The first time I heard the term ‘’hypo’’ I was ironically and luckily sitting in my psychiatrist’s office when I started to go pale and feel dizzy and uncoordinated. She asked if I had eaten and when I said no, she said it was low blood sugar, ‘’hypo’’ as she said and immediately gave me a banana. Within seconds I was back to normal and was quite shocked as, had always been a bit cavalier (and still am) about regular eating and blood sugar levels. However, this is really important for bi-polics. Bizarrely on another occasion with exactly the same symptoms she gave me a pack of crisps as I suffered a side effect to a particular tablet (tegretol) which was a sodium deficiency! Wow, it certainly has not been easy.
For people with bipolar disorder, this connection is particularly important. We tend to have heightened sensitivity to unhealthy foods such as refined carbohydrates and saturated fats, and the more we eat these unwholesome foods, the more frequent and severe will be the mood swings that result…