Is ADHD genetic? If it is, then why do symptoms reduce when diet and lifestyle is improved?

One of the most annoying and frustrating things about helping people with ADHD to reduce their symptoms, improve their health and improve quality of life, is the strong (mis)belief that ADHD is just genetic and that nothing can be done for it. Except medications of course (eye roll)!
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These strong beliefs usually shows on various ADHD social media platforms as posts or articles or comments on these articles. I’ve even seen vehement comments on memes and links based on published studies which show that when diet and lifestyle factors are improved in people with ADHD, symptoms reduce and health improves. The attached meme above is a recent example of this. And it’s very accurate in my clinical experience! Although I would suggest a higher % of people with ADHD will see improvements with these changes.

Instead of people with ADHD or pro-ADHD or pro-neurodiverse activists taking the findings of such studies as a positive, or to even try to make the changes suggested in the studies, they poo-poo the studies or posts with their misbeliefs, and instead say “if symptoms improved, then they didn’t have ADHD or autism in the first place”!!

I’ve written about the genetic vs inherited nature of ADHD in previous articles. Just because ADHD does appear in generations of some families, it doesn’t in all cases, so it is NOT just genetic! And not everyone in a family will develop ADHD symptoms or be diagnosed as such. Also, people in families tend to learn from the previous generation and eat the same cr@ppy diet, have the same cr@ppy lifestyle, and have the same other environmental causes to ADHD! These are also called EPIgenetic factors – environmental factors which can trigger genetic changes to increase ADHD risk and symptoms.

Hence the only thing inherited with ADHD is the possible potential percentage RISK of its development, or in other words, a genetic predisposition. ADHD development into symptoms still needs a number of environmental triggers which can be a different combination of root causes and factors in each person.

The same or similar “genetic” risk is for many other chronic health conditions like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cancers, and more. They ALL need environmental/epigenetic factors to trigger these issues and their symptoms. ADHD is no different!

I’ve even seen alternative practitioners (ie, pro-neurodiverse “Naturopaths”) say that ADHD is just genetic and can’t and SHOULDN’T be treated! I’ve also seen some of them say that if ADHD symptoms are improved with better dietary and lifestyle changes, then the diagnosis was wrong and they didn’t have ADHD in the first place! So all the doctors and scientists who have published studies on ADHD with these findings or that they suggest ADHD is the result of genetic and environmental factors, as well as the psychiatrists who diagnose ADHD are all wrong?!

If you think that ADHD is just genetic, then you’re not going to get any reduction of your symptoms or any improvement in your health, and symptoms will typically get worse over time. Even with being on medications, as they don’t address the root causes or factors for ADHD development or progression, and they introduce additional symptoms as side effects.

If you want to reduce ADHD symptoms and improve your health and quality of life, then the root causes and factors need to be identified first, then removed or treated or fixed!

For more information on ADHD and how I can help reduce symptoms and improve quality of life, please have a look at the ADHD Naturopath website here.

Stay healthy!