Why ADHD Looks Different in Women and How Your Period and Menopause Affect Symptoms - With Dr. Jolene Brighten

Shawn Stevenson (0:00)

You are now listening to The Model Health Show with Shawn Stevenson. For more, visit themodelhealthshow.com.

Welcome to The Model Health Show. Not only are men's and women's brains radically different, the way that conditions like ADHD present themselves in men and women can be radically different. For far too long, ADHD has been viewed as a form of a mental malfunction or even a mental illness. But the truth is, some of the most remarkable, successful, high-performing brains are ADHD brains.

In truth, ADHD is not a mental misfortune or malfunction. It is neurodivergence. Being neurodivergent means your brain merely functions, learns and processes information differently from what society considers typical or standard. And in that way, our model of the human brain, of human potential, of what's right to be human, has been put into this pithy box. And that's where the research has been drawn from. This kind of standard of what a brain should be, standard of what health should be. And any good researcher worth their salt knows that there are people on all ends of the spectrum. And so we're looking at the average or standard and not accounting for this divergency. And with that being said, most often left out of that research for decades has been women's health. So much of our research and what our medical model is built on, our health model is built on, is looking at the male standard. And this is because a big reason for this is that women bring in a ton of variation because of the variation in hormones, because of the variation from day to day, week to week, month to month, potentially with how hormones and therefore biology is presenting. So rather than just really working to account for these beautiful hormonal changes, and that grace that comes with that, we'll just take them out of the research, just make the numbers nice and pretty, nice and cute, so that everything is quote standard as it can possibly be.

Thank goodness that standard is changing. And with that being said, addressing this specific topic of ADHD and Women is incredibly important and incredibly valuable. And that's what today's episode is all about. You're going to discover specifically why ADHD presents itself differently in Women than it does Men. We're going to dig in and look at what's going on behind the scenes.

You're going to discover how perimenopause affects ADHD. And I'm telling you, this recent study is going to shock you. You're also going to discover the surprising fact about how ADHD, this neurodivergency, can literally decrease your lifespan if not addressed properly. And with that being said, addressing this and helping to stack conditions in the favor of ADHD brains, it's critical to understand that there is not a separation between the brain and the body. And so we're really going to dig in on the research and understanding that your brain does not operate independently of your body. And we're going to look at some science backed solutions for these critical factors when it comes to nutrition. When it comes to movement, our special guest is going to detail some aspects. And the way that she is going to deliver this, when talking about the relationship between movement and ADHD, is a game changer. So important for everybody to hear, no matter what cycle of life. And also, this is critical for the understanding for our children as well. Because again, our children, in particular in this conversation with women and ADHD, our little girls, our daughters, are going to grow up in these conditions if we don't do something about it now.

So I'm very, very excited to share this with you today. Now, before we get to our special guest, our expert today mentions something in the conversation around nutrition and specific supplements. Again, science-backed supplements found to have efficacy with supporting the performance of ADHD brains. And this particular nutrient is called L-theanine. L-theanine is one of the rare nutrients that can gracefully dance its way across the blood-brain barrier from our diet, from our nutrition, from supplementation. And it's able to increase the activity of the neurotransmitter GABA, which helps to reduce anxiety and makes you feel more centered and relaxed. Another way that L-theanine works to improve our focus is noted in a peer-reviewed study, published in Brain Topography. And the researchers found that L-theanine intake increases the frequency of our alpha brain waves, indicating reduced stress, enhanced focus, and even increased creativity. Now, I was so happy to hear her mention this because she didn't know this, but in her gift bag that we had for her when she came to the studio today, I had in her gift bag one of my favorite teas, which is a Japanese Sencha green tea as a gift for her. And so she was super happy to see that. And she understands the value of a high quality green tea. Now, please hear this, it's more important than ever to be mindful of the source of your teas. With all of the contaminants, the microplastics, we need third party testing. And actually, one of my favorite green teas is matcha green tea, and specifically Sun Goddess matcha green tea, which is the first quadruple toxin screened matcha with no added preservatives, no sugar, no artificial anything. So where I get my Japanese cincha, my green teas, my Pu-erh, my Sun Goddess matcha green tea is from Pique Life. Go to peaklife.com/model right now, and you're going to get up to 20% off plus a free starter kit. Now, the starter kit can include things like a hand frother, which I use my hand frother every single day.