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| The Role of Nutrition in Bipolar Management: Women’s Perspectives |
Did you know that what you eat can play a pivotal role in managing Bipolar disorder? For women with Bipolar disorder, nutrition is more than just fuel—it's a crucial part of mental health care. What you eat can influence mood regulation, medication effectiveness and overall well-being. However, eating the right foods is not always easy as issues like hormone fluctuations, cravings due to medication, finances and personal lifestyle choices can get in the way of fueling your body with the right nutrients and healthy foods you need to manage Bipolar disorder symptoms. I have always struggled with diet and nutrition throughout my Bipolar disorder journey. For me it was struggling with the weight gain due to medication that had me feeling defeated and believing that whether it was a pizza or a lean chicken breast I was never going to achieve optimal health in my journey to wellness.
I travelled to Guyana, South America, last December to visit family and I started learning about the benefits of consuming good food. I began to adjust my mindset around nutrition and the positive effects change was having on my mental health. I observed a transformation in my body and my mood which shifted my perspective on the food I was eating. Through making small changes to my diet I began to see a huge impact and I brought those newly formed habits home with me. In this article I will discuss what I discovered about how nutrition affects mood and energy levels in women with Bipolar disorder, how diet can help reduce symptoms of Mania and depression, the challenges we face when trying to maintain a balanced diet and the habit forming changes around my nutritional choices I incorporated into my Bipolar disorder management.
How Nutrition Affects Mood and Energy Levels in Bipolar Disorder
Nutrition can have a valuable and lasting impact on mood and energy levels in women with Bipolar disorder, potentially influencing both the frequency and severity of mood episodes. A poor diet that includes processed food, refined sugar and carbohydrates and unhealthy fats can contribute to symptom instability in Bipolar disorder. Alternatively, a diet rich in nutrient-dense foods especially omega-3 fatty acids (e.g. fatty fish, flaxseeds or walnuts) have been shown to benefit energy levels and stabilize mood. Placing a limit on sugar, caffeine and alcohol consumption can decrease the possibility of mood disturbances and have a positive effect on sleep which is a known trigger for mood swings in Bipolar disorder.
Putting an emphasis on whole foods instead of processed foods can provide your body with the essential nutrients you need. When I returned from my trip one of the first things I did was delete all the take-out food apps from my phone and made a commitment to cook meals for myself daily. This was a huge change in my diet as previously I relied on those apps for both lunch and dinner meals. I am not the best cook but through trial and error and lots of family support I found myself making healthy and balanced meals that boosted my energy and gave me a constant sense of calm. I was rarely hungry and I always had whole foods or leftovers on hand so I would not revert back to old habits. I replaced juice with water and coconut water so I always felt hydrated rather than thirsty. I noticed that my mood and my sleep improved over the course of the weeks I tried this new-to-me method.
Change did not come easy because I’m stubborn and set in my ways, but once I decided to try something new that would benefit my mental health management and I could feel the changes making a difference in my mind and body there was no turning back. I’m happy to report that 4 months into my nutritional journey I haven’t ordered take-out food and processed foods are a thing of the past.
Essential Nutrients for Women with Bipolar Disorder
Here’s a list of essential nutrients for women with Bipolar disorder and their health benefits. Remember, although vitamins and minerals are not always considered supplements, it's important to discuss taking any of the following with your mental healthcare team about how they will fit with your current medication regimen.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Research suggests omega-3s, found in fatty fish like salmon and tuna, may help stabilize mood and improve symptoms of Bipolar disorder. They may also help manage depression and reduce inflammation.
B Vitamins: B vitamins, especially vitamins B9 and B12, may help with brain function and mood regulation.Vitamin B9 (folate) has been shown to help with the management of Mania symptoms.
Vitamin D: Vitamin D is essential for overall health and has been linked to mood regulation. Low Vitamin D levels have been linked to mood disorders like Bipolar disorder.
Magnesium: this essential mineral has been linked to mood regulation, improved sleep and reduced anxiety which are all possible symptoms of Bipolar disorder.
It’s important to consider that Bipolar disorder presents in different ways for different people therefore, the vitamins and minerals listed above should be tailored to the individual rather than taken without first consulting your physician and psychiatrist. Vitamins and minerals should also go hand-in-hand with a nutrient-rich and balanced diet.
Challenges, Choices and Triumphs: A Bipolar Woman’s Journey to Nutrition and a Balanced Diet
One of the greatest challenges over the years while managing my Bipolar disorder has been the feeling of hopelessness and helplessness every time I stepped on the scale. Of the three medications that I currently take to manage my symptoms two of them cause weight gain and cravings for carbohydrates especially at bedtime. I always believed that I had zero good choices when it came to balancing my diet. It was either stop taking the medication cocktail that kept me stable, eat lettuce for the rest of my life or throw my hands up and succumb to the carbs I craved nightly. But just like the mind, the body can be a wondrous thing. When I went away and started eating fruits and vegetables and unprocessed foods, natural sugars and just a little carbohydrates my body readjusted and my mind got on board.
I still had cravings at night but I chose to satiate them with cherries from my aunt’s cherry tree instead of chips or donuts or a half a loaf of bread. Not because I didn’t want those foods anymore but because they weren’t accessible to me. I realized I had lived a lifestyle back home of excess and accessibility. I could use one of those deleted apps to order the shawarma I craved at midnight, I could look in my fridge and find leftover pizza from the night before but in a foreign land surrounded by foreign foods I had to make different and better choices. And here is where the triumph comes in.
As I stated earlier upon my return home I deleted my take-out food apps, I emptied every bad piece of processed food I had left waiting for me in my fridge, I made a grocery list full of what I had discovered was delicious whole foods and I filled my house with ingredients so if I wanted to eat it I had to cook it. At first it was misery but after a while I got used to food planning and preparation, taste testing, plating and portion control, one portion for my midnight snack and the bigger portion for lunch the following day.
The triumph in nutrition is realizing we all have challenges. Some challenges are due to medication, others are due to life stages like pregnancy or menopause and for others its finances and lifestyle. But with every challenge comes a choice and making the best choices for your mind, mood, energy level and body will always lead to a triumph even if it starts as a small one. As your desire to eat a balanced and nutrient-rich diet grows with every win, you will start to see the effects these tiny changes have made on your overall mental well-being.
Final Thoughts
Nutrition can be a complex web of good and bad decisions on the best and worst days. When you are managing Bipolar disorder things can get even more complicated. We live in a world of fast food, easy fixes and accessible choices that may not always be the right ones for our mental health and well-being. Women managing Bipolar disorder have to be especially mindful when making choices around a balanced diet and consuming nutrient-rich foods because they can make the difference with stabilizing mood, mental well-being and complementing other treatment regimens. There will always be challenges when it comes to eating healthy but it's important to make choices that put you in the best position mentally to manage your Bipolar symptoms.
As the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” so I challenge you to make the best choices for your mental health one step at a time and live in the triumphant moment those choices bring on your journey to better mental health and Bipolar management.
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