Mindful Eating: Better Food Choices Help with Bipolar Symptoms

The latest research says it is best to take a multipronged approach to changing our diet so our brain can do its best.

Diet, Food, & Mood Stability

How do different foods affect mood? It’s an important question when you are trying to keep bipolar disorder in balance, and one that science has been striving to answer—with varying results.

The current consensus seems to be that no one food is as important as good eating habits overall.

“Excessive focus on individual nutrients has held back the field for 90 years,” says Bonnie Kaplan, PhD, a member of the University of Calgary medical faculty who has studied the interaction between diet and mood disorders.

While researchers have noted correlations—vitamin D deficiency in people with depression, for example—it’s rarely the case that simply supplementing the lack eases the mood condition.

James M. Greenblatt, MD, an assistant clinical professor at Tufts Medical School and author of The Breakthrough Depression Solution, says good nutrition can decrease the debilitating symptoms of bipolar and provide a marked improvement in functioning.

For example, Greenblatt notes that low blood sugar can trigger irritability, and the effect can be even more pronounced in someone whose bipolar is not stabilized. He emphasizes the importance of protein at breakfast to help regulate blood sugar throughout the day.

To keep blood sugar levels steady, it’s good to choose “complex carbohydrates” (e.g., whole-grain products) that digest more slowly over “simple carbohydrates” (e.g., white bread, pasta, and many processed snack foods) that release their energy more quickly.

Candy, soda, and sugary treats are obvious culprits when it comes to blood sugar spikes and the subsequent crashes. Plus, they lack the redeeming value of fiber, minerals, and all the other good things our bodies—and brains—require. (There’s a reason it’s called junk food.)

Nutrition for Better Brain Health

In a study published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, Kaplan and a colleague looked at how nutrient intake affected overall functioning in people with confirmed mood disorders. They found a positive correlation between consuming nutritious food and better mental functioning.

“Your brain is the most metabolically active organ. Your heart is second,” Kaplan explains. “Your brain and heart need to be fed constantly.”

She adds, “A quart of blood goes through your brain every single minute. I like to ask, ‘What is in your brain’s bathwater?’”

The brain needs lots of different nutrients to power its constant and complex activity. Kaplan’s study considered the range of things you might see listed on a nutrition label: carbohydrates, fiber, fats, B vitamins, calcium, potassium, zinc, and other elements off the periodic table.

The bottom line is this: When you don’t provide your brain with enough of the right nutrients, it doesn’t perform as well, and both mood and mental ability suffer.

Furthermore, the brain is highly vulnerable to free radicals. Those particles are spun off during metabolism and go on to raid other cells for electrons. Their destructive action is known as “oxidative stress”—the same thing that causes rust on iron.

Hence all the health talk about antioxidants, which are part of the body’s defenses against oxidative stress.

Vitamins and minerals we take in through food are antioxidants. So are phytochemicals (naturally occurring compounds found in plants) such as carotenes in brightly colored fruits and vegetables, isoflavones in soy products, and omega-3 fatty acids in dark-green leafy vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds.

Fatty fish like salmon and sardines are another good dietary source of omega-3. Fish and plants have different kinds of omega-3 fatty acids, but both are useful.

The Omega Issue

Omega-3s are involved in a lot of the body’s functions, including building cell membranes in the brain. There’s also evidence that omega-3s play a role in reducing depression and anxiety.

The body doesn’t make omega-3 fatty acids, so the only way we get them is through food (or supplements). That’s also true of omega-6 fatty acids, which have a bad reputation but are equally essential to keeping our brains humming.

That bad rep came from reports that omega-6 promotes inflammation and contributes to heart disease. Current thinking shifts the blame to a dietary imbalance that heavily favors omega-6 over omega-3.

Commercially raised beef and many vegetable oils used in processed foods (including margarine) are high in omega-6. So eating lots of fast-food hamburgers, muffins, and other store-bought baked goods—and not enough vegetables, fruits, legumes, and fish—throws our ratio of omega-6 and omega-3 out of whack.

To reduce omega-6 in our diets, Greenblatt offers one simple rule: “Eliminate junk food.”

