Consuming excessively large amounts of any minerals is going to be bad for us. Consuming a small amount is so often so good for us.
Is there an ideal amount of lithium to be consuming?
If you’ve been prescribed lithium carbonate for control of moods then the amount you are consuming will be close to what is considered a toxic level.
If you are eating mainly processed foods it is possible your intake of lithium will be too low! Really?
In the October 2016 issue of WDDTY magazine, pages 56 to 63, there is a detailed discussion of the advantages of using lithium as a supplement.
Areas explored include the protection of brain cells, lessening of joint pain, treatment of PTSD and alcoholism all using low doses of lithium carbonate or oratate.
Over the years I’ve shared 13 posts where I mention vitamin D. It is that vital for good mood, avoiding depression, reducing risks of mood disorders.
A few times I have mentioned that it essential for the immune system. It is this that provides protection against viral infections and allows more rapid recovery. This morning I was reminded of this front page:
Every cell in the body has vitamin D receptors. Vitamin D has a function in every aspect of the body’s complex interactions.
Vitamin D coupled with vitamin C and zinc are major factors in supporting the body against virus, bacteria and fungal infections.
There is not much money in promoting vitamin D, vitamin C and zinc, so we need governments to promote these as big businesses probably will not.
I said that I’d say nothing more about viruses. I know most of my followers here have a bipolar diagnosis, yet whatever diagnosis we have, or have had, we need good nutrition to resist viruses. A friend I just spoke to said the following is ‘too intimate’ to be sharing. Yes, there are risks around sharing anything. I hope the risks I take here are worth it and that you each will be able to rethink what you are eating and start switching from fake to real.
Dear Mum,
On the radio at 6am the announcer said, “Welcome to a brave new world”. Well, certainly things are different. It was then announced that there have been “No new cases of the CoVid19 virus in China.”
What might they be doing differently in China? Whatever they are doing… IT WORKS!
On the internet, it seems to me that, hundreds of expert doctors such as Joseph Mercola have been telling us that when Chinese doctors started to recommend and use VITAMIN C the spread of the CoVid19 virus slowed rapidly and this is why they are getting over the crisis quickly. They say that South Korea have been doing the same and have slowed the spread.
VITAMIN C KILLS VIRUSES. It always has and probably always will.
How then can we share this knowledge with doctors in the UK?
Perhaps I am wrong. Perhaps, somewhere at some time someone has found a virus that can resist VITAMIN C? Have you ever read any scientific report on the internet or in any book that says anything about a virus that can survive in the presence of VITAMIN C?
There is the question of “Why do some people who take VITAMIN C daily still get colds, the ‘flu and people taking VITAMIN C sometimes do still die?” Well, if they have had a diet that is high in sucrose or have had consistently high blood sugar then they will need A LOT MORE VITAMIN C.
For many years Dr Thomas Levy and Andrew Saul have been two famous doctors, among the hundreds of experts, who have been writing and teaching about the different amounts of VITAMIN C needed. The more unwell a person is the more VITAMIN C that person needs.
If this really is “a brave new world” as the radio announcer says, then if it is to be a benevolent world then it is time the government, the NHS, charities and businesses work together to:
Ensure the people who need the most VITAMIN C receive the most, while explaining that people, who are healthy and not having foods with added sugar, only need tiny amounts. (I take just 0.1g three times a day.)
Help the charity I work with ‘The Public Health Collaboration’ to spread the word about benefits to all of a REAL FOOD LIFESTYLE.
Of course, VITAMIN C is not the only nutrient needed to be healthy and happy. By the 1930’s about 50 vital nutrients had been discovered. Nutritionists are aware of these 50 nutrients, yet so far, I have not met a GP, endocrinologist or any other non-nutritionist who can even name 50 essential nutrients.
I have returned to working full-time in my efforts to spread the word about healthy nutrition and how people can change from a fake food diet to the kinds of real foods that you had as a child.
Perhaps we, ambassadors for the PHC, need to bring people like you (ex-nurses, now over 80 years old and in good health) along to workshops to explain that illnesses such as Type 2 Diabetes are optional. People can make healthy food choices once they understand which foods are needed for those 50 essential nutrients.
