Product Description
Could your breakfast or lunch be harming your memory?Are you missing out on the foods that could prevent Alzheimer's disease?
Everyone knows good nutrition supports your overall health, but few realize that certain foods-power foods-can protect your brain and optimize its function, and even dramatically reduce your risk of Alzheimer's Disease.Now, New York Times bestselling author, clinical researcher and health advocate Dr. Neal Barnard has gathered the most up-to-date research and created a groundbreaking program that can strengthen your memory and protect your brain's health.
In this effective 3-step plan Dr. Barnard reveals which foods to increase in your diet and which to avoid, and shows you specific exercises and supplements that can make a difference. It will not only help boost brain health, but it can also reduce your risk of Alzheimer's disease, stroke, and other less serious malfunctions such as low energy, poor sleep patterns, irritability, and lack of focus. You'll discover:
- The best foods to increase cognitive function
- Dairy products and meats-the dangers they may pose to your memory
- The surprising roles alcohol and caffeine play in Alzheimer's risk
- The latest research on toxic metals, like aluminum found in cookware, soda cans, and common antacids.
- Plus a detailed menu plan, recipes and time-saving kitchen tips
Editorial Reviews
Review
"This is a book everyone should read from a doctor whose advice I trust.Power Foods for The Brain will help you maximize your brain power and prevent problems down the road concerning memory loss. Buy it now before you forget to." --Ellen DeGeneres
"Dr. Barnard has written a timely and critically important book on a topic that will be of concern to many people." --T Colin Campbell, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University, and coauthor, The China Study
"Simple changes to your diet and exercise can help you be at your best when you're young and help prevent memory problems when you're older.Power Foods for the Brain shows you how, step by step. This is an immensely practical and important book." --Dean Ornish, MD, Founder & President of the Preventitive Medicine Research Institute and Clinical Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Francisco
"This is a game changer for anyone concerned with memory or cognition. The great news is that Dr. Barnard has, once again, given us the keys to prevention and profound healing, and those keys are easily accessible." --Kathy Freston
"... simple, effective strategies for preventing dementias-not with drugs, but with great-tasting food and healthy lifestyle choices. Finally, a low-cost, (and delicious) doctor's prescription you will enjoy filling-and one you'll be able to remember to refill, year after year! Given the tsunami of dementias bearing down upon our society, Power Foods for the Brain is, potentially, one of the most important books of the decade." --Michael Klaper, MD, Director, Institute of Nutrition Education and Research, Manhattan Beach, CA
"Enhance your intellect with food. Dr. Barnard's simple dietary prescription also prevents strokes, Alzheimer's disease, and other causes of loss of mental function. The recipes are easy and delicious." --John McDougall, MD, author and founder of the McDougall Program
"Dr. Neal Barnard is one of the most responsible and authoritative voices in American medicine today" --Andrew Weil, MD
About the Author
Neal Barnard, MD is a clinical researcher, author, and health advocate. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and president of the nonprofit Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine. He has been the principal investigator or coinvestigator on several clinical trials investigating the effects of diet on health. He is the author of several books and a frequent lecturer.
"This is a book everyone should read from a doctor whose advice I trust.Power Foods for The Brain will help you maximize your brain power and prevent problems down the road concerning memory loss. Buy it now before you forget to." --Ellen DeGeneres
"Dr. Barnard has written a timely and critically important book on a topic that will be of concern to many people." --T Colin Campbell, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University, and coauthor, The China Study
"Simple changes to your diet and exercise can help you be at your best when you're young and help prevent memory problems when you're older.Power Foods for the Brain shows you how, step by step. This is an immensely practical and important book." --Dean Ornish, MD, Founder & President of the Preventitive Medicine Research Institute and Clinical Professor of Medicine at University of California, San Francisco
"This is a game changer for anyone concerned with memory or cognition. The great news is that Dr. Barnard has, once again, given us the keys to prevention and profound healing, and those keys are easily accessible." --Kathy Freston
"... simple, effective strategies for preventing dementias-not with drugs, but with great-tasting food and healthy lifestyle choices. Finally, a low-cost, (and delicious) doctor's prescription you will enjoy filling-and one you'll be able to remember to refill, year after year! Given the tsunami of dementias bearing down upon our society, Power Foods for the Brain is, potentially, one of the most important books of the decade." --Michael Klaper, MD, Director, Institute of Nutrition Education and Research, Manhattan Beach, CA
"Enhance your intellect with food. Dr. Barnard's simple dietary prescription also prevents strokes, Alzheimer's disease, and other causes of loss of mental function. The recipes are easy and delicious." --John McDougall, MD, author and founder of the McDougall Program
"Dr. Neal Barnard is one of the most responsible and authoritative voices in American medicine today" --Andrew Weil, MD
About the Author
Neal Barnard, MD is a clinical researcher, author, and health advocate. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences and president of the nonprofit Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine. He has been the principal investigator or coinvestigator on several clinical trials investigating the effects of diet on health. He is the author of several books and a frequent lecturer.
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews162 of 167 people found the following review helpful.
Worthy readBy Frieda
This is solid, usable, reasonable advice to achieve some important and specific goals, mainly maintaining your brain health as you age. This book discusses Alzheimer's, but also includes a discussion of how to avoid or reverse general cognitive decline and function so you can boost your memory and recall in just a few weeks. The information in the book is science based, well presented, and a pleasant and easy read. Dr. Barnard has a wonderful sense of humor and is able to explain complex subjects clearly without talking down to his reader.
My mother had a stroke a few years ago. When she was recovering, she said her greatest fear was not the possible loss of mobility or discomfort/pain, but the possibility that she might lose her ability to read and work with knitting patterns.
