Is fatty acid deficiency more likely in ADHD, dyslexia or dyspraxia?
In our view, these kinds of diagnostic labels should usually be treated with more than a degree of caution. There is huge variability in both access to formal assessments and the diagnostic methods used. All of these conditions exist in graded form, with core features often blending imperceptibly into the general population range. More importantly, perhaps, the overlap between these conditions in practice is so great that so-called ‘pure cases’ are the exception rather than the rule. Research suggests that a significant proportion of people with any or all of these conditions (and some others with no such official label) could be helped by simple dietary supplementation with highly unsaturated fatty acids. However, it must be emphasised that: this approach can’t be expected to benefit every individual with dyslexia, dyspraxia or ADHD – simply because the causes of these kinds of problems can be so varied, and although good nutrition is the foundation for optimal brain function, many ot
