Joe Wicks says junk food causes ADHD

Does he actually say that? I have only skim read the article but he says he thinks his own behaviour as a child was influenced by eating a shit diet and points out there may be a link between diet and behaviour especially in children. It's the daily mail that suggests it's being over diagnosed.

I don't like Joe Wicks and don't think he should be commenting on medical issues but I don't think he has actually claimed that junk food 'causes' ADHD

This was a theory in the 80s when some psychiatrists didn’t believe in ADHD , both diet and ineffective parenting were blamed. Research proved them wrong. Obviously junk food isn’t good for physical or mental health but he’s talking rubbish.

Am I the only one who misread that as John Wick?!

It is more complicated than that. You absolutely can have ADHD and eat a brilliantly healthy diet without UPF.

BUT

Eating a diet high in UPF and sugar really can have an impact on behaviour to the extent that it can start to look like ADHD and certainly make ADHD symptoms far worse. So if you or your children have ADHD or ADHD-like symptoms, it’s well worth cutting out UPF as much as possible.

He’s not a bright lad, is he?

No this is not the case. I think myself that diet and exercise can help with ADHD symptoms.

Joe wicks needs to stick to what he knows and not pass comment on medical conditions.

I remember a programme years ago with Jamie Oliver: he was working with a family who had several DC who had either been diagnosed with ADHD or were awaiting diagnosis. Anyway, their diet was terrible, and after feeding them healthy food, their ADHD ‘symptoms’ either disappeared or were greatly improved. But I think the consensus was that these DC didn’t have ADHD, they were just hyped up on additives. ADHD is not due to diet.

Not sure how my mum born in the mid 50’s when junk food didn’t really exist manages to have it then. I always thought she probably got it from my grandmother (raised on a farm with home grown/ raised foodstuffs) who also seems to have it (undiagnosed but clearly displays traits associated)

Junk food is not good for anyone though.

My daughters symptoms are immediately a thousand times worse if she eats additives such as artificial sweeteners, colourings such as e150 and e120, preservatives such as potassium sorbate, flavourings such as vanillin (cheap vanilla extract in Nutella etc), MSG and several more. Check those labels religiously - it doesn't cause ADHD but UPF definitely triggers dangerously out of control behaviour in my experience.

It could be reverse too. If you have adhd you're more likely to be attracted to food that stimulates dopamine reward centres?

So correlation not causation.

I don't think there is a question that you "are what you eat"

Tonnes of processed sugary foods and crap are shown in studies to contribute to higher rates of ADHD

I think it would be basic common sense that if you have a child with ADHD that you feed them non-processed whole foods

If you go back twenty or thirty years ADHD was largely ‘naughty boy syndrome’ and ADHD or not a generally chaotic background didn’t help.

We’ve all obviously moved on as a society now and it isn’t a syndrome that causes ‘naughtiness’ and it isn’t just boys.

I think that diet may play a part. Obviously ADHD isn’t caused by UPF and a healthy diet won’t prevent it but it could contribute to why many kids with ADHD are struggling. People with ADHD who cope well don’t typically get diagnosed. Some additives in drinks and sweets are well known to cause attention difficulties. They warn you on the packets. It’s not a leap to suggest there are probably other dietary effects we don’t fully understand.

He's not the brightest. If I am being charitable I think he may be confusing the (good) research that shows a poor diet, especially one heavy in sugar, can impede concentration and ability to learn. However that is obviously not the same as ADHD.

He's stupid to draw a causal link. but he's right to say that junk food/UPFs are affecting everyone's mental and physical health. No one can deny that.

How sad that he gets airtime.

Daily Mail clickbait shite

Joe Wicks is just trying to stay in the limelight.

Ignore both of them

I have ADHD and my mum brought me up on homemade dinners cooked from scratch naturally gluten free and no processed food or sugar.
Still very much got ADHD.

It’s bullshit. The ‘explosion’ is because there is now much better criteria for diagnosis, especially for girls and women.

His stupid reasoning doesn’t track for those of us who are adults and have recently been diagnosed

I hate articles like this; it gives airtime to bullshit theories that then make it even harder for diagnosis to be taken seriously

Tedious

I think he might be on to something.

If anyone is interested check out Georgia Ede and Chris Palmer.

If you believe that drugs (chemical compounds that we ingest) can affect the brain, then surely the food we eat (chemical compounds we ingest) can affect the brain. Not every drug effects everyone the same, not every food effects everyone the same.

When did Joe Wicks become Dr Joe Wicks?

I can’t even be bothered to read it as I already know anything out of that twats mouth will be bullshit.

I politely disagree with Joe

I impolitely, rudely and fucking disrespectfully disagree with Joe and would like to tell him that he is an absolute tosser to suggest such shite.