The Food Mood Connection

by Dr Uma Naidoo

Did you know that blueberries can help you cope with the after-effects of trauma? That salami can cause depression, or that boosting Vitamin D intake can help treat anxiety?
When it comes to diet, most people's concerns involve weight loss, fitness, cardiac health, and longevity. But what we eat affects more than our bodies; it also affects our brains. And recent studies have shown that diet can have a profound impact on mental health conditions ranging from ADHD to depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, OCD, dementia and beyond.
Dr. Uma Naidoo is a board-certified psychiatrist, nutrition specialist, and professionally trained chef. In The Food-Mood Connection, she draws on cutting-edge research to explain the many ways in which food contributes to our mental health, and shows how a sound diet can help treat and prevent a wide range of psychological and cognitive health issues.
Packed with fascinating science, actionable nutritional recommendations, and delicious, brain-healthy recipes, The Food-Mood Connection is the go-to guide to optimizing your mental health with food.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Psychology, Nutrition, Mental Health, Food, Personal Development

384 pages, Paperback

Published September 10, 2020

Reviews

[Ami · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book, but was sadly disappointed.

The author begins each chapter with a brief introduction to a specific mental illness, before exploring the related nutritional research. In some areas she is quite thorough and mechanistic when explaining the link between an illness and a deficiency/overload of a compound, however in others she remains quite vague. Naidoo also stops just short of recommending all supplements to treat all conditions. The text is littered with hyperbole (“I believe that food can have just as much of an effect in treating mental illness as medication”), and greatly over-simplifies mental health. In addition, she repeatedly contradicts herself; for example, for patients with bipolar disorder she recommends a low sodium diet while acknowledging that this diet can increase lithium levels in the blood. As the vast majority of bipolar disorder sufferers take lithium to stabilise mood, and considering that lithium levels must be very tightly controlled, this is perplexing.

Most concerning of all, however, is the way in which she alludes to links between levels of certain vitamins in the body and worsening/improvement in a mental health condition without providing any conclusive proof. Many of the studies she references have small sample sizes, or have not been replicated by other groups. Also, most simply observe that there COULD be a link between these two factors, but do not in any way state this definitively. At no point does Naidoo refer to one of the most important principles in science: correlation is not causation.

[Ana Stanciu-Dumitrache · Rating 3 out of 5]

O carte ușor de citit și de înțeles, cu câteva idei destul de clare și la îndemâna oricui de pus în practică- zahăr cât mai puțin, dietă mediteraneană, pește gras, fructe și legume, nuci și ... o mică plăcere din când în când, fără a o lua în tragic. Are și rețete la final și mi se pare on point, deși au fost părți peste care am trecut, pentru că nu mă interesau în mod special.

[Мирослава · Rating 5 out of 5]

