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Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life (Genius Living, 1) Hardcover – March 20, 2018
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New York Times Bestseller
Discover the critical link between your brain and the food you eat and change the way your brain ages, in this cutting-edge, practical guide to eliminating brain fog, optimizing brain health, and achieving peak mental performance from media personality and leading voice in health Max Lugavere.
After his mother was diagnosed with a mysterious form of dementia, Max Lugavere put his successful media career on hold to learn everything he could about brain health and performance. For the better half of a decade, he consumed the most up-to-date scientific research, talked to dozens of leading scientists and clinicians around the world, and visited the country’s best neurology departments—all in the hopes of understanding his mother’s condition.
Now, in Genius Foods, Lugavere presents a comprehensive guide to brain optimization. He uncovers the stunning link between our dietary and lifestyle choices and our brain functions, revealing how the foods you eat directly affect your ability to focus, learn, remember, create, analyze new ideas, and maintain a balanced mood.
Weaving together pioneering research on dementia prevention, cognitive optimization, and nutritional psychiatry, Lugavere distills groundbreaking science into actionable lifestyle changes. He shares invaluable insights into how to improve your brain power, including
- the nutrients that can boost your memory and improve mental clarity (and where to find them);
- the foods and tactics that can energize and rejuvenate your brain, no matter your age;
- a brain-boosting fat-loss method so powerful it has been called “biochemical liposuction”; and
- the foods that can improve your happiness, both now and for the long term.
With Genius Foods, Lugavere offers a cutting-edge yet practical road map to eliminating brain fog and optimizing the brain’s health and performance today—and decades into the future.
- Print length400 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarper
- Publication dateMarch 20, 2018
- Dimensions9 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
- ISBN-109780062562852
- ISBN-13978-0062562852
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“The human brain doesn’t come with an owner’s manual, but Genius Foods comes close—except that it’s also fun to read, and written in a way that anyone can understand. Lugavere has done a great job of distilling the best-available evidence to fix or prevent a broken brain, while also bringing important new ideas to light.” — Mark Hyman, MD, Director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Functional Medicine
“Max Lugavere has magnificently accomplished the task of bringing the leading edge of brain science to the table—literally. Genius Foods rightlyportrays what we choose to eat as representing the most influential decision we make in terms of brain function as well as resistance to disease. Lugavere empathetically guides the reader to dietary choices that will clearly pave the way for a better brain.” — David Perlmutter, MD, Author, #1 New York Times bestseller Grain Brain and Brain Maker
“Genius Foods can help you reset your mental agility, cope with stress, battle brain fog, and even smack back dementia. What are you waiting for?” — Mehmet Oz, MD, Professor, Columbia University
“Genius Foods breaks down and connects cutting-edge topics like dementia prevention and gut health with humor, optimism, and ample enthusiasm. Max Lugavere excels at making the complex subject of nutrition one that anyone can follow and apply in their own lives.” — Maria Shriver, award-winning journalist and founder of The Women’s Alzheimer’s
“Max Lugavere has pursued a personal mission to learn and educate others in the increasingly-concerning issue of dementia and cognitive decline. In Genius Foods, he has compiled the most masterful summary of nutritional science relevant to brain health that I have ever read. Heartfelt, readable, and real, Max cuts through the misinformation that characterizes conventional dietary advice and comes to conclusions that are unexpected and powerful. If you are interested in preventing cognitive decline and dementia, Max’s book is an absolute must read.” — William Davis, MD, Author of the Wheat Belly series and Undoctored
From the Back Cover
A POWERFUL NEW GUIDE TO ACHIEVING OPTIMAL BRAIN PERFORMANCE THROUGH FOOD, FROM A LEADING VOICE IN HEALTH
After his mother was diagnosed with a mysterious form of dementia, Max Lugavere put his successful media career on hold to learn everything he could about brain health and performance. For the better half of a decade, he consumed the most up-to-date scientific research, talked to dozens of leading scientists and clinicians around the world, and visited the country’s best neurology departments—all in the hopes of understanding his mother’s condition.
Now, in Genius Foods, Lugavere presents a comprehensive guide to brain optimization. He uncovers the stunning link between our dietary and lifestyle choices and our brain function, revealing how the foods you eat directly affect your ability to focus, learn, remember, create, analyze new ideas, and maintain a balanced mood.
