Q: Is supplementing with fish oil a good alternative to medication management for ADHD?
A: Many people have been hopeful about fish oil and ADHD symptoms, but there’s no evidence that it can replace prescribed medications.
Keep reading A Fishy Idea: Omega-3 Supplements as a Replacement for Medication bit.ly/lilfishy to learn what researchers are finding out about fish oil supplements.
There are many, many benefits to Omega-3, either in pill form or, preferably, by eating fish. A huge caveat is that you need about 1000 mg of EPA and DHA combined daily to get the benefits. Most fish oil pills are 1000 mg of fish oil but only 350 mg of Omega-3. Google Captain Joseph Hibbeln, former top Omega-3 scientist in the world for National Institute of Health, now retired, for the scientific research. Also sign up for email from Vital Choice, not to buy their fish but to get the latest news on Omega-3. Capt. Hibbeln is often cited. Vital Choice Wild Seafood & Organics <vitalchoice@wild.vitalchoice.com>
That said, do not drop your medications without professional guidance. But do eat better.
Two additional points - Because the issue of Omega-3 is really about the super over-abundance of Omega-6 in our diets from vegetable oils, do not buy fish packed in vegetable oil and do not fry the fish in vegetable oil. Packed in water is good or packed in olive oil. Bake fish or saute in extra virgin olive oil that can stand the heat. Olive oil provides Omega-9, another Omega that we do not get enough of.
Do NOT buy the Omega-3-6-9 pills being marketed. The 6 will cancel out any good from the 3 and 9.
And the mercury scare from the 1960s has been discredited. Pregnant women are now encouraged to eat fish. Stay away from certain sharks like Mako . Vital Choice has an excellent reference to which fish are the best to eat.
We have used the Equazen treatment on our son with ADHD. Equazen has an unusually high level of EPA. You are required to take 6 capsules per day for the first 3 months the 2 capsules per day thereafter. The treatment definitely improved his ADHD. His inattention improved considerably. However, on a scale of 1 to 10 (with Ritalin being a 10 for him) the improvement was a 3. We have continued this treatment as we suspect it has lowered the Ritalin dose he needs.
Rachael Gow, Ph.D. is a registered nutritionist, child neuropsychologist and an experienced researcher who is also parent of a child with ADHD. She is widely published in neuroscience and nutrition journals, was a guest researcher at the National Institutes of Health from 2012 to 2016, and is most recently the author of Smart Foods for ADHD and Brain Health: How Nutrition Influences Cognitive Function, Behavior and Mood.
She’s the founder of Nutritious Minds, a charitable organization that aims to empower neurodivergent [a term used since the early 2000s to describe those with learning and behavioral differences] and families through education and support.
For her article go to:
Supplements for ADHD and ODD
Thinking about switching to Supplements for ADHD/ASD
Medication for 16 year old with ADHD
Supplements for ADHD
