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Comment by Podgajski

2 years ago

I read that whole thing and didn’t read one word about nutrition?

I’ve come along way to understanding the nutritional metabolic pathways that may increase the symptoms of ADHD.

Pyridoxine, or B6, is the most studied nutritional factor when it comes to reducing ADHD symptoms. I’m not saying this is the only cause of ADHD, but if this works other things might work as well. Zinc is a good possibility on the list also.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24321736/

According to our data, multi-year pyridoxine treatment normalizes completely the pattern of ADHD behavior, without causing any serious side effects.

11 comments

Podgajski

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viraptor  2 years ago

https://sci-hub.hkvisa.net/10.1016/j.mehy.2013.11.018

While it discusses multi-year treatment, the paper says "After several weeks of such treatment the pattern of behavior in ADHD patients is normalized." which feels like something that could be easily tried out. Since it was published in 2013 I'd expect some follow-up? (checking for citations now)

Edit: Sadly, "No Tryptophan, Tyrosine and Phenylalanine Abnormalities in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder" https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4777504/ 2016, larger study. (although they measure the amounts rather than ratios, so not exactly the same idea)

  • Podgajski  2 years ago

    Nutritional studies are hard to get funding for in the first place, never mind the follow-ups.

    They found nothing in the study, because IMI they were measuring the wrong neurotransmitters. Dopamine is not the cause of the symptoms. It has to do with glutamate and GABA Balance. Since stimulants can control effect glutamate and GABA as well as Dopamine , that’s why there is all the confusion.

    B6 also plays a role in glutamate GABA balance through stimulating the glutamate dehydrogenase enzyme.

    https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5545734/

serguzest  2 years ago

I think this and many research efforts seem like how blind men are describing an elephant. They partially capture the truth. It seems to me B6 is just one of many cofactors that affect the one-carbon metabolism (methylation) besides epigenetics that play a role in ADHD. Recently I have been reading/watching materials from Bill Wash. His findings on ADHD make more sense to me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhdI6rqORv8 If you look up further online, I think you can find the biochemical rationale for these findings.

rlemaitre  2 years ago

Hi, author here,

Nutrition is very important indeed, but it has always been a problem for me. I wanted to focus on things I tried and worked on me. Of course, it's not perfect, but at least the points I listed made the things better for me. Everybody's different, so it's not a silver bullet, just my personal journey.

  • feydaykyn  2 years ago

    The topics you're struggling with would be a great addition to the article, if only so that you can reread it later and check whether it had changed.

  • Podgajski  2 years ago

    Can you explain more about how nutrition is an issue for you?

    Would you ever consider getting your serum B6 levels tested? It’s pretty cheap and you can do it without a doctors prescription if you’re in in the United States.