The Food-Mood Solution: All-Natural Ways to Banish Anxiety, Depression, Anger, Stress, Overeating, and Alcohol and Drug Problems--and Feel Good Again

by Jack Challem, Melvyn R. Werbach (Foreword by)

Overview

Renowned nutrition expert Jack Challem isolates the nutritional triggers of bad moods, providing solutions that will help you stabilize your moods, gain energy, sleep better, handle stress, and be more focused. He lays out a clear-cut, four-step plan for feeding the brain the right nutrition, presenting advice on choosing the right foods and supplements as well as improving lifestyle habits to help regulate mood swings.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780470228777
Publisher:	TURNER PUB CO
Publication date:	01/01/2008
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jack Challem, known as the Nutrition Reporter, publishes a health newsletter by the same name; he is the lead author of the highly successful Syndrome X and author of Stop Prediabetes Now, The Inflammation Syndrome, and Feed Your Genes Right. For more information, visit the author's Web site at www.foodmoodsolution.com.

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Table of Contents

Foreword by Melvyn R. Werbach, M.D.

Acknowledgments.

Introduction.

PART I The Food-Mood Connection.

1 How Food Affects Your Mood.

2 How Life’s Stresses Do a Number on Your Moods.

3 Neuronutrients, Moods, and Your Mind.

PART II How to Improve Your Moods.

4 The First Step: Take Your Supplements.

5 The Second Step: Eat Mood-Enhancing Foods.

6 The Third Step: Be More Active.

7 The Fourth Step: Begin Changing Your Life Habits.

PART III Improving Your Specific Mood and Behavior Concerns.

8 Dealing with Irritability, Anger, Aggressiveness, and Violent Behavior.

9 Reducing Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and Obsessive-Compulsive Behavior.

10 Reducing Distractible and Impulsive ADHD-like Behavior.

11 The Overweight-Prediabetes Connection to Mood Swings.

12 Dealing with Down Days, Depression, and Bipolar Disorder.

13 Dealing with Alcohol and Drug Abuse.

Afterword.

Appendix.

Selected References.

Index.

Editorial Reviews

Best known as the "Nutrition Reporter" for consumer health publications (Alternative Medicine; Body & Soul; etc.), Challem (The Inflammation Syndrome) describes a familiar scenario: rising levels of anger, impatience, frustration, fatigue and anxiety due to minor daily irritations. Citing studies of increased violence traced to mood disorders, Challem contends that basic but highly specific diet and lifestyle modifications can lower stress levels and radically improve behavior and health. While the effects of poor nutrition on health take years to manifest, he says, such effects on mood are readily apparent, and he urges readers to notice how certain foods and beverages lead to headaches, fatigue, poor sleep, depression, compulsive behavior, panic attacks, bipolar disorder and other increasingly common conditions. His plan targets neuronutrients (vitamins and minerals needed to make critical brain chemicals) and nutrisocial factors (family, workload, environment, advertising, etc.) to boost mood. After taking a few quizzes, readers will be guided through a four-part program: supplements, diet, exercise and lifestyle. While the information is not entirely new, Challem does solidly address the hardest part of his equation-and that's the lifestyle change itself. (Mar.) Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

It is obvious that what we eat may affect our moods and mental functioning—anyone who gets cranky when hungry or sleepy after a big meal has experienced this connection firsthand. However, specific recommendations, such as using B vitamins to treat depression or omega-3 fish oils to treat adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, are more questionable. This book, for which health reporter Challem has drawn on 30 years of nutrition research, is an uncomfortable combination of truisms and general advice (e.g., modern life is stressful, physical activity can improve your mood) that often recommends using nutritional supplements to treat specific disorders. Although the general advice may be useful, it is available elsewhere; the specific advice may be dangerous if it replaces consultation with a medical or psychiatric professional. Nonetheless, some people want this kind of information, so the volume may be relevant to public libraries collecting popular health books of uncertain scientific credibility.
—Sarah Boslaugh

Library Journal

Best known as the ""Nutrition Reporter"" for consumer health publications (Alternative Medicine; Body & Soul; etc.), Challem (The Inflammation Syndrome) describes a familiar scenario: rising levels of anger, impatience, frustration, fatigue and anxiety due to minor daily irritations. Citing studies of increased violence traced to mood disorders, Challem contends that basic but highly specific diet and lifestyle modifications can lower stress levels and radically improve behavior and health. While the effects of poor nutrition on health take years to manifest, he says, such effects on mood are readily apparent, and he urges readers to notice how certain foods and beverages lead to headaches, fatigue, poor sleep, depression, compulsive behavior, panic attacks, bipolar disorder and other increasingly common conditions. His plan targets neuronutrients (vitamins and minerals needed to make critical brain chemicals) and nutrisocial factors (family, workload, environment, advertising, etc.) to boost mood. After taking a few quizzes, readers will be guided through a four-part program: supplements, diet, exercise and lifestyle. While the information is not entirely new, Challem does solidly address the hardest part of his equation—and that's the lifestyle change itself. (Mar.) (Publishers Weekly, January 8, 2007)

“…aims to help you understand and identify how your diet affects your moods…easy-to-follow book…all backed up by recent scientific research.” (Health & Fitness, May 2007)

 

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