Nutrition affects people physically and emotionally and certain foods can improve mental diseases such as bipolar disorder. This mental illness is characterized by intense and often unexpected emotional extremes or mood swings. Bipolar individuals can experience severe sadness, lethargy and anxiety as well as extreme joy and high energy. These manic episodes can lead to suicide in severe cases. Certain foods can help trigger physiological changes in the brain and body, which help reduce the severity of emotions experienced and prevent the onset of mood swings. Bipolar disorder may require multiple levels of treatment in some cases and should be diagnosed by a health care professional.
Step 1
Consult a family doctor or psychiatrist to determine whether your manic episodes are due to bipolar disorder. In milder cases, food and lifestyle patterns may be enough to reduce symptoms, while other individuals may also require medications and other treatments.
Step 2
Consume large amounts of seeds and nuts to help reduce mood swings. Add foods such as pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts and peanut butter to your diet. These foods contain essential proteins, fatty acids and other nutrients that are important to balance nerve and brain health.
Step 3
Eat more fish and other foods high in omega-3 fatty acids. This essential fatty acid is important for brain health and development. Eat fish such as salmon, tuna, sardines, cod and other seafoods twice a week. Omega-3 fatty acids help reduce the number of mood swings experienced by individuals with bipolar disorder.
Step 4
Ingest complex carbohydrates instead of simple carbohydrates. Replace sugary foods and processed foods, such as white breads and pastas, with whole wheat grains. Simple carbohydrates are broken down to sugars and spike blood glucose levels, causing mood imbalances. Complex carbohydrates help balance blood glucose levels and decrease fatigue, dizziness, irritability, insomnia and anxiety.
Tips and Warnings
- Decrease sugar and sugary foods, such as white bread, in your diet to balance mood swings. Sugar contains empty calories and no nutrients, hence the body must use up vitamins to metabolize it. This can cause decreased levels of B vitamins, which are important for brain function and balancing emotion and moods.
- Bipolar disorder and depression are potentially serious diseases that must be correctly diagnosed by your physician. Treatment for bipolar disorder varies between individuals and may involve changes in diet, sleep patterns, exercise as well as medication and counseling. It is important to treat this disorder as carefully as possible.
