This is what I have found to be helpful:
First, this is not so much a ketogenic diet as it is a dysglycemic or slowly-digested -carbohydrate-recommended diet to assist with depressive illness. Far more green vegetables and salads should be added to the diet and a change in the amount of meat eaten each week are called for, as well as adding fish and fresh fruit to the diet. It is also not so much an elimination diet as it is a reduction of types of food and an increase in other types of food. There are just a few things that need to be eliminated from the diet. A ketogenic diet is dangerous for older people because it leads readily to strokes and heart attacks. I had a physician in Williamsburg, Virginia who disliked intensely the work of Dr. Atkins who produced the ketogenic diet recommendations. The physician I talked to told me that he had debated with Dr. Atkins about his diet and that Atkins had said, "but people lose weight on this diet," to which my physician responded, "yes, and people lose weight with cancer, too, but that's not the most desirable way to lose it."
1. Depressed people should not use alcohol; it makes the illness worse.
2. We should not use caffeine in any form, whether coffee, tea, diet
drinks (which also contain the artificial sweeteners which are all detrimental to the body, with the exception of Stevia which has been shown to date to be harmless), chocolate, and anything else containing caffeine. They all make the illness worse. I might add also that caffeine is a drug and causes withdrawal symptoms, including
severe headaches, irritability, trembling, and insomnia.
3. I mentioned earlier eating more green salads. I suggest making a fresh salad at least once daily. (One person has suggested making a huge salad sufficient for three days and dipping into it each day with large servings.)
4. Meats such as turkey, chicken, lamb are more easily digested than meats such as beef, pork or organ meats (liver, kidney, etc.) Meats take longer to digest than vegetables and other carbohydrates. Still, they are very much part of a healthy diet and should be reduced only in quantity and frequency of ingestion. Cut back, if you can, to 4 servings per week, adding fish to your diet routinely. Meats, by the way, may be helpful in losing weight since they are slowly digested and leave a sense of feeling satisfied for longer periods than fast-acting carbohydrates do. (This diet would not be appropriate for diabetic patients since they need small amounts of protein at every meal to maintain desirable blood glucose levels.)
5. Sugars and grains, on the other hand, are digested rapidly and signal the brain to call for more. In addition, sugar can become addictive and should be reduced sharply in the diet. It is known to produce highs and lows in feelings and is really not good for us. It has no nutritional value. 100% whole grains are far better for us, and they are part of a valuable contribution to the fiber maintenance of a healthy digestive system. Some of us are sensitive to a component in grains, however, and should cut back on them. (It may be the gluten in grains that is bothersome for many.) Gluten is high in glutamate which is an excitatory neurotransmitter, and the object in any diet is to maintain chemical balance, avoiding excessive acid-reacting foods and maintaining a more stable alkaline-reacting food in digestion. Avoid
all white flour products; they are digested as acid-reacting, too.
6. Eliminate the artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame, Splenda, Equal, saccharin, etc. in those of us who are sensitive to them. Aspartame, for example, can cause bouts of weeping and depression in people sensitive to it. A member of another forum has indicated that these forms of sweeteners are capable of causing cancer. All artificial sweeteners are digested as highly acidic. All medications are digested as acidic and may leave an acidic residue of fluids circulating in body tissues. Strangely enough, the lemon (which tastes very bitter) is digested as one of the most alkaline foods available and will quickly assist in bringing fluids to a more alkaline state--which is the most desirable condition to have. (It was Socrates who observed that foods which taste bitter are digested as sweet, and foods which taste sweet are digested as bitter.)
7. Milk products, including milk, butter, all cheese, yogurt, cream, cream cheese, sour cream, ice cream, etc., contain high sulfur content. For some reason, sulfur is a mineral that bipolar patients should reduce in quantity in their diet, maybe because it's an irritant. In addition, milk products are mucous-producing and are not good for people who have allergies, generally. Please go online to Foods High in Thiols.com and
Alkaline foods.com which will help you to understand which foods are best for your body's fluid balance. My daughter has often reminded me that milk is great for calves, but not for humans. I would like to add that for those of us who are sensitive to milk, it may be a problem with an inability to break down the disachharide in milk. The use of Lactaid (which breaks down milk sugar into its two sugar molecules) is very beneficial for us if we ingest anything that is a milk product. I usually take three tablets with or immediately following ingesting a milk product. (Just two hints: Lactaid may also reduce the inflammation of sinus and even clear the sinuses for some of us;--maybe it has to do with the fact that an infection there cannot be sustained with the sugar needed to feed the bacteria. chocolate use is like adding gasoline to a fire when a sinus infection exists. Sinus infections can really make one feel miserable. Balance is the key for food use.
