Customer Reviews

Your Miracle Brain: Dramatic New Scientific Evidence Reveals How You Can Use Food and Supplements To: Maximize Brain Power, Boost Your Memory, Lift ... Creativity, Prevent and Reverse Mental Aging

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This is the third Jean Carper book I have read, and I was delighted to find so much new information to help postpone the effects aging. Like most of us, I have always assumed the conventional belief that the aging brain simply deteriorates. This is not true. Not only does Ms. Carper's new book examine the latest scientific evidence showing how simplistic that notion is, but she goes on to identify many of the practical things each of us can do to develop new health habits that will improve our mental functions. "Your Miracle Brain" will certainly be a best seller, but more importantly, it will transform the way our minds think about our brains.

Let me cut to the chase, there are numerous supplements you can take to keep your mental facilities in top working order, but if you are looking for the ONE thing you can do that will provide the best overall results - take a multivitamin daily.

Ms. Carper has provided another fine study of the current research (circa 2000) related to the human brain and the effect of various supplements or lack thereof. If there is one complaint that I have about the book, it is that it is dated, continued research in the field would argue for an updated edition of the book.

The four sections of the book cover the workings of the brain, what to eat, what supplements to take and how to prevent vascular problems from affecting your brain. True to her usual form the author presents the research for each topic, broken up by nutrient or supplement, further broken down by details of the impact on the brain of a shortage and the research data to support claims that the nutrient or supplement may correct the problems, and how much to take for full effect.

The discussions are intriguing in that the author's conclusions require so little action on the reader's part to correct or prevent the stated neurological problems (topics range from depression to aggression to forgetfulness to age related problems like Alzheimer's).

One of the reasons I bought this book was because I was heading back to grad school (in my 40s), and I wasn't quite sure I was up to it. Having completed 13 semester credits in biological and chemical sciences over two 6 week summer sessions with a flawless 4.0 grade average, I can say that I feel at the top of my mental game and ready for admission to grad school. My current set of supplements include: a multivitamin with minerals, coenzyme Q10, Omega 3 fish oil, ginko biloba and grape seed extract.

Getting back to my initial statement, unless you have a perfect diet (be honest), you need a multivitamin with minerals to ensure that you are providing the basic nutrition for a healthy brain, once you are there you can look into the other supplements for further improvement. P-)

A main thesis of this work is that food can impact the brain
either favorably or unfavorably. The author explains that
men have brains that tend to shrink faster than women.
In addition, high blood pressure tends to reduce brain size.
Stress also damages the brain. There are juices which have a
positive impact on brain chemistry; namely, grapefruit,
tomato, orange and blueberries. Cranberry, spinach, kale,
strawberries and plums have maximum ORAC units. Raisins and
prunes are top anti-oxidants. Spinach, beet greens, tomato,
orange juice, cantaloupe, squash, sweet potato and avocado help
to minimize strokes. B vitamins and Vit C help to keep the
brain young and preserve cerebrospinal fluid. Selenium
boosts the brain and a deficiency can upset brain function.
The stone age diet is best for people. It consists of 65%
veggies, fruits, nuts and honey with 35% lean meat, eggs and
fish. DHA is found in seafood and EPA is found in a fish diet.
Linoleic acid is found in leafy green veggies and olive oil.
Brain fat busters are saturated animal fat, whole milk, butter
and cheese. This book will be a good addition to any personal
health library

As medical science is discovering the correlation between certain foods on the functioning of various body parts, the effect of food and supplements on the brain is one of the more recent research areas (at least to the general public). This book does an excellent job of explaining the research and the practical implications, especially what to eat to help your brain function the right way.

The book is divided into 4 parts - a welcome section, what to eat, brain supplements, and how to stop the destruction of the brain. The first part introduces the reader to the basics of the brain - how free radicals are the prime enemy, how the brain cells can actually regenerate (till recently everyone thought this wasn't possible), how stress can damage your brain, use it or lose it theory, etc.

