The Hidden Dangers of ADHD Meds & How to Overcome ADHD Naturally

Did you know that 1 in 20 children in the United States are taking ADHD medications like Adderall and Ritalin? Now, this has led to a global shortage in ADHD medications, and some are saying there is no end in sight.

In fact, if you go online and do research, there are people saying that they've looked everywhere high and low, gone to several doctors to get prescribed this medication, and they They can't get it. I'm going to talk about in this episode what you need to know about ADHD, ADHD medications, and some natural ways you can help support ADD and attention deficit disorder.

Hey, I'm Dr. Josh Axe, and welcome to the Dr. Josh Axe Show, where each and every week I cover the science and principles in how to heal and grow in your body, mind, and spirit, and take your life to the next level. Level. In this episode, I'll be diving into why this shortage is happening. Also, I'm going to unpack one surprising issue that has been tied to increased ADHD diagnoses.

And also, I'm going to get into the nutrients that are depleted by these types of medications, which are amphetamines. Hey, if you are not subscribed, make sure to subscribe to my channel and hit the notification bell so you don't miss a thing.

By the way, every time that you are subscribing or hitting the notification bell or commenting in the comment section, what you're doing is allowing me to bring on better guests and do more episodes by doing that. So if you wanna get more, hey, make sure to subscribe. All right, so here's the reality. Roughly 10 million adults and 6 million children in the US have been diagnosed with ADHD. Wow.

And 62% of children with ADHD are taking medications for it. Now, Adderall and other ADHD medications like Ritalin have been on and off the FDA drug shortage list since 2022. And amphetamine usage— here's why there's a shortage— amphetamine usage has increased 2.5 times. So it is more than doubled from 2006 to 2016.

And one recent study reported that there is a 14% or more increase in ADHD stimulant prescriptions in just the last 2 years alone, or from 2020 to 2022. And stimulants are among the most widely misused prescription drugs according to the U.S. government.

Now, I want to share a personal story, and this may or may not surprise you, but when I was an undergrad at the University of Kentucky— this is before I went to Johns Hopkins and, and went on to get my doctorate— but I was at the University of Kentucky, and people there would actually— almost everybody was taking Adderall and Ritalin.

I'm saying people that were not diagnosed with ADHD, people that learned just fine, they were taking it. People would even crush it up and snort it like cocaine, which you may already know this, but Adderall and Ritalin are amphetamines.

They are closely related to cocaine in that class of medications in terms of they're very stimulating to that area of the brain and what they do to Dopamine and norepinephrine. And so it's important to understand this is probably one of the most widely abused drugs out there. And amongst college and high school students, it likely is the most abused prescription drug on the market today.

So here's how medications like Adderall work. It's an amphetamine, and it primarily works by increasing dopamine and norepinephrine activity in the brain, improving your ability to pay attention, focus, and concentrate.

And it's believed by some researchers that people with ADHD may actually have lower levels of dopamine, which can cause them to be disinterested and constantly try and seek things that stimulate them. Now, again, I want to just say that's a hypothesis, and I want to go back here to dopamine as well. What, what the neurotransmitter dopamine does It's what— it's, it's, it's, it's the thing you feel.

It's what allows you to focus and concentrate on something, sometimes causing a slight mood elevation. So when you're on a slot machine, that's what dopamine is keeping you locked in.

When you're searching and scrolling on Instagram or YouTube or any social media device, uh, typically scrolling, so that's gonna be more Instagram or TikTok is probably the highest in this, but that's going to cause dopamine levels. And anything you enjoy doing You know, everything from exercise to sexual activity, that can be a dopamine stimulation.

So dopamine can be good, but like anything, too much dopamine can be negative. And so when you are on a drug that's a constant stimulant, what it's going to do is it's going to increase the activity of certain organ systems, which over time can be an issue. There are going to be side effects.

