Get Focused with ADHD | Emonthebrain

Hey, welcome back. Today we are talking about ADHD and focus and I'm gonna talk a little bit about my journey through adhd. Someone commented on the last video and asked me to talk about ADHD and my opinion on medication. And I will give my opinion on kind of my journey with the medication. ADHD is not a one size fits all category. And everything that I talk about today, that this is going to be kind of my personal opinion and my journey through adhd. And you can feel free to take whatever resonates with you and don't take the rest. Okay. That's true for kind of everything that you see on social media or you watch on YouTube. Like take what you resonate with and leave the rest. ADHD is not a one size fits all, which is why the treatment isn't a one shouldn't be at least a one size fits all, even though it kind of seems like it is. Yeah. So I'll give you my, my journey and a whole bunch of tips for focus that you can use if you have ADHD or if you don't. So let's get into it. I was personally misdiagnosed till I was about 18. I had doctors telling me I had all sorts of problems. And that was really hard for a while because as a girl with adhd, it's a little different for women getting diagnosed, but especially like into adulthood because I went so long without being diagnosed. But I had like a lot of symptoms that people don't really talk about, which is mood problems with mood regulation and impulsivity is obviously an ADHD thing. So I had that as well. But I really didn't have like the right diet for my ADHD and it wasn't personalized to me and so my symptoms were exacerbated. But I finally did get medicated when I turned 18 and when I, when I was diagnosed with ADHD. But. But yeah, so I got medicated and I took medication for a few years and it really helped. At first it was great, you know, got that dopamine boost. That's what it does. I was on stimulants, but honestly over time the side effects just started to affect me so much and it really was like, I don't want to take it. And then also on days that I didn't take it, I was really depressed and had zero motivation. And then I went into my PhD program and I minored in medical pharmacology. So I learned about just all of the ways that drugs interact with the brain and also their off target effects. Which people call side effects. But the side effects are like the behavioral measure and the off target effects are the like the ways that it interacts with your body and your brain molecularly that aren't for the reason that you are taking the drug and then also for the fact that you build tolerance to it and dependence and you know, that's why they have to keep upping the dose. And I was experiencing that, so I didn't want to do that anymore. It was a personal choice for me to stop taking medication and I did that. And the way that I did that was I supplemented with caffeine and I found that green tea really helped me. And I didn't know then what I know now, but green tea and Matcha are the one of the best things that you can actually drink for adhd because caffeine plus l theanine is super, super helpful. And I'll get into that later in the video, but that's kind of like how I transitioned. I just drank a lot of green tea. But now let's get into the ways that you can increase your focus. So number one is hydration. Hydration is so slept on. Nobody. Like I feel like people don't talk about it enough. But you need to stay hydrated. Water increases your brain's ability to communicate. They have shown that just 2% dehydration in the body decreases focus, attention, your cognitive flexibility. So your ability to manage tasks and remember things and have sustained focus and attention, all of that. And also mood, it affects your mood as well. So hydrate also. Also, there is a neuron that runs from your brain to your bladder. It's the reason why you wake up in the middle of the night, that if you have to go to the bathroom and it's because being hydrated, your bladder filling up actually increases alertness and focus that way as well. So stay super hydrated. It'll also increase like blood flow through the brain, which is great. So stay hydrated. Number two is exercise. Exercise. A lot of people talk about the aesthetics and why it helps aesthetically, which is great. But really it helps so much with focus. And because it improves, it increases dopamine. A lot of people say like, oh, like I don't like exercising in the morning. Like I like to do my work in the morning and exercise in the afternoon. You can exercise in the afternoon. Sometimes I will do that and I will use it as motivation, be like, I'm gonna get all this work done. That way I can go exercise because I actually really enjoy physical activity. But exercise Increases dopamine. It also increases endocannabinoids, which are your body's natural cannabis chemicals. They are literally named after cannabis because it was discovered afterwards. But it binds the same receptor and it gives you that natural. So it is super duper helpful for mood regulation as well. Which is a symptom of ADHD that I don't hear people talking about a lot is that with that impulsivity also comes like roller coasters of moods and emotions, which was something that I experienced in my journey through adhd. Shout out my friend Matt. Journey through journey to adhd. But it also just helps me kind of get a lot of my energy out. And it helps me feel very clear minded because it boosts blood flow through the brain. And I feel very clear after I exercise, which is another reason why I meditate after I exercise, which is the next tip. Tip number three is meditation. Mindfulness meditation is really great for one, decreasing activity in the default mode network, which is the