Weaving together pioneering research on dementia prevention, cognitive optimization, and nutritional psychiatry, Lugavere distills groundbreaking science into actionable lifestyle changes. He shares invaluable insights into how to improve your brain power, including:
- The nutrients that can boost your memory and improve mental clarity (and where to find them)
- The foods and tactics that can energize and rejuvenate your brain, no matter your age
- A brain-boosting fat-loss method so powerful it has been called “biochemical liposuction”
The foods that can improve your happiness, both now and for the long term.
With Genius Foods, Lugavere offers a cutting-edge yet practical road map to eliminating brain fog and optimizing the brain’s health and performance today—and decades into the future.
About the Author
Max Lugavere is a filmmaker, TV personality, and health and science journalist. He is the director of the film Bread Head, the first-ever documentary about dementia prevention through diet and lifestyle. Lugavere has contributed to Medscape, Vice, Fast Company, and the Daily Beast, among others, and is a regularly appearing “core expert” on The Dr. Oz Show. He is a sought-after speaker, invited to lecture at esteemed academic institutions such as the New York Academy of Sciences and Weill Cornell Medicine, and has given keynotes at such events as the Biohacker Summit in Stockholm, Sweden. From 2005 to 2011, Lugavere was a journalist for Al Gore’s Current TV. He lives in New York City and Los Angeles.
Product details
- ASIN : 0062562851
- Publisher : Harper; 1st edition (March 20, 2018)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 400 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780062562852
- ISBN-13 : 978-0062562852
- Item Weight : 1.4 pounds
- Dimensions : 9 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,662 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2 in Neuroscience (Books)
- #10 in Cognitive Psychology (Books)
- #10 in Medical Cognitive Psychology
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Max Lugavere is a filmmaker, health and science journalist and the author of the New York Times best-seller Genius Foods: Become Smarter, Happier, and More Productive While Protecting Your Brain for Life, published in 8 languages around the globe. He is also the host of the #1 iTunes health podcast The Genius Life. Lugavere appears regularly on the Dr. Oz Show, the Rachael Ray Show, and The Doctors. He has contributed to Medscape, Vice, Fast Company, CNN, and the Daily Beast, has been featured on NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, and in The New York Times and People Magazine. He is an internationally sought-after speaker and has given talks at South by Southwest, TEDx, the New York Academy of Sciences, the Biohacker Summit in Stockholm, Sweden, and many others.
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Customers find the book incredibly informative, well-researched, and understandable. They describe it as a great, fun, and technical read. Readers praise the writing as compelling and articulated in a way that anyone can understand. They also appreciate the exciting information about optimizing nutrition. In addition, they find the content engaging, fascinating, relatable, and moved by it.
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Customers find the book incredibly informative and well-researched. They say it's a wonderful job of presenting scientific subject matter and making it understandable. Readers also appreciate the unique ability to take current scientific research, process it, assimilate it, and then explain the science behind the strategy. They say the information is important for all ages and highly cited.
"...Extra virgin olive oil reduces inflammation, protects your brain against decline, and is shown to stop your body from converted excess carbs into..." Read more
"...Along the way you will get a very understandable education on how to optimize your sleep and exercise...." Read more
"...I’ll mark this one with a strong 4.5 out of 5, as probably the most informative and engaging book on diet/lifestyle/nutrition I’ve had the..." Read more
"I found this book incredibly educational and it reinforced a lot of I was hoping I was doing correctly with my daily food regime...." Read more
Customers find the book to be a great, informative, and fun read. They say it's easy to understand and insightful. Readers also mention the author keeps them engaged through humorous analogies and references.
"...With that said, Genius Foods is a fun, enjoyable read and reinforces what we should be eating and doing to maintain a healthy lifestyle...." Read more
"...Either book is amazing stand alone, and as much as I loved Dr. Hyman's book, IF I had to choose just one, you NEED to pick up Genius Foods...." Read more
"Excellent book. Very informative and easy to read." Read more
"...Overall, I would say the book is worth reading, but with a critical eye." Read more
Customers find the book easy to read and understand. They say the writing is compelling and articulated in a way that anyone can understand. Readers also mention the book is effectively organized and provides a path for them to feel clear-headed, energized, and live a long life.
