The Happiness Diet: A Nutritional Prescription for a Sharp Brain, Balanced Mood, and Lean, Energized Body

by Tyler G. Graham, Drew Ramsey

Overview

For the first time in history, too much food is making us sick. It’s all too apparent that the Modern American Diet (MAD) is expanding our waistlines; what’s less obvious is that it’s starving and shrinking our brains. Rates of obesity and depression have recently doubled, and while these epidemics are closely linked, few experts are connecting the dots for the average American.

Using the latest data from the rapidly changing fields of neuroscience and nutrition, The Happiness Diet shows that over the past several generations small, seemingly insignificant changes to our diet have stripped it of nutrients—like magnesium, vitamin B12, iron, and vitamin D, as well as some very special fats—that are essential for happy, well-balanced brains. These shifts also explain the overabundance of mood-destroying foods in the average American’s diet and why they predispose most of us to excessive weight gain.

After a clear explanation of how we’ve all been led so far astray, The Happiness Diet empowers the reader with simple, straightforward solutions. Graham and Ramsey show you how to steer clear of this MAD way of life with foods to swear off, shopping tips, brain-building recipes, and other practical advice, and then remake your diet by doubling down on feel-good foods—even the all-American burger.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781609618971
Publisher:	Rodale Press, Inc.
Publication date:	12/11/2012
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Tyler Graham is a wellness expert who has served as the Health and Environment Editor of O, the Oprah Magazine and the Nutrition Editor at Prevention.

Drew Ramsey is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University. He specializes in the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders using food, psychotherapy, and medication.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction xi

Part 1 This Is Your Brain on Food

1 What Is Happiness? 3

2 A Brief History of the Modern American Diet 15

3 Bad Food, Bad Mood 33

4 Good Food, Good Mood 56

Part 2 The Happiness Diet: The Foods, Menu Plans, and Recipes

5 Food for Thought 83

6 Food for Energy 98

7 Food for Good Mood 110

8 Shopping and Stocking Your Kitchen 122

9 Our Favorite Recipes 163

Breakfasts 165

Sides, Salads, and Snacks 172

Main Courses 195

Desserts 215

Dressings 218

Epilogue: Spreading Happiness 221

Bonus: Top 100 Reasons to Avoid Supplements 222

Appendix: A Complete Guide to the Fats in Foods 235

Notes 242

Select References 268

Index 282

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A new weight-loss plan that promises to tackle your mood as well as your waistline."— The Daily Mail

"Smart eating rules... mouthwatering meal plans."— Martha Stewart Living

"The diet trend of 2012. Designed to boost your mood — and shrink your belly."— Epicurious

"The diet that that will help you stay healthy, maintain a sharp mind, and keep those pesky blues at bay!"— Women's Health

"The big idea behind the book is simple: the same foods responsible for the epidemics of obesity and diabetes are contributing to the massive spike in mood disorders across the country." — Spark

"Turns out my fast-food diet, with all those processed chemicals and hardly any nutrients, was throwing off my body's feel-good chemistry." — Dave Zinczenko, editor-in-chief Men’s Health

"The book points out which foods lead to depression and anxiety, and it suggests antidotes such as grass-fed beef, butter, yogurt and whole milk to better your mood. By changing what you eat, say the authors, you can "stabilize your moods. You can improve your focus. You can even make your brain grow." And you thought doughnuts made you happy?!" — Time

"Thanks to the modern American diet (MAD), people are getting too many calories from sugar and refined carbohydrates (i.e., empty calories); eating the wrong kinds of fats, like too many omega 6 fats (found in cheap vegetable and seed oils like soy, corn, cottonseed, safflower and sunflower oil); and too many trans fats, which are not only linked to heart disease but to depression." — Self magazine

"Undernourished brains, the authors say, go hand-in-hand with overweight bodies — and they back up these claims with voluminous amounts of data." — The Today Show

"The hefty cheeseburger that adorns the cover represents that book’s main theme: the all-American cheeseburger can be healthy, if all the ingredients are natural, full of nutrients, and haven’t traveled far from the farm to the plate." — Everyday Health

