Children with ADHD who keep taking micronutrients over one year are mostly in remission in their symptoms with no side effects.
The results from a University of Canterbury (UC) study into the longer-term effects of micronutrients on ADHD symptoms in children was recently published in the [1].
This study was led by Dr. Kathryn Darling at the Mental Health and Nutrition Lab in Christchurch (under the supervision of Eat2BeNice Scientist Julia Rucklidge) and looked at the long-term effects of a broad-spectrum micronutrient (vitamins and minerals) in attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treatment.
Eighty-four of the 93 children who entered a 10-week randomized controlled trial (micronutrients versus placebo), followed by a 10-week phase of all children taking micronutrients, then completed follow-up assessments after 12 months. This allowed us to gather valuable information about what happens when people choose to stay on or come off the micronutrient treatment.
The study showed that children who benefit in the short term from taking a broad-spectrum vitamin/mineral formula maintain those benefits or continue to improve when they keep taking it long term, without side effects.
Continued micronutrient treatment was associated with improvements in ADHD symptoms which were similar to, or greater than, those associated with stimulant medication. Unlike stimulant medications, micronutrients were associated with improvements, rather than worsening, in mood and anxiety. This indicates that micronutrients can be a serious treatment option for those who choose not to take medications. Micronutrients may be especially helpful for children with ADHD who also have difficulties with mood or anxiety.
Other key findings from this research:
- Those who continued to take micronutrients did not have any ongoing side effects.
- Children who continued to take micronutrients and children who changed to medications (like methylphenidate/Ritalin/Concerta) either stayed well or continued to show improvement in ADHD symptoms at a 12-month follow-up assessment, while those who stopped treatment altogether did not.
- Children who switched from micronutrients to medications like methylphenidate/Ritalin were more likely to have problems with mood or anxiety at the 12-month follow-up assessment, which were worse than at the end of the micronutrient trial. After the end of the trial, mood and anxiety symptoms had generally continued to improve for the children who stayed on micronutrients and mostly stayed the same for those who stopped treatment.
- The most common reasons people stopped taking micronutrients were the cost and number of pills to swallow.
- Based on dominant treatment, more of those who stayed on trial micronutrients (84%) were identified as “Much” or “Very Much” improved overall relative to baseline functioning, compared to 50% of those who switched to psychiatric medications and only 21% of those who discontinued treatment. Fifteen (79%) of those still taking micronutrients, 8 (42%) of those using medications, and 7 (23%) of those who discontinued treatment were considered in remission based on parent-reported ADHD. Those who stayed on micronutrients were more likely to have failed medication treatment in the past.
It is important to note that these findings are reporting on group averages, so the effect of micronutrients or other treatments for any specific child may have been different. People do respond differently to any form of treatment – perhaps they benefited across all areas of functioning or perhaps had no benefit at all.
This study is limited due to its naturalistic observational status but allows us to evaluate effectiveness in the real world. No funds were received from the manufacturer of the micronutrients.
If you want to know more about the micronutrients we studied, you can contact us via email: mentalhealthnutrition@canterbury.ac.nz
