that they may help in the short term but that they do not seem to provide any lasting benefit.

There are vitamins that seem to help ADHD, vitamins that may help ADHD symptoms and vitamins that have been thoroughly studied and do not help ADHD symptoms. There are probably many other vitamins and supplements that do not help ADHD but many of those have not been included here because they have not been thoroughly studied.

Amino Acid 'Vitamins' for ADHD Vitamins vs High Protein Diet

Amino Acid Vitamins or high protein diet for ADHD?

High protein diets are high in amino acids 'vitamins' such as tyrosine which have long been used to treat ADHD. The use of amino acids vitamins for ADHD has not been sanctioned by any “official” ADHD expert or expert body by many psychiatrist and physicians prescribe tyrosine supplement to their ADHD patients to use alone of in conjunction with their prescription medicine.

 I have posted about tyrosine for ADHD in other posts but to summarize here the thinking is that because tyrosine is a precursor to dopamine and norepinephrine and because these neurotransmitters are at the root of ADHD symptoms, then tyrosine should help ADHD.

The issues surrounding the use of tyrosine for ADHD are complicated. Though tyrosine does cross the blood brain barrier, for it to be effective in alleviating ADHD symptoms, many other metabolic and biological obstacles have to be eliminated. Amino acids look similar to the brain and compete with each other for entry into the brain. If you supplement too much with tyrosine, it may be at the expense of other amino brain amino acids that are also important for the elimination of ADHD symptoms.

These obstacles are no small matter but there are still other obstacles. If tyrosine is to work, cofactors such as vitamins and minerals must be in optimal states. If tyrosine is improve dopamine and norepinephrine levels (norepinephrine may be the main problems in ADHD Inattentive, ADHD-I), specific enzymes most be in optimal states. This means that for tyrosine to work, other vitamins and minerals must be given with it.

Studies have not shown tyrosine to consistently improve ADHD symptoms and some researchers believe that tyrosine does not work for ADHD and at best will do nothing and worse can be harmful. Studies have reported that if cofactors such as vitamins, minerals and enzymes are sub-optimal than tyrosine will not work. Other researchers report that since tyrosine does not address the issues of dopamine and norepinephrine transport within the brain, even if tyrosine improves dopamine levels that no improvement in symptoms will be seen. Other researchers report that too much tyrosine is dangerous and can lead to a build up of a product called homocysteine. Having high homocysteine levels is a medically terrible thing because elevated levels of this particular amino acid can cause strokes, heart attacks, and cancer.

So can high protein diets help brain function in ADHD or ADHD PI? Nutritionist have long suggested that the best way to get an adequate amount of vitamins, minerals and amino acids is by eating a diet that is rich in vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Diet sources of these key elements are more bio-available, are better absorbed by our bodies and often contain the cofactors that are necessary for our body to best use them. So if this is the case than high protein diets might help cognition and brain function because our brains would be receiving supplemental amino acids packaged in an optimal form.

A recent study published in the May edition of the Journal of Neural Transmission has, in fact, found that high protein diets improve cognition. The researchers of this study fed healthy volunteers a 30% protein diet and fed the controls a 15% (normal) protein diet for three weeks. The researchers then tested the subjects for levels of cognition and for blood levels of harmful brain products such as platelet MaoB, a product thought to cause dementia, and homocysteine. The subjects on the high protein diets not only had better cognitive functioning, they also had protective levels of MaoB and homocysteine.

It appears that diet may improve ADHD symptoms, it is better to eat a high protein diet than it is to supplement with tyrosine. The processes and pathways required for ADHD to work are complicated and dietary amino acids are more bioavailable. I still believe that acetyl L-carnitine, also an amino acids, is helpful for ADHD Inattentive, but the pathways of this amino acid are somewhat different than the brain pathways of tyrosine.


A proteomics study reveals a predominant change in MaoB expression in
 platelets of healthy volunteers after high protein meat diet:
relationship to the methylation cycle.
Zellner M, Babeluk R, Jakobsen LH, Gerner C, Umlauf E, Volf I, Roth E,
Kondrup J. Journal of Neural Transmission. 2011 May

Safe and Cheap ADHD Vitamins

The least expensive, safest and best way to buy ADHD vitamins is to get them through Amazon.com.  The reason for this is that they have an enormous number of manufacturers trying to get your business and the deals there are better than deals at any health food store or online vitamin outlet.