"The authors demonstrate, persuasively, that if you’re feeding your brain the Standard American Diet – whose eerily appropriate acronym is SAD – you’re undermining your mental health." — Vital Choice

"We know that the typical American diet — filled with processed food and added sugar — is making us fat. But it’s also making us depressed, according "The Happiness Diet," a new book that links food to feelings." — MSNBC

"The book includes food lists, shopping tips, brain-building recipes, smart slimming strategies, and other useful tools to lose weight and keep the blues at bay." — Am New York

"Full of important facts and useful information (their "Top 100 Reasons to Avoid Processed Foods" will stun even the well-informed), The Happiness Diet offers a nutritional prescription for a sharp brain, balanced mood and lean, energized body." — The Olympian

"The Happiness Diet promotes nutritionally rich organically raised meats, dairy and eggs with all the natural fats in tact."— Metro

"If you're tired of sulking in a bag of potato chips, give it a try." — The Times Union

"Everyone talks about the pursuit of happiness – who knew that what you eat has a direct effect on how you feel, how you think, and how healthy you are?"— Eat Well, Get Well

"A lively, thorough, and iron-clad case for real food. You will never eat an egg-white omelet or soy protein shake again.'"—Nina Planck, author of Real Food and Real Food for Mother and Baby

"We're used to thinking of obesity and heart disease as the consequences of our modern way of eating. The Happiness Diet reminds us of how much our brains — and our every thought — depend on good nutrition. Here are 100 excellent reasons for turning our backs on processed foods and a wealth of simple recipes for preparing truly happy meals."— Susan Allport, author of The Queen of Fats

"The Happiness Diet" delivers a necessary corrective to the monotonous diet of nonsense cooked up by industrialized agriculture and food fetishists alike. It distills an impressive collection of solid research into clear and readable instructions for recovering the well-being evolution intended for you."— Richard Manning, author of Against the Grain

"A great way to learn how to eat right and feel good about doing so. Happy and healthy — that's how I want to live!"— Josh Holland, celebrity trainer to Madonna

"Finally, a rock-solid, reliable, informative, and entertaining book on how to eat your way to health and happiness. Run — don’t walk — to read and adopt The Happiness Diet. This is the only diet book I’ve encountered that I can actually recommend to patients without reservation." —Bonnie Maslin, PhD, Psychologist and author of Picking your Battles

"An insightful, eye opening adventure into diet and nutrition. Concise and witty, this book kept me engaged from cover to cover. I will certainly incorporate these fundamentals into my medical practice. A must-have for anyone serious about getting happy and healthy naturally." —Andrew Morton, MD, Board-certified Family Physician; Former Medical Corps, US Navy and Army Infantry Medic, Desert Storm

"Like the weather everyone talks about diets but no one dies anything about them. This comprehensive but easily accessible book guides us to coherent and healthy eating. It will help anyone interested in how the foods we eat can keep us well. —Philip R. Muskin, MD Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University

"The authors have synthesized a compelling body of scientific literature with accessible and lucid conclusions regarding the interface of diet and vulnerability, protection and treatment of mental disorders." —Roger S. McIntyre, M.D., FRCPC, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, University of Toronto

Editorial Reviews

"A new weight-loss plan that promises to tackle your mood as well as your waistline."— The Daily Mail

"Smart eating rules... mouthwatering meal plans."— Martha Stewart Living

"The diet trend of 2012. Designed to boost your mood — and shrink your belly."— Epicurious

"The diet that that will help you stay healthy, maintain a sharp mind, and keep those pesky blues at bay!"— Women's Health

"The big idea behind the book is simple: the same foods responsible for the epidemics of obesity and diabetes are contributing to the massive spike in mood disorders across the country." — Spark

"Turns out my fast-food diet, with all those processed chemicals and hardly any nutrients, was throwing off my body's feel-good chemistry." — Dave Zinczenko, editor-in-chief Men’s Health

