Areas › Focus, starting, and ADHD › Exercise, food and other supports
Omega supplements thin the blood, so they usually do not belong alongside warfarin. Bruising easily is often the first thing anyone notices.
One clinician worked out that her husband's bruising came from taking omegas on top of his Coumadin, and it settled once his doctor told him to stop. High doses upset the stomach for a fair number of people as well. If someone is on any anticoagulant, the omega decision belongs to the prescriber and not to the health shop.
Qur’an and Sunnah
He knows that some of you will be sick, and what follows is the instruction to recite as much as is easy for you (Quran 73:20). The command bends around the state of the body, and so should a supplement plan.
۞إِنَّ رَبَّكَ يَعۡلَمُ أَنَّكَ تَقُومُ أَدۡنَىٰ مِن ثُلُثَيِ ٱلَّيۡلِ وَنِصۡفَهُۥ وَثُلُثَهُۥ وَطَآئِفَةࣱ مِّنَ ٱلَّذِينَ مَعَكَۚ وَٱللَّهُ يُقَدِّرُ ٱلَّيۡلَ وَٱلنَّهَارَۚ عَلِمَ أَن لَّن تُحۡصُوهُ فَتَابَ عَلَيۡكُمۡۖ فَٱقۡرَءُواْ مَا تَيَسَّرَ مِنَ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانِۚ عَلِمَ أَن سَيَكُونُ مِنكُم مَّرۡضَىٰ وَءَاخَرُونَ يَضۡرِبُونَ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ يَبۡتَغُونَ مِن فَضۡلِ ٱللَّهِ وَءَاخَرُونَ يُقَٰتِلُونَ فِي سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِۖ فَٱقۡرَءُواْ مَا تَيَسَّرَ مِنۡهُۚ وَأَقِيمُواْ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتُواْ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَأَقۡرِضُواْ ٱللَّهَ قَرۡضًا حَسَنࣰ اۚ وَمَا تُقَدِّمُواْ لِأَنفُسِكُم مِّنۡ خَيۡرࣲ تَجِدُوهُ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ هُوَ خَيۡرࣰ ا وَأَعۡظَمَ أَجۡرࣰ اۚ وَٱسۡتَغۡفِرُواْ ٱللَّهَۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورࣱ رَّحِيمُۢ
[Prophet], your Lord is well aware that you sometimes spend nearly two-thirds of the night at prayer––sometimes half, sometimes a third––as do some of your followers. God determines the division of night and day. He knows that you will not be able to keep a measure of it and He has relented towards all of you, so recite as much of the Quran as is easy for you. He knows that some of you will be sick, some of you travelling through the land seeking God’s bounty, some of you fighting in God’s way: recite as much as is easy for you, keep up the prayer, pay the prescribed alms, and make God a good loan. Whatever good you store up for yourselves will be improved and increased for you. Ask God for His forgiveness, He is most forgiving, most merciful
Qur’an 73:20read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
What the research says
This is the awkward corner of a supplement with a decent reputation. A review of marine omega-3 sets out how far most people fall short of the intake thought good for brain function, alongside mixed trial results in behaviour and mood. None of that changes the fact that it is an active substance, with effects beyond the ones you were after.
DiNicolantonio JJ, O'Keefe JH. (2020). The Importance of Marine Omega-3s for Brain Development and the Prevention and Treatment of Behavior, Mood, and Other Brain Disorders.. Nutrients doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Why it works
Omega-3 makes platelets less likely to clump, which adds to what an anticoagulant is already doing.
When not to
Anyone on warfarin or another blood thinner should not start or stop omega supplements without speaking to their prescriber.
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
The restrictive elimination diet has real methodological problems, and it is expensive and exhausting to run. If a family still wants to try it, they can, because unproven and dangerous are different words.
Chiropractic neurologic organisation training, the kind involving manipulation of the skull, has no credible theory behind it for ADHD. The main harm is not the treatment itself but the months and the money that go into it.
There is no brain scan, EEG trace or blood test that can tell you whether someone has ADHD. Anything sold as an objective biological test for it is promising more than the science can give.