By far the cheapest way to get a children's multivitamin such as Flinstone complete with Zinc or the omega-3 fatty acids and phosphatidylserine, which have both been shown to be helpful for the treatment of ADHD, is to buy them in the form of Neptune Krill Oil from Amazon.

It is not that I am a walking advertisement for Amazon but the truth is that if you go to a health food store on an online site, you will probably end up paying lots more for something that may not even be as good.

In the case of  phosphatidylserine, for example, you want a vitamin source that is proven to be as bio-available as possible because if you ingest it and it sits in your gut then it is money wasted.  It has to cross the blood brain barrier to do any good and the phosphatidylserine in Neptune Krill oil does that more effectively than any other form of phosphatidylserine. Reputable manufactures who are certified by a national entity are your best bet, avoid non USP certified ADHD vitamins as they may be a huge waste of money.

Since all ADHD vitamins should come form a reputable manufacturer, you will need to find  a company on Amazon from the list below that makes the vitamins in the U.S., Europe, or Canada as the regulations there are standardized and products from these locations are considered to be safe.   You want the companies to a the USP verified seal because those products have met the standards of safety.

The list below contains the names of USP verified companies. The trick is to find the ADHD vitamins that you wish to take from a USP verified site and then to compare pricing.  As an example,  I was able to find a Schiff Nutrition NKO Product at Amazon with 90, 300mg softgels for $15.00 plus shipping.  The recommended dose is 1 per day so that is a price of $5.00 per month which your really can't beat.  The link to the Schiff product is at the top of the page and is here as well..

USP Verified Program for Dietary Supplements

The manufacturers listed below have chosen to participate in USP's verification program for dietary supplements and submit selected products for verification. Brands submitted for verification are listed under the manufacturers' names.

Aland (Jiangsu) Nutraceutical Co. Ltd.

Inverness Medical Innovations
Selected store and private-label brand supplements

Leiner Health Products
Your Life® brand supplements
Selected store and private-label brand supplements

Pharmavite LLC
Nature Made® brand supplements
Nature's Resource® brand herbal supplements
Selected store and private-label brand supplements

Robinson Pharma Inc.

Schiff Nutrition
Schiff® brand supplements
Selected store and private-label brand supplements

Perrigo Company of South Carolina
Selected private–label brand supplements

Natural Factors Nutritional Products
Selected private-label brand supplements

NBTY Inc.
Kirkland Signature® brand supplements

Uni-caps, LLC
Selected private-label brand supplements

ADHD Vitamins for Sleep and Melatonin

Melatonin is not one of the vitamins for ADHD that I have been posting about.  It is not a vitamin at all but rather a hormone that is an important brain anti-oxidant.  Melatonin is also important as it also contributes significantly to other brain signaling processes.

A new study our of Sweden has found a genetic link between melatonin deficiencies and ADHD symptoms.  The researchers of this study which was published in the April edition of the Journal of Pineal Research found that people with ADHD have a "melatonin signaling deficiency" and that this genetic difference likely accounts for the sleep problems seen in adults and children with ADHD.

People diagnosed with ADHD are more likely to have sleep problems than people without a diagnosis of ADHD.  Magnesium is recommended for people with ADHD.  Magnesium is known to be sedating and this is one of the ADHD vitamins that can help with ADHD sleep problems but the root of ADHD sleep problems may be melatonin related so supplemental melatonin may better address the underlying issues related to the sleep problems of ADHD.

The Swedish study looked at the genes that regulate Melatonin in over 300 individuals of which 100 had a diagnosis of ADHD. They found significant changes in the melatonin signaling pathways only in the ADHD patients and not in the controls. This is the first study that  confirms that ADHD sleep problems are not related to medication effects or hyperactivity symptoms but rather are the result of melatonin deficiencies.

Melatonin, according to the authors of this Swedish study, is a "powerful antioxidant and a synchronizer of many physiological processes". It is unknown how much of a role melatonin deficiencies play in the presence of  the inattention seen in ADHD Inattentive but it is clear from many other studies that inattention, loss of concentration and loss of focus  in people with and without ADHD Inattentive or the other types of ADHD can all be the result of sleep deprivation.

Melatonin supplements are not ADHD vitamins but they are one of the non-medication solutions available to people with ADHD.  Melatonin can be taken 1 hour prior to sleep and helps tremendously insomnia. This ADHD supplement may help ADHD by addressing some of the brain's neurotransmitter signaling and deficiency issues that cause not only sleep disturbances but that may also cause some of the other symptoms of ADHD.

