Last updated: October 27th, 2019 Before being prescribed ADHD medication, I tried virtually all of the ADHD natural remedies I could get my hands on.
And I’m happy to say that I still use a number of natural remedies to help manage my ADHD to this day.
Today, I’m going to share with you the very best natural remedies for ADHD that I’ve tried.
So, here’s a complete list of the top 15 holistic treatments for ADHD.
These ADHD remedies will help you live a happier, healthier and more exciting lifestyle in just a matter of weeks:
Contents
Remedy 1. Fish oil
Did you know that over half of your brain is made up of fats?
It’s for this reason that fish oil is extremely powerful stuff.
Fish oil contains omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids that your ADHD brain needs in order to function properly.
Taking a tablespoon of fish oil every day has made a lasting improvement in my ability to concentrate, remember key details, and think clearly. You’ll know exactly what I’m talking about if you decide to do the same.
I like Nordic Naturals Liquid Fish Oil (Amazon) because it’s high-quality fish oil that tastes like lemon, and comes in liquid form.
Also, feel free to check out a separate article that I wrote about about the benefits of using fish oil to treat ADHD symptoms.
Remedy 2. Raw organic maca powder
Raw organic maca powder (Amazon) is a special kind of superfood from the Andes Mountains.
It’s one of the best natural performance enhancers that I’ve tried, because you can feel its benefits within 5 to 10 minutes of taking it.
After gulping down some maca powder, your body will take in a healthy dose of b vitamins, amino acids, fiber, trace minerals, and more.
Maca will ultimately make you feel a more upbeat, energized, and mentally engaged.
You might even feel a little aroused too, as maca powder will probably boost your sex drive instantaneously.
But, maca powder’s biggest downside is that it doesn’t taste all that great. So, I like to mix two teaspoons of matcha powder in some chocolate almond milk or a smoothie, then gulp it down as fast as possible. I usually take my maca powder 45 minutes before going to the gym, because it works wonders for my exercise regimen and ADHD.
I’m confident that maca powder will improve your ADHD symptoms and your life in general.
Remedy 3. Transcendental Meditation (TM)
I could never meditate until I tried Transcendental Meditation (TM) for the first time.
Practicing TM is essentially the act of sitting down, focusing on your breathing, and mentally repeating a mantra to yourself.
It’s really that simple.
TM is an excellent way to gain a lot more focus and energy in your life by finding ‘mental calmness’ every day.
For a much more detailed look into TM, along with step-by-step guidance for practicing TM, I highly-recommend reading Super Rich by Russel Simmons (Amazon). Super Rich by Russel Simmons provides the simplest breakdown of meditation that I’ve ever read. He makes it really easy for ADHD to meditate.
Remedy 4. Deep breathing exercises
If you’ve never done deep breathing exercises before, I promise this isn’t some kind of fantasy ‘feel good’ natural remedy for ADHD. This is actually very important.
The reality is that most people don’t use the full function of their lungs. So, if you’re like most people, then you aren’t breathing as deeply as you should be, and that’s not good.
This means that you aren’t as calm, happy, and energized as you can be.
So try this right now: Breathe in deeply through your nose until you feel oxygen deep in your abdomen. Slowly exhale through your mouth. The entire process should last about 3-4 seconds.
After trying this once, repeat it three more times in a row.
This is a mini breathing exercise that immediately helps people with ADHD feel more calm and focused. You should do deep breathing exercises like this every day to help keep your ADHD symptoms in check.
Remedy 5. Exercise
Exercise is one of life’s simplest pleasures. It’s also a great trick for treating ADHD naturally.
I always recommend that people with ADHD do some amount of cardio and strength training exercise most days of the week.
You definitely don’t have to make your entire life about doing exercise. But, exercise should make up a fair portion of every ADHD’ers life.
By doing exercise, you will flood your brain with ‘happy chemicals’ like dopamine, serotonin and endorphine. Exercise will make your ADHD incredibly easier to manage.
I can rarely even think clearly unless I’ve been exercising consistently (five or six days per week). Exercise is that important.
You’ll feel a massive difference in your life when you exercise regularly.
Remedy 6. Blended coffee + MCT Oil + unsalted Kerrygold butter
Coffee is a great source of natural caffeine that provides you with focus, energy, and a quick buzz.
But, I don’t think that coffee on its own is the best natural remedy for ADHD out there.
By itself, coffee’s benefits are too short-lived. Drinking a cup of joe makes people with ADHD feel like superman for 30 minutes. But, then you have to drink another cup of coffee to achieve a similar buzz.
In comes coffee + MCT oil + unsalted Kerrygold butter.
Plenty of people know this recipe by the brand name Bulletproof Coffee.
This recipe works so much better than plain coffee because medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) fuel your ADHD brain with fast-acting energy. MCT oil is like an enhanced version of coconut oil.
