Your Brain on Food: How Chemicals Control Your Thoughts and Feelings

by Gary L. Wenk

Why is eating chocolate so pleasurable? Can the function of just one small group of chemicals really determine whether you are happy or sad? Does marijuana help to improve your memory in old age? Is it really best to drink coffee if you want to wake up and be alert? Why is a drug like PCP
potentially lethal? Why does drinking alcohol make you drowsy? Do cigarettes help to relieve anxiety? What should you consume if you are having trouble staying in your chair and focusing enough to get your work done? Why do treatments for the common cold make us drowsy? Can eating less food preserve
your brain? What are the possible side effects of pills that claim to make your smarter? Why is it so hard to stop smoking? Why did witches once believe that they could fly?

In this book, Gary Wenk demonstrates how, as a result of their effects on certain neurotransmitters concerned with behavior, everything we put into our bodies has very direct consequences for how we think, feel, and act. The chapters introduce each of the main neurotransmitters involved with
behavior, discuss its role in the brain, present some background on how it is generally turned on and off, and explain ways to influence it through what we consume.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Health, Psychology, Food, Brain, Neuroscience

200 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2010

About the author

Gary L. Wenk is a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Molecular Virology, Immunology and Medical Genetics at the Ohio State University.

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was not quite what I expected it to be. There wasn't actually much going on in the book concerning FOOD and how it controls your thoughts and feelings. I thought the neuroscience aspect of the book would have been a bit more in depth, but no. However, there was a section concerning psychedelic mushrooms, urine drinking and vikings that proved mildly interesting, not something I intend to try personally, but entertaining all the same.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This may be one of the most misleading book titles I've ever encountered. In the entire book, there are maybe a handful of sentences actually discussing food. Presumably "Your Brain on Drugs" was already claimed by those PSAs, but that would be the far more accurate title for the book. The vast majority of it discusses the effects of various drugs on the brain, particularly with regards to neurotransmitters. Additionally, the author doesn't seem entirely sure of who his audience is. The books is somewhat too advanced for a layperson audience, but a bit too simplified for an audience with a background in psych/neuro/brain science and several chunks of it come off as him trying to come across as the "cool professor." Many of the facts were fairly interesting, but all in all it was a strange read.

[হাঁটুপানির জলদস্যু · Rating 4 out of 5]

সহজ ভঙ্গি ও ভাষায় মস্তিষ্কের ওপর কিছু রাসায়নিকের প্রভাব নিয়ে লেখা বই। খাবার আর মাদকের মধ্যে সীমারেখাটা যে কতো পলকা, সেটা খুব স্পষ্টভাবে বোঝা যায়। বইতে ব্যবহৃত আখ্যানগুলোও দারুণ। দুধের শিশু যে নেশাগ্রস্ত হয়েই বার বার দুধ খেতে চায়, আগে জানতাম না।

[Peg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually I was hoping for more on how actual food effects my thoughts and feelings. Most of the chemicals he talked about were drugs of some sort, both legal and illegal. The stuff on coffee and chocolate were especially confirming! The author is a neuologist and the book is very interesting. He infuses his information with humor, some of it very subtle, so that makes it fun. IT's a pretty quick read.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Unexpected but worthwhile*

While reading this book, I felt like I was a student who signed up for a class called "Your Brain on Food" but instead was somehow switched into one called "Your Brain on Drugs." Not that this was a undesirable switch...just an unexpected one.

And, it's no coincidence that I felt like I was in class while reading this book--the author is, after all, a college professor. The book's presentation, style, and content are rather lecture-like, but, nonetheless effectively accomplish the author's mission of showing how: "anything you consume--the drugs you take, the foods you eat--can affect how your neurons behave, and subsequently, how you think and feel." (p. X)

In the beginning of the book, the author/professor presents a clear overview of basic neurochemistry, nicely summarizing the path of neurotransmitter production, release, reuptake, and inactivation. (I've actually marked this section to revisit again whenever I need a quick neurochemistry refresher.) The rest of the book focuses on how:
"Drugs and the contents of our diet can interact with any of these various processes and impair, or even sometimes enhance, the production of neurotransmitters, as well as impair their storage into synaptic vesicles, alter their release from neurons, modify their interaction with receptor proteins, slow their reuptake, and possibly even stop their enzymatic inactivation. Because your brain is the organ of the mind, drugs and food that do any of these things can have a profound influence on how you think, act, and feel." (pp. 14-15)

Sitting through this lecture, uh, I mean, reading this book, you'll learn the key responses associated with specific neurotransmitters, including: learning, memory, and attention with acetylcholine; arousal and euphoria with norepinephrine and dopamine; processing of sensory information and mood with serotonin; excitation and neuroplasticity with glutamate; inhibition with GABA; and euphoria and pain reduction with opiates.