And it's important to remember, you cannot take a synthetic chemical for long-term without there being some sort of side effect within the body. You know, there aren't a lot of long-term studies. However, here are some of the potential side effects according to some researchers of the long-term side effects of taking Adderall and other ADHD medications. One is damage to the nerve cells.

So very similar to diabetes, you've got these insulin receptor sites. Well, in a very similar way, you have dopamine and norepinephrine receptor sites. And if there's too much dopamine over time, you can actually burn out those receptor sites. Now, again, there's not a lot of research about that, but we know through, you know, general hypotheses, that's what can happen.

The other thing is it can be linked to psychosis, stroke, abnormal heart rhythms, mental health issues. And there's one study that begs the question, could it actually lead to dementia? What you're doing is you are increasing activity and blood flow of one area of the brain. Well, maybe one area isn't getting as much because of it, or other areas of the body.

And according to the study, it's possible that taking Adderall may lead to a decline in brain function later in life. As a published study in the Journal of Medical Hypothesis states, the brain could change its wiring after years on a stimulant like Adderall. This could result in a decline in brain function such as memory loss with rising age.

Unfortunately, there really isn't much long-term research out of this one study and one hypothesis. So I can't say conclusively that ADHD medication leads to dementia or a much higher risk, but we know that being on this type of stimulant long-term will have some sort of side effect on the body. And I want everyone to understand that I was the child that was diagnosed with ADHD.

I remember when I was in junior high, my mom brought me in, I got diagnosed, And I had a severe form of what— that's what the doctor said. Your, your son has a very severe form of ADHD. And that's why I barely graduated high school with a C- grade point average.

I do wanna say later on, without medication, I learned to focus using food as medicine and mindset medicine, and I was able to graduate Johns Hopkins University with a 3.9 GPA. So just know my ADHD didn't disappear or go away. I'm the same person. My— nothing changed there, but I changed my diet, and that allowed me to focus and concentrate at a much higher level.

So I believe for most people, myself being the child prescribed Ritalin in high school, and then I was prescribed Adderall again in college, I know that there are natural things that can be done. Now, I want to get into a few other things current event-wise that are happening right now regarding ADHD and ADHD medications, but Here, here's another big one that we're seeing today due to ADHD.

Energy drink consumption is tied to an increase in ADHD. So if you're overconsuming energy drinks, that will cause more ADHD-like symptoms. Energy drinks have exploded in popularity in recent years, particularly among teens. One study found that 68% of adolescents— that's children from the ages of 10 to 18— have consumed energy drinks Uh, during this year that the study was done.

So kids on a regular basis, 68%, at least yearly, are doing energy drinks. And 30% of teens drink energy drinks every single day, or at least regularly every single week. So think about that. Almost one-third of teens are drinking energy drinks, uh, with high levels of caffeine and stimulants, which make ADHD symptoms worse. Also, there are studies that showed increased sugar consumption.

If you consume too many carbohydrates and sugars, for kids that are doing processed cereals and dairy for breakfast, you know, and then of course for lunch, potato chips and white bread, these foods that turn into sugar very quickly, these are all going to exacerbate making these ADHD symptoms worse.

I want to go through now some of the things that I personally did that went— that allowed me to go from barely graduating high school and getting in trouble with a seat minus GPA to again going into a top 10 university and now writing books and becoming a doctor. And by the way, I never say any of these things to boast.

I say them because like my life was transformed from being a kid with ADHD who felt like I wasn't smart, who had major, major learning issues, to then being able to learn very well because I changed my diet and I started taking the right type of supplements and I started shifting my focus.

So here are some things that I did, and also I'm going to get into the medical literature, what it says as well. So following an ADHD nutrition plan can help you control your ADHD-like symptoms. Big thing though, I get— I want to hit on this again.

Here's what you need to avoid: sugary foods, simple carbohydrates that break down into sugar, the breads, the flours, the pastas, the rices, you know, generally speaking, and food dyes and artificial preservatives. Anything processed or packaged, that's going to make ADHD worse. What you want to do is consume a balanced diet.

