I've spent a lot of time over the past few years learning about
what things bipolar patients and depressed patients need to avoid
in food to improve their feeling tone. These are the latest facts I've been able to determine that are helpful for patients:
1. Alcohol is still a substance to be avoided because it makes bipolar illness and depression much worse. And it unquestionably
damages brain tissue over long-term use, just as addictive drug use does.
2. Caffeine, which is contained in both chocolate and coffee, as well as tea, should be avoided in people who are sensitive to it. For some time, it has been suggested that chocolate does not have caffeine in it. It does, and it can be even stronger than the caffeine in coffee if the cocoa bean has stronger amounts in it when the bean is processed for chocolate. Chocolate also may contain theobromine, a first cousin to caffeine, and tea contains caffeine, as well, depending on the brand one chooses to use. Theophylline, which may be contained in tea, is often prescribed for asthma benefit, helping to keep the eustacian tube open when asthma attacks occur.
3. Most people recognize their sensitivity to caffeine: they have headaches when its psychoactive effects have worn off. Others may have irritability, tremors, and insomnia, among other possible reactions. Caffeine is not metabolized as some other products are and, in fact, can build in the brain over long-term use causing damage to the frontal portion of the brain just above the eyes.
Please see ruthwhalen.com/caffeine for a far more important and informative report of caffeine dangers in people who are sensitive to it. It can even be so strong that it can mimic some symptoms of bipolar illness. In fact, cases are known to have been misdiagnosed as bipolar illness when the patient was really suffering from long-term caffeine abuse and its consequences. (It can take up to a year to remove the caffeine effects from the system if one has been a long-term abuser.)
4. I've written about diet, as well, in bipolar illness, and will make only one comment: please keep the diet more on the alkaline side
than the acidic side. Data on that is available on Alkaline Foods.com for your information about learning which foods are best for you.
All medications are digested with an acidic residue which the system must metabolize. If the kidneys can't do it all in 24 hours,
the residue will continue to circulate in the bloodstream until the kidneys have an opportunity to catch up. In my opinion, that is one reason to try to alter the diet and alcohol and caffeine use to keep as low an acidic fluid condition in the body as possible. It has enabled some of us to lower the dosage of our medications dramatically over the years---gradually, I might add.
A final note is that it is vital for bipolar and depressed patients to maintain a routine, regular sleep schedule. (Some may laugh at that because we probably struggle more with that than almost anything else.) Rest is a powerful restorative force.
Bill has wisely suggested over and over to me that exercise is very, very important in bipolar illness for wellness of feeling tone. He's right about that, for sure; keep your exercise program in tact, please.
Tortoise asked me to post something about this which could be referred to from time to time for new visitors who may not have been aware of these things. We must be pro-active if we wish
to eliminate the negative aspects of depression and bipolar illness.
Some members who have tried these techniques will tell you that they work. (They cannot help but work if they are applied diligently.)
You and your health are important; take care of both, please.
It's Genetic
Post Edited (It's Genetic) : 1/11/2012 11:44:27 AM (GMT-7)