And, receiving the full benefits of being taught by a professor, you'll be entertained with stories of his students who have vividly demonstrated the effects of drugs on various neurotransmitter systems. Let's see...there was the one student who became temporarily paralyzed after drinking alcohol at fraternity parties to the delight of others who would place his limbs in odd positions. And, then there was the student who would collect her boyfriend's urine after he used the stimulant mescaline, realizing she was able to experience the high, without the nasty GI side effects experienced when taken in its "pre-digested" from. And, then there was that other student who consumed an entire container of nutmeg dissolved in applesauce, but instead of being able to enjoy the sought-after aphrodisiac effects, he was stuck in the bathroom for the weekend. These stories might stick in your mind long after the more academic details of the drug-induced neurotransmitter responses have faded.

(True to lecture form, at the end of his teachings, the professor even provides you with a little quiz to see if you really were paying attention. )

Although the content and delivery of the book might not be what's expected, what it does provide is certainly worthwhile.

[Hjsmith79 · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's very little attention paid to actual food and its effect on the brain. Instead, the title would best be changed to "Neurotransmitters Make Us Kooky". That aside, it's a great guide to how neuropeptides control our thinking, movement, mood, awareness and sometimes out personality.
Did you know that the Magi's gifts to Mary, frankincense and myrrh, were not only exotic, fancy-sounding substances one only mentions at Christmas, but both are fairly potent analgesics? Or that our brains manufacture its own versions of morphine and THC? Or that we share many of the same neurotransmitters as teeny, tiny one-celled organisms? It's pretty cool.
But if you want to know what type of vegetable to eat to get really high, this book doesn't address that. It talks about some great hallucinogenic plants used by other cultures to induce religious experiences, but you're on your own if you want to hunt mushrooms in the woods.

[Buck Wilde · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a weightlifter, drug enthusiast, and psych nerd, this book was everything I could've asked for. I got through it in Barnes and Noble in an hour. It's nice to get some concise, scientifically supported answers to those old myth questions about coffee's benefit/harm ratio, or some stripped down non-propagandist perspectives on marijuana's neurological usefulness (or lack thereof). The insulin/leptin cycle bit was especially interesting, since I played around with intermittent fasting for a few months, but the most hard evidence I could find at the time was a dubious Israeli study with both a control and experimental group of obese cops. (as opposed to the other kind, right? heyoooo)

It reinforced a lot of things I'd already read, but it was especially encouraging to hear them peer-reviewed and coming from a man as overeducated as Wenk, as opposed to from some clickbait Facebook link that redirects to an edgy black webpage with TESTOSTERONE in the url and a flashing banner trying to sell you Goku tanktops.

[Alyssa S · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may be a bit biased since this was written by one of my favorite professors, but this is a great read and a great supplement to his class! A lot of reviews say that the “title is misleading because it’s REALLY about drugs”, but A) Dr. Wenk LITERALLY SAYS IN THE BEGINNING that there is little to no difference between food and drugs, and B) HE DIDN’T GET TO CHOOSE THE TITLE. It’s filled with interesting information and fun anecdotes, some of which Dr. Wenk has elaborated on or mentioned during lecture and office hours. Some reviews doubt the validity of the stories, but I can tell you that you wouldn’t BELIEVE the weird sh*t that people admit to in lectures *flashes back to one guy telling the class about his pee for 5 minutes*. If you want to know how certain chemicals found in food/drugs affect your brain and body, read this.

[Ariadna73 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book. I was for a very long time looking for some source that could explain to me in plain English what the h*ck happens in the brain when chemicals hit it, and this one did exactly that. Moreover, it went from food to hard drugs in a few pages, and I loved it. I will definitely read it a second time, and I have all its suggested readings in my queue now, because it is such a great and elegant explanation. I will very happily read other books and papers written by this same author if there are any.