Last year I discovered Dr Barnard's other work and my mother and I went on the diet he outlines in his book 21-Day Kickstart Weight Loss 21-Day Weight Loss Kickstart: Boost Metabolism, Lower Cholesterol, and Dramatically Improve Your Health. I wrote a review of that here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R38EXNJ7X5IP63/ref=cm_srch_res_rtr_alt_1
That diet worked miracles for our health simply by changing our diet. This book will help us extend the benefits of that lifestyle to work miracles for our brain health by showing us what to eat and what to avoid.
Dr. Barnard writes in Power Foods about where brain toxins are found in our diet (interestingly, some of the toxins aren't necessarily things to avoid, but things that are a problem if we ingest either too much or too little, or even the wrong form of, for example, some metals). Dr. Barnard writes that just adding an ounce a day of seeds or nuts (for the proper form of vitamin E) will help reduce the risk of Alzheimers by 70%. Add berries, apples, pears, grapes, green leafy vegetables, and beans to your diet. Certainly things we can all do easily! Also, get rid of saturated fats. We all know we need to to this for heart health, and we need to do it for brain health as well.
The book also describes brain exercises as well as the benefits of physical exercise and gives some specific things to do. Just a half hour three times a week can make a huge difference.
And, very importantly for many of our aging population, what medications can be causing severe damage to our cognition. We found this to be true for my mother. We were able to get her off of her statins from adopting the 21-Day Kickstart diet, and that made a tremendous difference in her ability to think clearly and get rid of the "brain fog" that was following her around like the proverbial dark cloud. We have already made a lot of the changes he suggests in this book, but we are learning some new information to incorporate into our lifestyle, so I would recommend this book even for those who have read other of Dr. Barnard's books.
Finding the root cause of cognitive problems can be quite a riddle to solve. I know it has been with my mother. In this book, Dr. Barnard walks you through the variety of things that can be a problem. One of the important things he noted is that not only can medications impact mental function, and the problems can add up as you add more medications. As we discovered in my family, the doctors did not even consider this while medicating my mother, and we had to do the detective work on medications ourselves. Some of the biggest culprits include sleep medications, statins (cholesterol lowering drugs), anti depressants, allergy meds/antihistamines, anxiety medications, pain killers, blood pressure medications, and antacids. Some of these you can just trade out for another kind, but others you really need to see a doctor about and have it managed properly. Dr. Barnard discusses this and tells you how to address the subject with your doctor. We also called our pharmacist and asked him to take a look at what my mother was taking before we saw the doctor so that we arrived to the appointment as informed as possible.
In addition to medications, Dr Barnard discusses problems that can arise from other areas, such as food intolerances, depression, menopause (this was a big one for me!), thyroid problems, infections, migraines, cancer treatments, diabetes, and more.
There are about 75 recipes in the book. I haven't tried them yet, but they are by the same chef who created the recipes in the Kickstart book, so I expect these to be equally easy to make and quite tasty. Examples of breakfasts include blueberry buckwheat pancakes with veggie sausage and cantaloupe; waffles with maple "bacon;" and breakfast wraps. Examples of lunches include veggie falafel with pita bread and a garden salad; easy colorful pasta salad over mixed greens; English muffin pizza; and a Tuscan wrap. Examples of dinners include red lentil soup with brown rice salad and steamed spinach, tacos with potatoes, swiss chard, and pinto beans with a spinach salad and mashed sweet potato; white bean chili with red rice, steamed spinach, and banana ice cream; and baked ziti with a rainbow salad and strawberry dressing, and warm apple cherry compote. The recipes seem very simple to make without an excessive amount of ingredients or anything excessively costly.
I'd like to briefly address the criticism of Dr Barnard's plan that it can be too restrictive or drastic. It may seem that way with an initial look, but to me, loss of brain function and the prospect of losing mobility, cognition, emotions, and the toll that cognitive degeneration can cause on our families are what's really restrictive and drastic. Being bedridden or institutionalized for our later years is restrictive and drastic. Not remembering our children or being able to experience (or even remember) normal emotions is restrictive and drastic. And in light of those very real and unfortunately not uncommon possibilities, Dr Barnard's suggestions are neither restrictive or drastic.
Speaking as part of a family that started to make some of these changes about a year ago, they aren't initially easy (it can definitely be hard to give up some of the food we have gotten used to), but if you work at it a little bit at a time and just keep trying, it becomes easier and easier as time goes by (the book has a special section to help deal with food cravings and why we have them). It took way less than a year for our taste buds to change and for this way of life to become not only easy for us, but enjoyable.
This book adds to the vast amount of information already out there on the benefits of plant-based diets and is suitable for those who already consider themselves well-read on the subject--there is, of course, some information you will have already heard, but there is more information that is new and important and not available from other mainstream sources.
Thank you for reading my review. This is an important topic and I know it's hard for some people to think about some of the changes Dr. Barnard suggests. But it's very do-able.
53 of 56 people found the following review helpful.
Practical Advise that Will Change Your Brain and LifeBy Karen Murphy
I saw Dr. Barnard speak in California last year about how specific foods can help protect the mind, improve the memory, and prevent Alzheimer's. It was fascinating, and I have been waiting for this book ever since. He has a very straightforward style, and I like the way he bases everything on scientific research, but at the same time keeps it simple and practical. I also like the fact that he focuses on food. Everyday choices, not pills.
51 of 56 people found the following review helpful.
Wonderful read with advice I can use right awayBy C.J.
This is the first book to really show how to eat to protect your brain, and I am delighted that it is finally available. My grandparents had severe memory problems and so I looked everywhere for reliable advice, but the only books I could find wanted to push supplements or medications, and none of that was any use. Dr. Barnard has a completely different approach, based on food, and I'm putting it to work as of now.
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