Втомилися - з'їли шоколадку? Булочку, чіпси? Не варто. І
докторка медицини Ума Найду нам пояснить чому.
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Чули вислів про шлях до серця, який лежить через шлунок? Перефразуємо - шлях до мозку лежить через шлунок і кишечник. І шлях цей двосторонній.
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Те, що ми їмо, впливає на наш мозок. Наш мозок впливає на стан і поведінку бактерій у нашому кишечнику. А якщо врахувати, що бактерій у кожному з нас живе мільйони, то спробуй зрозумій, що від чого залежить. Але вчені пробують. Власне, про різноманітні дослідження впливу їжі на мозок Ума Найду згадує постійно. У найкращих традиціях @нашформат книга сповнена посилань на ці дослідження.
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Від депресії і тривожності до втоми і лібідо - харчування впливає на все. І багато станів можна покращити, змінивши свій раціон.
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Книга поділена на розділи, присвячені певній хворобі, з рекомендаціями щодо харчування: що варто у раціон додати, а чого - уникати. Окрім того, Ума Найду згадує своїх пацієнтів - історії реальних людей роблять книгу живою.
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Ми знаємо про харчування для стрункого тіла, а що ж треба їсти для здоров'я мозку? Відмовитися від західного раціону, додати більше овочів і зелені, горіхів і риби. При кожній хворобі є продукти, які можуть погіршити стан, навіть якщо це натуральні і корисні продукти. Авторка також нагадує радитися з лікарем.
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Не обійшлося без рецептів і навіть порад з приготування їжі. Що тішить - продукти у рецептах не надто екзотичні, а самі рецепти не вимагають бути Джеймі Олівером - все легко. Особисто я буду готувати за ними - дбати про свій мозок ніколи не пізно.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I am not normally huge on reading non-fiction books, as a foodie I always try and encourage myself to be open minded and push myself in areas that a new to me and to remain forever curious. Antennas up and all that.
So in that same spirit I read the heavily accoladed Harvard educated psychiatrist and professional chef, Dr. Uma Naidoo’s Food Mood book, to kick off 2021! She found her niche in nutritional psychiatry and is pioneering in the world of medicine the food-brain connection and how this nexus, can better patient’s lives. While I am neither a chef, nor MD, from a lay eye, this book was a fascinating read and further encouraged me to be mindful of the effects the food i consume has on my brain.
Here’s to staying/trying to be smart!

[Ancuţa Tămaș · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cartea e interesanțică dacă pot să spun așa, doar că aproximativ toată cartea se repetă aceeași idee. Mâncarea "nocivă" și mâncarea "minune". Nu e ceva ce nu am știut. Cu toții știm că grăsimile și zahărul sunt răul pe pământ și cu toții știm că legumele și fructele proaspete, cerealele integrale și semințele sunt parte din Rai.

[Aliyah Spacey-Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

The general point is good - if you’re eating a well balanced and varied diet, including as many vits and minerals as possible, then it’s going to support good mental health, but if you’re struggling with your mental health and not prioritising your nutrition, you’re probably making things worse for yourself…but I didn’t learn anything new and found it a little repetitive (which is kinda the point) so yea not a super high rating from me, sorry!

[Gabriela · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing to say the least
I had very high expectations related to this book. I was even ready to buy it and spend the cost of 3 decent books on it. But man I'm so glad that I only borrowed it!

First of all, to point out the good ones: we have an explained correlation of why the gut is linked to the brain and viceversa. A very graphic and illustrative explanation is set for the link between the microbiom in our guts and the neuro-synapses up there. Which is good👍

However, the book falls short afterwards. The tone is incredibly elitist and non-empathic. Most of the diseases presented have trivially made links towards the consummation of certain foods.

Correlation is not causation. The impact of healthy food on our bodies is generally good so if the body functions properly most likely the mind will too - mens sana in corpore sano- even the Romans knew it. The studies linked to the book have very narrow sampling and studies are carried out on rats. Last time I checked, humans weren't rats.

Circling back to elitism: who in work class America or any other Western democracy can afford living like the book describes? How about those working corporate? Or students? Or retirees? Was the author writing this book for the upper classes only?

And the biggest affirmation I simply CANNOT agree with: Food is medicine. No. Food is food. Food is fuel, energy, the thing that puts bodies into motion. Food will not fix you. Food will not cure any disease, physical or psychological. Food can improve your life, but alone it will never be the cure to any affection. Don't treat disease with food. If food were the secret of longevity, than our ancestors would have lived longer, happier and healthier.

Uma Naidoo is a fraud. She can shake hands with Jessie Inchauspe, Tim Spector, David Sinclair and so on. Fear-mongerers with a PhD.

[Ingrid Andreea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Emerson · Rating 3 out of 5]

For being a book I had to read for class it was pretty good. It was very repetitive though, so that made it drag on a bit.

[Heraa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The findings in this book are mostly from rat studies. I have reservations because…why did you give the rats depression?

I’ve been trying to incorporate the foods that are mentioned as beneficial in this book, but I think the general advice boils down to “eat more fruits and vegetables”.