You want to focus on getting protein, number one, fiber, healthy fats, and lots of nutrients. So I'm talking about organic meat, vegetables, low glycemic fruits like berries, doing some complex carbohydrates, a little bit of rice or sweet potato, you know, can be fine for most people. And then some healthy fats could be avocado, could be coconut. Uh, could be nuts and seeds.

These are all going to help keep those blood sugar levels balanced. That's really the key for ADHD is you wanna keep the blood sugar and the insulin as balanced as possible. Again, I really think that protein consumption— there's one amino acid in particular called tyrosine that's been shown to help increase dopamine in the brain.

So remember when I said earlier in that one study that they believed that people with ADHD may have lower levels of dopamine? Now, I do wanna say this, I don't know that that's exactly true. I think that people with ADHD are able to focus, but only on things that they're very interested in. They have, they have trouble focusing on things that they're not interested in versus things they are.

They tend to be dreamers. When you look at the diagnosis of all the people I know with ADHD, they're the creatives. Okay? They're the, they're the musicians, they're the artists, they are the entrepreneurs. They're those that tend to lean towards being highly creative.

And in that way, and, and it's not all people like that, but generally speaking, it skews much, much further in that direction and with boys. And it's, it's important that boys get their energy and activity, that, that they are able to release pent-up energy in order to also help ADHD.

But going back to this, here are some foods that can help naturally increase dopamine levels via L-tyrosine, the amino acid which will convert or help increase dopamine levels. The first one is red meat. Red meat works because of the high protein levels. The tyrosine also has iron, which is important for this as well. But red meat is number one.

Buy your kids organic grass-fed beef, make grass-fed burgers, send those with them at school. You could do some organic roast beef, but red meat is great. Next is wild-caught fish like salmon. So salmon is very good for these kids. Bananas actually is higher in tyrosine As a fruit, which is really unique. Fermented organic raw dairy products. It could be sheep milk yogurt or goat's milk yogurt.

Also, I even think coconut yogurt could be a good option in that way, or coconut kefir. Avocados are high in tyrosine. Poultry like chicken and turkey, lentils and beans, nuts and seeds also would be on this list of those high tyrosine foods. That are going to help increase those dopamine levels.

Now, if you are on an ADHD medication, here are some nutrients and vitamins that you could be deficient in, because remember, every medication will deplete your body of some form of a nutrient, right? We know antibiotics, the most common one, that depletes your body of probiotics, but also B vitamins and magnesium and iron. Well, ADHD medications They may deplete nutrients in your body.

Also, I want to go through a study on children with ADHD. They found nearly 80%, specifically 78.4% of children with ADHD are deficient in vitamin D. One study found that it can improve cognitive function and prevent exacerbation of ADHD in children. So again, there are clinical studies on vitamin D. showing that it improves ADHD symptoms.

And 80%, nearly, of children with ADHD are vitamin D deficient. This is also why it's important that if you have a child with ADHD or you have it yourself, that you get outdoors as much as possible. The more time spent outdoors, the lower the ADHD symptoms will go. So getting your kids in sports, taking them on hikes, forcing— telling them you can't be on this tablet.

You know, they have to spend the majority of their time outdoors after school and on the weekends is really should be a big focus. Number 2, the nutrient zinc is, is a critical mineral for the treatment of ADHD. The prevalence of zinc deficiency in children with ADHD in one study was 8 times greater than the reported prevalence of zinc deficiency for normal populations. Think about that.

An 8 times greater level of zinc deficiency in people diagnosed with ADHD. One study found that using zinc as a treatment of ADHD led to a significant improvement in hyperactivity, impulsivity, and socialization in ADHD patients.

Foods that are high in zinc include grass-fed beef, again, spinach, pumpkin seeds as well, Also, you know, other meat products, chicken and turkey, wild-caught fish are going to have zinc, but specifically beef is going to be one of the best for this. This is why, listen, just a few patterns you're going to see here. Your kids need lots of protein. They ideally need a lot of red meat.

