Your Miracle Brain: Dramatic New Scientific Evidence Reveals How You Can Use Food and Supplements To: Maximize Brain Power, Boost Your Mem

Let me cut to the chase, there are numerous supplements you can take to keep your mental facilities in top working order, but if you are looking for the ONE thing you can do that will provide the best overall results - take a multivitamin daily. Ms. Carper has provided another fine study of the current research (circa 2000) related to the human brain and the effect of various supplements or lack thereof. If there is one complaint that I have about the book, it is that it is dated, continued research in the field would argue for an updated edition of the book. The four sections of the book cover the workings of the brain, what to eat, what supplements to take and how to prevent vascular problems from affecting your brain. True to her usual form the author presents the research for each topic, broken up by nutrient or supplement, further broken down by details of the impact on the brain of a shortage and the research data to support claims that the nutrient or supplement may correct the problems, and how much to take for full effect. The discussions are intriguing in that the author's conclusions require so little action on the reader's part to correct or prevent the stated neurological problems (topics range from depression to aggression to forgetfulness to age related problems like Alzheimer's). One of the reasons I bought this book was because I was heading back to grad school (in my 40s), and I wasn't quite sure I was up to it. Having completed 13 semester credits in biological and chemical sciences over two 6 week summer sessions with a flawless 4.0 grade average, I can say that I feel at the top of my mental game and ready for admission to grad school. My current set of supplements include: a multivitamin with minerals, coenzyme Q10, Omega 3 fish oil, ginko biloba and grape seed extract. Getting back to my initial statement, unless you have a perfect diet (be honest), you need a multivitamin with minerals to ensure that you are providing the basic nutrition for a healthy brain, once you are there you can look into the other supplements for further improvement. P-)

A main thesis of this work is that food can impact the braineither favorably or unfavorably. The author explains thatmen have brains that tend to shrink faster than women.In addition, high blood pressure tends to reduce brain size.Stress also damages the brain. There are juices which have apositive impact on brain chemistry; namely, grapefruit,tomato, orange and blueberries. Cranberry, spinach, kale,strawberries and plums have maximum ORAC units. Raisins andprunes are top anti-oxidants. Spinach, beet greens, tomato,orange juice, cantaloupe, squash, sweet potato and avocado helpto minimize strokes. B vitamins and Vit C help to keep thebrain young and preserve cerebrospinal fluid. Seleniumboosts the brain and a deficiency can upset brain function.The stone age diet is best for people. It consists of 65%veggies, fruits, nuts and honey with 35% lean meat, eggs andfish. DHA is found in seafood and EPA is found in a fish diet.Linoleic acid is found in leafy green veggies and olive oil.Brain fat busters are saturated animal fat, whole milk, butterand cheese. This book will be a good addition to any personalhealth library

As medical science is discovering the correlation between certain foods on the functioning of various body parts, the effect of food and supplements on the brain is one of the more recent research areas (at least to the general public). This book does an excellent job of explaining the research and the practical implications, especially what to eat to help your brain function the right way. The book is divided into 4 parts - a welcome section, what to eat, brain supplements, and how to stop the destruction of the brain. The first part introduces the reader to the basics of the brain - how free radicals are the prime enemy, how the brain cells can actually regenerate (till recently everyone thought this wasn't possible), how stress can damage your brain, use it or lose it theory, etc. The second part focuses on how fat, fish oil, sugar, antioxidants, and caffeine impact your brain. This is a very detailed section with practical tips on how you can benefit from the latest research in this field. For example - a cup of coffee in the morning and midday is all we need to get the most out of caffeine. Of course, you have to read the whole section to know more about caffeine like the three different sources, etc.The third part is all vitamins, minerals, and other supplements that can boost your brain power. There is excellent information on how Vitamin B6, B12, E, C, and other supplements like Ginkgo and Choline can all help your brain perform better! The last part is about the connection between the heart and the brain. What happens to the heart affects the brain also and there are 30 pages dedicated to this part talking about exactly that! Example - did you know that high triglycerides can disturb your mood? Do you know what triglycerides are? Did you know that high blood pressure harms memory and shrinks the brain? By reading this last part of the book, you can get the latest on these topics!Overall, this book is a worthwhile purchase considering how much you can gain by carefully testing and implementing some of the advice. As with all medical research, I try to test things first and see how these theories apply to my body and then implement on a larger scale. I hope you benefit from this book the way my family has and remember to take it slow before jumping in with a lot of changes at the same time and definitely consult your doctor! Good luck!

Review of Your Miracle Brain. Jean Carper. NY: Harper Collins, 2000. 378 pp. This is a book I have not only recommended to my friends, I have also been known to snare strangers in the supermarket, telling them about the value of spinach and strawberries in improving memory function. Jean Carper's audience is the pregnant woman who wants to insure optimum brain growth for her child, the caregiver of an Alzheimer's sufferer, and everyone in between. However, the book seems most directed toward the middle-aged person who wishes to prevent brain deterioration in later years and even to ensure some present growth. In contrast to what scientists have thought until recently, one's brain is capable of development one's entire lifetime. New studies show that one's diet can have an immediate effect on brain function, mood, and behavior. Carper tells us that if an elderly brain is undamaged by disease, its ability to store, process, and retrieve new information may be slowed by only a minimal 10% after age 70. Carper's book is divided into 4 sections which discuss: 1) the recent research into brain function, 2) what to eat to keep your brain young, 3) what supplements to take, and 4) how to keep your arteries clear. By far the largest section -- nearly half the book -- and the one readers will probably be most interested in, is the second. Here the author details the effect on one's brain of various fats, sugars, antioxidants, and caffeine. Each section is divided into "thought bites" of a page or two which are readily found from the Table of Contents. Example are: "Is it Aging or is it Alzheimer's?" "Olive Oil saves Memory," "Fish: a Powerful Antidepressant," "Breast Feeding Makes Smarter Kids," "Chocolate as Brain Food," "Can Caffeine Boost Memory?" "Astonishing Ways to Avoid and Survive a Stroke." Sidebars include more detail on individual topics, and tables summarize material for further reference. Examples of tables include a list of foods with Omega-3, a list of foods with their glycemic index, a list of vegetables and fruits with their antioxidant content, and foods to eat to escape a stroke. The only part of the book I found less credible and well-researched was the author's theory that since our brains developed in the Neolithic Age and adapted to a Stone Age diet, so we should try to approximate that diet today. I question that our brains have not evolved since the change to eating domesticated grains which occurred 10,000 years ago. Additionally, what knowledge does Carper have that Stone Age man was healthy? How many were malnourished? Wasn't their life span so short that the question of nourishing aged brains never occurred? And what about aborigines today? Are they eating a Neolithic diet? How healthy are they? Although the above theory is not convincing, yet her suggestions for foods and supplements to feed one's brain for maximum efficiency are well-supported by numerous studies, most very re

This is the third Jean Carper book I have read, and I was delighted to find so much new information to help postpone the effects aging. Like most of us, I have always assumed the conventional belief that the aging brain simply deteriorates. This is not true. Not only does Ms. Carper's new book examine the latest scientific evidence showing how simplistic that notion is, but she goes on to identify many of the practical things each of us can do to develop new health habits that will improve our mental functions. "Your Miracle Brain" will certainly be a best seller, but more importantly, it will transform the way our minds think about our brains.