Healing Depression and Bipolar Disorder with Raw Foods

by Angeline King
(San Diego, CA )

Twenty years ago I suffered my first episode of Postpartum Depression which was so severe I would not have made it without taking antidepressants for about a year. During that year I researched nutritional approaches to healing and came upon Natural Hygiene. I saw a Natural Hygiene doctor and went on his prescribed diet which was vegan and mostly raw with vegetable juicing and lots of raw salads. I can't say I was feeling any healthier but I liked that I was losing weight. I read every book I could get my hands on which used a vegan approach to healing, and it just seemed so right and so obvious. I had no desire to slaughter animals and when I saw a live chicken I wasn't thinking, "oh, that looks so delicious!". But when I saw ripe plums on a tree I reached right for them, they looked so good. I was so convinced that this was the correct way to eat that I began feeding my entire family on a high raw vegan diet. This went on for 15 years while I battled progressively worsening insomnia, a skin disorder, and chronic low level depression. Also, my teeth were demineralizing. My kids were also having health issues. After 5 or 6 years of extreme sleep deprivation, I ended up on sleeping medications for several years. My health issues just seemed to be getting worse. Then I came upon the 100% raw vegan diet. I live in San Diego and went to see presentations by David Wolfe and several other raw vegan lecturers. I became a regular shopper at David's store. My daughter and I ate a 100% raw vegan diet for 2 years, experiencing no health improvements. To the contrary. On top of my other issues I now had very little energy, which my daughter was also experiencing. During the many years I struggled with my health, I had fasted at fasting centers, had acupucture treatments, seen countless naturopathic doctors, tried so many natural treatment approaches I can't even remember them all. Then suddenly, at the age of 48, with no prior history, I found myself in a mental hospital in a state of psychosis with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. What followed were 9 months of depression that were literally torture. I was completely nonfunctional, fighting to survive the days hour by hour. I submitted to 22 ECT treatments. Desperately searching the web for help I found a man's story of curing his bipolar disorder with a daily seafood diet. I started it immediately, also supplementing with cod liver oil. Within 4 months I was feeling 90% better. I had reduced my medications from 8 down to 3. My son, who was also suffering from severe anxiety and depression, started the diet with me. In 3 months he was off all medications and feeling much better. Still searching, since I wasn't feeling great (which is what I'm shooting for), I came upon the GAPS diet program. It connects autism and psychiatric disorders with gut dysbiosis. It was clear to me that the condition was part of what we were dealing with. After 2 months off grains and on bone broths and stews from grassfed beef, fish, raw eggs, and plenty of probiotic foods (homemade goat yogurt, sauerkraut, pickles, and kvass) my depression was gone. Still having some sleep struggles, I went furthur and started eating my fish raw and added raw organ meats. There has been a huge difference in how I feel. I also felt enormous benefits when I drank raw cow colostrum for 3 weeks. My sleep is improving and most importantly, I'm starting to feel healthy and strong in a way I haven't felt since I was in my 20's. At this point, I take 1 medication and am tapering it down now. My conclusion: I wanted raw veganism to work miracles. It appeals to my genuine love and compassion for all living creatures. However, living with bipolar disorder and the indescribable suffering it causes is unacceptable to me. When you have suffered like that, you WILL catch a chicken and do what must be done to eat it if that will ease your suffering. For whatever reasons, a raw vegan diet did not supply my body (or my children's) with the nutrients it needs to be healthy. Certain animal products have done that. (The other members of my family had long ago left veganism behind.) I buy only from sources that raise their animals on open pasture on a diet of natural forage. Yes, my diet requires killing animals and fish. I would not suggest that all predatory animals should be starved out of existence to spare their prey. And I'm willing to accept that some animals and fish will die for me to live. It's not the way I want it to be. It's the way it is.