
The Link Between Nutrition and Bipolar Disorder
- 1 Beijing University of Agriculture
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Bipolar disorder (BD) is a complex mental health condition characterized by extreme mood swings, including manic and depressive episodes. This study explores the relationship between nutrition and bipolar disorder with the goal of determining how dietary factors may affect how this condition is managed. Recent studies suggest that dietary consumption of specific vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids, including omega-3, vitamin D, and essential minerals, may be important in reducing the symptoms of BD. These nutrients have been linked to better mood stabilization and may increase the efficacy of pharmaceutical treatments, which could improve treatment outcomes and lower patient suicide rates. A review and analysis of the literature is the methodology used in this paper. This study reveals a link between bipolar disorder and nutrition, suggesting that patients with BD can benefit from using omega-3, vitamin D, and specific minerals to treat their illness and lower their risk of suicide or suicidal thoughts. Additionally, the study finds that certain nutrient combinations can reduce side effects and improve BD treatment when taken with medication. Overall, this study highlights how nutrition can improve the quality of life for those with bipolar disorder.
Keywords
Bipolar disorder (BD), Nutrition, Omega-3 fatty acids, Vitamin D, Minerals
[1]. Marx, W., Moseley, G., Berk, M., & Jacka, F. (2017). Nutritional psychiatry: the present state of the evidence. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 76(4), 427–436. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665117002026
[2]. Bauer M, Glenn T, Alda M, et al. Influence of birth cohort on age of onset cluster analysis in bipolar I disorder. Eur Psychiatry. 2015; 30(1): 99–105. doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2014.10.005
[3]. Cross, W. (2012). Star Shots : Stigma, Self-Disclosure and Celebrity in Bipolar Disorder. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/31966
[4]. American Psychiatric Association [APA] (2000) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, IV-TR ed., American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC.
[5]. Merikangas KR, Jin R, He J, et al. Prevalence and Correlates of Bipolar Spectrum Disorder in the World Mental Health Survey Initiative. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2011; 68(3): 241–251. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.12
[6]. Shim, S. S. (2012). Lithium Enhances Synaptic Plasticity : Implication For Treatment of Bipolar Disorder. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/32988
[7]. Hiles, Lai, J., S., Bisquera, Attia, & Hure, et al. (2014). A systematic review and meta-analysis of dietary patterns and depression in community-dwelling adults. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: Official Journal of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition, 99(1), 181-197. DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.113.069880
[8]. Marx, W., Moseley, G., Berk, M., & Jacka, F. (2017). Nutritional psychiatry: the present state of the evidence. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 76(4), 427–436. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0029665117002026
[9]. Qiongwen, Z., & Ying, H. (2022). Bipolar disorder cured by vitamin D supplementation in a 15‐year‐old boy: A case report. Bipolar Disorders, 24(3), 334–336. https://doi.org/10.1111/bdi.13143
[10]. Brown, L. (Ed.). (2016). Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Health and Disease. MDPI AG.
[11]. Patrick, R. P., & Ames, B. N. (2015). Vitamin D and the omega‐3 fatty acids control serotonin synthesis and action, part 2: relevance for ADHD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and impulsive behavior. The FASEB Journal, 29(6), 2207–2222. https://doi.org/10.1096/fj.14-268342
[12]. Baldassano Claudia F, Craigen Gerald, Eddy Bruce A, Dokucu Mehmet E, Sagduyu Kemal, & Yıldız Ayşegül. (2005). Omega-3 fatty acids decreased irritability of patients with bipolar disorder in an add-on, open label study. Nutrition Journal, 4(1), 6-. https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2891-4-6
[13]. Özdemir, O. (Ed.). (2021). Vitamin D. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93580
[14]. George K. Kirov, Kamen N. Tsachev; Magnesium, Schizophrenia and Manic-Depressive Disease. Neuropsychobiology 1 February 1990; 23 (2): 79–81. https://doi.org/10.1159/000119431
[15]. A.J. Russo. (2010). Decreased Serum Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) in Individuals with Bipolar Disorder Normalizes after Zinc and Anti-oxidant Therapy. Nutrition and Metabolic Insights, 3. https://doi.org/10.4137/NMI.S5528
Cite this article
Zhang,Y. (2025). The Link Between Nutrition and Bipolar Disorder. Theoretical and Natural Science,69,129-134.
Data availability
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study will be available from the authors upon reasonable request.
Disclaimer/Publisher's Note
The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s). EWA Publishing and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.
About volume
Volume title: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Modern Medicine and Global Health
© 2024 by the author(s). Licensee EWA Publishing, Oxford, UK. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. Authors who
publish this series agree to the following terms:
1. Authors retain copyright and grant the series right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons
Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this
series.
2. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the series's published
version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial
publication in this series.
3. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and
during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See
Open access policy for details).