I grew up on a diet of pizza, soda, Chinese food and McDonald's.
And, I continued to eat those foods as an adult. Whatever was closest, easiest and tastiest went in my mouth.
Long after my diagnosis of ADD, I continued to eat crap food. In fact, I only "woke up" to the impact that food has on my brain a few years ago. And, the more I learned about nutrition, the more disgusted I felt.
It started with documentaries on Netflix. The first was Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock's documentary about how McDonald's manipulates our minds.
My knowledge continued to grow with Forks Over Knifes, Fed Up, Food Inc. and Hungry for Change.
Check out a more comprehensive list of recommended movies.
After learning more about the food industry, I dived into science focused on how food affects the brain.
I read books, including the Grain Brain, Paleo Manifesto, The Whole30 and The Zone Diet.
I later discovered new research by scientists at Florida State University who found that:
Restoring glucose to a sufficient level typically improves self-control. Self-control thus appears highly susceptible to glucose.
Russell Barkley, PhD calls Adult ADD a problem of self control. Therefore, maintaining healthy levels of glucose in the body may improve self-control and ADD symptoms.
I was hooked. I then found that Dr. Barry Sears was hired by the US Olympic team to develop a diet that would maximize performance. He found that a diet rich in protein, low in carbs and full of healthy vegetables would restore healthy glucose levels and reduce the glucose spikes common in other diets.
Thus, the Zone Diet was born.
I recommend the Zone Diet to my clients, or similar programs like the Whole30, as a way to control glucose levels, leading to an increase in self-control and a reduction in ADD symptoms.