Welcome to Atypical Dish—an online space for exploring nutrition and lifestyle choices to help you live a calmer, more balanced life. I’m Amanda: ADHDer, home cook, foodie, wife, and work-from-home mom of two neurodivergent kids. I’m so glad you’re here!
Why Atypical Dish?
If you believe—or are curious to learn how—eating whole foods, spending regular time in nature, and incorporating regular movement can help you live a more balanced and productive life, then stick around. I have some insights on nutrition, nature, and exercise that I can’t wait to share with you!
If there’s a child in your life who has some quirks. Perhaps they have trouble sleeping, have unexplained itchy or bumpy skin, or maybe they have some strong aversions to food. We’ve got a lot in common. You're not alone in this. We should chat.
But, more specifically, if you’re the parent or caregiver of a neurodivergent child and you’re looking for more than the traditionally prescribed supports to help your child thrive in a world that doesn’t always seem built for them, you are my people. I am so glad we found each other!
It’s estimated that up to 1 in 5 people are neurodivergent. That means around 20% of us are wired to think outside the box, experience the world with heightened levels of observation, and hyperfocus on specific areas of interest. But that also means about 20% of us live in a world where our gifts can create challenges as we navigate social norms. Through Atypical Dish, we’ll examine how we can lessen these challenges by changing our approach to food, exercise, and overall lifestyles.
My Story
After being diagnosed with celiac disease in my 30s and following a strict gluten-free diet for several months, I discovered that the brain fog, racing thoughts, and general overwhelm I attributed to being an ADHDer began to improve. As any true ADHDer with a persistent curiosity would do, I went down a deep rabbit hole to see if anyone else had a similar experience.
To my surprise, I discovered a large
community of parents and other ADHDers using nutrition and lifestyle choices to treat behaviors often experienced in our community, such as brain fog, emotional dysregulation, explosive behavior, OCD, sleeping troubles, and sensory difficulties. My mind was blown!
When I was first diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, I asked my prescriber what other supports I should seek out…assuming medication was going to be just one part of the plan to help me juggle being an overwhelmed, working mom of two who couldn't seem to juggle life. She smugly answered, “Nothing will help your symptoms except medication.” And, as I proceeded to cry in frustration and disbelief, she also suggested I take an antidepressant to go with my Adderall.
Now, here I was, a couple of years out from my initial ADHD diagnosis, feeling duped! I was taking medication to help me tame the general overwhelm I felt from being a working parent, trying to juggle all the things life throws at you once you become responsible for two tiny people when you have spent your life masking and finding workarounds for a general lack of executive functioning skills. And I was doing okay. But, as a side effect, I often experienced a racing heart, hot flashes, and—as the medication began to wear off each night—worse emotional dysregulation. Why hadn’t anyone mentioned an alternative treatment to me before?!
I still can’t answer this question, but I think it’s likely a combination of things: (1) There isn’t enough research being done, nor a consensus in the existing data, on how much lifestyle and diet changes can reduce these symptoms; (2) Pharmaceutical and insurance companies can’t make as much money when fewer prescriptions are being written, and fewer office appointments are needed; and (3) most of us wish we had a magic pill that would solve all our problems (I mean, seriously, wouldn’t that be fantastic?!).
Thankfully, a HUGE community is out there, anecdotally supporting the notion that changing our diets can help us change our moods and behavior. Sure, Sally and Derek’s moms don’t have MDs at the end of their names. But if they’re telling me they see vast improvements in their children’s lives because they made a few swaps at the grocery store, then I was willing to try it for myself! I didn’t have a whole lot to lose, but I did have plenty to gain if their theories were correct.
My Parenting Journey
Around the same time that I discovered my diet was directly impacting my mood and behavior, I began to suspect that my children were also neurodivergent. I was reading ALL the parenting books and listening to ALL the podcasts to help me be an effective and compassionate parent. But, as I tried to implement the advice I was given, it seemed like nothing worked. Instead of a respectful and peaceful home, we had extreme emotional outbursts and chaos on the daily.
After revelations about how being gluten-free was improving my own behavior, I decided to try a different type of parenting book: “Cure Your Child With Food” by Kelly Dorfman. And I’m so thankful I did! This book was the catalyst for making real changes in my home that positively impacted my children’s moods and behavior. (If you’ve made it this far in this post, you should go ahead and add that to your Amazon cart, right now. But, hurry back.)
As it turns out, both of my children are sensitive to gluten, dairy, and food dye. After cutting these foods out of their diets, we saw significant improvement in their mood and behavior. Not only that, but we also found the changes to positively impact my oldest child’s academic abilities. She began to have a greater ability to focus on tricky (or “boring”) tasks and make academic advancements that were much harder before the diet changes.
We found these same diet changes helped our youngest with his sleep troubles. He used to wake frequently throughout the night and often ended up sleeping on a mattress we had set up for him in our room. Just a couple of weeks after cutting out gluten, at five years old, he FINALLY began consistently sleeping through the night. That also meant I started consistently sleeping through the night. Everyone was getting more sleep! What a game-changer.
The Path Forward
After making these diet changes, I also began reading about how our neurodivergent bodies just seem to need more of everything: more exercise, more time to explore outside, and sometimes more of specific types of vitamins than our neurotypical counterparts. As I began learning more, I started making incremental changes in our lives in pursuit of a calmer and overall healthier family.
I have to admit, sometimes these changes were a flop. Like when I gave my son fish oil for several months before I realized he is sensitive to it. Oh, I still feel that guilt. But for the most part, we’ve seen positive change. We’re in a better place than when we started this journey, and ( let me knock on wood real quick) I think I can say we’re beginning to thrive. There's always room for some positivity, right?!
What to Expect
Thanks for taking the time to learn a bit about me and the motivation behind Atypical Dish. I'm genuinely grateful for your interest. I hope you’ll join me on this journey as I share family-friendly gluten-free recipes, resources to help you add to your toolbox to support your differently-wired child, and lifestyle tips to help your family live a more balanced life.
Cheers,
Amanda
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