Innovations & Developments in Paediatric Nutritional Psychiatry: An Inspirational PhD Journey Exploring Novel Therapeutic Avenues for ADHD ((PhD Candidate in AMDI/ Nutritional Psychiatry)

Innovations & Developments in Paediatric Nutritional Psychiatry: An Inspirational PhD Journey Exploring Novel Therapeutic Avenues for ADHD (PhD Candidate in AMDI/ Nutritional Psychiatry)

1. Introduction: A Convergence of Passion and Purpose

In the journey of PhD research in pediatric nutritional psychiatry my dedication forged toward understanding how nutritional approaches alongside innovative bioactive solutions can enhance treatment results among children who have ADHD. At the beginning of my doctoral educational journey, I performed a thorough systematic review that assessed various bioactive ingredients from citicoline to trace micronutrients like magnesium and zinc as potential treatments for ADHD symptoms. I developed the initial research initiative which motivated me to carry out extensive work in two important fields with distinct transformative capacities.

This initial phase illuminated several promising diet-based interventions but also underscored that children’s responses vary considerably based on biological, developmental, and lifestyle factors. Inspired by these findings, I extended my research in two major directions:

a. Broadening Nutritional Interventions: Incorporating diverse dietary strategies—from the Mediterranean diet to probiotics and synbiotics—to harness their impact on the gut-brain axis.(Pontifex et al., 2024; Ashique et al., 2024)

b. Personalization Through Biomarkers: Investigating how genetic, metabolic, and microbial markers can guide targeted, individualized treatment plans for children with ADHD.(Haavik, 2022; Predescu et al., 2024)

2. From Systematic Review to Dual-Lens Approach

Doctors should examine dietary approaches that utilize beneficial microorganisms specifically targeted at treating gut-brain-axis conditions. Additionally, micronutrients used in the regimen of ADHD have to be validated and backed up by evidence. On the other hand, the investigation of biomarker-based treatments will create individualized therapy methods that use a combination of biochemical values and genetic data for developing optimal therapy designs. I present in this section the inspirations derived from my systematic review and describe how both main concepts advance as transformative advancements in child ADHD therapeutic methods. FiFigure 1, below clarify the association between GBA and ADHD.

3. Inspirational Stories & Experiences:

3.1  Inspirational Stories and Experiences

Throughout my systematic review, many parents shared their accounts about seeking non-drug alternatives for their children's cognitive and emotional development. Parental determination and potential nutritional treatments motivated me to explore two main concepts further. Researchers needed to look into the role of gut dysbiosis as a risk factor for ADHD symptoms and the therapeutic benefits of pre-and probiotics or synbiotics. This is why parents and doctors became interested in the Gut-Brain Axis (GBA). A combination of concrete observations in medical settings and scientific research data prompted teams to create two complementary strategies for testing nutritional treatments against biomarkers that personalize treatment plans.

3.2  Expanding the Nutritional Horizon

My systematic review of 19 relevant studies showed that there were big differences between the dietary treatments. These included broad dietary patterns like the Mediterranean diet, specific micronutrient supplementation with vitamins D and iron, zinc and magnesium, and functional foods that contained horse milk, as well as low-lectin diets. I devised a study schedule to identify potential dietary modifications that could serve as effective ADHD treatments for young patients. In figure two below, the oxidative stress and the inflammatory pathway are the primary targets of nutritional intervention.

4.  The Spark of Personalization

Toward the end of the systematic review, researchers found that the significance of distinguishing each participant became a vital narrative. Children exhibited different levels of response to dietary supplements, where some benefitted while others demonstrated little variation in their symptoms. The different results demonstrated the necessity for developing therapeutic strategies based on personal factors, including metabolic traits and genetic data and biological indicators that forecast how treatments will perform. Scientists uncovered this enlightenment as a starting point to transform monolithic medical practices, thus creating a precision-medicine system that provides fresh possibilities to kids and families neglected by mainstream medicine.

4.1 Nutritional Strategies in ADHD: Evidence from Recent Meta-Analyses

The combination of high-quality eating habits that incorporate more fruits, vegetables, and fish consumption helps decrease ADHD development risks in children, according to systematised studies and statistical synthesis. The consumption of unhealthy foods with high sugar content and junk foods produces opposite effects by increasing the probability of ADHD occurrence (Papanastasiou et al., 2021). Research indicates ADHD affects children who frequently eat processed foods together with sweet treats in their diet. Research evidence shows that children who eat these diets face heightened ADHD risk based on their elevated odds ratios (Yan et al., 2023; Wu et al., 2023). The ADHD symptoms of children improve after taking eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) along with vitamin D and magnesium supplements (Rocha et al., 2024; Raczy?ska et al., 2024).

