98 of 100 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Early take on personality/neurotransmitter/supplement connections, January 11, 2007
This review is from: The Edge Effect: Achieve Total Health and Longevity with the Balanced Brain Advantage (Paperback)
The connection between personality and mood on the one side and neurotransmitters on the other side is a young subject.
This book is definitely worth owning and reading to get some basic popular orientation in the field, to play with the questionaire and to experiment with medication or alternative supplements to balance your own mood states. It is very readable.
- It is not an in-depth treatment, the last word on the subject or your essential reference tome.
Words of caution: it's important to remember that the health of other organ systems also impacts mood and personality. Not to mention life events! We are not just wandering brain chemistries ...
The supplements suggested are very high. I have effects with about 1/10 of the dosages recommended in the book, and at about 1/6 of recommended dose I start to get overdose symptoms - so get professional advice about dosage (and a general health overview if you don't already have one) if you decide to try the supplements.
The author also has a website and an organisation that sells supplements and is good about giving advice on email exchanges.
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65 of 67 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Get Ur Brain Balanced-- and get to where you wanna be!!, July 17, 2008
This review is from: The Edge Effect: Achieve Total Health and Longevity with the Balanced Brain Advantage (Paperback)
I can't believe there aren't more rave reviews here. I had to jump up and down when I realized that 10 years of discomfort, allergies, forgetfulness, and other annoying symptoms had a chance to finally be resolved.
Of course, one cannot make any medical claims. Its just a window into what could be an answer for you.
After taking the test (questionnaire in beginning of book), and reading about my Dominant type, Deficient type, and other personality/physical characteristics of the 4 neurotransmitters ... I put the book aside for a bit. I found just that knowledge had given me alot to ponder. Why do I procrastinate, why do I love to be creative... Is it good for my type to drink caffeine...? Well its alot of questions no one ever asked me, and it made me take a second look at what I do and when I feel sick.
I did quite poorly on the deficiency scale. My most severe defiencey being GABA, and hence I have had chronic hives, Irritable bowel, anxiety and other things. But could GABA have anything to do with it?? Well I have taken many credits in Neurology-- this never came up. I have been to Neurologists, Dermatologists, Allergy Specialists-- why has no one given me a GABA promoting drug (atleast)?? Guess there is a disconnect between wellness and typical medical protocols.
I followed the GABA promoting diet (Almonds, oranges, bananas, oats, whole wheat, broccoli, spinach, fish, eggs, and much more...). No drugs. It made a huge difference. I also drank an herbal tea (passion flower, valerian), that helps promote GABA. I decreased caffeine. I focus on what's good for my body to make and store enough GABA to keep my body relaxed. It made an impact-- big enough, that I finally feel my health can be great again.
Thank You Dr. Braverman!
The other reviewer is correct. You cannot get all the lab tests you want run by your MD. Its not considered necessary. You will have better luck with a Chiropractor, or just going on faith and following the diet to see how you feel.
The diets are not hard-- they might include alot of foods you crave since you need building blocks of that neurotransmitter most.
One thing that alot of health enthusiasts may be weary of, is his notes on aspartame containing the Dopamine promoting element phenylanaline... since fake sweeteners are typically considered toxic. I do not know what to say on this. I guess in certain situations your body can make use of it.
I still give the book 5 starts because the advice outweighs the drugs and artifical stuff. Many books I've reviewed showed me weak points in my health and toxins in my environment... but few have given the remedies to fix the problem. Check out this book!
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72 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting, but most physicians wouldn't do the tests he recommends, March 7, 2008
This review is from: The Edge Effect: Achieve Total Health and Longevity with the Balanced Brain Advantage (Paperback)
This book is about achieving total health by balancing your brain chemistry, based on a quiz you take (in the book) to determine your dominant neurotransmitters. Once you take the quiz and find out which of the four major neurotransmitters is dominant, you can take supplements and eat foods that supposedly restore your brain's normal biochemistry (normal meaning how it was before you started having symptoms of disease).
The author says everyone is born with a dominant neurotransmitter that determines their health and their personality, and when this gets out of balance, signs of illness begin. He lists the supplements you should take and the foods you should eat to get back in balance again, and also recommends some exercises, both physicla and mental. At the end there is a section of exercises you can do to improve your memory.
In his private practice the author claims to have healed many people by simply balancing their brain chemistry, and this is a wonderful thought, but he doesn't say where you can find a doctor to work with who would be into this type of treatment. Most doctors would not agree to do some of the tests he recommends, and would not be open to his ideas. He claims you can do it on your own, but I am concerned that the high doses of some of the supplements may be harmful. On the other hand, I'm a bit of a risk taker and decided to start the supplement and diet program to see what will happen. If anyone else has tried this program, I'd like to know their results and whether they would recommend it. This book has a very interesting and believable theory, but I think is too new to be accepted by mainstream medicine, so you're pretty much on your own if you apply it.
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