I'm curious to see if anyone else's experiences can reinforce what I've found out to be true for myself.

I'm bipolar type two, and before starting the Atkin's diet, I was on a mood stabilizer (Risperdal) and a low dose of antidepressants (20 mg of Lexapro). After about a week of Atkin's, I noticed an abnormal increase of energy, ideas, self-esteem, trouble falling asleep, calming down, etc...I went into hypomania, basically. (Hypomania, experienced by type two bipioles, is a less severe form of mania, the opposite of depression). Taking the hypomania as a sign that the antidepressants had become superfluous, I obtained my doctor's blessing and first dropped my Lexapro dose in half and, suffering no ill effects, stopped taking it altogether.

My mood is now slightly above what it used to be before the diet. Thinking there might be a connection between Atkin's and my hypomania, I scrounged around on the internet and found the following:

"The safe way to build up the serotonin level (a way to treat depression) is to enable the body to manufacture its own serotonin by taking the immediate precursor to serotonin [tryptophan ("Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that is found in a variety of high-protein foods...including beef, chicken, fish" [http://www.whyvitamins.com/others/a...han-5-htp.html])]...Other natural substances for depression include N-acetyl tyrosine ("An amino acid present in dietary proteins" [http://www.fsinutrition.com/products/neuro.htm]), S-adenosyl methionine (SAMe) ("SAMe (S-adenosyl- methionine) is a synthetic replication of a compound that the body makes naturally from methionine, an amino acid found in protein-rich foods." [http://www.alzheimersupport.com/lib...id/250/T/Both/]), acetyl L-carnitine ("Carnitine, or L-carnitine, is a naturally occurring substance found in...animal foods" [http://www.raysahelian.com/carnitine.html])...and most of the B-complex vitamins (found in green, leafy vegetables; meat; poulty; fish; cheese)...These supplements relieve anxiety..." [http://atkins.com/Archive/2001/12/21-364901.html]

So, basically, the high protein diet is working as a natural (low dosage) antidepressant. :]

I thought I'd share this with others, as it's kind of interesting I think. I was also wondering if anyone else has had any similar experiences, or have anything they could add to this.