"...So, the writing is similarly compelling, and articulated in a way that anyone can understand...." Read more
"...Dr. Hyman did a great job of creating a simple blueprint that I felt Max's Genius Foods was able to expand upon and really complete for me...." Read more
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"Excellent book. Very informative and easy to read." Read more
Customers find the nutrition information in the book exciting, wonderful, and engaging. They say it reinforces their food choices and is great for treating cognitive conditions. Readers also mention the book is written in a readable and interesting format.
"...With that said, Genius Foods is a fun, enjoyable read and reinforces what we should be eating and doing to maintain a healthy lifestyle...." Read more
"...His style keeps you very interested as he shares important nutritional, physical, and medical information all relating to brain health...." Read more
"...a strong 4.5 out of 5, as probably the most informative and engaging book on diet/lifestyle/nutrition I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying...." Read more
"This book is filled with more important nutritional information than most of the similar books I have read...." Read more
Customers find the content fascinating, entertaining, relatable, and emotional. They say the author's passion makes the book more personable.
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"...Max has an engaging, easy to read style making some of the detailed science in the book easier to understand and digest...." Read more
"...Heartfelt, readable, and real, Max shows us just how powerful someone with a mission can cut through the misinformation that characterizes..." Read more
Customers find the book inspiring and lighthearted. They say it helps them feel better and more focused right now.
"...Foods is fiber from vegetables, which is linked to better cognition, sleep, and a longer life...." Read more
"...Lost quite a bit of weight, sleeping better and exercising most days of the week...." Read more
"...health and serious topics about mental health with a lighthearted and humanist approach...." Read more
"...But I have completely changed my diet. I feel sharper, more aware, more awake, more energize, and simply "better"...." Read more
Customers find the book worth every penny. They also say it's life-changing and money-saving.
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Customers find the humor in the book to be warm, not patronizing, and relatable. They also say the tone of the author is warm.
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"Yes, the book can get a little deep in the weeds. But he gives you a break with some humor and even some touching anecdotes as well...." Read more
"...I was after, but thoroughly researched, and very enjoyable read...pretty funny guy who tackles a very serious subject...." Read more
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Author, Max Lugavere, notes the key to excellent brain health is avoiding inflammation, overfeeding, nutrient deficiencies, toxic exposure, chronic stress, physical stagnation, and sleep loss. The book then runs through each of those maladies with proposed solutions, including lifestyle choices like regular exercise and lots of sleep. While the book’s theme is brain health, the book focuses on health generally. Follow the Genius Foods lifestyle, the book sells, and you’re pretty much guaranteed not just brain health, but heart and gut health too.
Lugavere gives us 10 super “Genius Foods” to maximize brain processing and minimize brain decline: (1) extra-virgin olive oil, (2) avocados, (3) blueberries, (4) dark chocolate, (5) eggs, (6) grass-fed beef, (7) dark leafy greens, (8) broccoli, (9) wild salmon, and (10) almonds. The book alternates between a chapter discussing an important health topic—like the importance of sleep or fasting, for example—and a brief chapter about a specific Genius Food.
The first key to Genius Foods is eating mostly fats. Extra virgin olive oil reduces inflammation, protects your brain against decline, and is shown to stop your body from converted excess carbs into stored fat. The book also points out the importance of DHA and EPA, which is mostly found in beef, eggs, and fish. If you don’t eat those foods, the book recommends a fish-oil supplement. And there’s lots of talk about MCT oil, which is shown to go straight to liver to produce ketones and can slow down Alzheimer’s progression. But in any event, according to Genius Foods, eat lots and lots of fat. When eating leafy greens like spinach or kale, for example, you must eat fat because it helps greens’ nutrients get to the brain. And saturated fats from animals are best and most chemically stable.
But never combine fat and carbs. Genius Foods says if you look at nature you’ll see fat and carbs aren’t ever combined, except in breast milk which is designed to make a baby fat. Plants have carbs and protein but rarely fat. Meat has protein and fat, but no carbs. If you go against nature by combining them, you will get fat and reduce brain health.