This is going to help them tremendously, or yourself. If you have ADHD, this is going to help you tremendously as well. And I'd also recommend zinc supplementation. I'd recommend 30 milligrams a day for adults. And for children, you know, you're going to need to look at the dosage on the bottle of what's recommended based on their weight, generally speaking.

And vitamin D, typically 5,000 IUs a day for adults, 2,000 for children. But again, look at body weight. If you have a full-grown teen over 100 pounds, then most of the time, most doctors would recommend the full dosage for that, but vitamin D and zinc are essential for, for treatment. Now, here's another very important one. This is a mineral— iron.

One study found that low iron stores may explain as much as 30% of ADHD severity. Listen, there's a pattern here. The number one food for iron is red meat. So across the board, if you want to improve ADHD symptoms, Eat red meat, eat red meat, eat red meat. The second food is leafy green vegetables. That tends to have those nutrients as well. Dark chocolate also has some iron in it.

Beets, this is also going to help, help with that. Um, you could also put a little beetroot juice in your smoothie or your child's smoothie. But red meat, beets, green leafy vegetables across the board are going to help with many of those nutritional deficiencies, especially the iron, as we just talked about here. Magnesium's another big one. Okay, guess what else has a lot of magnesium?

It's going to be red meat. Also, green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, and beans are also good sources of magnesium. Spirulina, one of my favorite superfoods you could take as a supplement, that's also high in levels of magnesium. And then B vitamins. By far, the foods highest in B vitamins are meat, red meat number one. Chicken and poultry, wild-caught fish like tuna, bananas, spinach.

I mentioned salmon as well earlier. And then vitamin C may support a little bit as well. What I would recommend in terms of supplements is vitamin D, zinc, probably a good multivitamin, B complex, and omega-3 fatty acids. Those are the ones you should consider there. And in terms of blood flow to the brain, if you're an adult, Ginkgo biloba, ginseng also can be beneficial. Ashwagandha.

Those are some of the best for focus and concentration. Another one is called bacopa, which, which can be great as well. Now, I want to go through some other solutions according to some scientists and a psychologist. And here's what they recommend: getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night. We know this, right? Sleep deprivation harms your dopamine receptors.

Dopamine cannot produce its effects unless it binds to them. So, so to, to these receptor sites. So just know, if, if you don't get that 7 hours or more sleep a night, your dopamine receptors are compromised. It will cause more of those ADHD symptoms. So you want to make sure your kids get to bed early and that their room is dark and cold.

Give them a weighted blanket that can help them sometimes sleep longer. You don't want them on their tablets late at night. They can listen to audiobooks. Or ideally, but you want to cut it off a little bit before bed, that screen time. Number 2, regular exercise. A daily session of even just 20 to 30 minutes of exercise releases dopamine naturally. This increases your focus and your mood.

As I mentioned, there's almost no limit to the amount of time that you want to spend outside for yourself if you have ADHD and if you have kids that have ADHD. And so Ideally, activity outdoors, but if not, just any type of exercise. At least 20 to 30 minutes a day, but I would really recommend an hour or more for kids. Before school, make them go outside, okay?

Right when they get home from school, get them outside as much as possible. Even if it's raining, even if it's cold, bundle them up. The more time outdoors, the better for ADHD. Number 3, there is a study A 2005 study, uh, in Trusted Source that found that, uh, a massage reduced the stress hormones cortisol and increased dopamine.

Now, it's— you don't need to pay for your kids to get a massage, or you don't need to get a massage yourself. It's about physical touch. When you are— when there's good, healthy physical touch, you're rubbing someone's shoulders, giving them a massage, giving them a foot rub, giving someone a hug. Oxytocin is released along with dopamine.

Okay, so oxytocin and dopamine increase and stress hormones like cortisol decrease. That's going to help with ADHD. And you'll notice a lot of boys with ADHD, again, you know, giving them a hug, you know, rubbing their shoulders or their feet, very, very therapeutic for them. And number 4, doing random acts of kindness. Similar to a runner's high, this triggers a helper's high.