The above is a question I was asked this morning. I have been asked this several times before. I rapidly typed the answer below. Not saying it is anything like a perfect answer. I put it here as it may help.
Hi A, Here is my answer…
Often, it seems, people get put on lithium because doctors and psychiatrist know so little about nutrition and do not realize how many mood troubles are caused by eating fake foods (foods with added sugar, toxic oils and so on)…
It is the last little bit of reduction that causes the biggest shock to the system.
This is my understanding, although be warned that I am speaking as a scientist, nutrition-expert and expert-by-experience-of-taking-prescribed-lithium rather than a pharmaceutical person, therefore I am sharing what I believe and not offering advice.
Dropping from say 800mg/day to 650mg/day makes little difference because your blood and cells are still flooded with a lot of lithium and your kidneys are still working hard to detox. Whereas, dropping down just from 20mg/day to zero may make a huge difference.
Here is a different way of looking at mineral supplements. We require only about 10mg/day of zinc (I’ve not looked up precise value)… If you are consistently consuming between say 20mg/day down to 10mg/day from real foods you’ll probably be okay. If though you were to go from 10mg/day down to zero-ish then symptoms of shortage will start to occur.
Supposing we consider lithium to be a nutrient… (it has not been proved that lithium is essential as it comes in real foods (less or none in fake foods) and so most people get plenty most days. This makes it hard to work out what would happen to people who do not get enough as people start to run out of other nutrients, such as magnesium before anyone would notice a shortage of lithium.)
Supposing an adult human needs 1mg/day of lithium (this is quoted in at least one reputable book on nutrition). Then if consuming several hundred mg/day from tablets goes along with our concerns over the slight long-term toxic effects from lithium carbonate tablets. Reducing your lithium intake down to just a few mg will be matching any natural requirements (we are assuming there is a requirement), while stopping altogether could be a bit like choosing to eat only foods that contain close to zero zinc.
I do hope that makes sense. Sorry, it is a bit waffly.
By the way, zinc is a nutrient MOST people do not get enough off, which not only causes emotional troubles (extreme shortages can be associated with psychosis as zinc needs to be balanced with copper to avoid psychosis) Getting enough zinc is easier when we stick to ‘real food’. Very topical at this time; low zinc also makes people vulnerable to viruses.
Dear A, If you would like me to do some nutritional analysis for you to help identify for which nutrients you may have low intakes and which ones you may have excessively high intakes – I can do that.
Does talk of a pandemic and self-isolation mess up people’s moods and make them more vulnerable to all illnesses and disorders?
Is the following too controversial?
As Bruce Lipton points out, corona-viruses cause the common cold as well as ‘flu.
We have probably all been infected by corona-viruses, when catching colds, most winters, as tends to happen in our early years. As our immune system matures, if well-nourished and not too stressed we rarely catch colds or ‘flu.
The amount of harm any virus can do to us is related to our cortisol levels (as well as our nutritional status (i.e. have we been eating real food and taking any essential supplements such as vitamins C & D)).
To keep cortisol low; avoid stress and ideally spend time with friends or family and most especially we others who have a keen interest in health and longevity.
Yesterday, I was able to return to presenting to health professionals.
This time was different. Rather than having a focus mood management or any specific diagnosis, I shared the P.H.C. message of… ‘EAT REAL FOOD‘.
This message being supported by ‘AVOID FAKE FOOD’ and ‘BE ACTIVE EVERYDAY’.
What does this have to do with the title of this blog, “Rethinking Bipolar”?
Many drivers for psychiatric diagnoses are to do with what people have been eating and drinking. Personally, I have found the best thing for sustaining healthy moods, having energy, working well, getting on with people, making friends and living in a happy home has been to consistently… EAT REAL FOOD.
EATing REAL FOOD makes it easier to AVOID FAKE FOOD and to BE ACTIVE EVERYDAY.
As of today I have decided to share more general, and perhaps more controversial, information on this web site.
Did you know, “Low vitamin D levels are linked to bad sleep.”