But, MCT oil works best when taken with a healthy source of fat. That’s the reason for using unsalted butter in this coffee recipe.
Don’t worry. The end result of this drink tastes like a frothy cappuccino. Don’t let the butter freak you out. It’s just like cream!
To make this type of ‘super coffee’ for your ADHD, you’ll need the following items:
- Good quality coffee – I like Cafe Bustelo (Amazon) because it’s good-quality, strong and budget-friendly espresso coffee
- A bottle of Jarrow Formulas MCT Oil (Amazon)
- Unsalted Kerrygold butter
- A small blender
Simply brew your coffee, blend everything together, and you’ll be good to go.
Note: The foundation of this recipe is one cup of brewed coffee, one teaspoon of MCT oil, and one heaping tablespoon of unsalted Kerrygold butter. You can adjust this formula to your own liking (some people like to add raw cocoa powder or honey to their coffee). Just make sure to go easy on the MCT oil until your body adapts to it.
Remedy 7. Raw vitamin B complex multivitamin
ADHD brains are a little bit wacky. So, taking a daily food-based B complex multivitamin is a good way to cover most of your nutritional needs.
I like Garden of Life Vitamin Code Raw B Complex (Amazon) because they’re food-based multivitamins from a trusted brand.
I can actually feel this multivitamin working each time that I take it, so I know that it’s good quality.
This multivitamin contains ingredients that promote brain health, stress support, superfood energy, and more. It’s an excellent multivitamin that everyone with ADHD should take.
Remedy 8. Yerba mate
Yerba mate is one of the all-time greatest natural remedies for ADHD.
It’s made with special leaves from the South American rainforest, and has been used by traditional societies for centuries.
Yerba mate contains caffeine, vitamins, antioxidants, and amino acids which can help to treat your ADHD symptoms naturally.
Best of all, the drink gives you a very soothing yet intense focus, mental clarity, and a general feeling of calmness which transforms whatever you’re doing into an enjoyable process.
Many people like to brew yerba mate the traditional way (using loose tea) which I’ve actually heard great things about.
But for now, I just use Guyaki Yerba Mate Tea Bags (Amazon) because they’re fast and convenient. It’s just like brewing regular tea.
Remedy 9. Vitamin D
I take Rainbow Light Vitamin D (Amazon) because my blood work has shown that my levels were low.
If you work in a normal office environment, there’s a good chance that your body isn’t getting enough natural sunlight, along with the normal vitamin D production that comes with that.
Experiencing a lack of vitamin D production is actually a global problem that affects one-third of the world’s population.
But, I’ve written an article about how I fixed my vitamin D deficiency using a natural vitamin D supplement, and improved my ADHD at the same time.
Having a vitamin D deficiency can really mess with your brain’s performance, as I now know firsthand. So, if you aren’t getting much sun, you really want to make sure that you’re taking a quality vitamin D supplement every day.
Vitamin D is one of the greatest supplements for people with ADHD because it can help you think more clearly, enjoy greater focus, and feel all-around happier every day.
Remedy 10. Raw fruit & vegetable smoothies
Depending on the ingredients that you choose, raw fruit & vegetable smoothies are almost always great for treating ADHD naturally.
I like to use ingredients like kale, spinach, beets, apples, fresh ginger, and frozen mixed berries in my smoothies.
There are too many beneficial vitamins and antioxidants to list, so just keep in mind that smoothies will satiate your brain with some of the absolute best natural ingredients on this planet.
Pro tip: Smoothies are the perfect drink for masking the flavor of raw organic maca powder, chasing vitamins, and “easing” the crash that comes as a result of using certain ADHD medications.
Remedy 11. Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a neurotransmitter that regulates your brain’s activity. GABA plays a major role in how you think, feel, and handle stress. Some people with lower-than-normal levels of GABA experience a heightened sense of fear and anxiety, which could also put them in ‘ADHD territory’ (since ADHD and anxiety share common ground).
It’s for this reason that some people with ADHD may benefit from taking a basic GABA supplement (Amazon). Taking GABA on its own is a great way to feel more cool, calm and composed in a matter of minutes.
However, I also take a supplement called True Calm (Amazon) roughly two nights out of the week. True Calm contains 200mg of GABA, and I feel noticeably more relaxed whenever I take it. Taking a capsule of True Calm makes me feel like I’ve had a small glass of red wine, but without the normal impairment that comes with drinking alcohol.
If you decide that you’d like to try GABA, you should first check with a physician to make sure that it won’t interact with any other medications or supplements that you may be taking. As long as your physician approves, I believe that many people with ADHD can benefit from trying GABA.
Remedy 12. Magnesium Citramate
Magnesium Citramate (Amazon) is one of the most important supplements that people with ADHD can take.
Experts even believe that magnesium deficiency is a common problem that can lead to cardiovascular disease.
