Have you ever caught yourself standing in front of the fridge, nibbling on snacks even though you don’t feel physically hungry? If you have ADHD, this might sound very familiar.

The truth is, eating when you’re “not hungry” isn’t about lack of willpower or being “out of control” with food, despite what diet culture would like you to believe. In reality, your brain and body are trying to meet very real needs. Sometimes that need is actual hunger, but it can also be about other things that our body and brain are needing.

When we zoom out, we can see that ADHDers often experience a few different “flavors” of eating. These patterns can overlap, shift, and show up differently depending on the day, and none of them are wrong. In fact, they’re forms of self-care.

Let’s break down the three most common ones:

✨ Dopamine Eating

ADHD brains have lower baseline levels of dopamine (and fewer transporters to help that dopamine activate the reward center of the brain), the neurotransmitter...

✨This is the new-age old question.✨ 

Here are some of the questions we frequently get asked by clients and members of our Eating with ADHD® Neurished community:

“Shouldn’t I just KNOW when I’m hungry?”

“Why can’t I tell the difference between hunger and seeking dopamine?” 

“Isn’t it ‘bad’ to use food for a dopamine hit, if I am not hungry?”  

Does some of this brain chatter sound familiar to you? Want some answers? Read on!!

Bringing awareness to, interpreting, and responding to our internal cues (which include both hunger and a need for dopamine) takes time and practice to learn and feel comfortable with, especially for those of us living with ADHD. 

ADHD Brains are Different  

As neurodivergent humans, we tend to have…

• 🧠 Lower Interoceptive Awareness 

• Difficulty recognizing and understanding the sensations going on inside of us that communicate what our bodies need in any given moment - this includes hunger, thirst, needing dopamine or stimulation,...