Areas › Focus, starting, and ADHD › Exercise, food and other supports
If you are trying omega supplements, give them four to six weeks and then decide. Imaging work has picked up changes in how neurons communicate after around four weeks, which is fast as these things go.
Fixing the end point at the start protects you twice over. It takes the sting out of nothing happening by Thursday, and it stops an open ended habit that nobody ever gets around to reviewing. Put a date in the calendar, write down what you are hoping will shift, and look at it honestly on the day.
Qur’an and Sunnah
Man will only have what he has worked towards (Quran 53:39). Giving something a fair, bounded run is the work in this case.
وَأَن لَّيۡسَ لِلۡإِنسَٰنِ إِلَّا مَا سَعَىٰ
that man will only have what he has worked towards
Qur’an 53:39read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
What the research says
Much of the rationale for supplementing comes from developmental work: omega-3 fatty acids build up in the brain during early development, and animal studies link shortages to problems with neurotransmission. That is a reason to run a trial, not evidence that yours will succeed. Which is exactly why you set the date and judge it when it comes.
McNamara RK, Carlson SE. (2006). Role of omega-3 fatty acids in brain development and function: potential implications for the pathogenesis and prevention of psychopathology.. Prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and essential fatty acids doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Why it works
A trial with a deadline gives you an answer, while one without a deadline just becomes a monthly purchase.
This one is still a draft. It is waiting on a scholar and a clinician to read it before it is published.
Near this one
People with ADHD are reported to run low on both tryptophan and homocysteine. Low homocysteine is a good thing to have, since it is the high version that damages hearts.
Brain training games make you better at the game. Sadly, that improvement tends to stay inside the game.
Omega supplements thin the blood, so they usually do not belong alongside warfarin. Bruising easily is often the first thing anyone notices.