Fish Oil & Folic Acid Bipolar Diet

Bipolar affects many people. It is a mental disorder that produces extreme shifts in moods. It can bring on extreme swings from mania, to extreme lows or depression. There are several different forms of treatment for bipolar disorder. There are conventional treatments and non-conventional. Fish oil and folic acid have been found to both have benefits for bipolar disorder. They should both be included in your diet if you suffer from this disorder.

Folic Acid

• Folic acid is in the B-vitamin family. It plays a role in forming healthy new cells. It has been found that there is an association between your mood and folic acid levels in your blood. According to the Kimberly H. Courtwright and Joseph W. Summers Institute of Metabolic Disease at Baylor University Medical Center, low levels of folate, or folic acid, may aggravate depressive disorders such as manic depressive disorder. It has been found that folic acid plays a role in psychiatric disturbances.

  If you are deficient in folic acid, your doctor may want to treat you using .08 mg of folic acid, up to 2.5 mg. Because folic acid is safe, the higher doses are acceptable in treating mental disturbances such as bipolar. However, you can get a lot of your folic acid in the foods you eat. Your diet can be very beneficial for keeping your levels up. You can find folic acid in many foods, including dried beans, peas, lentils, oranges, whole-wheat, asparagus, beets, broccoli, brussel sprouts and spinach.

  If you live with bipolar, you should have your folic acid levels checked regularly with your physician.

Fish Oil

• If you have been diagnosed with a form of depression, it is possible that you have a deficiency in omega-3 fatty acids. According to Drs. Al Stoll, W.E. Severus and M.P. Freeman from the "Arch General Psychiatry," a study evaluated the effect that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation has on people with bipolar disorder. Some patients were given 9.6 grams of omega-3 fatty acids from fish oil. Others were given a placebo. The patients were also instructed to continue taking their regular medications. At the end of the study, the patients who had received the large doses of fish oil reported there was significant improvement with their depression and bipolar disorder. They even reported longer periods between relapses.

  Stoll, who conducted a Harvard University study, recommends you take vitamin C and E with fish oil. This helps to prevent oxidation in the body. However, Stoll also warns against the use of cod liver oil for omega-3 supplementation. Cod liver oil has high amounts of omega-3, but because there are such high doses of omega-3 in cod liver oil, you are risking having overdose problems with vitamins A and D.

  It is recommended you start with low doses of omega-3 and move up. A dose of 3 grams a day should be the starting dose. If the desired results aren't reached, move the dose up gradually.