[Litborne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book that introduces you to the effect of "chemicals" on your brain and consequently your life. Chemicals such as medicine, aspirin, acetaminophen, morphine , heroine, cocaine, crack, alcohol, and caffeine. If you are hoping to read about neuroscientific impact of eating pizza or broccoli (as featured on the cover) you'll be disappointed, as, contrary to its name and its cover, this book opens the door for you to find this information by familiarizing you with your brain.

[Mahira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can the function of just one small group of chemicals really determine whether you are happy or sad? The two neurotransmitters , dopamine and nor-epinephrine, are chemicals called catecholamines that may do exactly that and much more.
*Nor-epinephrine neurons influence your level of arousal.
*Schizophrenic patients who display a chronic state of hyper-arousal have significantly more nor-epinephrine neurons in their brains.
The constant supply of dopamine is necessary to allow you to initiate or inhibit a movement.
The production of dopamine and nor-epinephrine in your brain begins with the amino acid tyrosine, which is obtained from your diet.
Tyrosine is converted to the amino acid levodopa, or L-DOPA, by the enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase. One very important cofactor is iron. Without iron, tyrosine hydroxylase fails to function normally. *People with anemia have reduced body levels of iron and, as consequently, may have reduced tyrosine hydroxylase activity and thus reduced production of nor-epinephrine and dopamine. The decreased brain levels of these important neurotransmitters may lead to a slight depression.
Neurons require antioxidants such as Vitamin C because they are continually exposed to oxygen from the blood. Without Vitamin C, many different neurotransmitters oxidize and become inactive.
During World War II, soldiers and airmen on both sides of the battle lines used amphetamine to combat boredom, fear, and fatigue and to increase endurance.
Historians suggest that at end of the war, Adolf Hitler’s increasingly paranoid behaviors may have resulted from his excessive use of amphetamines.
Morphine, became far more lipid- soluble and far more euphoragenic (i.e., pleasure-inducing) when scientists added two acetyl groups to it to produce heroin at the turn of the 19th century.
Over time, attempts to make amphetamine ever more lipid soluble has produced drugs that are more euphoragenic and hallucinogenic than amphetamine.
The most famous of these is 3,4-methylene-dioxymethamphetamine, which is widely known as ecstasy.
*Ecstasy blocks the reuptake of dopamine, nor-epinephrine, and serotonin and enhances the release of these neurotransmitters. It also produces a dramatic rise in body temperature, or hyperthermia.
I’ve been amazed at the continued popularity of this drug among my students, who seem to believe that because they are young they are also immortal and therefore immune to the danger.
One unpleasant side effect of nutmeg is extreme diarrhea caused by the stimulation of dopamine and serotonin neurons within the gut.
The actions of cocaine on the brain lead to increased alertness, reduced hunger, increased physical and mental endurance, increased motor activity, and an intensification of most normal pleasures.
In experiments, laboratory animals will self-administer cocaine to the point of severe toxicity, physical exhaustion, and even death.
Drugs such as cocaine can hijack neural processes and stimulate the brain’s reward centers so excessively and unnaturally that users will crave more stimulation, as they would normally crave food and sex.
Usually, alcohol consumption releases punished behaviors (e.g., behavior that was suppressed by an aversive stimulus such as the memory of your mother warning you not to dance naked in the park at midnight).
*Chocolate is as addicting as coffee— i f not more so— possibly because it contains an array of other psychoactive compounds that may contribute to the pleasurable sensation of eating it. It contains phenylethylamine, a molecule that resembles amphetamine. It contains a small amount of the marijuana-like neurotransmitter anandamide.
In the mid-1970’s research confirmed that the brain and body do indeed contain some endogenous morphine-like peptides and christened them “endorphins.” These peptides control our experience of pain by stopping the flow of pain signals into our brains.
*When newborns start nursing, the milk protein casein is converted to
β- caseomorphine, which can easily pass out of the immature gut and into the brain (both are still lacking viable barriers at this young age) and produce euphoria.
*The pleasurable feeling produced by this opiate-like compound in newborn mammals after their first taste of milk is believed to encourage the infant to return again and again for nourishment.
*There is one very simple and money-saving thing that we can do to enhance our brain’s performance and to slow the aging process: eat a lot less food, because you should never underestimate the power of food on your mind.

