Calm Your Mind with Food
A Revolutionary Guide to Controlling Your Anxiety
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
Relieve your anxiety through food with this "groundbreaking," full-body approach to mental health (Mark Hyman, MD), from bestselling author and nutritional psychiatrist Uma Naidoo, MD
In this groundbreaking guide, Dr. Uma Naidoo presents cutting-edge research about the ways anxiety is rooted in the brain, gut, immune system, and metabolism. Drawing on the latest science on the connection between diet and anxiety, Dr. Naidoo shows us how to effectively use food and nutrition as essential tools for calming the mind.
In Calm Your Mind with Food, you’ll learn: How inflammation affects everything from anxiety and depression to Alzheimer’s disease How the trillions of bacteria living in your gut are key to controlling anxiety The six pillars for calming the mind What to eat to balance leptin, a key link between the central nervous system and metabolic processes How to incorporate anxiety-busting foods into your diet, from the obscure (ashwagandha) to the ubiquitous (vitamin C) The best diets for managing symptoms of anxiety and depression
Along with guidelines for creating your own personal anti-anxiety meal plan and dozens of supernutrient-forward, delicious recipes, Calm Your Mind with Food will help you boost your immunity, reduce anxiety, and enhance your overall mental well-being.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Eating the right foods can reduce anxiety, according to this valuable guide. Nutritional psychiatrist Naidoo (This Is Your Brain on Food) explains that as gut bacteria metabolize food, they create metabolites that travel through the bloodstream to the brain where they're assembled into neurotransmitters ("chemicals that carry messages between your nerve cells") that regulate mood. Diet affects which neurotransmitters are created in the brain, she notes, observing that foods rich in the amino acid tryptophan, such as poultry and chickpeas, boost the production of the calming serotonin. A detailed overview of the mental health benefits of various foods reveals that kale and spinach "are a great source of polyphenols," which have "shown promise in reducing depression-like symptoms," and that walnuts, chia seeds, and flaxseeds are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which help fight "anxiety-causing neuroinflammation." Naidoo strikes the perfect balance between scientific background and practical advice, offering plenty of concrete takeaways ("Two meals a day should be fully plant-based, with meat at only one meal") while recognizing the importance of flexibility (because the gut "microbiome is heavily individualized... what is healthy and balanced in one person might look totally different in another"). It's a rigorous yet accessible look at how readers can eat better to feel better.