Doctors who study vitamin D are recommending the use of supplements that allow vitamin D levels in blood to be between 150 and 200 nmol/L (see this month’s WDDTY magazine). Such levels will help to protect us from viral infections, cancer and dementia.
With low vitamin D the immune system does not work, hence most people are especially vulnerable to viral infections during the winter and early spring. Most vitamin D supplements in the doses recommended on the packets will not provide enough vitamin D.
To be healthy it is best to have our vitamin D in blood tested and then take the right supplement to bring the level in your blood to between 150 and 200 nmol/L.
Sadly, in the UK, most NHS GP’s do not yet have this information. Perhaps ask your doctor if they read WDDTY magazine, to help keep up to date with emerging science.
I have been asked, how much our susceptibility to any illness or disorder is due to beliefs rather than to do with healthy nutrition/lifestyle. More specifically it was in a discussion about the latest corona-virus. Here is my reply,
Yes, beliefs are so very important when it comes to viruses. In my world, beliefs and actions go hand-in-hand.
When we believe we can resist the virus by ensuring we have daily vitamins C & D and zinc then we find a way to include these nutrients in our daily meals.
I accept that even the best food choices can be undermined by belief about diseases.
Beliefs that create fear seem to lead to greater vulnerability to all sorts of illnesses and disorders (including bipolar diagnosis). Mainly though, stats and science tell us that people who eat well stay well. Also, people who have been eating fairly well before an infectious disease or disorder comes along, in general, recover quicker, than malnourished people.
In 2018, I found a way of quickly checking my subconscious self-limiting beliefs then balancing those with empowering beliefs. To qualify as a facilitator of this modality of knowing and balancing beliefs I attended a course with Sharon Lock in Leeds, UK.
Here is a 3 minute video made during that very 3 day course (I appear, yet do not have a ‘speaking part’ 🙂 )
Would you like to hear more about food or more about beliefs?
I have debated before whether the mood stabilizing successes attributed to lithium are due to it helping people who have been magnesium deficient.
Here however, I seem to have left bipolar a long way behind me. I am now, on a lower carbohydrate diet, having the steadiest moods I have ever had. It is great to be sleeping well, getting lots of work done and spending time with lots of lovely positive people. Yet, as one of my bipolar clients said to me, years ago, “Even when moods are steady, it is never just right.” It seems life always involves some things that cause some discomfort.
In 2019, I think I only had cramp in my leg (calf) once. It was early in the morning and it hurt at lot! Early on 28th January 2020, I had a similar occurrence of cramp in my calf. It was over in less than a minute but left me hobbling a bit for a few hours.
As a teenager, when fell-walking in hot weather, I would get this kind of cramp the next morning and was told, and believed, this happened because I was sweating out sodium and failing to add salt to my food. Putting a little salt in the palm of my hand and licking that off seemed to stop it happening the next morning. Yet, was this real biochemistry or simply placebo?
These days, most people say that most cramp in legs is related to low magnesium and it does seem that taking a good magnesium supplement or a bath in Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) makes cramp far less likely.
So what might be the truth about my cramps that may be of use to others wanting to avoid this pain?
Well, I had just completed a study on myself where I recorded everything I ate over 6 days. This has allowed me to plot my intake of 4 minerals. This reveals that (compared with what I usually eat) my consumption of Calcium, Magnesium and Sodium were all low leading up to the morning I got the cramp.
Was that cramp, to some extent due to low sodium, magnesium and calcium intake?
I am aware of another factor. The day before, I had cycled up a steep-ish hill I do not normally cycle up and so may well have been using my calf muscles in a different way. I can well believe this will have increased my risk of cramp. Overall, though I currently believe the cramp was induced mainly by a mineral imbalance.
Having considered the above graph, what will I do now?
In a moment, I am going to cycle to a local supermarket, fill my rucksack with fresh veg and cycle home (up a moderate hill). I need the exercise and I need to get back to eating lots of veg. I can do this while keeping my carbs low (surprisingly easy to do when avoiding bread) as that will get these minerals back in balance. I have taken a magnesium citrate tablet 2 nights since the cramp. I am not keen on supplements – dare I stop taking the extra magnesium?
