18/09/2026
For some people with ADHD, eating is impacted upon by about our executive functioning (like our ability to regulate attention, or not), interoception (our ability to notice internal body signals like hunger).
Here’s what I mean:
You hyperfocus.
You miss your early hunger cues.
By the time you realize you’re hungry, you’re really hungry.
Now your brain has to stop what it’s doing, decide what to eat, make it, and clean it up, all while your body is asking for energy immediately.
For some people, that can look like forgetting to eat, surviving on snacks, dinner paralysis, hyperfixation foods, or binge eating after unintentionally undereating all day.
This isn’t everyone’s experience with ADHD. But if it’s yours, you’re not alone, and you’re certainly not “bad with food.”
As a neuropsychologist (and someone with ADHD), I think we need to be talking about this a lot more.
I’m planning to make this a series because there’s so much more to unpack—interoception, dopamine, binge eating, hyperfixation foods, meal planning, and why feeding yourself can feel so much harder than people realize.
What part of ADHD and food do you wish more people understood? Let me know in the comments. It may shape the next post.
Love you, SurThriving with you (not me eating pickles out of the jar out of the refrigerator because my body needs SALT asap), XO, Dr. Jen
XO,
Dr. Jen
