Book Review: Natural Menopause

This book explores the management of menopause through herbal remedies, aromatherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, nutrition, exercise, and hormone replacement therapy. The underpinning message is to live a healthy lifestyle, which will impact not only the transition through menopause but also the quality of a long healthy life. I recommend the book to women in their late 40s as a resource to feel informed about choices to support the body physically and mentally.

This book is attractively organized with subtitles, boxed-out information, and illustrations. It serves as a great resource to learn more about various options that you hear about, your friend recommends, your doctor is considering, etc. Throughout, there are great tips that are easy to implement. For example, to save time and be less distracted, I was inspired to turn off alerts on my phone and unfollow many people on Twitter and Instagram. I also appreciate their general lifestyle advice: avoid highly processed foods, reduce sugar intake, cut out saturated fats found in manufactured foods, eliminate caffeine, cut out alcohol, and minimize stress (p. 130). There is a good explanation of the macronutrients: protein, fats, and carbohydrates.

Before trying herbal remedies, essential oils, and supplements, be sure to consult a professional on what to take, possible interactions with medications, etc. The book is a resource and should not be taken as medical advice.

I do not agree with some of their nutrition recommendations, e.g., “essential” good carbs (p. 136). Carbohydrates are not essential and should be limited to low-starch vegetables and low-sugar fruits to maintain glucose levels. There are also some contradictions. While they do not recommend highly processed food (p. 130), the authors do recommend high-fiber cereal (p. 137) and fortified bread and cereals (p. 140). Also, they promote soy (p. 149) but do not address concerns regarding genetically modified crops and pesticides.

Overall, a good resource that I would buy for my sister or girlfriend.

Natural Menopause: Herbal Remedies, Aromatherapy, CBT, Nutrition, Exercise, HRT by Anita Ralph

My rating: 3 of 5 stars 

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Book Review: The Shift: 7 Powerful Mindset Changes for Lasting Weight Loss

I'm not a fan of WW, (formerly Weight Watchers) but I thought this book was very informative and helpful regarding mindset. There are easy-to-implement ideas and practical advice throughout; it was a quick read. By the end of the book, I was tired of the WW references.

The Shift: 7 Powerful Mindset Changes for Lasting Weight Loss by Gary Foster
My rating: 3 of 5 stars; View all my reviews

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Book Review: Eat Like the Animals

Every living organism intuitively knows how to balance its diet—except for humans. Discover how the craving for protein is universal and diet-determining, in addition to appetites for carbohydrates, fats, sodium, and calcium. To test their protein-leverage hypotheses, years of groundbreaking research are shared regarding mold, locusts, crickets, mice, cats, dogs, and primates. How is this applicable to us? The authors provide key takeaways to take charge of your nutrition, food environment, and appetites to enjoy your journey toward a healthy and satisfying diet. Hint—prioritize protein.

If you are fascinated by scientific animal studies and how they may explain in what way physiology, evolution, and feeding behavior affect our current situation, then this book is recommended for you.

For a full review, including key takeaways, go to LinkedIn.

Raubenheimer, D., & Simpson, S. (2020). Eat like the animals: What nature teaches us about the science of healthy eating. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Book Review: Eat Better, Feel Better

If you are a fan of Italian-American chef, writer, and television personality Giada De Laurentiis, then you will enjoy this book. She reveals how she revamped her diet and wellness routines to support a healthy body. She shares her three-day reboot that she follows a few times a year, the go-to foods she eats daily, various wellness techniques she uses (e.g., intermittent fasting, meditation), and over 100 recipes that support her revitalized lifestyle.

This is Giada's personal journey and should not be taken as nutritional advice.

de Laurentiis, G. (2021). Eat better, feel better: My recipes for wellness and healing, inside and out. New York: Rodale Books.

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Book Review: Within Our Grasp

 

This book takes you on a journey of past, present, and planned initiatives to end childhood hunger and malnourishment. Author Sharman Apt Russell weaves her personal story throughout, making it more real, engaging, and heartwarming. We can do this!