network in the brain that has been coined to be involved in mind wandering, which is exactly what it sounds like is like your mind wandering. And you want to decrease activity in those areas of the brain if you want to have sustained long lasting focus and attention. And mindfulness meditation does that. It decreases activity in the default mode network, but it also increases activity in the prefrontal cortex, which you really want to do to increase focus and attention as well. Because the prefrontal cortex is really important for decision making, executive functioning, planning, all of that. And mindfulness meditation also increases frontal midline theta activity, which induces neuroplasticity. And basically in simple words, that means that mindfulness meditation increases your ability to rewire your brain. And so after I meditate, I will set intentions of like, I'm going to get this work done, this work done. And it just sticks in my brain better after I meditate. And when do I meditate? I meditate right before I'm about to start doing work usually and after I exercise. So that's kind of like my order in the morning of operations. And then tip number four is caffeine plus l theanine. This was something that I discovered kind of just on my own. And then upon further research, I found that caffeine +L theanine in combination has been shown in studies to improve sustained attention in people with adhd. I used to kind of sleep on green tea because I thought it didn't have a lot of caffeine. And so I need more, right, to increase my focus. But you will be so surprised not Telling you what to do. But caffeine plus L theanine really has changed my life. You can add L theanine to coffee. You can drink optimal focus coffee, which I'm partnered with, with optimal, optimal focus coffee. And I'll link it in the caption with a discount code. So I do that because it already has L Theanine in it. And it also has rhodiola, which is a supplement that I'm going to mention at the end. That's really helpful. But it's a but. Yeah. So caffeine plus L Theanine. L theanine increases alpha ways in the brain, and then the caffeine obviously increases, like, alertness. So in combination they kind of promote like a calm focus, which if you have adhd, that's what we're lacking, is that, like, calm focus. So caffeine plus L theanine is a great way to boost that. The next step, tip number five, is to lower your simple carb and sugar intake. Carbs and sugar. Number one, carbs will increase serotonin, like being full. So just straight up, like, if you want to focus throughout the day, like, don't get full until the night time, because if you are full early in the day, it's. You're going to boost serotonin, which puts you into, like a rest and digest state, which is the opposite of what you want to be if you're doing work. So, like, just don't overeat and get super full. And that's kind of just true across the board. But then when it comes to simple carbs and sugar, that blood sugar spikes and fluctuations and crashes kind of play into the whole mood regulation side of adhd. But then also it can affect attention and it can also affect your energy levels. Some research also suggests that diets that are high in simple carbs and sugars can create kind of a chronic inflammation state. And inflammation in the brain is really not good for neurons communicating, and inflammation in the brain is really not good for neural communication, meaning that dopamine and serotonin, there's less availability for these things to be sent and used by the brain to communicate. So you are decreasing your brain's ability to communicate and you really want to increase that if you want to increase your focus and your attention. The next tip is brain dumps. There are two different ways that I do this. The first way is in the beginning of the week. I will write down all the things that I want to do for the week and then organize and then split them up. Prioritize and split them up, being like, I want to do these things on Monday, these things on Tuesday, and do it that way. And that's really helpful because with ADHD we need structure. Like, let's just be honest, like, we need structure to stay productive and to honestly keep from getting overwhelmed. So kind of creating your own structure within. So, yeah, it's a really good way to kind of create your own structure throughout the day and throughout your week. But then another way that you can incorporate brain dumps is by right before you're about to do work, right? If you're feeling really distracted and maybe even overwhelmed, which is some something that used to happen to me a lot, I will sit down and just write down everything that's on my mind. And that kind of just is a really good way to just put it all on paper. And then while I'm working, even if I'm getting distracted by like, oh, yeah, I need to go, I need to do this later. You can go, go to your brain dump and write it down. That way you can let it go. Because really, it's like trying to keep track of all these things in your mind can be really distracting. And so having a place where you just write it down and remember that you don't need to think about it right now because it's written down. The next thing is using music. There's two different sides to this as well. The first is using frequencies for focus. So 40Hz binaural beats has been shown in studies to improve learning and speed up the learning process. So 40Hz binaural beats is super helpful as well as alpha frequencies for flow. Alpha waves are associated with a calm, relaxed state. So that can help you stay calm but focused. As well as gamma and beta frequencies, which is music produced in those frequency ranges. And gamma and beta are kind of more of the focused