"The book points out which foods lead to depression and anxiety, and it suggests antidotes such as grass-fed beef, butter, yogurt and whole milk to better your mood. By changing what you eat, say the authors, you can "stabilize your moods. You can improve your focus. You can even make your brain grow." And you thought doughnuts made you happy?!" — Time

"Thanks to the modern American diet (MAD), people are getting too many calories from sugar and refined carbohydrates (i.e., empty calories); eating the wrong kinds of fats, like too many omega 6 fats (found in cheap vegetable and seed oils like soy, corn, cottonseed, safflower and sunflower oil); and too many trans fats, which are not only linked to heart disease but to depression." — Self magazine

"Undernourished brains, the authors say, go hand-in-hand with overweight bodies — and they back up these claims with voluminous amounts of data." — The Today Show

"The hefty cheeseburger that adorns the cover represents that book’s main theme: the all-American cheeseburger can be healthy, if all the ingredients are natural, full of nutrients, and haven’t traveled far from the farm to the plate." — Everyday Health

"The authors demonstrate, persuasively, that if you’re feeding your brain the Standard American Diet – whose eerily appropriate acronym is SAD – you’re undermining your mental health." — Vital Choice

"We know that the typical American diet — filled with processed food and added sugar — is making us fat. But it’s also making us depressed, according "The Happiness Diet," a new book that links food to feelings." — MSNBC

"The book includes food lists, shopping tips, brain-building recipes, smart slimming strategies, and other useful tools to lose weight and keep the blues at bay." — Am New York

"Full of important facts and useful information (their "Top 100 Reasons to Avoid Processed Foods" will stun even the well-informed), The Happiness Diet offers a nutritional prescription for a sharp brain, balanced mood and lean, energized body." — The Olympian

"The Happiness Diet promotes nutritionally rich organically raised meats, dairy and eggs with all the natural fats in tact."— Metro

"If you're tired of sulking in a bag of potato chips, give it a try." — The Times Union

"Everyone talks about the pursuit of happiness – who knew that what you eat has a direct effect on how you feel, how you think, and how healthy you are?"— Eat Well, Get Well

"A lively, thorough, and iron-clad case for real food. You will never eat an egg-white omelet or soy protein shake again.'"—Nina Planck, author of Real Food and Real Food for Mother and Baby

"We're used to thinking of obesity and heart disease as the consequences of our modern way of eating. The Happiness Diet reminds us of how much our brains — and our every thought — depend on good nutrition. Here are 100 excellent reasons for turning our backs on processed foods and a wealth of simple recipes for preparing truly happy meals."— Susan Allport, author of The Queen of Fats

"The Happiness Diet" delivers a necessary corrective to the monotonous diet of nonsense cooked up by industrialized agriculture and food fetishists alike. It distills an impressive collection of solid research into clear and readable instructions for recovering the well-being evolution intended for you."— Richard Manning, author of Against the Grain

"A great way to learn how to eat right and feel good about doing so. Happy and healthy — that's how I want to live!"— Josh Holland, celebrity trainer to Madonna

"Finally, a rock-solid, reliable, informative, and entertaining book on how to eat your way to health and happiness. Run — don’t walk — to read and adopt The Happiness Diet. This is the only diet book I’ve encountered that I can actually recommend to patients without reservation." —Bonnie Maslin, PhD, Psychologist and author of Picking your Battles

"An insightful, eye opening adventure into diet and nutrition. Concise and witty, this book kept me engaged from cover to cover. I will certainly incorporate these fundamentals into my medical practice. A must-have for anyone serious about getting happy and healthy naturally." —Andrew Morton, MD, Board-certified Family Physician; Former Medical Corps, US Navy and Army Infantry Medic, Desert Storm

"Like the weather everyone talks about diets but no one dies anything about them. This comprehensive but easily accessible book guides us to coherent and healthy eating. It will help anyone interested in how the foods we eat can keep us well. —Philip R. Muskin, MD Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University

"The authors have synthesized a compelling body of scientific literature with accessible and lucid conclusions regarding the interface of diet and vulnerability, protection and treatment of mental disorders." —Roger S. McIntyre, M.D., FRCPC, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, University of Toronto

From the Publisher