[Andromeda · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a book that should be on the book shelf of everyone who is concerned about his health, particularly his psychological and mental well-being.

For countless reasons the book becomes unputdownable: first, the author is not some common-or-garden new age writer who is into outlandish and faddish new age obsessions. She is a psychiatrist, a qualified nutritionist and one who has sufficiently done impressive research into the subject matter. Second, she presents verifiable, authoritative clinical evidence to corroborate her views. Third, she shows cogent evidence from her own practice as a nutritional psychiatrist.

No one will regret reading this stellar book.

[Kristina Prükk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some chapters were quite thorough, but some “evidence” were “here is one research with not so many people”. Also, there were points were the author said, that you can never get this much nutrient from a specific food but why not eat it nontheless. Sooo… pointless nontheless as well? People should read it with a big grain of salt.

[Erica Smythe · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating insight into the relationship between food and the body. Well written and easy to understand - even the scientific names, terms etc are clearly explained.
Amazing how small changes in an individual's diet can have such an impact.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The basic stuff, eat more nutrients, mediteranean diet. Watch out for sugare/alcohol

[Sella Irawan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You're what you eat"
I can't agree more with this statement. Because when you eat a type of food (healthy or not) will affecting your body. Not only you, but the bugs inside your gut. These bugs, the microbiome live inside our body, helping us to digest food, release chemical to your body & brain, communicate with your brain.

In this book, dr uma reveals and explains the correlation between food and several diseases, specifically the diseases which come from disfunction of the brain. Because there is connection between gut and brain.

Some food can make your mood brighter, but others can dull your mood. Mostly, foods that give you a negative effect are high GI carbohydrates, sugar, artificial sweetener, fried food, bad fats, western diet, etc. The food that will upgrade your mood are high-fibre foods, Omega-3, fermented foods, spices (especially turmeric), herbs, high vitamin foods.

I love the way dr uma explain about the effects of food in your mood. She explain clearly, and supported with recent research. She also share her recipes, so we can try it and see the affects of good food for your good mood.

How grateful I am because I live in Indonesia where we can easily find foods that benefit to out mood. Our everyday homemade food, our traditional food is full of nutrition that helping our mood, our health, and makes your gut happy (Biidznillah).

For example, sometimes when breakfast we eat nasi kuning, with eggs, sambal, oreg tempe, slices of cucumber (seriously I am salivating righ now 🤤)
Nasi kuning was made from rice combine with turmeric, bay leaf, lemongrass, pandan leaves, galangal, lime leaves, shallot, garlic, coconut milk, and little bit of salt. From nasi kuning only, we get benefit of turmeric, all herbs, garlic is prebiotic, coconut milk is a good fat. Nutrients dense food to start our day

We must eat mindfully, don't over eating. So we can get benefit to our health

[Denisa Cîrstea · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Este clar că am parcurs un drum lung de la duşurile reci şi de la cătuşele din secolele al XVII-lea şi al XVIII-lea. În aceşti violenți ani timpurii, „nebunia" era considerată un păcat, iar bolnavii mintal erau ţinuți la închisoare. Pe măsură ce civilizația a progresat, pacienții cu boli mintale au fost mutați în spitale. Problema e că, pe măsură ce ne-am concentrat din ce în ce mai mult pe gândurile periculoase şi emotiile din afecțiunile mintale, nu am mai observat că şi restul corpului era implicat. (...)

Problema era cu atât mai complicată cu cât, în loc să lucreze în colaborare, medicii, anatomiştii, fiziologii, chirurgii şi psihologii intrau în competiție unii cu alții. Aşa cum a scris un doctor britanic în 1956: ,,Există o asemenea zarvă produsă de persoane care se întrec în a oferi vindecarea, încât pacientul care chiar vrea să înțeleagă este mai degrabă asurzit decât lămurit".
Această atitudine este majoritară în medicină chiar şi în zilele noastre. Acesta este motivul pentru care atât de multe persoane nu ştiu că, atunci când sănătatea mintală este afectată, cauza problemei nu se află doar în creier. În schimb, este un semnal că una sau mai multe dintre conexiunile între corp şi creier au luat-o razna."