Genetic variations of the melatonin pathway in patients with attention-deficit and hyperactivity disorders.  
Chaste P, Clement N, Botros HG, Guillaume JL, Konyukh M, Pagan C, Scheid I, Nygren G, Anckarsäter H, Rastam M, Ståhlberg O, Gillberg IC, Melke J, Delorme R, Leblond C, Toro R, Huguet G, Fauchereau F, Durand C, Boudarene L, Serrano E, Lemière N, Launay JM, Leboyer M, Jockers R, Gillberg C, Bourgeron T.
Journal of Pineal Research. 2011 Apr 27.

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ADHD Vitamins in Dark Chocolate

The Flavanols in Dark Chocolate Improve ADHD Symptoms

Since we spoke of the benefits of coffee for the treatment of ADHD symptoms, I thought this might be a good time to mention what we know of the benefits of dark chocolate for treating ADHD.

ADHD and ADHD  Inattentive symptoms may be improved by cocoa flavanols and dark chocolate. A new study published in the Journal Physiology and Behavior has found that visual working memory and reaction time can be improved by a one time consumption of 720 mg of cocoa flavanols. These beneficial working memory effects, that may improve ADHD Inattentive symptoms, were seen 1 week after the cocoa consumption.

ADHD symptoms are somewhat related to our executive functioning and  to working memory and reaction time deficits.  This recent study point to the ability of dark chocolate to improve these deficits.  The young adults in this study consumed one dose of dark chocolate containing 720 mg of cocoa flavonols. The controls consumed an equivalent amount of white chocolate and then both test subjects and controls were tested on a visual working memory and reaction time tasks a week later.  These visual working memory tasks and reaction time tasks are frequently performed poorly by people with ADHD Symptoms.

The researchers found that, “In terms of cognitive performance, CF (cocoa flavanols) improved spatial memory and performance on some aspects of the choice reaction time task. As well as extending the range of cognitive tasks that are known to be influenced by CF consumption."

The Mars Company, the same folks that bring us M&Ms, Snickers bars and Dove bars have been studying chocolate. The Mars company laboratory has published many studies on the benefits of consuming dark chocolate. According to the Mars website, the benefits of cocoa flavonols are not just related to cocoa's antioxidant effect, Mars reports that, “the consumption of cocoa flavanols can have important beneficial effects on the function of the body’s network of blood vessels... that are independent of general "antioxidant" effects that cocoa flavanols exhibit in a test tube, outside of the body. The body of research not only suggests that these cocoa flavanols may provide a dietary approach to maintaining cardiovascular function and health, but also points to new possibilities for cocoa flavanol-based interventions.

The amount of cocoa flavanols in chocolate depends on the percentage of cocoa and on the way the chocolate in processed. Dutch processed chocolate contains less flavanols than non-Dutch process. Dark chocolate contains way more flavanols than milk chocolate. Seventy percent cocoa, dark chocolate bars, contain more cocoa flavanols than 50% cocoa bars.

A one hundred gram bar of a 70% cocoa, dark chocolate bar will give you about 100 mg to 200 mg of cocoa flavanols. Most single size bars of chocolate, your standard size Dove bar that you can buy at the grocery store right next to the cashier, is about 33 grams. You would have to consume three of these to get about 150 mg of flavanols and you would have to eat 15 of them to get the amount of flavanols used to get the benefits seen in this recent Physiology and Behavior study.

As much as I love chocolate, consuming this much chocolate is out of the question. Mars, predictably, has solved this problem. Mars makes a product called Cirku that contains 320 mg of cocoa flavonols. They claim that they have a very special manner in which they make this drink so that it contains only the finest and most beneficial cocoa flavanols. The product is a powder that you add to water.

Some cardiologists are now recommending that their patients eat a 6 gram square of dark chocolate daily to protect their hearts. It is possible that consuming a little bit of chocolate every day may have the same effect on our ADHD symptoms and on our cognitive functioning and working memory as consuming 720 mg all at once. It is unclear if this daily consumption could be used as ADHD treatment and if it would be as beneficial as consuming 720 mg in one fell swoop because this has not been studied yet.

If you are going to consume dark chocolate to see if it helps ADHD symptoms, it probably should be at least 70 percent cocoa and it is probably not a bad idea to buy the fair trade chocolate. The studies on heart disease and chocolate have found that people who consumed an average of six grams of dark chocolate a day had about a 40% lower chance of suffering a heart attack or stroke.