[Autumn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book! I finished it a few days ago, and I'm still looking at parts that were particularly interesting. I chose this as a food unit book, and in that aspect it failed slightly. There was a lot more on drugs, and less on food. Neverless, the psychological aspect in the text was intriguing! I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in psychology or how drugs (some found in foods) affect it. You should also read if you ever wonder what makes us eat what we do!!

[Kara Bachman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well ... this didn't deliver on what it promised. This was mostly about hallucinogenic drugs, and actually contained very little about food.

[Jawshan Shatil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read! Those with modest knowledge of Neuroscience definitely enjoy it. But the title of this book is misleading, this is more on neuropsychology than on food.

[N Malvika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read. More about neuroscience than diet. But very well written and has so many interesting facts I didn't know about.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title and the cover are completely misleading. Pretty much the only thing about foods (with the exception of coffee and chocolate) the author said was that the amounts of certain chemicals are not enough to produce significant effects, if any.

That said, I did learn a few things about how different drugs effect the brain. For instance, I never knew why so many medications prohibit you from drinking alcohol (it multiplies the effects and can be fatal). I also learned why teenagers are so wreckless:

Essentially, your frontal lobes tell you that it's a bad idea to drink alcohol and drive or to ignore the consequences of taking ecstacy. When your frontal lobes finally complete their process of myelination, they begin to work properly and you stop doing stupid things. Most importantly, you stop feeling immortal. Apparently, women finish this process by age 25 years and men finish by age 30. [...] This delay in brain maturation among males may explain the behavior of many members of college fraternities.

There are entire books that discuss each of the different sections in this book. This one is meant as an introduction, and there is a small suggested further reading section in the back.

Many books have been written about religion and brain chemistry, but I love this quote: "A recent investigation discovered that the tendency to display extravagant religious behaviors correlated significantly with atrophy (i.e., shrinkage) of the right hippocampus in patients with untreatable epilepsy."

[Alison Raman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although an interesting read, I was disappointed by Wenk's lack of depth throughout the book, overgeneralization, and all too frequent use of "correlation" or "may correlate." As correlation does not equal causation, I believe he misleads readers into the cause and effect of what we ingest and how it *might* affect our brains. Similarly, he repeatedly uses "recent study" and goes on to describe how said study demonstrated a particular effect, but the precise study is not referenced anywhere in the book. I also think some of his explanations are likely vastly oversimplified to reach a broad audience.

On a more positive side, his historical vignettes describing how ancient and modern humans have experimented with and used both plant and synthetic substances to affect states of consciousness, arousal, and pain levels are entertaining and interesting. His main thesis is that what we ingest, be it food or drugs, does impact our brain function, that he makes clear and presents compelling evidence that this matters. I am, however, wary of some of the conclusions/correlations he draws as the rigorous evidence to support such conclusions, to me, appears to be lacking, at least as presented in this book.

[Jacob Acosta · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting this book to be mostly about food. However, it was about how drugs and chemicals triggered by drugs interact with your brains with snippets of food interaction. If the book was titled "Your Brain on Drugs..." I'd give it a higher review. Very dry yet informative read.

I am sure someone out there would benefit from reading this book. Maybe in the future, I might give it another go with a different mindset to enjoy and take in the information presented. Unfortunately as of now, I am not that person.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book has a catchy title, but isn't very good. I found myself skimming most of the chapters. It is a lot of rehashing of popular press articles here and there. The book has zero citations though. So it sort of mentions a study, but you can't actually track that study down. I understand this is a book for lay audiences, but this is lazy journalism. Skip this book.

[Stephanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

dull. also, too complex for beginners to neuroscience, yet not complex enough for those who have a background in neuroscience. I found he jumped around topics too much.

[Ali Anwaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why do you feel drowsy after having a glass of milk or 'lassi'? Why do you feel sleepy after taking a cough syrup or anti-allergy tablets? What happens when you smoke a cigarette or inject a drug?

"For millennia, people believed that mental illness was caused by evil spirits or was a punishment delivered by an angry God than as a result of a brain disease or dysfunction as we realize now."