and alert frequencies. All of these frequencies I have organized in one playlist and it is a playlist called Frequencies for Focus. And it's on my YouTube channel. So you're already on it. Just go to my playlists and you'll find it. The other side of the music is using a work associated playlist. The brain loves to create associations between things. It's why if you smell a smell and you feel like, oh, it takes me back to this place, or you go to the park used to play on, you feel like a kid again. You know, the brain loves to create associations between things. It's also like, why trauma is such a problem. Because of the associations that your brain creates. But you can use associations to your benefit and to your advantage. And using music for focus is a great way to do that. For example, I started listening to a playlist that doesn't have any lyrics in it. It's just kind of like, I don't really know how to describe the music, but it is a five hour, six hour playlist at this point. And I've been listening to it for six years now. And I only allow myself to listen to this playlist if I'm studying or if I'm doing work or if I'm reading or whatever it is doing something that involves focus. And the reason why that's so important is because now my brain has such a tight association between that music and focus that now when I listen to that playlist, I'm immediately zoned in. Like immediately I'm tapped in. So listen to the same music every time and it'll make it your brain. It'll. It kind of creates an environment for focus in your mind. And the last thing is using adaptogens and nootropics for focus. So I personally love rhodiola rosea. Rhodiola rosea is an herb that has been shown to increase dopamine and serotonin, which are two neurotransmitters that are really great. Dopamine is really great for motivation and it's also really helpful for learning new things. Dopamine helps solidify memories. It's kind of why something that was super rewarding or like a really happy event is easy to remember. Or dopamine is also released when really bad events happen. It's kind of the salience molecule. Like the look at me. A lot of people associate dopamine with only the good, but it's released the bad as well. So fun fact. So yeah, it increases. Dopamine will help helps learning, but also it improves focus. And Rhodiola I is something that I found is super helpful. It can be very stimulating. I also like to preface all of these supplements and nootropics with the fact that if you are taking stimulants or any drug, like always talk to your doctor because drug, drug interactions are a real thing. I know people say like talk to your doctor over taking supplements, but I was getting my PhD, I was minoring in medical pharmacology. Like it actually is so important to talk to your doctor and, and ask, ask about certain things because if an enzyme breaks down the drug you're taking and it's also responsible for breaking down this supplement, like you could have a synergistic effect that you don't want. So really do ask your doctor. And the next thing is ashwagandha. Ashwagandha is. Has been super helpful for me. It is great. As well as lion's mane. Lion's mane is really, really great for focus and attention and also memory. Lion's mane has been shown to induce neuroplasticity in the brain, so that will help you create these new memories of the things that you're focused on working on as well. And the last thing is ginkgo. I love ginkgo for focus as well. It also increases dopamine and ginseng. Ginseng I mentioned in my last video, I take a B complex every morning that has ginseng as well. It's a powder. It's called T ting by Moon Juice. I'll link it in the caption. But ginseng increases dopamine and also. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Ginseng has an effect on the synthesis of acetylcholine, which is a neurotransmitter really important for focus and attention. And Rhodiola rosea that I mentioned earlier also has an effect on acetylcholine as well. So acetylcholine is really important for focus. And I get all of these nootropics that I just mentioned in one powder from Moon Juice as well. It's called Brain Dust. I put. I posted it on my Instagram story before. It is, seriously, I live by brain dust. I live by this stuff. Like I put it in my coffee and my tea and it helps me so much. So I will link that in the caption below and I get a discount. I love all of these and I'm really happy that I get to partner with them because then I can offer all of you guys a discount code because seriously, it's super helpful and I really recommend it. And that is all for today. I hope you found this video helpful. Thank you so much for asking the question and holding the space for me to talk about this and comment below some ways that you improve your focus and you stay sharp because we can all help each other out and then it'll just be like 10 times more helpful for everyone and even for me because I might get some really cool ideas. Oh, and on that topic, actually a lot of people comment on my TikTok saying that saffron really helps them focus. I haven't personally tried saffron, so I can't speak to it, but it's been highly recommended in the comments of my Tick Tock videos. And honestly, I might try it soon and get back to you all on how it is and how it works. But I love that everyone shares things, that they help them focus because really we can. We're all here to help each other. So with that said, comment more questions. Because this video exists now because of a question someone asked last week. I really love seeing all of your questions and it gives me really cool ideas for videos that I never would have thought of. So thank you so much and have a great rest of your week. Till next time.