How many of us are ever at our ideal weight. Today, I am at about 60kg = 132pounds = 9 stone and 2 pounds. From the graph you’ll see that sedating prescription drugs caused me to gain weight. The drugs also made it difficult for me to exercise, so gradually coming off the drugs 2010/2011 left me short of muscle. Better diet and more exercise has allowed me to get back to about my optimum weight. Yet, still I am wanting to put on that extra 1kg. I’d like to be 61kg, yet am I prepared to lift-weights everyday to add that extra bit of muscle?
(After moving house I’d like to find my diaries for 2016 and 2017 to fill in the missing data.)
It is hard to know if intermittent fasting does steady the mood. I am sure it helps with self-discipline and that has to be a good thing.
I believe the main benefits for me have been:
Clearer thinking in the morning while stomach is empty
Digestive system will be repairing better while stomach is empty
Far less tempted by junk food as I am not eating between meals
My graph is looking busy as there are now a lot of points, as simply write in my diary the time I have my first and last food each day. Mostly first food is anywhere between 10am and 2pm. Last food is usually close to 6:30pm.
This next week I am going to be experimenting with finishing eating even earlier to see if that helps with sleep.
If you want to get over any kind of disorder… diabetes, bipolar or whatever, then episodes 1 to 3 of the iThrive Documentary Series are well worth watching. A great range of experts are interviewed and their explanations of causes and cures are well worth hearing.
In case you do not have time to watch this type of docuseries here are two tips I have found useful as part of my recovery:
Eliminate junk food
Find a way that works for you to avoid spikes in blood sugar
There were many more lifestyle changes I needed to make to eliminate bipolar disorder from my life and to live without psychiatric drugs. It is just that the above two ideas seem good for everyone.
I believe:
Eliminate junk food
Find a way that works for you to avoid spikes in blood sugar
…are especially effective for long-term wellness as success can be seen in falling HbA1c blood test values which your doctor will almost certainly agree is worth testing 3 monthly while ‘in recovery’ then perhaps every 6 or 12 months throughout your life.
For my next blog-post I’ll share about my old food choices not being HCLF but HCTF… and HCTF being a massive driver for bipolar and every mental / physical disorder.
Yesterday I mentioned ‘High Carbohydrate Low Fat’ and will admit I used the letters HCLF partly because those letters attract attention. Well, I did receive a few emails and this comment posted here at rethinkingbipolar.com:
“…if I am to have breakfast Roger what should I have? Fruit or bacon and eggs?”
Ten years ago I would have said, “Make the most amazing fruit-salad cutting up at least six different colourful fruits. Perhaps add something that makes it unique, like a few cherry tomatoes! Then share with family or even take some to share with a neighbour.”
Five years ago I would have said, “Bacon and eggs great! It is sugar-free. It’ll lower your blood glucose, give you energy and help with weight loss.”
A year ago I would have said, “Ditch the bacon! It’ll be full of toxins. Get the best organic eggs you can, lightly boil or poach these so the white is just hard-ish and the yolk runny.”
Now? Today? I’m thinking that providing we are avoiding junk and minimizing toxins neither option is going to do much harm and each contains an amazing mix of nutrients.
What I believe matters more is the timing of our breakfast (breaking of overnight fasting). I think every nutritionist agrees with what Patrick Holford wrote years ago, “Don’t eat for at least an hour after getting up in the morning”. There can be lots of reasons for delaying breakfast. For me, the time before eating is when I get most done per minute.
Only about once a week do I have a meal at the time my relatives would call breakfast time, although still at least an hour after getting up.
Four or five days a week, I will; write my ‘morning pages’, wash, dress, do yoga-style exercises, have a few hot drinks, shake, do a tiny bit of aerobic stuff, view most of my incoming emails, type a blog-post or similar, put any clothes washing on, walk, hang the washing to dry – All before I prepare my brunch.
Usually one day and sometimes two days a week, such as when I am facilitating a group, I eat nothing before noon, 1pm or even 2pm. Keeping busy allows me to do this without causing big shifts in my mood.