[Tuppence · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I'm not reading fiction, I love reading books like this - so was excited to finally receive this from the library (I waited months, so it's clearly popular).

The narrative was easy to follow, but I wasn't a fan of Uma Naidoo using her supposed patients as examples. I'm always skeptical examples like these are made up for the book. They are probably true, I just never relate to them and found myself skipping all most of them. There were a lot of patient examples, and a lot of rat/mice studies too. That got boring.

I just didn't find what I was looking for with this book. I didn't hate it - I identify with a lot of the chapters. I'm a believer in supplementation of vitamins and minerals along with a good diet (not so much medications), and Uma's short sentences on supplementation on these topics seemed to me like she lost interest in the topic or perhaps doesn't know much about it.

By the time I got to the end, the recipes didn't interest me but the Appendix B on the V&M might interest some people - just don't expect to get all your nutrients from them.

[Alina Voinea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting take on the relationship between the gut and the brain, the chemical compounds of food and the role they may have on our wellbeing or misery.

As we could guess, the western diet is not a good choice, as it is packed with all the evils and no-nos of ingredients, from sugar to bad fats, and the good choice is usually the Mediterranean diet or a combination of it and DASH, plus a lot of turmeric and pepper.

The author even offers recipes based on her experience as a psychiatrist, nutritionist and chef, grouped by ailment / disorder (depression, anxiety, ADHD, OCD, even libido).

The bibliography itself is 1/5 of the book, it seems very well documented and overall a very interesting read.

[Nina Borremose · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I agree with a lot of the other comments from other reviews. I think it is a good starting point for someone who wants to eat more healthy. Once you dive into the studie they are generally small sample sizes. And the author keeps referring to the Nordic and Mediterranean diet to be superior to western diet, I don’t disagree there but I would argue that diet might not be the only thing making us Nordic people less anxious, I think the author lacks to take other factors into consideration like the Nordic safety net and social security.

[Valdívia Magno · Rating 3 out of 5]

My gut is one of my brainy organ. I can't be more identified with this book and I believe in the food power over our body and brain through chemical reactions. Love to lear more about nutrients over some kind of mental state.
For me the part of the book about sanitize, kitchen organization etc was unnecessary

[Chris Wood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good to read and be reminded of the facts about mind and nutrition, even if there's nothing that is massively new or groundbreaking in terms of health foods. Easy to navigate and good recipes at the back

[Ecaterina · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very well documented book on what is recommended to eat in specific mental illnesses and what to avoid. Also the author recommends food vitamins, minerals and micronutrients, spices, teas and others. I found it easy to read and very helpful.

[Vanessa Li · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had high hopes for this book, I don’t believe it needs to be 265 pages long. It gets quite repetitive after reading several chapters. Basically follow a Mediterranean diet in short. I do love the idea of recipes at the end of the book for people who are looking to eat more healthily.

[Radek Kessl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressive overview of studies linking mental health diseases and the influence of nutrition. At times it uses weak arguments and simple correlations presented as evidence. Great book overall.

[فَاطِمَةٌ · Rating 3 out of 5]

DNF

[Michael Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contains clear and simple tips + tricks for eating food that can help your brain.

[Iulia · Rating 5 out of 5]

mulți termeni complicați, dar esențialul a prins rădăcini

[Andrea Tello · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good book to read if you're initiating into the world of the connection between the brain and the gut. It has some recipes as well and scientific based information.

[Tania & Taz 🐱 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The food mood connection
O altă carte despre nutriție de la editura Publica despre care spun cu certitudine că oferă informații prețioase cu privire la alimente și modul în care ele ne influentează.

The food mood connection poate fi privit ca un ghid util al alimentelor sănătoase care luptă cu diverse patologii(depresie, anxietate, traumă,OCD, ADHD…).

