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Diet and manic depression

Diet and manic depression are closely related. Food really does influence mood. The latest studies suggest simple, specific dietary approaches that may help depression and bipolar:

1. Avoid/minimize alcohol, caffeine, and sugar.

2. Take PROVEN bipolar dietary supplements, especially omega-3 (fish oil), and folic acid.

(Inositol may also be helpful, but so far the evidence is inconclusive.)

Discover the secrets of mood, food & weight

In February 2009, the medical journal Psychiatric Services published findings showing that bipolar disorder can DOUBLE your risk of early death from a range of medical conditions - including those that can be controlled through diet and exercise.

Fish oil, folic acid, inositol

Searching for the optimal bipolar diet? Sometimes it seems like nobody wants to take their meds, and everybody is searching for a natural alternative.

However, unfortunately there is a lot of Internet snake oil and unreliable information out there.

According to RELIABLE CLINICAL RESEARCH, there are 2 natural dietary supplements that are PROVEN to be of positive benefit to bipolar people, and another that is under investigation:

1. Benefits of inositol.

2. Benefits of folic acid.

3. Fish oil benefits.

Do click the links above and discover some facts about diet and manic depression. Don't risk your health with unproven and untested products when there are already excellent, well researched alternatives you can explore. (Also see inositol side effects and side effects fish oil .)

Food is not love

Please remember, food is NOT love. There is a toolbox of bipolar recovery aids available to you, many of which you can learn about on this site. A healthy balanced diet is important. The 3 supplements inositol, folic acid and fish oil can all help you. However, always keep in mind that food is not love, and that the wrong choices can really undermine your health.

My downfalls are ice-cream and mac'n'cheese. These are the comfort foods I find hardest to resist. When I am blue I truly believe they will comfort me. Guess what? All they have ever done is add on pounds I then have to battle to get rid of. (WE WILL TALK ABOUT WEIGHT LOSS LATER.)

Make choices that support your mental and pysical health and learn all you can about diet and manic depression.

Food is NOT love - and that banana split is not an answer to anything!

bp Magazine, a great magazine dedicated to the bipolar community, has run some worhwhile features on diet and manic depression. For example, check out Cutting cholesterol (and loving your diet) and Sugar: is it really that sweet?

Food and mood

There is no doubt that your food will influence your mood. Any credible book or website will give you the same advice for stabilizing your mood - cut down on caffeine, sugar, alcohol and chocolate, and eat more vegetables, drink more water, and include more oil-rich fish and whole grains. This is the one paragraph crash course on diet and manic depression!

Some good further reading includes Food and Mood from the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA).

There is also interesting research available on supplementing with a general mix of vitamins and minerals. The results of this trial were that for those bipolar patients who completed the minimum 6 month open trial, symptom reduction ranged from 55% to 66% on the outcome measures. Further, their need for psychotropic medications decreased by more than 50%. The researchers concluded that some cases of bipolar illness may be helped by nutritional supplementation.

Weight loss

Many people who take medication gain weight, leading to serious health and self-esteem issues. I have struggled with this nightmare myself, and I know what a big problem it is. Like many, I have even been non-compliant with my medication for fear of getting fatter - with disasterous results! For me, weight gain is the hardest issue in diet and manic depression.

I understand this problem and have felt the pain first hand. It is an incredibly important issue.

Through much research, experience, and sheer trial I developed my effective Bipolar Diet. I am happy to say it successfully controls my weight AND my moods!

Action steps

Changing eating habits is very difficult for most of us - and to make it harder, the modern western diet does NOT promote the positive links between food and mood.

For me the answer has been writing things down. You may have seen in diet books, or in the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) publication Food and Mood, advice to keep a food journal. The purpose of a food journal is to get total clarity about everything we eat and drink, and then pick out the patterns in:

1. How our stress leads to cravings. This is so we can anticipate the cravings and have healthier foods on hand to satisfy the cravings and relieve stres.

2. What foods seem to cause mood swings? If someting looks ike it could be a problem, then eliminate it for a week and see if there is an improvement.

Sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it? I can already feel you switching off. Please stick with me on this. It is not as much trouble as it sounds. My secret for making myself do this was to incorporate it into my Bipolar Mood Chart. It takes just a few minutes a day and IS SO WORTH IT!

Mood Charts are my number one life-saver. You will be amazed at how quickly you pick out the patterns and how much easier it makes it to change. Mood Charts are much quicker to fill in than most people think and are an incredibly powerful tool. Take this action step and put yourself in the driver's seat.

I promise you that the effort of keeping a Bipolar Mood Chart is small, but the results are HUGE in terms of discovering the real secrets of diet and manic depression.

Discover the secrets of mood, food & weight

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