Calm Your Mind with Food: A Revolutionary Guide to Controlling Your Anxiety

I learned about “Calm Your Mind with Food: A Revolutionary Guide to Controlling Your Anxiety” through my work as a health and wellness coach (Mayo Clinic-trained and National Board-Certified). I’ve read many exceptional health and wellness books over the years, but few that feel as accessible, comprehensive, digestible, compelling, and actionable as Dr. Naidoo’s book. What makes this book so different from any other book I’ve read on the subject is the author’s unique expertise as a nutritional psychiatrist, professional chef, and nutritional biologist. In terms of accessibility, Dr. Naidoo writes in a voice that feels both personal and professional, interweaving her own story into the text in a way that supports the book's overall power. At times, as a reader, it feels as if you are a patient in her office, and she is taking the time to demystify the relationship between our diets and our mental health and to provide a guidebook and roadmap for reducing anxiety and living with greater health and well-being. Her care for wanting to help people be healthy and well is evident throughout. In terms of comprehensiveness, the author provides a thorough education for the reader (with respect for what you may already know) about the myriad factors that can contribute to anxiety, including how inflammation contributes, the relationship between the gut and the brain, and much more. She explains in detail the foods that feed anxiety (sugar, for one) and the foods that can help to calm the mind. Dr. Naidoo makes the book digestible, in part, by dividing it into three sections you can read and absorb at your own pace: The Problem, The Solution, and The Protocol. For most, I would recommend reading the entire book from beginning to end. If you are eager to step into The Solution, you could read that section first to begin to take action, then go back and read the earlier sections to better understand the science behind the relationship between diet and well-being. It might also be helpful to form a 3-session book discussion group with friends or family who are interested in the subject. Another way the author makes the book digestible (and accessible and compelling) is by providing relevant case studies of patients she’s worked with, allowing the reader to see real-life examples of how making dietary changes can relieve anxiety, support overall well-being, and improve one’s life. One of the most helpful things about this book for supporting the reader in taking action is the recipes Dr. Naidoo provides for calming your mind, including everything from Chickpea Scramble to Masala Baked Salmon and Dr. Uma’s Cherry CALM Smoothie. If you are interested in tapping into food as medicine to reduce anxiety and feel and live at your best, I do not think you could find a better book to support you. I believe it will be a game-changer for those who want to live healthier and happier lives. A beacon of hope with a pathway to realizing that hope. A note about this review: I wrote this review at the request of the author, Dr. Uma Naidoo, after I reached out to let her know how valuable I think the book is for anyone who wants to learn about food as medicine to find relief from anxiety. The thoughts and opinions in this review are entirely mine. She did not tell me what to write, and I did not ask for her approval of what I wrote. With that said, this book will be a go-to resource I recommend to clients and patients who want to change their diet to reduce anxiety and improve their overall health and well-being. Review by Debra Woods, NBHWC

I purchased the audio version (excellent narration) & enjoyed it enough to want the kindle version for easier reference on my phone. The information about good/bad eating choices isn’t necessarily new to anyone. However, I found the information about the mechanics of WHY particular foods are beneficial or detrimental interesting and very helpful. It gives me ammunition to follow through on what I already know and some additional tools to use re my eating habits under stress. The kindle version would greatly benefit from two formatting improvements. The simplest being adding individual recipe titles with links to the table of contents or in an index. (You can sort of make your own by adding bookmarks to each recipe) Ideally each recipe could have a print link like online recipes do, that would put everything relevant into a concise easy to view format. Also, it would be extremely helpful in all versions of the book to have a shopping list for the included recipes. The chapter on shopping doesn’t list the less common ingredients and spices necessary for trying the recipes.

I read the kindle version in less than one day and felt it was an easy read. I also appreciate the author’s thoroughness, the stories, the pillars she laid out, and the recipe suggestions. I learned a few things I was not aware of pertaining to the gut, too. However, like many things in life, I feel eating to calm anxiety will take commitment, consistency, and one needs to feel 100% ready and have the support of his or her family. Unfortunately, as an American who is used to eating the “typical” standard American diet, I find the author’s eating plan overwhelming and difficult to sustain long-term in the hustle and bustle of everyday life that is common for many of us who work full-time and have other daily competing priorities like raising children, being a caregiver to an adult family member, engaging in extracurricular activities, or working during the day and going to school at night, among other things. I tend to feel that is why there is an abundance of pharmaceutical prescription drugs prescribed for anxiety because it is difficult for many of us to sustain a consistent healthy lifestyle while carrying out our hectic day-to-day lives. I also want to point out that I liked how the author brought up the concept of intuitive eating when discussing one of her patients. In summary, this method suggests eating mindfully and that no foods are off limits (I read that book also); however that goes against Pillar #5, to “always avoid” anxiety triggering foods including processed and refined carbohydrates. I am under the impression that if one is not 100% perfect at executing the author’s six pillars and adopts an 80/20 approach so that it is more sustainable, than it will be more difficult to feel consistent relief. Overall, I tend to feel it will take a combination of individualized treatment approaches, and that is ok. I feel grateful there are various approaches so people can decide what works best for them.. If you are 100% ready to put in work to commit to a healthier way of eating that will take consistent work, and your family is supportive, then I recommend this book. Otherwise, if you are not fully ready, have a hectic lifestyle, or tend to start eating plans and then quit, I recommend to wait until you have the time and feel 100% ready.

This book explains in detail how to choose foods that will improve your gut health and by extension your mental health and the bodily processes that make that happen. Not overly technical but thorough. Anecdotally, I followed the recommendations precisely for four months and did indeed experience a significant reduction in anxiety and lethargy and improved mood and sleep quality. That being said, it was pretty difficult to do (and a bit expensive) and I couldn’t sustain it perfectly long term. I’ve had to pick and choose what I’m able/willing to sustain but still have been able to develop healthier habits as well as reduce my anxiety medication from 225 mg to 37.5 mg per day and plan to taper off completely within a year. (Personally, I did not care for the included recipes but it’s not supposed to be a cook book.)

I wanted to love this but it didn’t feel like it added much from the last book. Interesting research based info but the action steps felt a lot like traditional weight loss rhetoric and were pretty vague. I loved “your brain on food” and could have stopped there.

This book is truly an extraordinary example of the concept of food as medicine. It touches on so many important things, including the gut brain axis, inflammation, and metabolic disruption that can all lead to anxiety and poor health in general. The educational aspect of how food can help combat. All of these issues is done scientifically but in a very approachable way as a medical doctor specializing in nutrition for the past two decades, I will be encouraging all my patients, struggling with anxiety to purchase this book.

Excellent book; very clearly written with practical suggestions on suggested foods.

As generically as I can, great product, does the trick, I'd buy it again… what more can I say? (just need to get a bunch of reviews out of my queue!)

We all go through low on energy, less motivated, more irritable, stressful, anxious, or depressed periods. When it goes out of control, we resort to psychiatric medications. This book gives hope to anyone who would like to give diet as the first go to fight stress and anxiety. It's an ultimate nutritional psychiatry guide to not only enhance your overall mental well-being but also cure for many of the chronic metabolic diseases plaguing our modern society. A must-read for anyone who would like to take more control to fight anxiety.

I listened to this on audible and followed along at times in hard copy of book. Important book in nutritional psychiatry.

This book is an encyclopedia for those who want to improve mental health

AWESOME

Good read as I am interested in gut health!