Does any of that sound hypo-manic? In recovery, I used to closely monitor my mood – always in fear of ‘relapsing’ as I had been told I was only in ‘remission’. I’m not losing sight of risks of mental health troubles, just that I now know it is lifestyle, stress etc and not any genetic-fixed-uncontrollable disorder. I keep going and achieving while recognizing my changing moods. I know behavior rather than mood determines my long-term happiness.
How does this relate to the “fruit or eggs” choice?
By brunch or lunch-time, what I fancy eating has changed.
Yes, I can allow myself fruit. I often fancy eggs. Now though, I am just as likely to fancy raw organic sauerkraut wrapped in lettuce leaves. I often include all sorts of raw vegetables in my first meal of the day, which very few people would do if eating earlier.
Calories? It will be great when I can stop ever mentioning calories. For now, I’ll just say that do not restrict calories, just that I can eat a couple of big plates full of many different foods for brunch, be full-up for hours, with less than 600kcal. I’ll share more about what this means to me at a later date.
I’m hoping this long answer is taken well by my new reader and it will inspire others to learn as much as they can about what is becoming a popular route to better health and better moods, which may be referred to as intermittent fasting.
I am welcoming bookings to provide talks and facilitate discussions. Please ask.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
What does it all mean? I welcome your thoughts on any of the above or on this slide I created before my morning walk… 2 hours to go to brunch 🙂
Prior to all those medications (psychiatric drugs), how much was excess carbohydrate consumption badly influencing my mood?
I am not saying it was my number one stressor/trigger. I’ll share about that another time, however…
What was I eating and drinking prior to being assessed by psychiatry?
I ate bread and either potatoes, pasta or rice every day
I would eat a few biscuits and pieces of cake every day
I worked for a multi-national food manufacturer with access to unlimited half-price confectionery and with chocolate/candy dispensing machines positioned throughout the offices.
I drank lots of orange juice = 10% sugar every day
I was consuming semi-skimmed milk (fat reduced but still 5% lactose = sugar!)
Was I balancing all this carbohydrate with healthy dietary fat?
I considered avocados, olives (and organic foods) to be too expensive
I was minimizing use of butter, cheese and reluctantly ate lean meats rather than the tastier fatty meats
As a family we regularly fried foods in cheap non-organic toxic vegetable oils from plastic bottles
We ate ready-meals and fast-foods that arrived in plastic containers
I believed I had a good diet!
As a food scientist I knew what happens to animals such as dogs kept on a High-Carb/Low-Fat (HCLF) diet – they get sick!
I did not believe I was sick. I was a very busy person burning off all that carbohydrate my body did not need. I was not dying but I was not sleeping well-enough or thinking clearly enough.
My diet was depriving me of just about every key nutrient!
I was most likely short of vitamins C, B vitamins including niacin and B12, D, E, K1, K2. So much of the carbs I was consuming were so processed that they were nutritionally of almost no use at all to my brain.
Although slim, I was not healthy and am sure I was already heading towards diabetes by the time I was prescribed Olanzapine. Olanzapine being a drug known for its ability to increase body weight and make diabetes more likely. It even says this in the leaflet that comes with it.
I had to change diet to get physically and mentally healthier/fitter.
On Olanzapine/Zyprexa (for 14 years) I was heading towards diabetes. Okay, so I only gained about 45 pounds in weight due to psych drugs, but then I was making huge efforts just to not gain more, while losing my physical fitness.
Yes, I have to admit the psych drugs helped me to stay in bed a lot longer, which was a blessing for my family. Perhaps, it was because I was so sedated that allowed my children to do so well throughout school and university. In fact, as I type this I am thinking maybe it was all worthwhile. Did all those years of poor health for me allow better health for those around me?
It was blood tests that left me in no doubt things had to change. Well, yes and no. It was getting up for a ‘pee’, twice, then 3 times, then 4 times every night that caused me to insist on the blood tests. By then my guts were wrecked, so I was lying awake in pain in-between the toilet visits. I was in bed a lot longer, but getting no more refreshing sleep than I had before the drugs or since I have come off all prescription medication. If we can go drug-free (and it is not easy and involves serious risks for many) then the sleep we get is so wonderful. To sleep like a child again is beautiful.