"Your Brain on Food" is an introspective journey inside our brain as it produces biochemical chain reactions to create all our mental activity, from our cherished emotions to our anxious fears. With over 0.15 quadrillion(that's 15 zeroes!) connections within itself, the brain is a most intricate machine full of colorful wire like neurons which create all our sensations and perceptions! The influence of different molecules on these sensations is excellently illustrated in a humorous tone which keeps you glued to the book.

The book unfolds many interesting dimensions about how the things we eat impact our mind and body. Diving into the delicate system of neurotransmitters, Wenk fascinates the reader with awe-inspiring logistics of these little workers inside our body. For everyone who's interested in learning more about how our body and diet works, this book is a quick and amusing read.

[Sohayla Oskoui-Moshref · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is very interesting. It was actually so interesting that I forgot it was inappropriately titled “your brain on food.” The author had a lot of unique information that I hadn’t heard anywhere else and it was nice to FINALLY understand the brain marijuana pathway. I’ve heard about it and tried to learn so many times but no one else explained it in a way I understood.

The other reviews are a tad harsh in my opinion. The only faux pa in my opinion is quite literally the title. It has very little, if anything to do with food. It is about your brain on drugs and that includes some drugs in different foods. I would definitely recommend this to somebody who wants to learn about physiology or drugs or pharmacology.

I’m awaiting my nursing school to start so I do have a background of medical knowledge. This made reading it a lot easier. I wouldn’t say that this is too “dumbed down” for a person in the medical field. If you know what he’s talk into about then he did his job.

All in all 4/5, it would’ve gotten a 5/5 if it had been titled your brain on drugs.

[Aaron Springman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Your Brain on food by Gary Wenk was a pretty interesting read. It talked about how all of the different chemicals you ingest in either food form or drug form. Results of many studies are discussed in the book and the overall theme is how to slow aging in the brain. One of the more interesting studies published discussed that eating less could make you live longer. Your Brain on Food does a very good job of simply explaining complex science ideas. Anyone who enjoys science would enjoy this book. However sometimes this book can move pretty fast and it can be hard to keep up. The reason I gave this book four stars was because some of the topics discussed were a little humdrum and boring.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy reading this. I came it it with an interest and hope to learn something new and…that didn’t happen. A lot of the concepts are presented hastily and without a lot of background or support and so are hard to follow (and I have a BS&MS in biology with 8 credit hours of anatomy and physiology).

Additionally, I felt that the book had a condescending and sexist tone throughout. A lot of comments about poor decisions made by college students. Also that menopausal women experience chocohalism and that estrogen is more likely to give you the urge to shop than to rage. Even considering this book was originally written in 2010, the sexist tones ruined it for me.

[Lyra Alves · Rating 2 out of 5]

Misleading title, as the book barely covers the effects food and nutritional health plays on brain health. The author makes many blank statements and lists some wrong foods as good sources of certain nutrients. At times it's hard to tell if he's being sarcastic or if he means what he writes. An example of that can be seen when he compares eating high protein with eating high carbs as breakfast and at the end, he sums it up as "you better eat your donuts". Later on, he claims that chain-smoking could be a good relief against anxiety. I've read other amazing foods on the same subject, and this one is an absolute waste of anyone's time.

[Catarina Rocha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have no reason to be suspicious of Gary's authority on the matter. But I find it very hard to read a book with some wild allegations and have zero sources. He constantly talks about studies but never mentions which. I'm one to go take a look at the source just to make sure. Impossible to do. At least one allegation I know to be incorrect, which makes me doubt of all the others.

[Ray Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm always interested in books about food and feeling better. This one started off with lots about how specific nutrients in specific foods effect mood. It quickly progresses into poisons and hallucinogens. Before you know it, we are on mushrooms, marijuana, LSD, and drugs the authors students take. Ultimately, the book was amusing, but not particularly helpful.

[Bárbara Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book but it was not exactly what I was looking for. This was not about food/nutrition but mainly about drugs and how they affect or help the brain. Still interesting but I got bored a few times. I’m not a consumer of any of the substances (except for coffee and sugar lol) so I didn’t find the information appealing tbh. Nonetheless I give it a solid 4 stars.

[Alina Yasnaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely general introduction to the world of neurotransmitters and their connection to what you consume - food, drink, medicine, toxins, pollutants - and the resulting behavior and thinking. Easy to read, easy to grasp. Highly recommended!

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too scientific and boring