The second part focuses on how fat, fish oil, sugar, antioxidants, and caffeine impact your brain. This is a very detailed section with practical tips on how you can benefit from the latest research in this field. For example - a cup of coffee in the morning and midday is all we need to get the most out of caffeine. Of course, you have to read the whole section to know more about caffeine like the three different sources, etc.

The third part is all vitamins, minerals, and other supplements that can boost your brain power. There is excellent information on how Vitamin B6, B12, E, C, and other supplements like Ginkgo and Choline can all help your brain perform better!

The last part is about the connection between the heart and the brain. What happens to the heart affects the brain also and there are 30 pages dedicated to this part talking about exactly that! Example - did you know that high triglycerides can disturb your mood? Do you know what triglycerides are? Did you know that high blood pressure harms memory and shrinks the brain? By reading this last part of the book, you can get the latest on these topics!

Overall, this book is a worthwhile purchase considering how much you can gain by carefully testing and implementing some of the advice. As with all medical research, I try to test things first and see how these theories apply to my body and then implement on a larger scale. I hope you benefit from this book the way my family has and remember to take it slow before jumping in with a lot of changes at the same time and definitely consult your doctor! Good luck!

Review of Your Miracle Brain. Jean Carper. NY: Harper Collins, 2000. 378 pp. This is a book I have not only recommended to my friends, I have also been known to snare strangers in the supermarket, telling them about the value of spinach and strawberries in improving memory function. Jean Carper's audience is the pregnant woman who wants to insure optimum brain growth for her child, the caregiver of an Alzheimer's sufferer, and everyone in between. However, the book seems most directed toward the middle-aged person who wishes to prevent brain deterioration in later years and even to ensure some present growth. In contrast to what scientists have thought until recently, one's brain is capable of development one's entire lifetime. New studies show that one's diet can have an immediate effect on brain function, mood, and behavior. Carper tells us that if an elderly brain is undamaged by disease, its ability to store, process, and retrieve new information may be slowed by only a minimal 10% after age 70.

Carper's book is divided into 4 sections which discuss: 1) the recent research into brain function, 2) what to eat to keep your brain young, 3) what supplements to take, and 4) how to keep your arteries clear. By far the largest section -- nearly half the book -- and the one readers will probably be most interested in, is the second. Here the author details the effect on one's brain of various fats, sugars, antioxidants, and caffeine. Each section is divided into "thought bites" of a page or two which are readily found from the Table of Contents. Example are: "Is it Aging or is it Alzheimer's?" "Olive Oil saves Memory," "Fish: a Powerful Antidepressant," "Breast Feeding Makes Smarter Kids," "Chocolate as Brain Food," "Can Caffeine Boost Memory?" "Astonishing Ways to Avoid and Survive a Stroke." Sidebars include more detail on individual topics, and tables summarize material for further reference. Examples of tables include a list of foods with Omega-3, a list of foods with their glycemic index, a list of vegetables and fruits with their antioxidant content, and foods to eat to escape a stroke.

The only part of the book I found less credible and well-researched was the author's theory that since our brains developed in the Neolithic Age and adapted to a Stone Age diet, so we should try to approximate that diet today. I question that our brains have not evolved since the change to eating domesticated grains which occurred 10,000 years ago. Additionally, what knowledge does Carper have that Stone Age man was healthy? How many were malnourished? Wasn't their life span so short that the question of nourishing aged brains never occurred? And what about aborigines today? Are they eating a Neolithic diet? How healthy are they?

Although the above theory is not convincing, yet her suggestions for foods and supplements to feed one's brain for maximum efficiency are well-supported by numerous studies, most very recent and utilizing large population samples. Carper sums up her material by listing ten top strategies one needs to achieve a "miracle brain." Her suggestions are not unheard of from other sources, and much of her research material can be found elsewhere, but it is well-collected, summarized, and presented here in a writing style that is accessible and non-pedantic. I plan to keep this book close at hand and put its many valid suggestions into practice. Barbara Mackey, Ph.D.