So, it should be obvious as to why most people with ADHD desperately need to take a high-quality magnesium supplement each night:
- Many people with ADHD experience racing thoughts and find it difficult to get to sleep (meanwhile, magnesium makes sleeping enjoyable)
- People who use stimulant-based ADHD medication can use magnesium to counteract the cardiovascular stress that some prescription medications cause
- Magnesium is also an amazing recovery tool for fitness-oriented people who like to stay active (help your body stay strong)
Overall, magnesium is amazing for people with ADHD.
However, not all magnesium is made the same.
If you take something like magnesium oxide, for example, your body won’t absorb it very well because of how magnesium oxide is bonded.
I ultimately recommend using Magnesium Citramate for ADHD because it’s a special kind of magnesium that’s easily absorbed in the body.
I take Magnesium Citramate every night because it’s so helpful for getting better sleep with ADHD (among many other benefits).
After taking magnesium for ADHD, you’ll start to sleep better, feel better, and live healthier.
Remedy 13. Affirmations
Plenty of people will tell you that having an affirmation is wacky.
But, psychologists and people who understand how the mind works will tell you that having an affirmation can be a powerful trick for navigating life with ADHD.
An affirmation is something that you write down or repeat to yourself each day to help you find focus, success, or some other kind of future outcome in life.
Affirmations aren’t supposed to be ‘goals’ that you set. They’re more like mantras that can be used to visualize an outcome in your life, almost as if your affirmation has already happened.
Your affirmation can be open-ended like “I, Taylor, will live a life of freedom, love and aggression”.
Or it can be something ADHD-specific like, “I. Taylor, will channel my energy with deep focus”.
Your affirmation is yours, and you don’t have to tell anyone about it.
I handwrite write my affirmation 15x per day, which I learned to do in book called How to Fail At Almost Everything and Still Win Big (Amazon).
Remedy 14. Probiotics
The amount of bacteria in your body plays a major role in how you think, feel, and live your life.
I didn’t understand this fact for a very long time. And, I think this is a major reason why I struggled with ‘moodiness’ for a short period of my life.
If your gut is full of bad bacteria from processed foods and other toxic ingredients, your mind will also be in a toxic place.
This happens because your gut (gastrointestinal tract) is linked to your brain through a pathway of neurons, hormones, and chemicals.
In other words, your gut literally acts as your body’s ‘second brain’ in a way. So, if you want to take care of your ADHD brain, then you have to take care of your gut health as well.
You can take a natural probiotic supplement in capsule form. I believe this is the best way for people with ADHD to achieve excellent gut health relatively quickly. I highly-recommend using Life & Food Ultra Probiotic-50 (Amazon).
However, some of the best probiotics also come in the form of natural yogurts like kefir or Bulgarian yogurt. So, eating healthy yogurt is another effective way to fill your gut with healthy bacteria.
Remedy 15. Fluoride-free drinking water
Determining the best kind of water to drink is always a controversial topic.
But, life is complicated, and not all ADHD natural remedies can be as straightforward as one would hope.
If you live in the USA, there’s a strong chance that your tap water contains fluoride, which is a group of compounds intended to prevent tooth decay. But, the major issue with fluoride is that it messes with normal neurological functions in otherwise healthy children and adults. Fluoride might even cause bone cancer as well.
When I drink fluoridated tap water, I feel a constant thirst for more, almost like my body isn’t registering the water that I drink. It sounds strange, but I’m pretty sensitive to these types of disruptions in my body.
When I drink spring water, I usually feel a lot better.
If at all possible, I think it’s generally better to play it on the safe side, and use single-source spring water, a Big Berkey Countertop Water Filter (Amazon), or a reverse osmosis water filtration system (Amazon) with a remineralizer.
Reverse osmosis (RO) and remineralization is generally the most economical option for getting clean drinking water over the long-term.
While RO and remineralization comes with the highest start-up cost, it’s also a solid long-term investment for your health.
Installing a reverse osmosis water filtration system and a remineralizer in your home will remove fluoride from your drinking water, and also remove a host of other toxic chemicals like arsenic, lead and copper as well.
ADHD Natural Remedies and Holistic Treatments Conclusion
Overall, if you choose to treat your ADHD symptoms using any of these natural remedies, then you’re most likely headed on a powerful path forward in life.
As you can tell, there are a lot of natural ADHD remedies to choose from. So, please try your best not to feel overwhelmed with options.
It’s usually best to start making small changes to your lifestyle anyway, so that you can easily track improvements in your ADHD symptoms. Treating your ADHD using natural remedies is a long-term process, and it’s always a good idea to take it slow.
But at the same time, you need to take action now to start seeing noticeable and natural improvements in your ADHD. It will be well worth the effort. I can promise you that.
Please leave a comment below if you have personally tested any other ADHD natural remedies that should be added to this list.
I will update this article regularly, as I’m always looking for better ways to treat my own ADHD via holistic ingredients and strategies.
