Are you a part of the bad mood epidemic? Here are the answers you’ve been looking for! Julia Ross’s plan provides a natural cure for your mood. Drawing on thirty years of experience, she presents breakthrough solutions to overcoming depression, anxiety, irritability, stress, and other negative emotional states that are diminishing the quality of our lives. Her comprehensive program is based on … program is based on the use of four mood-building amino acids and other surprisingly potent nutrient supplements, plus a diet rich in good-mood foods such as protein, healthy fat, and certain key vegetables. Including an individualized mood-type questionnaire, The Mood Cure has all the tools to help you get started today and feel better tomorrow.
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I’d heard that the drugs we’re prescribing for mental health issues may very well be to blame for the veritable epidemic of mental health disorders (especially just plain depression and anxiety.) But I hadn’t heard this angle before, at least not in so many words: the problem is, we’re not getting the building blocks our bodies need in order to produce our neurotransmitters because our food is so adulterated. It’s definitely true that most of our food these days isn’t real food, but it’s fascinating to note that the explosion of processed and fast food occurred around the same time that the mood epidemic started gaining traction (…and also around the same time that Prozac and similar drugs hit the market, but that’s another issue).
Julia Ross discusses the biochemical basis for a lot of these imbalances… but it’s not genetic. It’s much simpler than that. Her solution: eat real, unprocessed food, with plenty of protein; cut out the sugar; and then maybe until you get yourself back to ground zero, supplement with the specific amino acid precursors you’re lacking.
(I’m a naturopathic doctor in my “day job”, and can verify that this treatment approach works.)
If you want information about your body’s chemistry and how to help moods and possibly psychological issues with food, exercise, and supplements, then this book is for you. It probably would be more helpful in a paper copy than on a NOOK, but either way, you will get a lot of self-help information to help you be better.
I was introduced to Ross’s work when I was working toward my nutrition degree and was assigned the task of finding a popular book about approaches to diet and write a paper about it. I chose The Diet Cure, Ross’s first book. Years later my dear friend, a talented NLP practitioner and Theta healer named Jillian O’Hara, recommended The Mood Cure based on her own experiences with it.. I remembered how impressive The Diet Cure was and added The Mood Cure to my TBR tower.
There are six pages of notes written in my book journal from while I was reading this book. I’ve added notes to handouts I give to clients directly quoting Ross’s work. This book is worth reading if you or someone you care for is trying to balance their moods, even if I didn’t agree with every point Ross made. For example, I thought a deeper analysis of liver function was needed before implementing amino acid therapy and I don’t depend on animal-sourced protein the way she does. Protein is definitely a key, but I believe that it can be plant-based if you eat complete proteins or combine them, like beans and rice. I’ve seen too much animal protein create new problems.
Everyone in a position of helping others with nutrition should read this book.
This review is of the ebook edition, published in 2002.
Highlights of the book are:
Evaluation of symptoms including a deeper dive into remedies.
A timeline for when you should see improvement from the remedy.
Specifics about supplementing with amino acids.
How low-calorie diets and skipped meals can quickly reduce vital serotonin-making supplies.
Informative charts. I saw the same charts in the paperback version and they were much easier to read there than in the ebook version.
Non-meat sources of tryptophan.
Which nutrients you need to take in for consistent neurotransmitter function.
Information about light therapy.
Chapter 13 is an exceptional approach to chronic pain and can improve daily life with simple changes.
Ross backs her information with research.
Amazing bibliography, including my introduction to 7 Weeks to Sobriety by Joan Matthews-Larson, which is easily the best book I’ve read on nutritional approaches to alcohol and substance dependency.
Recipes!
Is this book a substitute for a qualified nutrition professional? Simply put, no. We all need a trained professional to guide us through the entirety of making changes in a way that will lead to lasting results.
Reading this book will empower any reader in understanding how moods can be balanced, and that is golden.