ADHD Survival Kit 01: Binge eating, forgetting to eat, and food hyperfixation
Three practical strategies for handling food challenges common amongst the neurodiverse
Many ADHDers experience challenges related to food, from quirky eating habits to serious eating disorders like binge-eating disorder and bulimia nervosa. A study conducted at Harvard in 2007 found that girls with ADHD were 3.6 times as likely to meet the clinical criteria for an eating disorder than their neurotypical counterparts.
I land somewhere in the middle of that spectrum — I’ve never been diagnosed with an eating disorder, but I do experience significant challenges related to food regularly. For instance, I’ll forget to eat lunch until 4 p.m., eat 17 cookies for dinner, or eat the same meal for weeks in a row. These are all fairly common, I’ve learned.
Like many women, I was diagnosed with ADHD later in my life than my male peers (I was in my third year of undergrad), then surprised to find out that certain tendencies I thought were uniquely mine, or unrelated to ADHD, are actually known characteristics of the neurodiverse brain.
A complicated relationship with food is one of these tendencies.
What makes individuals with ADHD prone to food challenges?
Like many questions about the workings of the brain, the most accurate answer is that no one knows for certain. A variety of factors are theorized to contribute to the three most common ADHD-related food behaviors: skipping meals, binge eating, and hyperfixation on specific foods.
🧠Forgetting to eat or skipping meals
Hyperfocus, time blindness, short-term and working memory challenges, and the effects of stimulant medications may all contribute to the ADHDer’s tendency to forget to eat or skip meals.
🍪Binge eating
ADHD almost certainly involves the mesolimbic dopamine pathway and the brain’s reward system. In search of a “dopamine hit”, we’ll binge on something that makes us feel good. (Like strawberry pop tart cookie bombs!) Note: binge eating behavior may occur with or without binge eating disorder. If you’re concerned that you may have an eating disorder, please consult with your healthcare provider.
Or, the Adderall wears off and we realize we’re starving. This fantastic 2-Minute Neuroscience video provides a good, quick explanation of the brain’s reward system and the role of dopamine.
🔬Hyperfixation on specific foods
Some ADHDers experience food hyperfixations to a more extreme degree than I do, but I definitely prefer to eat many of the same things over and over.
Three Strategies
One way that I’m working more successfully with my ADHD is by accepting the reality that what works for neurotypical people will likely not work for me. I may have to experiment to find creative solutions to problems that are not even problems for many people.
🍌Very low-effort meals and snacks
If I ate breakfast at 7 a.m., and now it’s noon —my scheduled lunch time— but I finally just dropped into The Zone and I’m making good progress on a project, there’s no way I am stopping to eat a meal right now. (Even if my doctor says I “should” stick to the same mealtimes each day.) My periods of hyperfocus are so valuable to me that I am not willing to try to force myself to keep a regular schedule.
I will bring a bag of Everything Bagel Cashews to my desk and snack, though. (Sometimes I buy Basically, Amazing Cashews from GoPuff or Sprouts Farmer’s Market’s store brand, and sometimes I make my own with Newman’s Own Everything Bagel Seasoning.)
The realization that I need to have low-to-no-effort meals and snacks on hand was a game changer.
I’d spent so much time trying to force myself to eat salad, cook lunch (in the middle of my workday! 🤣), and basically transform myself into a piece of broccoli🥦, that it was such an immense relief to work with my natural tendencies rather than to fight them.
Now, I always keep plenty of protein-rich, as-healthy-as-I-can-stand meals and snacks on hand. In addition to the aforementioned magical cashews, I stock KIND bars, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches*, and Ithaca lemon-garlic hummus with Pretzel Crisps.
As nutritionist Anna M. Lutz told Vice, “giving up some health value in order to ensure you eat enough can be perfectly fine. Try to remember that you still are getting some nutrition and, just as important, are feeding yourself on a regular basis.”
*Smuckers Uncrustables might be the world’s most perfect food for many hangry ADHDers, but I recently started taking the time to make my own PB&J sammies. I learned that the peanut butter and jelly varieties may or may not actually be vegan — which really depends upon your own definition of “vegan” — and definitely contain some ingredients I would prefer not to eat. But like anything else, you should weigh the benefits versus the potential negative effects of any food choice you make and decide for yourself based on your values.
📅Meal planning
Meal planning sounds utterly awful, and it really can be. I’ve spent hours planning then hundreds of dollars on groceries (ADHD tax!) only to order the same breakfast sandwich from the vegan deli around the corner every day for a month. 🔑 The key is to find a meal planning tool, system, or method that works for you, and implementing it slowly rather than expecting yourself to prep 21 home-cooked meals for the week.
These days, I use the Forks Over Knives meal planner ($19.99 per month and totally worth it) with pretty good success. It works for me because it’s vegan, the recipes suggested for the week use several of the same ingredients ensuring that my grocery bill won’t break the bank 🏦, the recipes are easy to make, and it’s highly customizable — if I am on a peanut butter cup oatmeal kick, I can adjust my meal plan so that it’s breakfast every single day this week. Consider what’s important to you in a meal planner and find one that fits or can be adjusted to fit your needs.
🥡 Cut yourself some slack and just order takeout
Some days are just really hard. Don’t beat yourself up. Get Uber Eats to bring you your favorite takeout meal and grant yourself permission to fully enjoy it, guilt- and shame-free.
What are your strategies for coping with ADHD-related food concerns? I’d love to know if there are good ones that I have missed! Comment here or tag me on Bluesky, Threads, or Instagram.