4.2 Elimination Diets and Oligoantigenic Approaches

The researchers from Walz et al. (2022) observed that systematic elimination of common allergens through oligoantigenic or elimination diets produced long-lasting benefits in ADHD symptoms especially for inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity. Annick Huberts-Bosch et al. (2024) revealed data which indicates that although nutritious diets produce benefits in general they provide special advantages to people who have food sensitivities.

4.3 Microbiome-Targeted Interventions

            Probiotics, Synbiotics, and Low-Lectin Diets Kefir, Synbiotics, and Microbiome-Friendly Foods Children who consumed kefir along with reduced sugar content and increased plant variety showed better ADHD symptom control and overnight sleep metrics according to Lawrence et al. (2022). When people consume synbiotics made of beneficial bacteria and prebiotic fibers, their attention and inhibition improve significantly as their gut bacterial populations of Faecalibacterium and Bacteroides increase, according to Trezzi et al. (2025).

4.4 Micronutrients and Omega-3 Fatty Acids

            Iron, Zinc, Vitamin D, and Magnesium The studies conducted by Noorazar et al. (2020) and Tohidi et al. (2021) demonstrate how zinc supplements and iron supplements effectively treat ADHD inattentiveness symptoms and related behaviours. Evidence shows that low vitamin D levels cause ADHD symptom deterioration, while dietary supplementation leads to decreased emotional difficulties and less impulsivity. Research shows that when vitamin D is combined with magnesium treatment, it delivers enhanced behavioral effects which help minimise anxiety and social dilemmas. Research by Naeini et al., 2019 and Dehbokri et al., 2019 supports this claim.

4.5 Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Accumulated scientific research demonstrates the positive effects of Omega-3 fatty acids when treating ADHD symptoms. A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial by Rodríguez et al. (2019) revealed that DHA triglyceride supplementation with high DHA content improved ADHD symptoms measuring hyperactivity along with attention deficit and combined ADHD manifestations after six months of treatment. The research by Martin et al. (2022) showed that omega-3 supplements effectively decreased impulsive behavior in ADHD children.

4.6 Biomarker-Based Personalization:

4.6.1 Rationale for Precision Nutrition in ADHD

 Professional nutritional guidance takes into account genetic information to match foods to patients' requirements through the understanding that various DNA sequences strongly impact how people process nutrients and what substances affect them best. Vitamin and lipid metabolism in the body is controlled by single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (Park, 2025) (Singar et al., 2024) such that they show how ADHD symptoms develop and how well treatments work. The vital component of precision nutrition called metabolomics allows scientists to detect natural individual changes from dietary interventions, which enables them to create the most suitable diet based on particular nutritional imbalances or deficiencies ( Metabolomics application for the design of an optimal diet", 2022).

4.6.2 Potential Biomarkers and Implementation

Analyses of gut microbial profiles should identify dysbiosis and low alpha diversity because this reveals suitable choices between probiotics and synbiotics as treatments (Jung et al., 2022). Scientific evidence demonstrates that individual mineral levels starting from iron and lithium can predict how ADHD patients will respond to dietary combinations. The success of dietary interventions depends on assessing the initial iron levels in patients because patients with higher levels show improved treatment results according to Robinette et al. (2024). The assessment of vitamin D and copper levels in serum during the pre-treatment period does not reliably predict treatment outcomes; nevertheless, clinical practitioners can use this data to develop customised treatment plans. Several ADHD symptoms show increased improvements when patients have lower blood levels of folate and B12, according to Rucklidge et al. (2019).

5.  Conclusion

            Especially in paediatric populations, nutritional psychiatry is a developing field. Rooted on the systematic review of bioactive elements for ADHD, my PhD route has led me to investigate two transforming research directions:

(1) gut-brain therapies using probiotics, prebiotics, and Synbiotics;

(2) tailored treatments driven by biomarkers;

(3) whole-food dietary patterns like the Mediterranean diet alongside specific micronutrients.

These routes represent not only scientific curiosity but also a great empathy for the families and kids confronting ADHD.

Targeting the biological underpinnings of ADHD by diet and microbial balance and using genetic and metabolic insights for treatment customising will help us to approach holistic, child-oriented interventions that can either directly integrate with, or provide an alternative to, conventional pharmacotherapy.

The motivation for this two-pronged approach ultimately comes from seeing the resiliency and optimism of families looking for other paths—as well as from the creativity in questioning accepted ideas to create a more complex, statistically based, and personally relevant model of ADHD treatment.

#SDG3=Good Health and Wellbeing#

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