Do special diets help BP?

I've read a great deal about diet and how eating natural foods and gluten free foods help mood. Anyone have input?

Actually I just read an article about a guy claiming to have bp2 and he cut out all sugar and caffeine for a year and added these back in moderation and claims this cured his bp2 . Seems too good to be true but it is worth a shot. I am going to try it and at the end of the year talk to my pdoc about weaning me off my meds to see if it worked. I am just afraid if it doesn't work trying to get stable again will be a real ******.

I was on a diet of spinach, tea, eggs, turkey, and cheese for a mont or two and counted calories and lost 20 lbs

If diet would help my symptoms, it would be amazing.

I don't think that there is a special diet, but protein-rich, fluid-full meals and snacks on a regular schedule are a must.

Re: natural foods. This word combination has no shared definition, but if you mean, loosely, foods without additives, then we can say with certtainty that Gogh et al. (Famous artists of the past who had bipolar) pretty much ate food without artificial colors, flavors, etc., simply because these additives had not been invented during their lifetimes. And these people still suffered.

I think a better approach is to eat a lot of what you like, within a balanced meal plan, because enjoying your food and drink will help your mood directly.

There are many people that have strange reactions to foods. So I totally believe that someone (falsely) diagnosed with BP can be cured after changing their diet. They may have had all the symptoms of BP but it can be completely diet, mineral and vitamin related.

I have seen for myself ADHD and autistic children cured by a change in their diet. Now I dont believe they ever actually had a mental health issue in the first place it was all diet related, but the amount of people that do not know they have dietary issues is phenomenal. I'd recommend anyone with any sort of mental health diagnosis to first have a go at changing their diet to see if that helps their symptoms. You'd be surprised a the amount of people wrongly diagnosed and put on mind altering medications when all they needed was a simple diet change. Of course not true for everyone but it certainly is for some.

I found this research interesting;
Now taking into account the gut is known as 'The Second Brain' it is thought taking probiotics will help cure depression.
Worth a try perhaps?

How Does Serotonin in the Brain Affect Your Bowels?

I found switching to sugar free drinks helps (massive coca cola addict lol) and can find drinking a lot of these then withdrawing worsens depression. Also these drinks are high in caffeine which also affects mood.

I found limiting my caffeine to just a cup of coffee helps with my anxiety that, eating healthier, and exercising. Eating well goes along better with exercise so both great forms of natural medicine.

I take a probiotic...but I was wondering if I should take one that is stronger. I guess there isn't a perfect answer

I once went several months without caffeine and only low amounts of sugar and refined carbs, and I had never felt better in terms of my mental health. I keep intending to go back to eating this way, but when I'm depressed it's really hard to stick with it. It did seem to lessen my mood swings, though, and make my depression and anxiety less severe.

Include omega 3 rich foods like nuts and fresh fish in your diet

I got two pop-top clear OXO containers, one small and one large. I keep shelled sunflower seeds in the small one and shelled walnuts in the big one, and store both in the door of my fridge. Because they are right there in plain sight, I actually eat a small handful of each daily. I also pour slivered almonds on cereal.

Fish requires cooking, so it is not so easy.

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk

I buy preseasoned fish at wholefoods then bake it which is easy. I find cooking hard, but I really like baking since you don't really have to do anything.

There are also omega 3 supplements from fish which aren't bad, but fresh is better.