ADHD  symptoms may be improved by consuming cocoa flavanol. Studies have shown that the best ADHD treatments improve working memory and reaction time deficits.  From this newly publish Physiology and Behavior study it would appear that the cocoa flavanols are helpful in this regard. Wouldn't it be sweet if chocolate was the best medicine for ADHD symptoms? 

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Physiology and Behavior. 2011 Feb 12. [Epub ahead of print]
Consumption of cocoa flavanols results in an acute improvement in visual and cognitive functions.
Field DT, Williams CM, Butler LT

Self Regulation, Colicky Babies and ADHD

Self Regulation can affects cognitive functioning

If your baby has colic, sleeps poorly or is a poor feeder, he or she has double the chances of being diagnosed with ADHD as a school age child. These are the findings of a study out of Switzerland that looked at behavioral problems in children and their history of feeding problems, crying or sleep issues as babies.

When a baby is 'colicky' or sleeps and eats poorly, pediatricians categorize the baby as having regulatory problems. These babies have problems coping with all that is around them and they lack self comforting behaviors such as sucking on their hands or clinging to a blanket that help regulate the baby's breathing, heart rate, mood and sleep.

Some psychiatrists see ADHD as a self regulation problem as well. Children with ADHD have trouble regulating their arousal so they can be sluggish or slower in the case of kids with Inattentive ADD (ADHD-I) or they can be hyperactive in the case of kids with Combined type or Hyperactive/Impulsive type ADHD.

Kids with ADHD may also have emotional regulatory issues such as anxiety, depression, impulsiveness and oppositional behavior. These emotional deregulation issues are also seen by psychiatrist as part of the whole picture of ADHD. It is not too surprising then that the Swiss study found that these regulation problems are first seen when these kids are babies.

The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain that handles self regulation. It is this part of the brain that controls the "executive functions" of our brains which include emotional control and self regulation. Executive functions are often quite undeveloped until age 12 and in the case of children and adults with ADHD they may remain undeveloped until much later in life and sadly, in some adults with ADD and ADHD, never fully develop.

Cognitive behavioral therapy may help some people struggling with ADHD develop their executive functioning. Books on ADHD Behavioral therapy sometimes can provide help in developing executive function but a thorough review of the literature reveals that executive benefits are only seen consistently from four interventions. These are, in order or effectiveness as follows:

• Stimulant Medication 
• Guanfacine or Atomoxetine (Intuniv and Strattera) 
• Sleep Problem resolution 
• Aerobic Exercise 
• Diet that include essential fatty acids 

Colicky babies can become colicky adults.  I was a colicky baby as were both my sons.  We all have or had some form of Attention Deficit Disorder.  It makes sense to me that these two issues of self regulation are related as was found in the recent study performed in Switzerland.

Self regulation starts in infancy and is disrupted in children with ADHD. These self regulation issues can continue into adulthood but certain interventions such as medication, sleep hygiene programs, exercise programs and a vitamin rich, essential fatty acid enriched diet can help improve the self regulation problems that result in poor attention, poor focus and delayed cognitive development. 


Pediatr Clin North Am. 2011 Jun;58(3):649-65. Epub 2011 Apr 1.
Cognitive, Behavioral, and Functional Consequences of Inadequate Sleep in Children and Adolescents.
Beebe DW.


J Head Trauma Rehabil. 2010 May-Jun;25(3):184-92.
The relationship between aerobic exercise and cognition: is movement medicinal?
Lojovich JM.


Acta Paediatr. 2011 Jan;100(1):47-52. doi: 10.1111/j.1651-2227.2010.01946.x.
Attention among very low birth weight infants following early supplementation with docosahexaenoic and arachidonic acid.
Westerberg AC, Schei R, Henriksen C, Smith L, Veierød MB, Drevon CA, Iversen PO.

Phosphatidylserine for ADHD

Phosphatidylserine (PS) may help ADHD. Recent studies are pointing to real benefits from this brain supplement for people with all sorts of cognitive or brain challenges but also for people with no ADHD or  ADD symptoms.  It seems that many new studies are showing that phosphatidylserine is amazingly helpful for maximizing our brain functioning.

Phosphatidylserine (PS) is not one of the ADHD vitamins that I have spoken of before.  It is an ADHD supplement that is a brain lipid or fat that is essential for us to be able to process, attend to, and retain information. We know from previous studies that the essential fatty acid profile of people with ADHD is different from the brain lipid composition of people without ADD. Several studies have demonstrated cognitive benefits for people with Inattentive ADD when they take supplemental Omega-3 fatty acids but PS is a brain fat that is more important and different. 

