A Health Research Council-funded randomised control trial led by University of Canterbury clinical psychology Professor Julia Rucklidge has shown that high doses of micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) are a safe and effective treatment for teenagers with severe irritability and difficulty regulating their emotions.
Published recently in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry1, the Taiora Trial recruited 132 teenagers (12-17 years) throughout New Zealand with moderate to severe irritability and symptoms associated with a hard-to-treat condition called Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD), which is characterised by both temper outbursts and dysregulated emotions.
The teenagers couldn’t be on any psychiatric medications (such as antidepressants, stimulants or antipsychotics) to qualify for the trial. They were split into two groups – one group was given micronutrients for 8 weeks and the other group was given a placebo.
The national study was conducted online, with regular check-ins with a clinical psychologist, including monitoring very carefully for suicidal ideation.
Professor Rucklidge says the findings from the trial showed that micronutrients are a safe and effective treatment for severe irritability and DMDD in teenagers, potentially offering better results than current funded treatments such as medications and psychotherapy.
“This research is proof of principle that these teenagers are not getting an adequate supply of nutrients from their food, especially when considered alongside the depletion of nutrients in the food environment.”
“Ultra-processed foods are depleted in vitamins and minerals, and even foods that are fortified with minerals or vitamins are at doses so low that they are not necessarily going to be able to make up for the chronic deficiency that’s occurring,” she says.
“There are also some teens who, even if they have a healthy diet, will need an extra boost of nutrients than what they can get out of food alone to optimise brain health.”
In the trial the teenagers who took the micronutrients had better overall improvement in their irritability, reactivity and dysregulation emotions compared to those who took the placebo.
The DMDD teens identified themselves as “much to very much improved” significantly more if they were randomised to the micronutrients group (42.9%) than the placebo group (12.5%). For some measures, the teenagers taking the micronutrients also got better faster, with improvements seen within a couple of weeks.
Furthermore, those teenagers with DMDD and who came from lower-income families responded even better to the treatment. Professor Rucklidge says this might be because these teenagers have symptoms at the severe end of the scale and possibly eat a diet lower in nutrients.
One of the most important findings was the reduction in clinician-rated self-harm and suicidal thoughts in both the micronutrient and placebo groups, with significantly greater improvement noted in self-report suicidal ideation on micronutrients.
Trial participant Sarah*, who was randomised to the micronutrient group, says she always thought she was on the real pills rather than the placebo because the improvements she felt seemed “pretty legit”.
“I instantly felt lighter after beginning the trial. I was able to regulate my emotions better and be more level-headed. They also improved my sleep and energy levels throughout the day and my connection with my family. Overall, this led to a major improvement in my mental health – I felt like a big weight had been lifted off my shoulders.”
Sarah’s mum says it only took about two weeks to start noticing changes in her daughter’s mood.
“Very quickly after having started the pills, we could see her returning to the articulate, calm person she had been as a youngster. The erratic mood swings that would wash over her within seconds started to disappear, and she had words to explain how she was feeling when the big emotions would arise.”
“It was like the cloud had lifted and she could think more rationally again. We could tell if she stopped, as once again she would fall into a ‘black hole’ and we couldn’t reach her. When on the pills, she could manage her emotions so much better.”
“Being involved in this trial literally felt like a life saver.”
Another teenager in the trial, Tom*, was randomised to the placebo group for the first 8 weeks and then given micronutrients. He says he slowly learnt while on the micronutrients to better control his temper and be more empathetic.
“I noticed that my thinking was less foggy and I wasn’t as prone to irritation from others. At the conclusion of the trial, I felt as though I wasn’t as impulsive and irrational and that I was able to think things through before reacting in anger and retaliation.”
Tom’s parents said they had lived for more than 5 years with a son who couldn’t regulate and whose anger sometimes escalated to domestic violence. However, since his involvement in the trial, they have seen dramatic improvements in his behaviour.
“Once our son started taking the micronutrients, we saw a radical change in him. Within a week he was managing his anger better, was able to calm down faster, and would take responsibility and apologise for how he behaved. For the first time in years, we found ourselves enjoying our son’s company. He has kept taking the micronutrients to this day and he continues to mature and manage himself well.”
“This trial gave us back harmony in our home, and we will be forever grateful,” they say.
The micronutrient formula used in the trial is currently listed as an unapproved medicine by Medsafe due to the higher than recommended dietary allowance (RDA) doses of some nutrients and is only available in New Zealand with an authority letter from a prescriber. Medsafe approved it as a research medicine for this trial.
1 Rucklidge, J. J., Sherwin, A. H., Mulder, R. T., Manna, L., & Boden, J. M. (2026, Feb 2). Efficacy and Safety of Micronutrient Treatment for Irritability in Teenagers: 8-Week Double-Blinded Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial (BEAM). Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2026.01.013
*Names have been changed to protect their identities.