The Happiness Diet: A Nutritional Prescription for a Sharp Brain, Balanced Mood, and Lean, Energized Body

Description

For the first time in history, too much food is making us sick. It's all too apparent that the Modern American Diet (MAD) is expanding our waistlines; what's less obvious is that it's starving and shrinking our brains. Rates of obesity and depression have recently doubled, and while these epidemics are closely linked, few experts are connecting the dots for the average American. Using the latest data from the rapidly changing fields of neuroscience and nutrition, The Happiness Diet shows that over the past several generations small, seemingly insignificant changes to our diet have stripped it of nutrients-like magnesium, vitamin B12, iron, and vitamin D, as well as some very special fats-that are essential for happy, well-balanced brains. These shifts also explain the overabundance of mood-destroying foods in the average American's diet and why they predispose most of us to excessive weight gain. After a clear explanation of how we've all been led so far astray, The Happiness Diet empowers the reader with simple, straightforward solutions. Graham and Ramsey show you how to steer clear of this MAD way of life with foods to swear off, shopping tips, brain-building recipes, and other practical advice, and then remake your diet by doubling down on feel-good foods-even the all-American burger.

Tyler Graham is a wellness expert who has served as the Health and Environment Editor of O, the Oprah Magazine and the Nutrition Editor at Prevention. Drew Ramsey is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University. He specializes in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders using food, psychotherapy, and medication.

"A great way to learn how to eat right and feel good about doing so. Happy and healthy-that's how I want to live!"-Josh Holland, celebrity trainer to Madonna "A new weight-loss plan that promises to tackle your mood as well as your waistline."-The Daily Mail "Smart eating rules . . . mouthwatering meal plans."-Martha Stewart Living "The diet that that will help you stay healthy, maintain a sharp mind, and keep those pesky blues at bay!"-Women's Health "The big idea behind the book is simple: the same foods responsible for the epidemics of obesity and diabetes are contributing to the massive spike in mood disorders across the country."-Spark "Turns out my fast-food diet, with all those processed chemicals and hardly any nutrients, was throwing off my body's feel-good chemistry."-Dave Zinczenko, editor-in-chief Men's Health "The book points out which foods lead to depression and anxiety, and it suggests antidotes such as grass-fed beef, butter, yogurt and whole milk to better your mood. By changing what you eat, say the authors, you can "stabilize your moods. You can improve your focus. You can even make your brain grow." And you thought doughnuts made you happy?!"-Time "Thanks to the modern American diet (MAD), people are getting too many calories from sugar and refined carbohydrates (i.e., empty calories); eating the wrong kinds of fats, like too many omega 6 fats (found in cheap vegetable and seed oils like soy, corn, cottonseed, safflower and sunflower oil); and too many trans fats, which are not only linked to heart disease but to depression."-Self magazine "Undernourished brains, the authors say, go hand-in-hand with overweight bodies-and they back up these claims with voluminous amounts of data."-The Today Show "The hefty cheeseburger that adorns the cover represents that book's main theme: the all-American cheeseburger can be healthy, if all the ingredients are natural, full of nutrients, and haven't traveled far from the farm to the plate." -Everyday Health "The authors demonstrate, persuasively, that if you're feeding your brain the Standard American Diet-whose eerily appropriate acronym is SAD-you're undermining your mental health."-Vital Choice "We know that the typical American diet-filled with processed food and added sugar-is making us fat. But it's also making us depressed, according The Happiness Diet, a new book that links food to feelings."-MSNBC "Full of important facts and useful information (their "Top 100 Reasons to Avoid Processed Foods" will stun even the well-informed), The Happiness Diet offers a nutritional prescription for a sharp brain, balanced mood and lean, energized body."-The Olympian "The Happiness Diet promotes nutritionally rich organically raised meats, dairy and eggs with all the natural fats in tact."-Metro "If you're tired of sulking in a bag of potato chips, give it a try."-The Times Union "Everyone talks about the pursuit of happiness-who knew that what you eat has a direct effect on how you feel, how you think, and how healthy you are?"-Eat Well, Get Well "A lively, thorough, and iron-clad case for real food. You will never eat an egg-white omelet or soy protein shake again."-Nina Planck, author of Real Food and Real Food for Mother and Baby "We're used to thinking of obesity and heart disease as the consequences of our modern way of eating. The Happiness Diet reminds us of how much our brains-and our every thought-depend on good nutrition. Here are 100 excellent reasons for turning our backs on processed foods and a wealth of simple recipes for preparing truly happy meals."-Susan Allport, author of The Queen of Fats "The Happiness Diet delivers a necessary corrective to the monotonous diet of nonsense cooked up by industrialized agriculture and food fetishists alike. It distills an impressive collection of solid research into clear and readable instructions for recovering the well-being evolution intended for you."-Richard Manning, author of Against the Grain "Like the weather everyone talks about diets but no one dies anything about them. This comprehensive but easily accessible book guides us to coherent and healthy eating. It will help anyone interested in how the foods we eat can keep us well."-Philip R. Muskin, MD Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University "The authors have synthesized a compelling body of scientific literature with accessible and lucid conclusions regarding the interface of diet and vulnerability, protection and treatment of mental disorders."-Roger S. McIntyre, M.D., FRCPC, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, University of Toronto "The diet trend of 2012. Designed to boost your mood-and shrink your belly."-Epicurious