This book is a treasure chest of extremely valuable information on how to preserve your mental capabilities and to protect yourself from disease with the right diet and the right supplements and amounts of them. Did you know that people taking vitamin C or E supplements are shown in general NOT to develop Alzheimer's? Did you know that blueberries, strawberries and spinach are brain-savers? Did you know that you can control and possibly prevent insulin resistence by eating a low "glycemic index" diet. Did you know that eating foods equalling 5500 ORACs a day will protect your memory and motor control? (A cup of black tea brewed for five minutes contains 1200 ORACs.) Did you know that vigorous walking for an hour, five days a week will lower your risk of stroke by about half (p. 331), as will fruits and veggies and tea (p. 323)?
Jean Carper discusses the importance of Omega-3 oils in fish for pregnant women who want to optimize their children's mental capacities, as well as for the rest of us. She discusses the B vitamins, folic acid and the other, and their vital importance.
She gets down to specifics with doses to take and appropriate combinations.
I heartily recommend this book. If you buy only one book this year, buy this one.
The writing is energetic and enjoyable. The glycemic index and ORAC tables contain invaluable compilations for charting an optimal daily diet. I posted copies on my refrigerator door!
I've given this book to several people, all of whom cherish it.

I have never recommended a book before, but I have recommended this masterpiece to everyone I know---and I have filled my cupboard with 10 different vitamins and minerals that I am now consuming daily, due to the fascinating information that Jean Carper has presented in her newest work. She has made the complex universe of the living, breathing, functioning, and potentially vital brain a world of wonder and possibility that I had no idea about! Once you read this book, you will have a new respect for the complexity of your "noggin", and a new understanding of how nutrition, specifically vitamin and mineral supplementation, can enhance and propel your brain's possibilities to the next level, well into your elder years! I'm only 30 years old, but as the book states, you're never too young to start taking care of your most precious asset!

Jean Carper has done a great service again! She has the amazing gift, evident in Food: The Miracle Medicine, in being able to distil practical and well nuanced explanations and applications from the immense amount of the latest research data. You can glean quite a few gems just from the detailed table of contents and the top ten strategies in the Postscript. But every page is filled with words of wisdom. The format and style of writing is much more readable and succinct than Dr. Andrew Weil's Eating Well for Optimum Health, which is also excellent. One suggestion. Will it be appropriate to include an appendix on the importance of water consumption for the brain? A query. The report on "dopamine rise in the brains of men playing video games" (p. 5) has great implications for education. I personally have heard directly from a neuroscientist disagreeing with this viewpoint. I hope this could be explored further. Overall, it is an exhilarating experience reading such a fine and useful book. Thanks a lot, Jean.

This book is very informative, another job well-done by Jean Carper. It's a must read for everyone interested in how to nourish the brain. It offers exciting news on the benefits of nutrients like Omega-3 fish oil, vitamin C and E in preventing or lessening brain-related disorders like Alzeimer's disease, schizophrenia, memory loss etc. I highly recommend this book.

Jean Carper has a wonderful writing style. She is able to take complex topics that may otherwise be boring and turn them into a fascinating read. In this book she strongly emphasizes the importance of food in brain health, particularly oils found in fish. I agree with her that many people in this country may not be getting adequate amounts of omega-3 or fish oils. Clinically I have found that fish oils do help improve mood and vision. I highly recommend this book, you will learn a lot. I first heard about Jean a decade ago from my mom who had her book Food: Your Miracle Medicine. You may also consider reading my book Mind Boosters. It compliments Jean's book and provides additional points of view, suggestions, and information about dozens of different supplements. There's a lot of information about new mind boosters such as vinpocetine, huperzine, methyl donors, etc. and more of a practical/medical approach on side effects, dosages, and how to combine various nutrients to improve mood, memory, vision, sex drive, and mental performance.