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Today’s review is quite different but I like branching out and trying new things so here goes. This is a review of a recipe book called Anxiety & Depression: Eat Your Way to Better Health (The Medicinal Chef)
As most of you will know, I have medication-resistant depression and my anxiety disorders are proving nigh on impossible to shift with meds too so I’m all for looking into other ways of helping myself. I’m not especially interested in “alternative” remedies because I’ve tried a number of them with even less success than conventional medicine and I’m not a believer of just trying anything in the hope that it’ll work. Trying things involves investing a lot of time, energy and hope into making something work for you and I’ve had my hopes dashed too many times so I really have to be persuaded into believing something might work before I’ll even consider attempting it. With that in mind, this is why I’ve not changed my diet or followed the suggestions in this book to the letter and therefore why I cannot make any miracle claims. However, don’t stop reading.
This book has a lengthy introduction about how anxiety and depression work on the brain, some of the common beliefs about where these conditions come from and the causes of them and then goes on to explain how foods can help and hinder the conditions and their symptoms. I’ve learnt during my own anxiety disorder journey that sugar is my enemy. As is alcohol. And caffeine. It took me ages to admit this to myself and I still battle with it but all three of those things make me very unwell, increase my already racing and irregular heart rate (I’m on beta-blockers to reduce and regulate this) and put my anxiety levels through the roof. I really do have to avoid them as much as possible. The information in the book explains why I’ve found this to be the case and suggests foods that can be great for stabilising your mood and your blood sugar levels so that you’re not cycling through highs and lows of energy all day with your body and mind never knowing if you’re coming or going.
I realised a long time ago that if I eat crap, I feel like crap. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not on some health kick where I eat every vegetable I can think of and ban cake from my house (even thinking about that makes me feel sick and somewhat blasphemous) but it has made me focus on what I eat and how it makes me feel. Sadly, like many people with mental illnesses, I also have IBS that in my case, seems to be almost solely induced by stress with the exception of onions which I discovered two months ago are the cause of intensely painful bloating and after months of denial and thinking that they couldn’t possibly be causing my pain because I eat them every day and don’t bloat badly every day, two days of eating accidentally under-roasted onion and having a rock solid stomach that didn’t move even when I tried to suck it in, I had to admit defeat and face the fact that onions are my nemesis that when raw make my insides feel like they’re waging war. This has made me realise that diet is important in helping to regulate and manage all of my conditions.
So, back to the book, Dale makes no claims about effectiveness and merely states that diet changes, alongside traditional forms of treatment, can optimise the functioning of the brain and nervous system. He explains how the central nervous system works and defines key neurotransmitters and the effect they can have on mental health. He then goes on to discuss in detail key nutrients for mental health, what they do and in what foods they can be found. Following this, he explains what anxiety and depression are, what happens to the body and what can be done nutritionally to help. It is worth noting that the introduction is very detailed and thorough but does take up a whopping 62 pages including quote pages and pictures. Image number 3 below shows where the recipes start in the book.
So, onto the recipes – the main reason why you’re considering buying this book. The recipes are split into sections: 6 Breakfasts, 15 Lunches, 24 Dinners and 6 Snacks and Desserts. About a third of the recipes have full page photos opposite and they’re all written in nice, clear text with a description at the top explaining which useful nutrients they contain. It doesn’t detail cooking times or calorie counts but does tell you how many servings it produces. I’ve made a number of dishes from this book including the Spiced Lentil Soup and Gorgeous Green Soup (both pictured below) and they were really easy to follow and very tasty – even the green soup of which I detest 50% of the ingredients!
This book isn’t ideal for fussy eaters like me because it uses a lot of fish, seafood and dark green veg. But, for those of you who aren’t so fussy it could be a great buy and would be well worth trying because the recipes are low fat and low sugar so not only may it help improve your mood, it may also help you lose weight. I can testify this has had a hugely beneficial effect on my own mood now I’ve lost 37lbs and counting since January (not through using this book I must point out). This book is clear and well-written, it’s very informative and explains things scientifically and uses research to back up any claims made but it’s not difficult to understand as it’s not full of jargon. As for whether it’ll help your mood, I don’t know, but it’s an interesting read that may help you gain understanding of your conditions and if nothing else, you’ll be eating some tasty grub! I’d love to hear from anyone giving this diet change a go to see if it has any effect or not and if you’d like to buy a copy of the book then head to Amazon via this link Anxiety & Depression: Eat Your Way to Better Health (The Medicinal Chef)
In The Midst Of Madness 