TL;DR – The ADHD Diet in 5 Rules
- Eat regularly—even if it’s just toast and eggs
- Build meals around protein and fibre
- Add colour, crunch, and flavour so your brain wants to eat it
- Use shortcuts, frozen foods, and prepped ingredients
- Focus on food that’s possible, not perfect
What Is a Healthy Diet for People with ADHD?
When you’re living with ADHD, eating well is hard. It's not just about getting into a routine. It's about overcoming executive dysfunction, finding foods that bring you joy, and making sure that you stay satiated. Eating well leaves you feeling motivated, energised and like you can achieve anything. Eating poorly makes your ADHD symptoms worse and can leave you feeling lost, lacking in confidence and struggling to motivate yourself.
Most people with ADHD really do try to eat healthily and often beat themselves up about it. But here's the problem. Most nutrition advice is completely unrealistic for people with ADHD. They involve meal plans that mean eating the same boring meal over and over. Recipes that have huge lists of ingredients, complex instructions or require silly equipment. Or they involve fad diets that require huge amounts of discipline or tons of supplements. That’s not us.
The best ADHD Diet is the one that gets you excited about cooking so that you eat regularly and consitently. This ensures your blood sugar stays stable along with your mood and mind. At ADHDishes our framework for eating creates exciting, easy to cook dishes that follow this framework.
The ADHD-Friendly Eating Framework
1. 🧠 Prioritise Protein
Protein is the ADHD powerhouse. It helps support dopamine levels, keeps you fuller for longer, and stabilises your energy.
Best sources include chicken thighs, salmon, eggs, beans, prawns, Greek yoghurt, cheese, tofu, and tinned fish.
💡 Build every meal around a protein. If it’s got protein, it’s got potential.
2. 🥦 Pack in the Fibre & Veg
Fibre slows digestion, supports gut health, and keeps your brain fuelled. Most ADHD brains aren’t getting enough.
Easy wins: frozen veg, salad bags, carrots, apples, berries, and canned lentils or beans.
💡 Make it visual: a colourful plate is more fun to eat—and more likely to be good for your brain.
3. 🍞 Choose Complex Carbs
Carbs are your brain’s favourite fuel. We lean into slow-release carbs and minimise sugar crashes.
Smart swaps include oats, wholegrain toast, microwave grain pouches, sweet potatoes, and pulses like lentils or chickpeas.
💡 Don’t cut carbs. Just choose the ones that carry you through the day—not spike you into a crash.
4. 🥑 Add Healthy Fats
Fat helps you absorb nutrients and feel satisfied. Your brain is 60% fat—feed it!
Great fats include olive oil, oily fish, nuts, seeds, full-fat dairy, and avocado.
💡 Healthy fat + protein + fibre = the ADHD trifecta for a steady, focused brain.
5. 🍳 Make It Delicious (Or It Won’t Happen)
If a meal doesn’t smell amazing or taste exciting, your brain won’t care. That’s why we use Flavour Bombs—like pesto, chilli oil, anchovies, miso, or kimchi—to bring boring meals to life.
💡 Food should spark joy. Especially when life feels like noise.
6. 🕒 Focus on Regularity, Not Rigidity
Skipping meals tanks your focus. We build fast, modular meals that come together even when your brain is offline.
Look for meals that:
- Take under 15 minutes
- Use frozen, tinned, or prepped ingredients
- Are flexible and forgiving—skip the rules, keep the flavour
💡 Perfect is pointless. Fed is fabulous.
What We Don’t Do
- No calorie counting
- No carb fear
- No shame if your breakfast is toast at 2pm
- No supplement pushes
If you’re curious about things like omega-3s or iron, talk to your GP or a registered dietitian. Our job is to help you get fed—safely, consistently, and with flavour.
What This Looks Like in Real Life
Every ADHDishes recipe follows this simple structure:
🥩 Protein + 🥦 Veg + 🍚 Grain + 💥 Flavour Bomb
Here are a few examples:
- Air fryer chicken thighs + salad leaves + microwave grains + pesto
- Scrambled eggs + toast + tomatoes + harissa
- Tinned lentils + frozen spinach + sweet potato + miso dressing
It’s not a diet. It’s a toolkit.
TL;DR – The ADHD Diet in 5 Rules
- Eat regularly—even if it’s just toast and eggs
- Build meals around protein and fibre
- Add colour, crunch, and flavour so your brain wants to eat it
- Use shortcuts, frozen foods, and prepped ingredients
- Focus on food that’s possible, not perfect
You deserve meals that nourish your brain, support your energy, and actually get made.
That’s what ADHD-friendly eating is all about.