Regardless if you are a humanitarian, policymaker, entrepreneur, nutritionist, or interested in the issue of malnutrition, this book has something for everyone.

Russell, S. (2021). Within our grasp: Childhood malnutrition worldwide and the revolution taking place to end it. New York: Pantheon Books.

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Book Review: Hooked

Author Michael Moss depicts how the food industry has wielded its way to hook and keep its hold over us while maximizing profitability. Fat and sugar combinations, smells, textures, and flavor enhancers hit our brain at lightning speeds, interacting with memories that stimulate and compel further cravings. The reader gets a complete sense of what companies have done to exploit our addiction (“a repetitive behavior that some people find difficult to quit” p. 10). Just as consumers figure out one way of Big Food’s maneuvering, they change it up and go a different way, e.g., altering serving sizes, adding protein, “healthy” marketing on labels, etc.

The hope in exposing these manipulations is to help us to navigate a more healthful path forward. This book is recommended to all, and to especially those who consume anything from a package.

Michael, M. (2021). Hooked: Food, free will, and how the food giants exploit our addictions. New York: Random House.

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Book Review: Your Brain on Food

Diet can have a significant impact on our mental health. Author Uma Naidoo, MD, describes how the gut and brain are connected and addresses this relationship in conditions such as depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, dementia, brain fog, obsessive-compulsive disorder, insomnia and fatigue, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and libido issues. Each chapter covering a condition is self-contained with patient stories, how various foods and eating patterns affect the condition, and what foods worsen and improve the ailment. Studies are shared that support eating or avoiding foods for the given condition. The chapter concludes with a “cheat sheet” that summarizes what to embrace and what to avoid. At the end of the book there is a chapter, Cooking and Eating for Your Brain, with menus and recipes targeted to each condition. This book is highly recommended to those diagnosed with one of these conditions.

Check out my full book review on LinkedIn.

Naidoo, Uma. (2020). This is Your Brain on Food: An indispensable guide to the surprising foods that fight depression, anxiety, PTSD, OCD, ADHD, and More. New York: Little, Brown Spark.

Book Review: The Circadian Code

The circadian lifestyle includes getting the best night’s sleep, time-restricted eating, optimizing learning and working environment, syncing exercise, and adapting to light and screen disrupters. This book will help you recognize your circadian rhythms and how to follow them. In addition, it provides research on how optimizing your schedule can improve your health and even prevent or delay disease. The book provides many practical suggestions to implement; recommended reading for all.

Check out my full book review on LinkedIn.

Panda, S. (2018). The circadian code:Lose weight, supercharge your energy, and transform your health from morning tomidnight. New York: Rodale Books.

Book Review: Ravenous

Must love history if you are diving into this book. Sam Apple presents the story of Nobel Prize winner and biochemist Otto Warburg, the history of cancer research, and how the rise of cancer influenced Adolf Hitler’s own life and thoughts. The last few chapters of the book are dedicated to how diet and cancer may be connected. If you enjoy reading about history and science, this book is for you. 

Check out my full book review on LinkedIn.

Apple, S. (2021). Ravenous: Otto Warburg, the Nazis, and the search for the cancer-diet connection. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation.

Book Review: Keep Sharp

The author starts with the basic facts about the brain: how it works, how it ages, signs of serious decline, and debunking known myths. Then Dr. Gupta shares five strategies to protect your brain function: move, discover, relax, nourish, connect. There is a 12-week program to carry out the recommended steps and strategies. The last section of the book examines the challenges of diagnosing and treating brain diseases, including insights on navigating finances and emotions.

I would recommend this book if you are looking to learn more about the brain, dementia, and prevention. It is not a scientific, deep dive into Alzheimer's disease.

Check out my full book review on LinkedIn.

