Essential Fatty Acids & Adults with ADHD
Purdue researcher Laura Stevens recently wrote the following article in her Nutrition in Action newsletter concerning essential fatty acids and adults with ADHD:
All in all, there have been very few studies of biochemical factors in adults with ADHD. Because adults with ADHD were children with ADHD (by definition of adult ADHD), we have made the assumption that the kinds of things that affect children also affect adults. But here is a study in young adults we carried out at Purdue University using Purdue students who had been rigorously diagnosed by psychologists at Purdue’s counseling center with ADHD.
We decided to study Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) and other related nutritional measures in their blood.* As you may recall, EFAs are “good” fats that your body cannot manufacture itself but are absolutely necessary for normal metabolism. So EFAs must be consumed in the diet. There are two different families of EFAs. The omega-6 fatty acids are found plentifully in the American diet (corn, soy, safflower, sunflower oils). The omega-3 fatty acids are much less common in our foods (canola oil, flaxseed oil, dark green leafy vegetables, some beans, and cold water fish like salmon and tuna). The omega-3 fatty acids are extremely important for normal brain function, and a shortage or imbalance of these has been found in children with ADHD and adults with other psychiatric problems like depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder.
We recruited 112 students who had not been diagnosed with ADHD and acted as our controls. We recruited 35 students who had been carefully diagnosed with ADHD. As has been reported elsewhere, one interesting finding is the students with ADHD smoked significantly more than our Controls. Also, the ADHD students scored higher than Controls on a questionnaire about EFA deficiency symptoms. The questions included excessive thirst, frequent urination, dry skin, dry hair, dandruff, brittle or soft nails, and/or tiny, hard bumps on the backs of the arms or on the thighs. Students were asked to assess each symptom using a score of 0 to 3, with 0 being “not at all” and 3 being “very much.” These were totaled to form the Thirst/Skin Score or the EFA Insufficiency Score. We have used this questionnaire before and have found that there is a subgroup of children with ADHD who have higher deficiency scores and lower levels of omega-3 fatty acids.
Blood was drawn and analyzed for EFA (plasma phospholipids and total red blood cells). Basically, the Controls had higher plasma levels of key plasma omega-3 fatty acids including EPA and DHA than the ADHD students. A similar pattern was found in the red blood cells. You may have heard of EPA and DHA because they are EFA found in coldwater fish that is protective against heart disease.
Why were lower levels found in the ADHD group? To try to answer this question, we collected 3-day diet records of everything the students ate and drank and analyzed them using a special computer program. Basically, there were few differences that stood out except that the ADHD group consumed 30% more saturated fat than the controls. However, high saturated fat is not associated with lower omega-3 fatty acids.
We also analyzed blood and urine for other nutritional factors such as those related to oxidative stress which we hypothesized could be the cause of the low EPA and DHA. But these were not different between the groups. So there is no obvious reason for the low blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Our research continues!
In 2004 one other EFA study in adults was reported by G.S. Young in the journal Lipids**. Their results were similar to ours.
Omega-3 fatty acids are lower in a subgroup of children and adults with ADHD. How do you add omega-3 fatty acids to your diet and do EFA supplements help? A couple of studies suggest they do in children. To read more about these studies and other information about EFA and ADHD please scroll down until you find these earlier newsletter articles.
References: Antalis, C.J. 2006. Omega-3 fatty acid status in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Prostaglandins, Lekotrienes and Essential Fatty Acids. Vol. 75 pp. 299-308.
Young, G.S. 2004. Blood phospholipid fatty acid analysis of adults with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Lipids 39, pp. 117-123.
RESOURCE: Nutrition in Action