The most important point in a new dietary regime are the reasons for making the changes. I have been gathering my information on getting a fitter brain reading one book. There is another one coming to me, but so far, my information source has been Gracelyn Guyol's book: Guyol, Gracelyn (2009-05-26). Healing Depression & Bipolar Disorder Without Drugs: Inspiring Stories of Restoring Mental Health Through Natural Therapies. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. Kindle Edition. Don't let the title throw you off though. I am not going off my medicines any time soon, though the term, "drugs" they used does speak to so many substances that I am no longer willing to put in my body.

For every drug there is a reason, right?
Here they are in my short summary.

Dairy: Galactose is in dairy, and it is needed to boost our immune system, but it can also be found in beans, black eyed peas, figs, grapes, and tomatoes. I am a milk lover, but now I know that dairy is inflammatory which can lead to Alzheimer disease and other diseases.

The brain is a tight machine. And from what I know about mental illnesses, parts of the brain work on multiple responses. Also, people who develop Alzheimer tend to have depression. There are lots of complications like that. Unipolar and bipolar depression seem to run along a continuum, and bipolar disorder can overlap with disorders of psychosis like schizophrenia.

I am sure milk is good for me in many ways, Mom. But it also has inflammatory traits that put it in a classification of diseases that are in the trouble zone at least for me. So I have three kinds of alternative milks in my Frigidaire.

Wheat and gluten: wheat is one of the most common food allergy triggers. It also, being a carbohydrate, has empty calories. Replacing wheat with other grains that are higher in nutritional value is pretty easy because of how many other grains exist. (Similarly cutting white rice is simple unless you are going out to eat somewhere, which might be more difficult.) Gluten is also a common food allergy trigger and it is so often bound with wheat in the processed foods we buy. Like wheat it is easy to avoid though. I think avoiding wheat pretty much presumes avoiding gluten, though I am open to disagreement.

Peanuts and pistachios: actually have a lot of mold in them which is bad for a body with more than enough yeast.

Chocolate: exhausts our glands, generally just when we need our glands to naturally perk up. It contains phenylalanine, an antidepressant of its own. It is high in zinc and copper, which is often unbalanced in people with mood disorders. It also contains caffeine, which depressed people crave, though it makes them more depressed. Yep, Daddy. A ritual down the drain!

I will continue this summary of reasons later.