Food and Mood or Way of the Shaman

Food and Mood: The Complete Guide to Eating Well and Feeling Your Best

Author: Elizabeth Somer

Why do you feel tired after eating a full meal? Why do you have so much trouble concentrating? Why do you crave chocolate? Can diet affect depression? Is there a natural cure for insomnia? Nutrition expert Elizabeth Somer answers all these questions and more in this completely updated and revised second edition to her nutritional guide Food and Mood. The result of research encompassing thousands of the most up-to-date scientific studies, Somer explains how what we eat has a direct influence on how we feel, think, sleep, look, and act. She addresses specific food-related issues including health conditions, food cravings, diet struggles, stress, PMS, winter blues, energy levels, depression, memory, and sleep patterns, as well as tackling the issue of supplements and providing the real story on those you need and those you don't. Included is Somer's revolutionary Feeling Good Diet, a program that shows you how to take control of your eating habits to benefit mood and mental functioning now.

Publishers Weekly

What at first glance would appear to be yet another look at the relationships of food with emotional state is, instead, an extremely well-researched probe of what a good diet can mean to both body and mind. Somer, editor of Nutrition Report, dispels many of the myths about specific foods and diet patterns, putting in their place scientific studies showing the links between mood and diet. Among the topics she discusses are food cravings, stress and diet, food allergies and intolerances, eating disorders, premenstrual syndrome and how food can affect sleep patterns. More than 100 tables, charts and worksheets help readers evaluate their diets and make appropriate changes. Menus and recipes are also included, and the need for supplements is discussed. Readers will appreciate Somer's no-nonsense style and the absence of contrived anecdotes to make important dietary points. Although some may find that the book gets off to a slow start, those who stick with it will find a valuable nutritional sourcebook. (Jan.)

Library Journal

The author of numerous books on nutrition (e.g., Nutrition for Women, LJ 10/15/93) and the editor of the monthly Nutrition Report, Somer has compiled ample information from scientific research that links nutrition to depression, mood swings, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and premenstrual syndrome (PMS). She includes over 100 tables, charts, and worksheets to help readers access their own mood swings plus nutritional menus and recipes to help counter these swings. Her only false step is recommending that anyone short on time purchase pre-cut vegetables, since vegetables begin losing nutrients when they are cut. Only those who are truly interested in nutritional research will be motivated to read this book from cover to cover, but it will serve as a good reference for any reader. Recommended for large nutrition collections.-Loraine F. Sweetland, Rebok Memorial Lib., Silver Spring, Md.

Booknews

A practical guide to improving one's eating habits and understanding the complex relationship between food and physical and mental health. Somer, a nutritionist, provides clear explanations of food compounds and chemicals, blood sugar, and "smart foods," as well as PMS, SAD, depression, stress, poor sleep, food allergies, eating disorders, and how a healthy diet (she touts one called "The Feeling Good Diet") can improve these conditions. Contains an extensive glossary. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Table of Contents:

	Acknowledgments	xiii
	Foreword	xv
	Introduction	xvii
I.	The Food-Mood Link
1	How Food Affects Your Mood	5
	Getting to Know Your Neurons	6
	A Symphony of Chemicals	8
	What You Eat Affects How You Feel	11
	The Diet-Made Chemicals: Serotonin, Dopamine, Norepinephrine, and Acetylcholine	13
	The Survival Chemicals: Neuropeptide Y (NPY), Galanin, and the Endorphins	20
	Beyond the Brain	25
	The Highs and Lows of Blood Sugar	26
	When Eating Becomes Unhealthy	29
	Nature Versus Nurture	31
	How Are You Eating? A Self-Assessment	32
2	Do You Crave Carbohydrates?	44
	Biological Callings	46
	Endorphins, Sugar, and Instant Gratification	49
	Doing the Blood-Sugar Boogie	57
	How Sweet It Is	59
	Eat and Be Merry	60
3	Other Food Cravings: Sweet-and-Creamy, Chocolate, and Salt	69
	Your "Fat Tooth"	70
	Fat for Survival	73
	More on Endorphins and Fat Cravings	75
	The Fat Thermostat	76
	A Calorie Is Not Just a Calorie	77
	Why We Crave Fat: A Simple Explanation	80
	Fake Fats: There's No Such Thing as a Free Lunch	80
	Chocoholics: Can't Live With It, Can't Live Without It	82
	That Craving for Salt	87
	Cravings Finale	88
4	No Energy? Could Be Your Diet	95
	Your Mother Was Right	97
	Wake Up and Smell the Coffee	104
	Sugarcoated Sleeping Pill	108
	Bypassing the Midday Doldrums	112
	Ironing Out Fatigue	113
	Vitamins and Minerals in Short Supply	115
	Can Food Allergies Cause Fatigue?	115
	Additives, Preservatives, and Fatigue	118
	Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Dietary Approach	119
	The Energizing Lifestyle	120
5	PMS and SAD	124
	Premenstrual Syndrome: The Period Before Your Period	125
	PMS, Calories, and Cravings	129
	PMS Pills, Potions, and Powders	131
	What You Can Do About PMS: From Fat and Coffee to Supplements	131
	Are You SAD?	139
	SAD and Light	143
	The Serotonin Connection	143
	The Sunshine Vitamin and SAD	146
	SAD Basics	146
	Beyond Light and Diet	149
6	Food and the Blues	151
	Stop the Cycle, I Want to Get Off	152
	Amino Acid Alchemy	155
	I'm in the Mood for Fat	155
	The B[subscript 6] Connection	158
	Other Vitamins and Minerals: In the Pink or Feeling Blue?	159
	Blues-Free Basics	162
	That Exercise Thing You Do	164
	Natural Mood Boosters	166
7	Stress and Diet	169
	Prehistoric Stress	170
	The Mind-Body Connection	172
	How Stress Affects Your Nutrition	173
	Worry and the Common Cold	174
	Stress-Fighting Nutrition Factors	176
	Caffeine Jitters, High Anxiety	180
	Cholesterol and Hostility: Is There a Connection?	184
	Calm Down with Exercise	185
	Stress-Proof Basics	186
8	Smart Foods	191
	The History of Smart Foods	192
	It Starts Earlier Than You Think	193
	As You Eat, So Shall You Think	195
	Fish Really Is Brain Food	198
	Crank Up Cognition with Coffee	200
	Antioxidants and the Brain Drain	201
	B's on the Report Card	205
	What Do Eggs, Wheat Germ, and Your Brain Have in Common?	209
	Phosphatidyl What?	211
	Iron Intelligence	212
	Exercise and De-Stress Your Brain	212
9	Can't Sleep?	216
	You're Not Alone	216
	Some Sleep-Stealing Foods	222
	Are You Allergic to Sleep?	224
	Night Awakenings	225
	Boosting Serotonin: From Supplements to Popcorn	226
	B Vitamins, Minerals, and Your Snooze Control	227
	Stacking the Deck in Favor of Sleep	229
II.	Reining in Out-Of-Control Appetites
10	Why Do You Overeat?	235
	Born to Be Hungry	237
	When Chemicals Run Amok	238
	Savor the Taste	240
	Know How, No Way	246
	Overeating All the Right Foods	250
11	Food Abuse: Eating for All the Wrong Reasons	252
	The Psychology of Eating Habits	253
	Confusing Food with Love	254
	Beyond Fad Diets	255
	The ABCs of Food Abuse	260
III.	Nutrition Know-How for Feeling Your Best
12	The Feeling Good Diet	269
	The Un-Diet	270
	In a Nutshell	271
	Before You Begin	280
	You're Worth It	285
13	Putting the Feeling Good Diet into Practice	287
	The Shopping Tour	287
	Produce Potpourri: Fresh, Frozen, Canned, and Organic	288
	The Grain Exchange: Whole Grains Versus Refined	292
	The Meat and Seafood Market	292
	The Dairy Case	296
	Planning Your Meals and Snacks	299
	Five Simple Guidelines	300
	The Right Pro-Portion	302
	Satisfying Snacks	303
	The Dining-Out Dilemma	303
	Feeling Good Menus	306
14	Do You Need Supplements to Feel Good?	321
	In Search of the Balanced Diet	323
	So What?	324
	Sixty-two Cups of Spinach	325
	The Supplement Controversy	326
	Supplements + Diet	327
	The Guidelines: As Simple as 1, 2, 3	327
Appendix	Food Groups and Servings Sizes in the Feeling Good Diet	336
	Recipes for Feeling Your Best	348
	Resources	387
	Selected References	393
	Index	409

New interesting textbook: Zin or Strengthen Your Performance in Psychological Tests

Way of the Shaman: Tenth Anniversary Edition

Author: Michael J Harner

This comprehensive anthology contains writings vital to all the major non-Western religious traditions, arranged thematically. It includes colourful descriptions of deities, creation myths, depictions of death and the afterlife, teachings on the relationship between humanity and the sacred, religious rituals and practices, and prayers and hymns. Mircea Eliade, a recognized pioneer in the systematic study of the history of the world’s religions, includes excerpts from the Quran, the Book of the Dead, the Rig Veda, the Bhagavad Gita, the Homeric Hymns, and the Popol Vuh, to name just a few. Oral accounts from Native American, African, Maori, Australian Aborigine, and other people are also included.