Can Those With Bipolar Disorder Benefit From Adding Salads?
The answer to the question in the title is YES. I have seen this happen myself several times over the years.
It’s no surprise that those with bipolar disorder have seen the added health benefits of salad; everyone who is human will benefit! Eating healthy salads is programmed into your physiology – and it’s something that you will even like doing. You’ll love how you feel after you eat a salad and you’ll notice your moods are more stable after eating a healthy salad meal.
A healthy salad goes far to minimize triggers by stabilizing your blood sugar level, and since studies have shown that all the symptoms of mental disease are worsened with low blood sugar levels, you can only expect good results from eating more of them.
What’s in a healthy salad? The answer is below:
At least one type of lettuce or leafy green (Bibb lettuce, head lettuce, spinach, arugula, Romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce or green leaf lettuce)
- Either fresh parsley, fresh mint, fresh fennel or fresh cilantro
- Carrots or tomatoes for the beta-carotene
- Kale leaves (two) or dandelion greens or watercress
- At least one of these: celery, onions of any type, mushrooms, bell peppers, or cucumbers
- Flavoring such as fresh ginger, basil, oregano, thyme, savory, garlic or other flavoring
- A fruit of any type. Usually these work best: melons, apple, pear, peach, nectarine, strawberries, pineapple, coconut or blueberries.
If you are trying to make the salad a meal, you’ll need to add protein to the healthy salad. Calculate about 4 ounces per person per meal. You’ll also need one of these: beans, rice, chickpeas or lentils to give you extra calories and longer sustaining energy.
As an option, you could also add one type of nut such as almonds, sunflower seeds, macadamia nuts, pistachios, peanuts, or cashews. Walnuts also work well.
So based on this template, you could make numerous salads every day of the week for several months and none of them would be the exact same duplicate of another. Here are a few examples:
- Romaine lettuce, fresh mint, carrots, kale, celery, basil, strawberries, blueberries, beef strips seared in ginger sauce, lentils, and cashews. You could use your favorite dressing on top this salad or use a basic vinaigrette.
- Red leaf lettuce, parsley, fennel, cherry tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, bell pepper, savory, cantaloupe, chicken, almonds, and your favorite dressing.
Now it’s your turn. Why not commit to one healthy salad a day for seven days? See what happens. And start thinking of the answer to the question, “What will you make for dinner tonight to feel better?"