The good feeling people get when they do something nice for others. The more you can help your kids realize they need to help when they're younger, the better it is for them. And so knowing— and you do this by praising their good behavior as much as possible. When they load or unload the dishwasher, hey, thank you so much for doing that. You did a great job doing that.

Being their biggest cheerleaders and encouragers, that also helps with that dopamine release, but also can help with ADHD. So remember, as, as we've talked about ADHD, I, I, I didn't get into this and I want to get into this now. I truly believe that ADHD medications are grossly overdiagnosed.

I would even say, you know, let, let me, let me just— I'm— this is me being conservative, but I would say that 80% of ADHD drugs should not be prescribed today. The reason being is how many times has somebody gone into a doctor who's writing a prescription for ADHD? How many times have they first said, listen, there are likely some long-term side effects of this.

We don't have really much long-term research. We know this is a stimulant. Before I prescribe this medication, here's what I want you to do. I want you to take a vitamin D supplement. I want you to take zinc. I'm going to prescribe those. I'm also going to prescribe and recommend you eat more protein, specifically red meat. We get those iron levels up. Hey, let's get some of those vegetables.

Let's get bananas. Let's get these nuts. Do these foods, and then I want you to get outside an extra hour a day, and then see how the child does or the adult does. Then if there's still a major issue and they're flunking, and they're flunking out of school, maybe there is a time and place. But generally speaking, that's not what's happening today.

The medical oath is taken by medical doctors: first do no harm. Well, you're doing harm If you aren't helping them go and do these natural practices first. And I know there's going to be some comments and people saying things like, well, I do some of that, or some people are unwilling to do that, or kids— my child doesn't like this food.

But the reality is we should always do everything we can naturally to take care of the body before we do something that's a drug, a synthetic medication that we know is going to have long-term side effects. Because You're— listen, you can't give your body a synthetic chemical constantly and thinking that there's not going to be a long-term side effect. We just have to show wisdom with this.

And I'm not saying it should never be prescribed. I'm saying it's probably overdiagnosed by about 80%, incredibly overdiagnosed. And again, we've seen the amount of people taking this drug increase by more than double over a 10-year period. And then another 15% in, in the last 2 years alone. So we're seeing the prescription levels go up. I mean, it lo— overall it's tripled. Okay.

From, from 2000 to, to, to, to, you know, 2024, the, the, the, they've, they've tripled. Okay. And so, and with the same amount of people, that's what the study was showing. It's not that there's more people, it's the same amount of people. The prescriptions have tripled of Adderall and Ritalin and ADHD medications.

Instead, what we should be doing is focusing on using food as medicine, lifestyle medicine, in order to help kids heal. And remember this as well, ADHD is not a medical condition. It's not a disorder. It tends to be a personality type. It's predominantly boys, and it's boys that tend to be more creative, entrepreneurial in nature, high-energy boys.

And so if we take them, we put them in sports, we improve their diet, and we also try and cater to them to the, to the degree that we know how they're wired and we can plug them into activities. Activities we know that they'll enjoy more, those are the best solutions moving forward for the majority, majority of people, or at least the 80% of people out there today.

Hey, I'd love to hear from you in the comments section if you agree with me, if ADHD medications are overprescribed today. And I'm not saying there's never a time or place. I'd love to hear from you when you believe maybe it should be Prescribed or when it shouldn't be?

Also, is there anything that you've noticed in your own life that, that has helped you focus and concentrate and improve, uh, in any way your ability to focus? Um, hey, thanks so much for tuning in here to the Dr. Josh Axe Show, where each and every week I explore the science and the principles of how to grow and heal your body, mind, and spirit and take your life to the next level.

Make sure to subscribe and like and share this episode. By the way, Every time you subscribe, you hit the notification bell, or you share, you, you allow me to put out more episodes, bring on better guests because the show grows. So thanks for your support and being on mission with me. I can't wait to see you on the next episode.