Cartea aceasta m-a învățat că există o legătură între intestin și creier(sună ciudat,nu-i așa?). În intestin trăiesc o gamă uriașă de microorganisme, diverse specii de bacterii, bacteriile bune fiind majoritare. Schimbările care au loc la nivelul bacteriilor din intestin pot influența funcția mintală.

Serotonina,unul dintre neurotransmițători din creier,având ca rol reglarea stării emoționale se găsește în proporție de 90% în intestin.

Cartea te pregătește de o aventură prin tunelurile medicinei, cu mulți termeni despre anatomie, dar nu te impacienta, stilul dr Uma Naidoo este accesibil și cursiv,și nu numai, explică despre alegerea alimentelor și combinarea lor pentru a te feri inflamații, ceea ce in final duc la diverse patologii.

Câteva informații pe care le-am descoperit din The food mood:
🍫 în decursul a 24 h, creierul are nevoie doar de 62 grame de glucoză că să-și îndeplinească treaba
🧠 BDNF, o proteină ce se găsește în creier, intestin și alte țesuturi, esențială pentru formarea și dezvoltarea creierului, și totodată ajută la adaptarea la stres
🍬🍪🧁 îndulcitori artificiali(zaharina, aspartamul, sucraloza, ștevia) pot fi toxici pentru creier, modificând concentrațiile de neurotransmițători din creier care reglează starea de spirit
☕️🐻s-a descoperit că materia cenușie din apropriere de mezencefal este în mod obișnuit activată când se apropie de tine un animal de pradă, este activată și de cofeină
🍌 crește glicemia mai mult decât un 🍏, care are aceeași cantitate de carbohidrați
🧀🥛 caseina, proteina principală ce se găsește în produsele lactate(lapte, iaurt,brânză, înghețată) poate fi întâlnită și în alimentele care sunt considerate înlocuitori ai lactatelor( laptele praf pentru cafea și margarina). Caseina este constituită din beta caseină(forma principală) care la rândul ei este subîmpărțită în A1 și A2. Din anumite cercetări, reiese că proteinele A1 pot fi nocive pentru intestin, așa cum nu sunt proteinele A2.

[Cristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Food mood for a good mood - cam așa imi vine sa descriu cartea doctorei Uma Naidoo.

Cum este cartea ?
- Are în jur de 300 de pg, bine documentate despre relația noastră cu mâncarea și cum ne impacteaza, dar mai ales când avem anxietati, depresii sau chiar ADHD, OCD, ED, etc.
- Când a fost diagnosticata cu cancer, a inceput sa puna în practica sfaturile medicale dar și rețetele ei, se simțea depresiva și avea nevoie de alinare, așa s-a născut acest mixt între psihiatrie și nutriție.
- Sparge fiecare tulburare mintala, având exemple cu cazurile întâlnite și tratate, după care face conexiunea de dieta pe care ar fi recomandat sa urmezi.
- Te ajuta sa înțelegi ca toate acestea sunt conectate și desi faci terapie, iti rezolvi ce ai tu, faptul ca mănânci nepotrivit stilului tău de viață, pe termen lung te afectează.

Ce mi-a placut ?
- Tot, la cum este scrisă, documentata dar și ca te învață niște chestii de baza. Ce sa mănânci ca sa ai un aport de vitamine în funcție de carentele tale sau pur și simplu să-ți găsești un echilibru.
- Sunt convinsă ca sunt o gramada de cărți pe acest subiect, dar pe mine m-a atras tocmai ca face aceasta asociere brain - food.
- Foarte fain, ca la sfarsit ai rețete și un ghid de cum iti poți lua vitaminele.
- Recunosc ca nu sunt o bucătăreasă înrăită, dar îmi place sa mănânc cât de cât sănătos și sa nu fac excese, eu merg mult pe ideea sa fie simplu și sățios și cumva asta recomanda și ea.

Recomand ? - 100% yes