8. Drink either distilled water or purified water and plenty of it. 6 to 8
glasses each day, as you can tolerate it. Distilled water is excellent for removing unused minerals from the body. I prefer the taste of purified water, however, and really like one called "Smart Water" which has added electrolytes. Water helps in removal of medication residues and may help prevent a toxic reaction from drug buildup in the system.
9. Add a high-quality probiotic to your diet: 50 billion live-cell pro-biotics such as GNC Ultra Probiotic Complex, which is a good one. Other companies make quality probiotics, too, as you know. Just make sure that you get one that is gentle on your stomach.
Walgreens, Core, and others are equally as good, and they are ones that I can think of right at the moment. The lactobacillus contained in yogurt purchased in grocery stores would have to be bought in large quantities to equal just one daily probiotic capsule supplement. (Eleven 8 oz. containers of yogurt=1 probiotic capsule containing 50 billion live cells.)
10. General lifestyle recommendations include the following:
Exercise regularly; lose weight if needed; avoid foods and
beverages that make the illness worse; reduce stress, and eat
small, frequent meals.
Please remember that with the exception of not using alcohol and caffeine, we all have to adjust our foods to suit our ability to maintain a nutritious and healthy diet. Dr. Kathleen DesMaissons has said it this way,"be gentle with yourself". We need to make the changes gradually that we can to improve our diet, not overdoing it in any way and enjoying the small changes that we make. We all fail to maintain our diets 100% at least twice per week, so we need to relax and appreciate the small changes we can make to improve our feeling tone, knowing that things will improve as we make the called-for changes that we sense are beneficial. I suggest Dr. DesMaissons book called "Potatoes, not Prozac" for interesting reading in regard to these matters. (She is the first person to receive a PHD in nutrition designed to help in the remission of alcoholism, I think. She has had remarkable success in her efforts.)
Finally, I would consider seriously taking a high-quality multiple vitamin daily just to insure adequate Vitamin C within the body as well as other nutrients. (The human cannot manufacture Vitamin C as it does other vitamins, so a daily supply is recommended.) Vitamin C plays an important role in probably more functions in the body than any other vitamin. In addition Vitamin C travels on the same pathway as glucose does, and in transport, glucose will win out every time, leaving the system deficient in Vitamin C, so it's important to have a daily
supplement. You need also to know that no matter how many vitamins you take, they are completely valueless unless you have minerals in your diet to enable the vitamins to function, so be sure that you have
adequate intake of fresh green vegetables and fresh fruits to help supply some of the minerals. If your diet is such that you believe you aren't getting the needed minerals, you need to supplement that, as well. The whole series of vitamin B is noted particularly to be of help in maintaining a strong, calm nervous system. Of course, you can't under-estimate the value of all the other vitamins, such as A, E, D, etc. 5HTP Tryptophan is also helpful as a sleep aid. Read information on its use, however, if you are taking SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors). There is a very rare but dangerous illness associated with SSRIs and 5HTP Tryptophan that can be corrected by simply eliminating the SSRIs, and the illness is over within 24 hours. There are exceptions to that, so you need to read all the data available; but in general, it is true that the illness can be cured by just removing the SSRIs overnight., and as I expressed, it is a very rare event.
This post is a partial repeat of others that I've posted regarding the needs of the body for certain foods and vitamins. I hope this is what you were referring to, Karen.
Sorry it's so long, but the subject is one that is almost inexhaustible in terms of what there is to learn about eating and maintaining good nutrition.
It's Genetic
Post Edited (It's Genetic) : 2/17/2011 3:49:52 AM (GMT-7)