PS is normally made in our brains but certain conditions such as stress, inflammation, vitamin deficiencies, aging, and other brain issues can diminish the amounts available  and this in turn can lead to a decrease in optimal brain functioning and perhaps to symptoms such as those seen in all types of ADHD.

A study just published in the Proceedings of the Seventh International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN) Conference and Expo Journal reported that supplementation with 400 mg of phosphatidylserine daily improved cognitive functioning.  This study was performed on healthy athletes with no symptoms of cognitive impairments. The report concluded that this supplement induced improvement could benefit everyone even people without any symptoms of impaired cognition.

In the old days the only way to get additional PS into your system was to take a supplement that was made out of cow or lambs brains.  The practice of making PS out of cow brains was discontinued in the United States after the onset of Mad Cow disease.  You can now get phospholipid supplements in the form of PS supplements made out of Soy bean, fish livers, squid skin and you can get similar benefits from Krill oil.  Krill oil contains a phospholipid that is similar to PS called phosphatidylcholine (PC). 

According to one study, published in a 2007 Alternative Medicine Review, Krill Oil was very effective when compared to plain Omega-3 supplementation in improving cognition.  To my knowledge a study comparing Krill PC to Soy bean or marine derived PS has not been done but one study did point to the fact that the marine derived PS products were more effectively transported into the brain after supplementation then were the PS products derived from either cow brains or soy beans.

There is good research to support PS and PC supplementation for everyone not just people with ADHD.  The PS and PC supplements are thought to work by decreasing the cortisol response to physical stress, optimizing neurotransmitter functioning and decreasing inflammation in the brain.  It is thought that the best dose to maintain optimal brain function is 100-400mg mg per day.  Phosphatidylserine is considered to be extremely safe but special care should be taken if you are on any blood thinning medication as PS and PC may have blood thinning properties.

Krill oil has cogntive benefits because of the benefits derived both from the Omega-3 fatty acids and from the benefits of PS.  People with Inattentive ADHD as well as the other subtypes of ADHD would benefit from the use of this supplement and it deserves a high place in the category of ADHD Vitamins and supplements.

Coffee Vitamins for ADHD

ADHD Vitamins webpage must include coffee

Coffee Vitamins for ADHD

Ok so coffee is not a vitamin for ADHD but it does contain ADHD alleviating substances so before I go on to other ADHD vitamins I would like to sing the praises of the humble cup of Joe.  Let me begin by saying that there are, amazingly, scientific reports stating that there are fewer patients with ADHD symptoms in South America because both adults and children drink lots of coffee in this part of the world.

Coffee is truly an amazing substance that has been recently found to help prevent both Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer’s disease but its role in helping the symptoms of ADHD, including Inattentive ADD and Hyperactive/Impulsive ADHD are less well known.

Research studies show that caffeine helps with working memory as well as with maintaining focus. It is thought that caffeine blocks Adenosine receptors in your body and stimulates the production of adrenaline and dopamine. Common Inattentive ADHD medications work by stimulating the production of dopamine. A recent study from the Journal Brain Cognition published in September of this year found that caffeine improved alerting and executive control functioning in a dose-response manner. The best results were obtained using a dose of 400mg.

Coffee Helps ADHD just like ADHD vitamins do

The adrenaline and dopamine actions of caffeine have been well documented but the Adenosine blocking effects are less well studied. A recent review of studies on Adenosine and caffeine confirmed that caffeine (a nonselective adenosine receptor antagonist) and selective adenosine A2A receptor antagonists can improve memory performance in rodents evaluated through different tasks. These studies confirm the positive roll that caffeine can play in the Inattentive ADHD treatment.

Caffeine is present in many drinks available today. A 5 oz cup of ground brewed coffee contains 85 mg of caffeine, instant coffee contains 60 mg, and Decaf coffee contains 3 mg. A 5 oz cup of black or green tea contains about 30 mg of caffeine. Cola’s have about 18 mg of caffeine per 6 oz serving, and a can of Red Bull contains 80 mg of caffeine. You can find a link with the different caffeine amounts in different drinks and food here: http://www.cspinet.org/new/cafchart.htm

Caffeine is considered safe in doses as high as 400mg for adults and 250mg for children. I admit that it may be pushing it to include coffee on a web page dealing with ADHD vitamins but I could not help myself as the humble cup of Joe is an amazing natural treatment for ADHD.