Challenge Accepted

If only it were as easy to do as to say. We crave junk food for a bunch of reasons: habit, convenience, stress, fatigue, emotional comfort, even hormones. Cutting back on unhealthy foods and increasing intake of healthy ones often requires a multi-pronged approach.

Some tried-and-true ideas…

Eat This, Not That

Look for ways to sub out habitual not-so-good choices for better ones. If breakfast is a big, fat bagel, how about half a bagel plus a hard-boiled egg? If you beeline for a candy bar during the afternoon slump, how about an oat-based granola bar with chocolate chips? Easy-to-pack fresh or dried fruit may do the trick, too, or maybe a small container of almonds and raisins mixed with a few chocolate chunks. If low-fat, low-sodium frozen dinners are more nutritious than your usual fare, stock up.

Prep in Advance

Cooking that hard-boiled egg and bagging up that almond-raisin mixture the night (or even the weekend) before makes it that much easier to eat better. On the same principle, think about other shortcuts—for example, buying precut vegetables or chopping up a week’s worth at once so they’re ready at hand. Planning out your evening meals may help you avoid defaulting to fast food.

See the Big Picture

When eating becomes a form of comfort, it’s important to recognize that pattern. The next step is developing other outlets to relieve stress (exercise, lively music, or whatever relaxes you) and address your emotions (journaling, calling a friend).

Veg Out

Any steps that add more vegetables, fruits, dried beans, whole grains, and lean protein to your life are worth taking. Heat up a can of lentil soup or chili for the legume factor and stir in some frozen vegetables. Grate carrots into tomato sauce. Sprinkle dried cranberries and walnuts over a bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal for breakfast, or top a whole-grain frozen waffle with sliced peaches (canned in juice, not syrup).

Above all, remember that the more your diet moves in a healthy direction, the better you’ll feel.

“We have evolved to need a broad spectrum of vitamins and nutrients,” Kaplan says. “If you want to have an impact on mental health, treat your brain the way it was designed.”

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10 Ideas to Help You Get Your Five Servings

Eating recommendations for heart health, controlling diabetes, and reducing the risk of cancer share a common pattern: heavy on plant foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes) and light on processed foods, dairy, and beef.

As a general rule, adults are advised to eat at least 1½ to 2 cups of fruits and 2½ to 3 cups of vegetables a day. The US Department of Agriculture’s Choose My Plate campaign recommends that half your plate at every meal should be plant-based. Here are tips to help you get enough servings of vegetables and fruits:

1. Store Cut-Up Fruits and Vegetables in clear containers at eye level in the refrigerator so they will be the first thing you see and eat.
2. Whirl Up a Fruit Shake with a banana, frozen berries, orange juice, and low-fat yogurt.
3. Marinate a Variety of Sliced Vegetables with low-fat Italian dressing and use with turkey in a pita pocket.
4. Put Single-Serving Raisin Boxes in your cookie jar.
5. Put Fruits and Vegetables Out to snack on while dinner is being prepared. (Offer hummus with the veggies, and you’ll add the legume group.)
6. Add Pureed or Minced Vegetables to your meatloaf or spaghetti sauce.
7. Extend Vegetable Soups with a can of kidney, cannellini, black, or garbanzo beans (chickpeas). Rinse and drain beans before adding.
8. Microwave or Bake a Potato and top with salsa.
9. Toss Cut Vegetables with olive oil, salt, and spices of your choice and roast in a 400-degree oven. Root vegetables such as potatoes, onions, carrots, and beets come out well, but so do peppers, mushrooms, cauliflower, and broccoli.
10. Add a “Salad Night” to your weekly dinner rotation. Start with darker-colored greens (Boston lettuce, spinach, etc.) and add your choice of chopped vegetables and fruits (tomatoes, apples, pears, berries, cucumbers, sprouts, bell peppers, raw green beans, broccoli or cauliflower florets—the list is endless). For an entrée salad, add a protein like sliced chicken or hard-boiled eggs.

Read More:
Bipolar, Food & Mood: My Battle of the Binge

Printed as “Mindful Eating,” Winter 2014