Wellness Influencers Are Pushing ‘Natural’ and Unproven Alternatives to Adderall

This messaging is cause for concern, according to ADHD specialists who spoke with WIRED.

“Stimulant medications have been in existence for nearly 100 years, and approved for use in children since the 1960s,” says Kristen Leinung, a mental health nurse practitioner and director of psychiatric services at the Northwest ADHD Treatment Center in Portland, Oregon. The drugs are well-studied for efficacy and have predictable side effects, she adds, but because they can be misused, they’re often stigmatized online. “This style of advertising does further that stigma.”

Leinung believes that with their pessimistic framing of Adderall and similar pharmaceuticals, these supplement ads could lead people to go off their medication, which can be dangerous. “We know untreated or under-treated ADHD carries a high mortality and morbidity risk,” Leinung says, decreasing life expectancy and doubling the risk of premature death; it’s associated with factors that range from less exercise and worse sleep to riskier driving and a higher likelihood of smoking.

US pharmacies have seen shortages of the stimulants Adderall, Vyvanse, Ritalin, and Concerta since 2022. Though the Drug Enforcement Administration increased production quotas last fall, various production bottlenecks have continued to create supply problems, according to the nonprofit Understood, which supports Americans with learning and thinking differences including dyslexia and ADHD.

The difficulty of accessing these medications may factor into someone’s decision to try unproven alternative treatments instead, says Cindy Goldrich, a mental health counselor, educator, and ADHD coach in Boulder, Colorado. That’s what makes the supplement ads feel “exploitative” to her.

“When someone can’t get their prescription filled and doesn’t know when they will, a product promising to fill that gap—or claiming you didn’t need the ‘harsh’ medication anyway—becomes very appealing, very fast,” she says. “It’s not just selling to people who are curious about alternatives. It’s selling to people in crisis, who are scared and out of options through a system failure that has nothing to do with whether their medication works.”

Andrew Kahn, a psychologist and associate director of expertise and behavioral health at Understood, says these supplements also lack robust regulation while suggesting, without evidence, “benefits equal to or similar to medication.” But unlike prescription and over-the-counter drugs, he explains, “supplements don’t have to prove they’re safe or effective to the FDA before they’re sold.”

That very fact can become a selling point. “People are wary of big pharma, wary of side effects, and a ‘natural’ option feels safer even when it isn’t better tested,” Goldrich says. Some of the more common ingredients in the supplements, like omega-3s, L-theanine with caffeine, and certain adaptogens “have modest supporting research as general cognitive or mood support, and there’s nothing wrong with someone using them alongside medication if their doctor is aware.” But an underlying problem, she adds, is that whether a person takes medication or supplements or both, they still need to learn skills like planning and emotional regulation.

In the MAHA era, of course, medically suspect claims often circulate unchallenged. Kennedy, who swears by dubious supplements like the synthetic dye methylene blue, has in many ways normalized these fringe products as the top authority of the vast US health care apparatus. In a statement to WIRED, HHS press secretary Emily G. Hilliard reiterated the department’s position that the nation is facing a challenge of “overmedicalization in behavioral health care,” with patients and parents not always informed about the potential hazards of psychiatric drugs. “Under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, HHS is embedding informed consent, transparency, and evidence-based alternatives into federal policy and practice,” Hilliard said.

Leinung, however, feels people should think twice before making that decision based on a video they saw on social media. “I do worry that encouraging people to stop or avoid starting prescribed medication to treat their ADHD can negatively impact their quality of life,” she says. “I would caution any person considering stopping their prescribed stimulants to have a thorough discussion with their health care provider.”