Customer Reviews

The Brain Diet: The Connection Between Nutrition, Mental Health, And Intelligence

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book pulls together a huge amount of medical research regarding diet and mental health. The author does an excellent job of using words that a non-physician can understand without sacrificing content. This is NOT a "FAD DIET" sort of book, nor is it quackery. It is the seminal work on how diet translates into mental health, with copious quantities of references and citations.

I can personally vouch for the accuracy of the information on Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. My child has had anxiety attacks ever since she stopped eating baby food. After three years we figured out that the attacks were related to eating products the day before with oils like cottonseed and safflower. But we did not know why she reacted this way, nor did our pediatricians. So all we could do was try to avoid the problem oils, which are in many, many, many foods. Monitoring her diet was a full time job, and school made it very difficult. People thought that we were crazy and ignored our pleas about not to feed her items with those oils. Then when she had an attack 24 hours later, they thought she needed counseling.

After reading this book, we understood the likely reason for her problem, as well as a possible solution. We put her on a daily Omega-3 supplement to balance her Omega 6 & Omega 3 chemistry, and her anxiety attacks are GONE. She can now eat what everyone else eats. Her demeanor is no longer high-strung and she handles stress much better. Buying this book was the best money we ever spent, and we are giving copies to everyone we know. If you know someone who suffers from mental health problems, or a mental health professional, teacher, or pediatrician, do them a favor and get them a copy of this book.

The positives of this book have been well documented in other reviews. It is easy-to-read and provides useful and fascinating information regarding the relationship between diet and brain health. My two objections are: (1) There is no index. With a book with this content and information, I find this a big inconvenience. (2) The book is not footnoted. References are given using only journal year and year of publication, but article titles and authors are not provided.

I'm naturally very intrigued with increasing perfomance, whether it be physical or mental. In the past, I've read numerous books and articles on improving the brain. Sure, those publications inspired me to do some things a little differently. However, what I learned in this book has inspired me to make drastic changes in my lifestyle habits. It's one thing to be inspired to improve a little here and a little there, it's quite another to see solid scientific research showing exactly how each choice we make affects our present and long-term brain potential.

This book is chock full of the most interesting nutrition research on the brain I've ever come across. It also contains quite a bit of information not related to nutrition. I learned a LOT of new and interesting things that I have never considered before. I highly recommend this book!

One reviewer claims that the book doesn't include footnotes with Journal title, authors, etc. That's true. However, there is an extensive listing in the back of the book that gives all that information. Also, the revised and expanded edition does have an index.

To me, this book is all about positive realism. It doesn't make any oulandish claims about some super supplement that will boost your IQ by fifty points. It presents health in a understandable but intelligent way, with no shameless promotion of any products, and makes suggestions that one could_possibly_undertake. This book can best be described as integrative: it shows once again that the body is one and connected. Although it's called "the brain diet," this book is more of a lifestyle plan--so much more than just a diet. I encourage everyone to pick this up if you are willing to take a step to improve your health and your childrens'.

Dr Logan should be commended for putting this book together. I was surprised by the amount of research related to nutrition and the brain/behavior. Very useful, good resources and would recommend it to others. Wish there were more recipes.

The author of the Brain Diet tells you exactly which foods to eat to greatly improve you brain health. His assertions are backed by many conclusive scientific studies that he cites in the text and gives their sources. He also describes in detail what happens to the brain when it lacks the prescribed nutrition plan and how the plan corrects those problems. This book leaves no unaswered questions. It covers the subject completly and can not fail to accurately inform and benefit the reader.

I have read many books on nutrition, and this one stands out as among the very best. Fully referenced, it provides a deep understanding of how poor nutrition, stress and lifestyle culminate to take a toll on brain function. Logan dismantles the nutritional myths and makes his case in a clear and concise way. The chapter on the changing Japanese diet was an eye-opener and should be cause for concern for all of us. It is indeed, as Logan says, "one of the largest nutritional experiments in human history". The other thing that stands out about this book is the connection he makes between gut and brain health. Based on the information in that chapter, I will never view probiotics in the same, simplistic way again. If you have even a small interest in nutrition and the health of your brain, this truly is a must read!!

Overly, I was utterly disappointed by this book, which showed great promise at first, but as time passed I could see the multiple issues with this book. Firstly, this book has no citation markings that can be used for cross reference. End notes tend to be helpful when verifying information without having to pour through the number of references that are listed in the back. Secondly, the literature review was thoroughly poor throughout. From misinformation on coffee, to saturated fats, cholesterol, and practically every topic, the literature review was not fully well done with information. It was quite dumbed down, and much was left out, citing perhaps from cherry picked studies but never opting to give much insight to critical studies and the like.

On the more positive note, the recipes that are provided are decent enough, and there is some good information throughout if you already do know some things about nutrition.

In conclusion, this book was watered down with little substance, and mired by the somewhat continuous mistruths of science. More depth is needed for proper appreciation.

The Brain Diet offers some of the very best strategies for improving not only the health of the brain, but also the health of the entire body. Packed with well-referenced scientific strategies and user-friendly, real world nutrition suggestions, Dr. Logan's book is a rare work that will give you the strategies to take control of your health - once and for all.

Dr John Berardi, University of Texas at Austin
http://www.johnberardi.com
[...]

Best money I ever spent! I have ADHD and after taking Adderall, among other drugs, I decided to go the natural route and just try feeding my brain right. This book helped me to achieve that. (apology for the grammatical errors, I am studying Medicinal & Biological Chemistry, so my grammar and spelling are definitely not up to par).