Research shows that many individuals suffer from allergies to these foods that manifest themselves by mimicking a variety of illnesses, including manic depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and even lupus.

If you suffer from manic depression, you may want to consider altering your diet to avoid some of these foods. Ideally, as you eliminate processed and packaged foods from your diet, you can replace them with fresh fruits and vegetables and other healthy choices.

Simply by adjusting your diet, you may discover tremendous improvement in your symptoms of manic depression. Just remember, though, that you must not discontinue your medications for manic depression without the consent and consultation of your health care professional. In fact, even before you embark on this new eating lifestyle, it would be a wonderful idea to alert the doctor treating you for manic depression of your intentions.

So, just how do you start eating healthier?

Avoid the foods that many experts now say may aggravate manic depression. These include refined and processed foods. But they also include a class of foods that are generally known as ?artificial foods.? These are mostly ingredients that are added to foods, such as artificial sweeteners, additives used to color food to make it more attractive as well as a host of chemicals. One person explained it very simply: ?If you can't pronounce the ingredient, you probably shouldn't be eating it.?

As a person suffering with manic depression, you probably already know that you should avoid alcohol. But you also need to avoid caffeine as well. This might be more difficult to do than you think. Caffeine lurks in many products, including in quite a few over-the-counter medications for pain.

As you replace these with fresh foods, you may also want to consider supplementing your diet with vitamins. The best place to start ? whether you suffer from manic depression or not ? is with a good multiple vitamin.

From there, consider adding some of the B-complex vitamins to your diet. These are known to fight depressive episodes associated with manic depression. B vitamins are also a great source of natural energy. Consider taking for you manic depression B12, B6 as well as B3.

Other nutrients that help battle the depressive episode of manic depression are folic acid, magnesium and iron.

Making even small changes in your diet will show up as large improvements in your overall health ? and it just might help you manage your symptoms of manic depression more effectively.