Island Bay, Google 'gut health and bipolar'. It's interesting findings from Harvard Medical school and others and def worth a look & try. All the best mate

google - Dr Rhonda Patrick gut health
Found my Fitness .com

Island Bay, I vaguely remember reading somewhere about some research done in this area. Will try to find it for you.

Island Bay - I can only tell you from my experience as someone who has learnt to modify the worst of the situation.

I’ve endured the chronic cycle of extreme ups/downs since adulthood and was always told that it’s a “ chemical imbalance “ in the brain and that lifestyle was a very minor contributing factor if at all. If I’d suggested to any of the experts that it was possibly linked to diet they’d laugh condescendingly as they reach for their prescription pad.

But....I started developing minor excema around my nose as I got older. At first I thought it was exposure to dust / work related , then I thought it was reaction to soaps / chemicals / shampoos. I eventually began a process of deduction and realised that it was my diet. Particularly bread.

This led to an even greater interest and inspection of the affects of the various foods on my body. An unintended bonus was that I noticed improvements in other facets of my well being when certain foods were omitted. Of particular interest was the difference on my emotions, moods , energy levels , inflammation/ aches pains and general attitude to life.

It seems that I operate best without any breads / wheat products , sugar , caffeine , alcohol , nuts , preservatives , colours , artificial additives etc.

It’s best if I stick to just fruit , veggies and healthy animal products, although for myself this means just seafood, not mammals or birds. Basically as clean , healthy , natural and unprocessed and the difference in my moods / mental health is exponentially improved.

Throw in regular exercise and I’m a much different and much better person.

Personally , I believe that the foods that my body doesn’t accept reveal themselves in a myriad of ways but which it’s easy to dismiss the likelihood of the causation if you’re not already conscious of the link.

For instance,I can eat a sandwich here or there and get away with it , but if I eat bread for a few times in a day or two then I’ll get fatigued / depressed / moody / apathetic plus I’ll get back pain and pains in some joints with elongated recovery time from exercise. Nuts can literally make me nuts ....confused thinking, poor thought processes , even paranoia . All of the foods I’ve mentioned have a detrimental affect on me one way or another and on varying levels of exposure/ consumption.

I think that the root cause is poor gut health causing inflammation everywhere, which compromises the body’s/ mind’s ability to function correctly. My partner is right into nutrition and health and is always showing me articles / books which reinforce this belief, but nothing is more convincing than my lived experience.

Of course , life has its natural ups and downs and we aren’t always dealt the hand in life that we’d like , but it’s our ability to react in proportion to our trials and our blessings that requires the constant oversight if you’re in a position of emotional instability. And it’s hard to be ever vigilant of the correct path . I’ll often be living correctly and my problems seem remote , then I’ll let my guard down and indulge in foods / drinks that I know aren’t benefiting my mind/ body and next thing I’m caught in the cycle again.

Now I cringe when I hear crew talking of their depression/ mania and when I ask about their diet it’s bread / energy drinks/ sugar/ whatever and their eyes glaze when I suggest they may be able to improve their situation themselves. Even a slight improvement is an improvement !

Mate , I’d love to go into more detail as this issue is extremely close to my heart as my own discoveries have revolutionised my life and I will try to write more later , but right now there is an Indo left starting to look very, very pretty right in front of me.

Catch ya.