Customer Reviews

The Brain Gate: The Little-Known Doorway That Lets Nutrients in and Keeps Toxic Agents Out

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This extremely informative book is a great resource for what you need to know about the health of your brain. It goes into quite a bit of detail without being too scientific for a layperson. The emphasis is on nutrition and the author gives a lot of specific examples of foods and supplements to prevent brain diseases and improve brain function. But it is also comprehensive on the effects of other environmental agents, such as pesticides, chemicals, even sleep deprivation and stress. Since I had a grandfather who suffered from dementia, I found the descriptions of Alzheimer's and dementia particularly interesting. But I think that anyone who has an interest in their health and their brain will want to read this book.

Doctor J. Robert Hatherill has done an oustanding job with this book! As a health and school psychologist I have already started recommending this book to helping professionals and parents. This author goes beyond writing about the links between good nutrition and health. This is the only book I have read that also demonstrates the critical role of nutrition in the promotion of learning as well as health. I highly recommend this book!

"Considering how important your brain is to your life, don't you think
you should know how to protect it so that it will stay healthy and
function optimally for your entire life? The BrainGate shows you how.
This is an intelligent, well-researched, and vitally important book.
If you follow its' advice, your brain will thank you for the rest of
your life."

-John Robbins, author, The Food Revolution and Diet For A New
America, founder EarthSave International

"[T]he most practical and helpful book you will ever find for preserving every precious brain cell. "
-John McDougall, MD, Director of the McDougall Program

"Dr. Hatherill certainly caught my attention! With so many people writing about nutrition and the brain, he has provided an up-to-date summary that is comprehensive, reliable, and readable. This book should be on the shelf of everyone who cares about maximizing the utility and longevity of his/her
brain."
-Dr. Pierce J. Howard, author, The Owner's Manual for the Brain

This book provides great insight in to the blood brain barrier as well as provides a lot of research to show that the blood brain barrier is not static but changes due to what you eat, your stress level and other aspects of your life. I really enjoyed this book because it was science with a purpose. What I mean by that is this, the book made the effort and had its purpose to make the science of the brain applicable. It really strived to answer the why this certain cell pathway is important. Not only did it strive to make the science relevant it also sought to make it really practical. Moving from the structure and function of the brain into answering the question of how to make it function better. As an engineer, making science practical is the name of the game. The book consists of three parts; Part 1 is Neurotoxicity and Neurotoxic Agents. In this section, the author began to explore what the blood brain barrier actually is and why it is physiologically important. To make the science of this practical, the author explored how to avoid some of these toxic agents from getting into the brain and he also explored the effects of stress on the ability of the blood brain barrier to prevent toxic agents from entering the brain. The second part is Neuroenhancing diet. Here the author explores how certain foods we eat can directly affect the brain and its activity, from what foods are best for enhancing brain function, to what foods work to fight off depression and lastly what food to eat to prevent the brain from decline. This section is highly detailed as well as amazingly specific into what certain vitamins and foods enhance and protect the brain and how those things actually accomplish that goal. The Third and final part is the neuroenhancing lifestyle. This section is the practical how to that brings together all aspects of the book and current understanding of brain science that allows us make it useful. In this section, the author details through what he labels the 6 step brain purifying program, which includes everything from what food to avoid to reducing stress to increasing your physical exercise. The book is well structured not only in the way the parts are divided but also in the way the chapters are divided. The author makes great use of section headings and making the book easier to read because of the section breakups. This is necessary because since the book is so filled with facts it often reads as a textbook. The author does a good job of making the language simple and easy to understand, but unfortunately it does still read like a text book at times. This is something that is unavoidable for the material that he is trying to present, although it would have been nice to see him have a little more personality in his writing style. Even with that being said, it provides clear insight into how to use the neuroscience of the brain and make it work for you.
The Six step brain purifying program
Step 1: Avoid or Limit consumption of neurotoxic food, drink and medication
Most of the exposure to these comes from fatty foods that are consumed and also a main concern of his is the lead that is present in some older homes and even some currently sold faucets. This makes sense as an obvious first step for better health; avoid overly fatty foods and filter you water for heavy metals. The author recommends using a filter and also provides specifics on what type of filters are the most effective. He also expresses concern about potential lead in calcium supplements.
Step 2: Reduce Exposure to toxic chemicals and containers in your kitchen and household.
Well, this one seems like a no brainer, but he also provides some detail and examples of where these toxins are found. His main concern is trying to avoid aluminum exposure in the home.
Step 3: Follow the Neuronutrition Brain -purifying diet.
Here he provides some tips in how you prepare your food as well as what types of food should be replaced. Here he has lots of healthy suggestions some of these are helpful and easy to work into your daily life but at the same time some of them come off a little to "health nut" to be really helpful.
Step 4: Do daily mental exercises to enhance brain function.
This is a great section, as it is so easy to incorporate these into your daily life. Some of his suggestions include simply using your non-dominant hand to button you shirt, to solving crosswords, or playing scrabble. Any "exercise" is good for increasing brain function. He also shows and details through how this type of mental stimulation actually works to process your brain from the process of aging.
Step 5: Reduce stress.
This is easier said than done but he breaks it down in simple ways that we can reduce stress in our daily lives. Starting with laughter and simplifying and just spending time away from all of our technological connections we have in the modern world. Reducing stress is something everyone wants to do but rarely do we know how, he really works to answer that question.
Step 6: Feed your brain with physical exercise.
Exercise is also extremely important to brain health. He works to show the neurological basis behind this and reasons why the push to exercise must not be forgotten or left off of our schedule.
Overall this was a helpful book to read, it provided a plethora of information of how to really optimize the function of the most important organ in your body in a very practical easy to be grasped way. I would recommend this book to anyone that wants to improve their brain function and to ensure that they stay sharp as they continue down the road of life.

Explains your brain, and how different foods affect it, in layman's terms. Many helpful dietary suggestions for preventing disease and treating depression. A great read.

...Fascinating....[O]f enormous interest to clinicians, patients, and anyone who wants the very best of health."
-Neal D. Barnard, M.D., President, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine