Bipolar Disorder and Diet

Hey...Well, I'm not dumb, I know there isn't a complete dietary cure because life isn't that easy lol, but I'm wondering if anyone here has had positive results with diet changes. Maybe less intense episodes, less frequent episodes...

I know from experience now that I'm very sensitive to sleep, if I don't get enough of it. It can send me up, or it can send me down. My menstrual cycle also influences is. I know it's not PMDD, though. I just know there's an influence there

This last episode of up and down mood shifts was worse than my last one. I'm only 21 and I started getting BP II thrown in my face maybe a month after my birthday

It makes me feel really bad knowing it's a lifelong thing, and I have a part of me that needs a release...I can't give myself a strict bedtime, strict diet, no alcohol, zero drugs, and stay sane. It feels so negative, but if some dietary changes might help me, I'm up to trying. I'm just not sure whether it's even true or not. The articles I read are too idealistic...People curing themselves. Mental illness runs in my family and it's hard to believe all it is is a food intolerance running in the family, but food influencing mood and episode strength or frequency doesn't sound absurd. I mean if sleep does it...

Coffee
Caffeine (soft drinks are a bad one too)
Give it up.
There are many good articles about this.
I swear by it

The food that you put into your system fuels your body and cell functioning. Depending on what you eat- it can either enhance your health or create a situation where your cells aren't getting the proper nutrients to function.

It sounds like you're aware that a healthy diet can't replace your medication. That's true. Even in cultures with much healthier diets than ours- e.g., Mediterranean, far east- bipolar is still diagnosed. However, having a healthy diet (just like being strict on your sleep schedule) puts you in the best position to be able to handle your bipolar.

I am currently switching to a healthier diet- cutting out soda, really watching my meat intake, increasing fruit/veggie intake, and it is causing me to have some hypomanic symptoms b/c I have more energy. Along with springtime- not the best combination. Running- although it is healthy- also seems to trigger hypomania.

You're taking some positive steps to being able to handle your illness. Based on what you've posted- it sounds like if you can identify some triggers before you shift moods- that may be better than making a dietary change. For example- you mention that you can't give yourself a strict bedtime. I would argue that the amount of sleep and rest you get has more of an influence over your BP symptoms than nutrition. Keeping a consistent sleep schedule and bedtime has been one of the key contributors to helping me function. Yes it sucks going to bed at 9:30ish on a Saturday but at the end of the day-it's worth it.

I wish you well & please keep us posted on how you're doing. BP is a lot to deal with when you're 21.

Most processed food contains fat, sugar and sodium, those are the things to avoid. Especially the corn syrup and multitude of names for sugar.
Sucrose
Maltose
Ethyl Maltol
Sorghum syrup
Glucose solids
Many many more.
They make the blood sugar go up fast then plummet which can cause fluctuations I. Mood.

I have found that taking care of your body, via excersize and proper diet can really help you feel better. it isnt a cure, but its a plus.

Yeah great thread this.

I find there's a direct correlation between input and output.

My overall mental health is alot better when I am following a healthier eating plan.

[Not necessarily that my Bipolar symptoms may be better; just saying; overall; I function more optimally]

Uggh...Really, I'd prefer to drastically limit my diet than to control my sleeping. Since even before I would ever have suspected I could one day be labeled as BP, I hated going to sleep early because my mind would come alive at night. I just had this habit of pushing my sleep time forward and forward because of that.

I do know lately it's been too insane, my sleeping. I'm gonna start exercising Monday and make some changes to my diet. Curiously, I also get migraines which I know get worse when I wake up too late and when I don't eat well. So I suppose my body is really sensitive. I feel like I've just grown accustomed to having headaches as they usually aren't debilitating, just chronic. So that makes it easier to put up with them if I get them from lack of sleep, especially if my mood is up which I find it does go slightly up sometimes.

I didn't sleep at all Sunday night because I was doing finishing a school project and all I had in me was some diet pepsi, but I felt more confident than usual, more like greeting people and smiling, my mind was at no loss for ideas, it could go on and on with writing, I was heavily inspired, the cool breeze made me happy, I was just feeling good. Then later I started shutting down and had to take a nap. That's what happens to me sometimes if I don't sleep enough. Nothing too intense. I suppose this past month I've been more sensitive than usual for whatever reason so lack of sleep had a much greater effect on me which I know I'll need to be aware of. I think maybe it's gone down for now.

Before this last episode this month, I suspected I was cyclothymic instead of fully bipolar because the trend was for my moods to be extremely unpredictable, and intense, but not as intense as what other people feel aor if they were, just not as long lasting. This past episode makes me feel I'm getting worse so I'll be aware of my sleeping...and diet, but you may be right.

Thank you everyone for replying, I'll bookmark this to look back on

There's a book called "The Mood Cure" by Julia Ross and it talks a lot about diet and the importance of vegetables and protein in mental health. She tends to talk about depression, not bipolar, but has lot's of good info. She also recommends amino acids in pill form sold as vitamins that help with a number of difficulties with mood and anxiety. I tried them but didn't fell any different but I paid more attention to diet after I read it so it was a good read. Lot's of people seem to benefit from the amino acid therapy, like they say even 15 minutes after you take the pill. It sounds too good to be true and it was for me. But it may work better for other people.

Also, artificial sweeteners are supposed to affect mental health badly. My Pdoc didn't recommend diet drinks. I've read about this before but I forget the details.