In this episode we take on ADHD hyperfixation meals - the totally real, totally neurological phenomenon where your brain finds one safe food and refuses to let go of it for days or weeks at a time. Our skit lands in a very fancy restaurant where the only thing on the menu that matters is whether they have mac and cheese. Spoiler: they do not. Not the right kind, anyway.
What we cover
Prescription Protocols
Protocol One: Scout the Table - Check the menu and the restaurant ahead of time and go in with a plan, so the anxiety happens before dinner instead of during it.
Protocol Two: Name Your Safe Food - Tell someone safe about your current "it's complicated" relationship with food. Share as much or as little detail as you want - it's your life, your choice.
Protocol Three: Pack a Bridge Food - Keep something close enough to your safe food in your bag or your car, so you're never choosing between showing up and going hungry.
Validation Station
If you've sat at a table in a quiet state of panic because the menu didn’t have that thing, or felt embarrassed ordering the simplest item at a nice restaurant, or cancelled plans because the food uncertainty was too much, hear this: that is a completely real experience, and it makes sense.
The hyperfixation meal food rotation is a coping strategy. Not a flaw. A strategy.
Sources & research
Barkley, R. A. - Executive Functions: What They Are, How They Work, and Why They Evolved (Guilford Press, 2012 (paperback ed. 2020))
Ghanizadeh, A. - Parents Reported Oral Sensory Sensitivity Processing and Food Preference in ADHD (Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 2013, 20(5):426–432)
Jurek, L., et al. - Sensory Processing in Individuals With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Compared With Control Populations: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2025, 64(10):1132–1147, doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2025.02.019).
Pinto, S., et al. - Eating Patterns and Dietary Interventions in ADHD: A Narrative Review (Nutrients, 2022, 14(20):4332, doi:10.3390/nu14204332)
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