Gupta, S. (2021). Keep sharp: Build a better brain at any age. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Book Review: Nudge

 

Nudges are everywhere. The authors present how we make choices and can be led to make better ones without sacrificing our freedom of choice. Topics include savings, Social Security, credit markets, environmental policy, health care, marriage, and more. The reader is encouraged to think of how nudges can apply to other domains such as your workplace, social clubs, families, universities, religious institutions. I found the book fascinating and would recommend it to those interested in how our surroundings influence our choices.

Check out my full book review on LinkedIn.

Thaler, R. and Sunstein, C. (2009). Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. New York: Penguin Books.

Book Review: How to be an Introvert in an Extrovert World

Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum of an introvert to extrovert, you will be enlightened about yourself and those around you. Connolly recommends the reader think of this book as an “introvert resource kit.” She delivers just that—insights, strategies, and inspiration for the introvert life. I recommend this book for all humans. 

Check out my full book review on LinkedIn.

Connolly, M. (2018). How to be an introvert in an extrovert world. Louder Minds.

Book Review: Why We Get Fat

 

The author presents a compelling case that obesity results from a hormonal imbalance, not a caloric one. If you are a fan of Gary Taubes, then you will enjoy reading this book (published in 2011). If you are looking for similar information but more recent and ketogenic-focused, then read his book, The Case for Keto (published in 2020). 

The hormones, enzymes, and growth factors regulate our fat tissue. The stimulation of insulin secretion caused by eating easily digestible carbohydrate-rich foods (refined carbohydrates, starchy vegetables, and sugars) drives us to accumulate fat, makes us hungrier, and makes us sedentary. It also causes obesity, cancer, heart disease, hypertension, and Alzheimer’s. If you want to lose excess fat, then stay away from these carbohydrate-rich foods. Taubes provides the science, historical context, and research against conventional wisdom that it is only about calories in versus calories out.

Check out my full book review on LinkedIn.

Taubes, G. (2011). Why We Get Fat and what to do about it. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Book Review: The Case for Keto

The author states this book is not for the lean and healthy. Instead, it is written for those who fatten easily and are curious about the low-carb, high fat (LCHF) or ketogenic lifestyle. Eighteen chapters cover the history of the diet, its evolution, scientific research and reasoning, and the basics of the plan. I would recommend it to someone who knows very little about the diet and wants to be convinced to try it. It is not a prescriptive, how-to book, but rather an in-depth explanation.

Check out my full book review on LinkedIn.

Taubes, G. (2020). The Case for Keto: Rethinking weight control and the science and practice of low-carb/high-fat eating. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Book Review: Year of No Sugar

If you are looking for motivation and inspiration to reduce added sugar, this book is for you. You can do it! Schaub is very open about their mess-ups and how they navigated the year. And perhaps most interesting, after the year-long project, the author continues to make most meals from scratch, avoid fructose when possible, and limits the number of desserts the family eats.

Proverbs 27:7, One who is full loathes honey from the comb, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.

There were two things I didn't like about this book: its length and the reference of dextrose being OK. It could have been much shorter. I appreciate a succinct description of events. The author is verbose and colloquial. I can't really fault the author for substituting dextrose--this was her journey, her rules, her substitutions. I had to keep reminding myself that she is not a nutritionist and this was not a nutrition book--it is a memoir, as advertised.

Read my full review of the book, including golden nuggets, on LinkedIn.

Schaub, E. (2014). Year of no sugar: A memoir. Naperville: Sourcebooks, Inc.

Book Review: Breath

Journalist James Nestor shares his quest to improve his breathing along with the research, medical history, biochemistry, physiology, and modern practices that implore us to make adjustments in the way we inhale and exhale today. It is an interesting and quick read that could help you to improve your health and well-being.

“No matter what we eat, how much we exercise, how resilient our genes are, how skinny or young or wise we are—none of it will matter unless we’re breathing correctly” (p. xix).

There are three parts to the book. Part One: The Experiment, Part Two: The Lost Art and Science of Breathing, and Part Three: Breathing+.

Check out my book review and golden nuggets on LinkedIn.

Nestor, J. (2020). Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. New York: Riverhead Books.