The second key to Genius Foods is fiber from vegetables, which is linked to better cognition, sleep, and a longer life. In fact, fiber consumption determines healthy aging more than any other variable including sugar consumption! Those who eat the most fiber are 80% more likely to be free of hypertension, diabetes, dementia, depression, and disability..
The third pillar of Genius Foods is fasting, which promotes a longer life and restoration. Fasting causes growth-hormone development, improved decision making, antioxidant production and cell repair, increased cholesterol recycling, and the ability to grow new brain cells. Fasting leads to ketosis, which is gets rid of toxins. 16 hours of fasting, and eight hours of feeding, stimulates fat burning and cell regeneration. Other types of fasting, like starving for one full day and eating all day the next, have similar effects. Find the fasting that works best for you and incorporate that fasting into your life for maximum brain health.
The book goes through all the usual keto rhetoric, like cholesterol isn’t an important predictor of heart disease. There’s recent data, it says, suggesting that higher cholesterol protects against dementia. Studies show that people with higher cholesterol perform better on cognitive tests than people with lower cholesterol.
Like the author of Big Fat Surprise (https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/RV7PR2274EKAX?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_srp), which Genius Foods cites, Max Lugavere is a journalist rather than a health professional. So, the writing is similarly compelling, and articulated in a way that anyone can understand. The thesis behind Genius Foods is the same as other books coming before it, like The Paleo Diet (see https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2G2574G7FO9VM?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_srp), which Genius Foods discusses.
With that said, Genius Foods is a fun, enjoyable read and reinforces what we should be eating and doing to maintain a healthy lifestyle. I very much enjoyed Genius Foods and highly recommend it as another great keto adventure. Five Stars.
Okay, so done with the background, here's my point: this book is the BEST I have ever encountered. The book is chalk FULL of science, research and talking points from the experts in the field. BUT, at the same time somehow, incredibly, manages to be EASY to read. I've never read a non-fiction book so fast. I mean it. I could read a chapter a night even with brain fog. I bought the kindle version first, then later bought the hardcover book because the kindle can make it a little harder, in my opinion, to flip quickly to pages I wanted to mark (okay, I'm kind of new to the kindle).
Max's book gives you the consensus on what the nutrition science has to offer. When there is doubt among the experts, Max lets you know that and gives you his best opinion, and the expert's best opinion, on how to proceed. Each chapter chips away at a new subject that will, if you are like me, probably revolutionize your understanding of nutrition science. The book is complete, when you are done you will FEEL READY to proceed with a nutrition plan that works. Along the way you will get a very understandable education on how to optimize your sleep and exercise. You'll understand both HOW and WHY these things are important.
I told my folks about the book, they've bought it and are digging into it now, too. I'm honestly so grateful that Max (and Dr. Paul) took on this monumental task of making this book, and they succeeded, in every way. I'm a couple of months into the process of implementing the changes found in the book. Lost quite a bit of weight, sleeping better and exercising most days of the week. Brain fog lifting and I can actually get stuff done during the day that I never would before.
I've NEVER been in a position like this before, of feeling CONFIDENT that I have enough information to sustain healthy living. It's quite the empowering feeling. In the past, even when I thought I was making some progress, I still felt "in the dark" and full of anxiety that the progress would not last. This is the first time IN MY LIFE that I don't feel that way. Thank you Max, so much.
FYI I had read most of Dr. Mark Hyman's book "Food, what the heck do I eat?" just prior to Max's book. I loved that book, too, and felt the two complemented each other so well. Dr. Hyman did a great job of creating a simple blueprint that I felt Max's Genius Foods was able to expand upon and really complete for me. Either book is amazing stand alone, and as much as I loved Dr. Hyman's book, IF I had to choose just one, you NEED to pick up Genius Foods. But if you can afford both, do it.
Max references his website a couple of times, but I honestly found it a bit disappointing. This is not worth docking a star or anything, the book is BEYOND 5 stars by itself, but it'd be nice if the official website was a little more interactive or updated regularly.
Lastly, I just hope that Mr. Lugavere will make a Genius Foods 2.0 update in a few years to keep up with any changes in nutrition science. Shoot, I'd reserve a copy of that the moment I heard about it.