After the drugs my HbA1c measure of damage to my cells by excess sugar was just below pre-diabetic, even though my diet was good. Clearly, these days, good is not good enough when we start to look at food labels. I found the support I needed to cut right back on some of the things going hand-in-hand with my poor eating habits. I went without wheat and dairy for months, lost more weight and my HbA1c came down. I am not 100% free of wheat and dairy, just that I have most definitely broken the addictions and can now go for weeks without the tiniest bit of either.
The big dietary changes I made (and there have been many more of them) included switching to what a friend described as ‘single ingredient’ foods. Basically, if there is a list of ingredients just don’t buy it. I am mostly buying fruit, veg or anything that has no legal requirement for a list of ingredients. Yes, big business is not going to like anyone doing this as it rules out just about anything they can make much money from. It was a simple change and perhaps the main one for bringing my HbA1c down. Down by just ‘one point’… away from diabetes.
Then my HbA1c stabilized at a level I was far from happy with. By then I was working close to full-time as a health researcher and having to learn more and more about the links between high HbA1c and seemingly every chronic condition.
Please do your own research or ask me to send some reliable links to answer questions like… Is elevated HbA1c always a driver for cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart-attack, stroke, pancreatic troubles, liver damage, kidney disease… the list goes on and on. Only yesterday I was working with someone while we discussed how closely HbA1c might be linked with MND (Motor Neuron Disease). Excess sugar and lack of vitamins alone may never cause any of these, just that the evidence is piling up that if we can take control of our sugar and have better levels of vitamins in our blood (and balances between these vitamins too) then risks go way down.
The other big change I’ve made has simply been to stop eating at night. Now, it seems so obvious that eating close to 24 hours a day is going to be linked to weight gain and blood sugar troubles. For people taking high levels of Olanzapine the desire to eat returns every few minutes. On that drug, the only time I stopped thinking about food for more than a few minutes was while I was asleep, but sleeping more was not burning off that sugar coming from carbs eaten late in the evening and replaced within minutes of getting out of bed.
My wife said so often, “You’re always in the pantry”. I do not believe she was ever able to get her head around how a psych drug can effectively eliminate will-power.
I have set myself a new lower target for my HbA1c with a retest scheduled for just 8 to 10 weeks from now. I am going to work towards this by averaging a fasting window of 15 hours in every 24 hours. I’ve worked towards this by getting my gut as physically as fit as it can be at this time. Fasting 15 hours it is not going to be difficult as I am already feeling the benefits from skipping what I used to call breakfast and supper. I still have a huge 9 hour eating window and no restriction at all (for me this is) on calories. I can eat as much fatty food as I fancy, although here I am talking about healthy avocados, olives and a wide range of organic high calorie foods, with nothing at all cooked at high temperatures.
I am staying pretty much grain-free because it aids my clarity of thought, while making it far easier to avoid excess carbs.
Okay, I have typed plenty for today. If you’d like to know more about how my challenge is going, what I eat day-to-day or anything else do ask by email or through the comments option below.
Now, if you’ve not seen any of the iThrive series see if you can check it out. The link below may only work for the next 20 hours or so. Just listen to what ‘Chef AJ’ says between 6m 14s and 6m 44s [[[just 30 seconds]]] and share this with anyone you love.
I am sure the experts can share a lot more about diabetes than I can. My approach is simple. Check out your HbA1c, research what probably caused your HbA1c to be higher than the ideal, then start eliminating the causes in a way that works for you. I am currently 100% sure that if you remove enough of the relevant causes your body will be able to move you further away from diabetes.
Finally, what has this to do with bipolar?
Bipolar and diabetes have been linked many times. Mood troubles affect food choices and psych drugs can so often make things far worse.
As I have been teaching for more than a decade, if you have mood troubles, so bad that you are getting a mental health diagnosis, then food choices so often have to be made with mood in mind. Yes, we can change anything about our foods, including what we eat, when we eat and whom we eat with, but we still have to keep our moods in order. Staying safe in the short-term is key, while keeping that long-term goal of lower HbA1c or whatever target you have in mind. Get support and get your physical health sorted at the same time as eliminating mood disorder from your life.
Roger Smith (in the UK)
Rethinking Bipolar 