Your imbalanced blood sugar is secretly making your ADHD worse
Here’s how and what to do about it.
Let’s talk about something wildly unsexy but surprisingly powerful when it comes to managing your ADHD: blood sugar.
If you live with ADHD, you probably already know what it’s like to swing between “I could conquer the world right now” and “don’t talk to me, I hate everyone, and also I can’t focus.”
Sometimes that swing isn’t strictly emotional; it’s biochemical. And your blood sugar, that invisible little rollercoaster that impacts your energy, focus, and mood, might be the driving force behind symptoms like brian fog, irritability, anxiety and much more.
You process glucose differently
Your brain is kind of a diva. It burns through more energy than any other organ in your body, and when it needs energy, it wants it immediately, yesterday, last year.
For people with ADHD, this matters even more. There’s signs that ADHD’ers metabolize glucose differently than people without ADHD; Our brains use glucose (blood sugar) less efficiently, which means we’re extra sensitive to dips and spikes.
When your blood sugar drops, your body starts screaming at you to find food (preferably carbs) RIGHT. NOW.
It’s not subtle. You get irritable, distracted, anxious, foggy, impulsive – or all of the above. You might find yourself doom-scrolling, panic-snacking, or crying over minor things.
But don’t worry, this is just your blood sugar going on a little rollercoaster – albeit a very unenjoyable one – and you just need to know how to balance your blood sugar, in order to cancel the rollercoaster ride.
Here’s what NOT to do
I realize that what I’m about to describe is the reality of what a lot of people reading this are doing – and there’s no shame in it.
I just want to highlight what can worsen the blood sugar imbalance that’s making your symptoms worse, so you know what to look out for.
You wake up already running late, skip breakfast, and tell yourself you’ll “grab something later.”
Coffee becomes breakfast.
You hyperfocus for hours, then suddenly crash at 2 PM and wonder why you’re ready to eat your keyboard.
You grab something quick and carb-y – a muffin, chips, maybe more coffee – and get that nice dopamine spike.
Forty-five minutes later, you crash again.
By dinner, you’re hangry, overstimulated, and possibly crying because your pasta boiled over.
The things that keep your blood sugar spiking, crashing and spiking again, are things like:
Skipping breakfast.
Having coffee on an empty stomach.
Eating carbs without fats and protein.
Eating while stressed and preoccupied.
This blood sugar rollercoaster keeps your symptoms out of whack. So let’s talk about what to do about it.
How to keep your blood sugar steady
Let’s make this realistic. It’s not necessary to all of a sudden become a master of meal-prepping. You just need to make a few ADHD-friendly changes that make the stable choice the easy choice.
Eat breakfast - even a small one
Ideally: Protein + fat + carbs.
For example:
Greek yogurt + fruit + handful of nuts
Eggs + toast
Oats with peanut butter
Leftover dinner (yes, cold pasta and chicken counts)
Pair your carbs with protein or fat
If you eat carbs on their own, your blood sugar spikes quickly, and crashes quickly.
But if you add on protein and/or fats and fiber, you get a more slow and steady release of energy.
Don’t stop eating carbs – you need those in your diet for your body to function well, just add something to your carbs so they make the right impact on your body.
Maybe you want some crackers or a soda. You can still have that, but consider adding on some hummus, peanut butter or cheese to the crackers or have the soda alongside a little snack – maybe some cheese or a hardboiled egg?
I know eggs and soda sound kind of like a cursed combination, but hey – if it works, it works!
Keep grab-and-go snacks everywhere.
Make it so easy you can’t not eat. Keep snacks in your bag, your jacket pocket, your desk, your car, your ADHD chaos drawer. Wherever is convenient for you.
Some good ones:
Protein bars
Cheese sticks
Mixed nuts
Trail mix
Boiled eggs
Fruit + nut butter packets
Celery sticks with dips
Hell, you can even buy a whole rotisserie chicken and leave it in your fridge just to pick off and snack off, if that’s what works for you.
The most important thing is to make it easy and accessible, and to make sure that whatever you buy doesn’t require a lot of preparation.
It’s OKAY to buy precut greens and veggies and prepackaged stuff if that’s what helps you eat.
Don’t let caffeine replace food
Caffeine spikes cortisol, which makes your blood sugar less stable – especially when your stomach’s empty.
Eat first, sip second.
Plan ahead for your afternoon crashes
You probably already know your weak spots; that time of day when you always lose steam and start to feel unfocused, tired and get brain-fog.
Pre-load your future self with a snack or a small meal before you get to that point. Set reminders, use post-its, set up a meeting in your calendar every day for snack-time.
If you wait until you’re starving, you’re less likely to make a good choice for your blood sugar, because your body is asking you for food URGENTLY.
I know it’s not always easy to remember, because ADHD bodies have a tendency of not giving you enough signals of hunger until you’re actually starving. But that’s why it’s important to plan ahead and look at times between meals instead of the cues your body is sending you.
And of course, it’s also a good idea to work on your interoception, so you can register the more subtle signs of hunger and other physical sensations before your body has to practically scream at you before you feel them.
If you want to learn how to improve your interoception, check out my article:
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Start small
If this all feels like too much, pick one thing. Maybe that’s to eat a real breakfast three times this week.
Or to always keep a snack by your laptop.
Don’t try to fix everything at once – that’s another ADHD trap.
Small, consistent changes over time do more for your blood sugar (and your ADHD symptoms) than one day where you do everything perfectly, and then you never do it ever again.
Remember!
Your body also needs breaks between meals and snacks, so that your blood sugar has time to lower again before your next meal.
So while it’s good to have meals and snacks, it’s not ideal to keep snacking all of the time.
Ideally you leave a couple of hours between meals and snacks to give your body a break to process the food you’ve eaten.