Some parents of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) use vitamins, minerals and herbs, alone or along with stimulant medications, to treat the symptoms of ADHD. Although some doctors and ADHD patients have reported good results using minerals and other supplements, strong scientific evidence for most supplements is lacking. Consult your doctor before giving supplements to your child. Some dietary supplements can cause stomach upset, react with medications, and even be harmful.
Zinc
The evidence is strongest for zinc as an ADHD treatment, according to New Zealand psychologist Julia Rucklidge and fellow University of Canterbury researchers, who published a review of studies on ADHD and dietary supplements in the April 2009 issue of "Expert Reviews in Neurotherapeutics." Two randomized, controlled studies showed that zinc supplements helped improve ADHD symptoms in children. Too much zinc can be toxic, so get a doctor's OK before giving your child zinc supplements.
Essential Fatty Acids
In a review of the research published in the August 2009 issue of "Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology," Israeli researchers from Safra Children's Hospital noted that kids with ADHD tend to have lower blood levels of some essential fatty acids (EFAs)--fats your body needs and must get from food. The Israeli researchers concluded that open trials have shown improvement in ADHD symptoms when kids took EFA supplements (which include fish oil, evening primrose oil, and/or flax oil). But in more tightly controlled studies, EFA supplements haven't lived up to that promise.
Pycnogenol
Pycnogenol is an extract made from the bark of the French maritime pine tree. Some studies, including a Slovakian study of 56 children reported in the October 2009 issue of "Biomedecine & Pharmocotherapie," have shown positive results, but the evidence is mixed.
Carnitine
Carnitine is a group of compounds that help your body burn fats for energy. Ohio State University researchers conducted a placebo-controlled trial of acetyl-L-carnitine in 112 children and reported mixed results in the Deember 2007 "Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology." Carnitine helped kids with inattentive type ADHD, but showed no effect on kids with combined type ADHD (inattention and hyperactivity).
St. John's Wort
A Bastyr University study funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, reported in the June 2008 issue of the "Journal of the American Medical Association," found that St. John's Wort, an herb commonly recommended for depression and other mental ailments, worked no better than placebo at easing symptoms of ADHD in 54 children.
Other Supplements
The New Zealand researchers wrote that there's not enough research to determine whether vitamins, magnesium, iron, SAM-e, tryptophan, or Gingko biloba with ginseng can help control ADHD.
Multi-Ingredient Remedies
Some popular supplements marketed to parents of kids with ADHD contain multiple ingredients, including B vitamins, zinc, magnesium and Gingko biloba, which might work better together than alone. The New Zealand researchers called multi-ingredient remedies "intriguing" and worth further study.
