How To Feed Your Brain – The Book

It’s been a long time in the making, so I’m going to shout about it

This is my BIG ANNOUNCEMENT. My book on diet and mental health will be published in October 2023, and I could not be more excited.

How To Feed Your Brain is a guide to eating the most nutritious, brain-friendly foods available, to maximise brain function throughout each stage of life, starting in the womb.

It’s also about avoiding brain disorders. From anxiety to depression, from ADHD to Alzheimer’s, discover the way that food influences your mental wellbeing.

Those of you who are familiar with my writing won’t be surprised to learn that broccoli and walnuts don’t feature a great deal in my book. This is about the key brain nutrients, those that fuel the brain, give it structure and make it work. It’s also about how deficiency of those key nutrients can affect cognitive function, and how to spot the signs that something is missing.

Discover how your brain’s dependency on these key nutrients was forged hundreds of thousands of years ago. That dependency remains exactly the same today.  You’d be surprised how little you’ve changed over the years.

When I started writing this book, it wasn’t with the intention of becoming something of an expert in the evolution of the human diet, but that’s where this journey took me. And it really was mind-blowing. I discovered which nutrients were responsible for the phenomenal growth of the human brain throughout evolution – and then discovered that those are the same nutrients that drive peak cognitive performance today. When we don’t feed our brains in accordance with our evolved biochemistry, they get ill.

“The rapidly increasing incidence, and perhaps severity, of some psychiatric diseases suggests that … we are dealing with a conflict between our contemporary lifestyle and our slowly adapting genome.”

How to Feed Your Brain is divided into three parts. In part one, I outline seven crucial steps to maximise mental health and avoid ill-health, with a particular focus on the more common brain disorders: ADHD, autism, depression and anxiety, psychosis and dementia. You will learn what to eat, and what not to eat. You will  also learn about the specific needs of children and adults, including the elderly.

Part two is about the backstory, a brief race through time and place that explains how our species-specific diet was determined. It’s a fascinating story, one that links the past with the present and makes sense of the cause-and-effect relationship between nutrition and mental health. Learn how we became the smartest animals on the planet, with the biggest brains – and how those brains are now shrinking at an alarming rate. The consequences are reflected in the mental health crisis we see all around us.

“You have to know the past to understand the present.” Carl Sagan

In part three, I offer simple meal suggestions to help ensure your diet contains all the key brain nutrients. It’s about the human diet, updated to the twenty-first century.

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This book is for anyone keen to maintain healthy brain function and avoid dementia and cognitive decline in later life. It is also ideal for those who are struggling with mental health issues and who wish to explore dietary solutions. People caring for others with mental health problems will also find it a useful resource.

This is a science book, fully referenced, but written in a style that makes it accessible to the layperson. I didn’t want my readers to feel like they were taking a science course. Each section ends with a summary and practical tips, so you don’t feel you have to memorise the whole lot. (Some of you may be struggling with poor memory, after all.)

I wanted to write something unique, evidence-based and relatable, and at the same time provide information beyond the usual. It meant digging very deep. The reward of my dig was a treasure trove of fascinating information, just waiting to be opened up and put to good use.

Everything is connected, and it is this interdependence that reminds us of our place within the natural world. Nothing exemplifies this more than the effect of food on the brain.

I’ll let you know the due date…..