I love loaning books at this point in my life because I don’t have a lot of space to store books. Also, I try to be very intentional about what books I do buy. If I own a book, it’s because I really love it. I loaned This is Your Brain on Food by Uma Naidoo on Libby and listened to it on my phone. But it’s one that I will definitely be buying my own copy of!
Synopsis
Uma Naidoo, MD is a psychiatrist, a nutritionist, and professional cook. Her combination of expertise has made her very knowledgable on the connection between the food we put in our bodies and our mental health. Uma explains the science behind these connections. She specifically talks about how connected the gut and brain are: when the gut brain balance is off, levels of chemicals are off, moods are upset, immunity drops, and this causes rise to psychiatric imbalances. She talks about multiple mental health disorders individually and explains what foods help to decrease symptoms, and which foods tend to make symptoms worse. I loved learning about what specific foods and spices can help with specific nutrient deficiencies.
For example, Uma talks about how there is a connection between low iron and depression. She then gives examples of what foods you can eat more of to increase iron intake. She cites research that getting as many antioxidants from food as possible can help alleviate ADHD symptoms (foods like berries, cherries, eggplant, onions, and kale). There is so much more of this information in the book!
For me, the main take away overall is that whole foods play so many different roles in helping our bodies and brains. If our mental health improves, our physical health improves, and vice versa.
Thoughts
I found this book incredibly fascinating and informative. The way Dr. talks about food is refreshing — it’s not an all or nothing (cut this out or __ will happen to you!) It didn’t feel like she used scare tactics or had unrealistic suggestions. She gave the science about what foods were recommended, and which ones weren’t. And she didn’t recommend ditching medication all together — she made it very clear that in many cases, medication is necessary. But the food we put in our bodies can be a great help to our mental wellness and healing, and in some less severe cases it can clear up symptoms.
I think this book is one that is worth owning because there is so much helpful information to refer back to.
More Reviews
You can find this book on Libby or at your local library, or you can purchase your own copy here. If you liked this review of This is Your Brain on Food by Uma Naidoo, you can check out more book reviews here.
