veganism

I never made the connection between eating healthy & my Bipolar illness, but now into my 5th year of being Vegan, I've made an unexpected connection between food & my mental well-being...

Too many of us are not thinking about the future, or thoughts of the people that will inherit to planet after we have gone. Now, I think I know what you're thinking... "Here we go again" - yet another tree hugger trying to convince us to eat rabbit food & climate change.

Okay, so people now see me as a stoner hippy, but I've come to a sober point in my life & genuinely want the best for my, & future, generations - it doesn't have to be a massive upheaval, just a few changes to your normal weekly shop & Bob's your auntie, you've become a more empathic & thoughtful human being - and we are all beings, even the smallest creepy-crawly.

I'm coming to see some more revelations, as time goes on, in that we are what we eat - do we want to be individualistic & closed off to the fact if we consume flesh if the dead, rather than feeding our second brain?... I can literally hear your collective thoughts - "Oh, here we go!" Honestly, our stomachs contain neurones that have the same connections & pathways that mirror our brain chemistry. We actually produce more serotonin & dopamine in our guts, than we do in our brains - this means we are only treating a portion of our body's production of these chemicals when taking medication & ignoring the majority by not closely monitoring our diets.

Now, that's not to say meds are useless, just that medical professionals are only dealing with a minority of our needs with meds, because in Western cultures, we are pushing pills & potions by the success of big pharma companies, rather than looking at nature for our physical & mental well-being.

Bipolar is a life long illness than can only be managed & not cured (even though the majority of us would probably prefer for it to just go away) by the use of medication... Being mindful, I must remind you, the reader, that I'm not a medical professional, or a nutritionist, but I'm my own best expert on me, for my issues - when all is said & done, I too rely on other people's opinions & suggestions, but in my 44 years on this mixed bag of Stardust, I've come to the conclusion that we need to seriously decide if we do indeed want the human race to come to a complete end by signing away our ability to be freethinkers & just be sheep in the grand scheme of society.

Meds work for me. Peer support works for me. Therapy & Support groups work for me. Self expression has always been an issue for me &, as I type this out, I'm even cringing at the way I've talked to people in the past. We are all one. Whether you believe in a higher being, or multiple ones, or that there is nothing after this experience, you are right. As what we believe defines our existence. Do good & others will do good to you - simple physics & philosophy really. But we all get tied up with our day to day trials & tribulations.