Sleep, Protein & Water: 3 Necessities for an ADHD Brain

When you're tired or hungry, your ADHD symptoms flare up — and your brain shuts itself down. Stay in control by keying into your body and figuring out what you need to get back in the game.

A cartoon of someone learning how to control their ADHD symptoms, represented by a brain

Controlling ADHD symptoms matters, if you want to live an easier and happier life. Yet lots of people don’t know how to manage them. The first thing I want you to remember is that ADHD is not a failure of will. It’s a brain-based condition. When you don’t give your brain the care it needs, your ADHD symptoms will get worse, or spin out of control.

Keying in to your ADHD symptoms is essential if you want a productive life. When you get this down to a system, your symptoms become a road map, guiding you on how to take care of your brain. In addition, controlling symptoms makes it easier to learn other ADHD life skills.

Brain fog is one of the symptoms that sinks my boat the worst. This morning I woke up full of energy. The problem was that, by the time I got to my desk, my brain was fuzzy. Writing this article, as I had planned, felt impossible.

Instead of getting upset, I got curious. I know that brain fog is most often the result of too little sleep, too little protein, or too little water. Knowing that, it was easy to figure out what was producing the fog.

I got plenty of sleep last night and ate a protein-rich breakfast, so those were off the list. I did notice that my mouth was dry. That’s when it hit me. My husband grilled teriyaki chicken last night. I was probably dehydrated from that extra sodium.

A couple of glasses of water did the trick. As you can see, I wrote the article you’re reading. Knowing how to manage your ADHD symptoms gives you control over how your brain works.

—From DanaRayburn.com


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TAGS: Get Things Done, Learn to Focus with ADHD, Focus at Work

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