ADHD, Food, and… MTHFR?! Anyone else??

ADHD brain here, so bear with me while I try to land this plane...... This may be long, but there really is a point....

I’m really curious if anyone else notices a big difference in how they feel based on what they eat (or don’t eat)?

I did keto for over a year and felt AMAZING… but also, let’s be real—that’s not exactly a “forever” lifestyle for me because… carbs.......

Rewind a bit—when my son was 16, things were really rough. He was dealing with pseudo-seizures, anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and his weight had gotten pretty high. I had tried everything on the mom side—therapy, support, all of it.......but nothing was really helping.

So I tagged in my husband (our resident “science guy” who loves to do research..), and within TWO DAYS he comes back and said,

“Pretty sure you guys have the MTHFR gene mutation.”

I was like… cool cool cool… I have no idea what you just said............

We got genetic testing done, and sure enough. My husband was right, my son has it (and it comes from one of us... clearly me). Long story short, it affects how his body processes folic acid, which is in basically EVERYTHING. Fantastic for a kid that has a sensory processing disorder....

We shifted his diet (think more gluten-free style......like cauliflower-based stuff, that is not completely what this is but its the closest that I can explain), and within DAYS we saw a difference. In his mood.

He lost over 100 lbs (being monitored, due to the fact that he was loosing weight to fast), in less then a year and more importantly, his mood, anxiety, and overall functioning improved.

Now, if he eats foods with folic acid, we can literally see the difference in how he feels.

Which brings me back to me…

When I eat mostly protein + simple foods (like meat and berries), I feel like I have actual energy and a functioning brain. But the second stress hits? I go right back to eating like a raccoon in a gas station dumpster.... and then feel worse then I did before...

So it comes down to is NEEED to cut folic acid out of my diet too.

So I guess my questions are:

*Has anyone else experienced big mental/emotional changes based on diet?

*And does anyone here have the MTHFR gene mutation?

Would love to hear if I’m alone in this or if this is more of a “thing” than I realized....

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