THE HAPPINESS DIET BOOK REVIEW

Authors Tyler Graham and Drew Ramsey MD

Published 2012 by Rodale, electronic version

THE HAPPINESS DIET is a study of food industry practices and the consequential harmful effects on  the brains of millions of people who eat in the United States.  

NIGHTMARE

 I conclude that the authors assert that the food industry is causing mass brain damage. In Part I  the authors write a compendium of food industry horrors involving bizarre preservatives, over-used hormones, corn products, factory farming, junk food processing, soy, and neurotoxin pesticides all of which have the dreadful effect of “eye of newt… and tongue of dog” on the  mental health of millions of people.

MACABRE

I have read dozens of books and research findings on food, eating right, vitamins and supplements over the years for my own personal knowledge, but I have NEVER read anything as frightening as the authors’ assertions, including the ones that sugar shrinks brains and causes Alzheimer’s, referenced as diabetes type 3 (repeat “3”.) (I had previously read elsewhere that sugar damages retinas.)

That’s only one macabre research finding from Part I.

The authors’ work surpasses anything that Upton Sinclair (The Jungle) could have ever dreamt of in a nightmare.

ANTIDOTE

As an antidote to the “MAD” diet foisted upon consumers, in Part II, the authors make comprehensive recommendations of a variety of foods and food combinations that improve moods and restore brain health, such as salmon, beets, berries and many more. The author’s prepare menus for everything from breakfast to dessert.

They quash the notion of any major benefits from low-fat diets and supplements (mostly imported and lead laden) and assert that they both are  highly dangerous. The book includes illuminating facts on  the biochemistry of fats, like those in olive oil, coconut oil and trans-fats.

COMFORT FOOD

Profoundly comforting, traditional foods like bacon and eggs and oven roasted pork chops are included in the menus. The authors champion organic vegetables, grass-feed livestock, free-range chicken and especially traditional fish and other seafood above all.

A few food recommendations are curious, like octopus which isn’t widely available.

The authors also recommend that you source your own food from your local farmer or buy organic as much as possible.  Both options may be implausible for millions of Americans.

A MUST READ

THE HAPPINESS DIET is dreadful, foreboding and depressing but required reading to salvage any hope to save you and your family’s mental health.

The book includes a full table of contents, comprehensive notes and references and a detailed, useful index. I could not review the authors’ backgrounds in my electronic version.

Pat Thomas for COCO MOJO