Grain Brain: the Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, And Sugar--Your Brain's Silent Killers
Luis_Rodriguez says:
First, it's important to know that the author is a board-certified neurologist and American College of Nutrition Fellow. He has the credentials, for sure, and this also explains where his interests lie with this book. A heart doctor might disagree with Perlmutter... or maybe not because the author believes his diet is good for the heart, too. Perlmutter's bottom line is that carbohydrates are destroying our brains. According to him, even good carbohydrates can contribute to A...DHD, headaches, poor sleep patterns, lack of sexual desire, depression, and dementia. Some of his claims seem far fetched (dementia?), but others are easy to swallow. Perhaps they feel far fetched because we have been told something different for many years. Gluten is bad, and the author encourages us to eat a diet low in carbs. He maintains that many of us may not be gluten intolerant but we are gluten sensitive and this causes inflammation which leads to the issues previously mentioned. Yes, our ancestors ate gluten, but gluten has changed tremendously from what it once was, and our bodies have not yet adapted to this change. I enjoyed the history lesson Perlmutter gave on our eating habits of the past to the present. Fats are good, and cholesterol has gotten a bad rap for too many years. Perlmutter's exhortation on statins, the harmful effects of sugar (and its insidious presence in so many of our foods), and diabetes may be a big wake up call to some. Perlmutter offers more than theory, research, and patient anecdotes; he also offers exercise tips, gluten free recipes, long lists of good and bad foods, and specific diet advice (30 day plan). His idea that we can change our "genetic program" at any age as long as we change our lifestyle (a simple thing to do, he maintains) seems a bit far fetched to me. Then again, I've been told since I was a young child that certain things are "just in our genes," so this requires a new way of thinking. Other benefits from these changes include weight loss and more energy. These promises make you want to sign on immediately, don't they? This book is certainly controversial; I've spoken with people in the medical field who agree and others who think the author is crazy and is only focused on what is good for the brain; therefore, he discounts how his suggested diet might negatively impact other organs in the body and one's overall health. Here's what I know. Three years ago, I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic. My cholesterol has been crappy for years, and the doctors decided to put me on the lowest dosage of a statin to help with both the sugar and the cholesterol. I'm not the kind of person who likes being on medicine, but after keeping a food diary for three months (and being very honest about it), the nutritionist and doctor agreed that I was a healthy eater. However, my sugar and cholesterol levels remained high. So I gave up fruits and sugary vegetables such as carrots and corn (I've always been a huge veggie eater and not such a big protein eater) , added more protein to my diet, and stopped drinking my one diet soda each day. I lost 15 pounds, without changing anything else in my diet and maintaining the same exercise routine, in two months. This supports what Perlmutter says. I read this book three years after I made those changes, so it's not as if I'm biased by my success because of this book. Because of this, I plan to investigate the author's ideas more and try his diet for a few months. I figure that I've got nothing to lose (except maybe that statin I take each day). Don't listen to what others have to say about Perlmutter's ideas. Read the book and decide for yourself - is he a visionary or a crazy person? It's an easy read that will make you look at your lifestyle and eating habits and to question what we are told as gospel truth when it comes to food and our diets. You might not agree with all that he says (or any of it), but the book will definitely get you thinking.
niknik says:
This is easily one of the scariest books I've read in a long time. I have a far greater fear of dementia as I age than I do of any cancer or heart attack. And so, the scientific discussion laid out in this book is enough to give me concern. I've long suspected that the government recommendations for a healthy diet are way off-base ever since I read Gary Taubes books, Why We Get Fat, and Good Calories, Bad Calories. The science in this book is easy to read and well-documented, and the author gives you lots of good reasons to consider changing your diet to save your brain any additional trauma from bad dietary choices. But then, right at the end, he reverses himself in a way that makes a lie of the rest of the book. He spends 241 pages explaining how what you eat impacts the health of your brain -- how our carb and gluten-laden diet is a disaster for the health of our brain cells. Then on page 242 he suggests that you only need to eat to protect your brain 90% of the time and then 10% of the time you eat what you want and "let the 10% take care of itself". Hmmm. So I'm to assume that losing 10% of my brain cells is a good tradeoff for that slice of cake or the Friday night pizza and beer? Up until that point, I'd have given the book a 4 or even a 5. That was the strangest non-sequitur I've ever encountered in a work of medical nonfiction.MoreLess
First, it's important to know that the author is a board-certified neurologist and American College of Nutrition Fellow. He has the credentials, for sure, and this also explains where his interests lie with this book. A heart doctor might disagree with Perlmutter... or maybe not because the author believes his diet is good for the heart, too. Perlmutter's bottom line is that carbohydrates are destroying our brains. According to him, even good carbohydrates can contribute to A...DHD, headaches, poor sleep patterns, lack of sexual desire, depression, and dementia. Some of his claims seem far fetched (dementia?), but others are easy to swallow. Perhaps they feel far fetched because we have been told something different for many years. Gluten is bad, and the author encourages us to eat a diet low in carbs. He maintains that many of us may not be gluten intolerant but we are gluten sensitive and this causes inflammation which leads to the issues previously mentioned. Yes, our ancestors ate gluten, but gluten has changed tremendously from what it once was, and our bodies have not yet adapted to this change. I enjoyed the history lesson Perlmutter gave on our eating habits of the past to the present. Fats are good, and cholesterol has gotten a bad rap for too many years. Perlmutter's exhortation on statins, the harmful effects of sugar (and its insidious presence in so many of our foods), and diabetes may be a big wake up call to some. Perlmutter offers more than theory, research, and patient anecdotes; he also offers exercise tips, gluten free recipes, long lists of good and bad foods, and specific diet advice (30 day plan). His idea that we can change our "genetic program" at any age as long as we change our lifestyle (a simple thing to do, he maintains) seems a bit far fetched to me. Then again, I've been told since I was a young child that certain things are "just in our genes," so this requires a new way of thinking. Other benefits from these changes include weight loss and more energy. These promises make you want to sign on immediately, don't they? This book is certainly controversial; I've spoken with people in the medical field who agree and others who think the author is crazy and is only focused on what is good for the brain; therefore, he discounts how his suggested diet might negatively impact other organs in the body and one's overall health. Here's what I know. Three years ago, I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic. My cholesterol has been crappy for years, and the doctors decided to put me on the lowest dosage of a statin to help with both the sugar and the cholesterol. I'm not the kind of person who likes being on medicine, but after keeping a food diary for three months (and being very honest about it), the nutritionist and doctor agreed that I was a healthy eater. However, my sugar and cholesterol levels remained high. So I gave up fruits and sugary vegetables such as carrots and corn (I've always been a huge veggie eater and not such a big protein eater) , added more protein to my diet, and stopped drinking my one diet soda each day. I lost 15 pounds, without changing anything else in my diet and maintaining the same exercise routine, in two months. This supports what Perlmutter says. I read this book three years after I made those changes, so it's not as if I'm biased by my success because of this book. Because of this, I plan to investigate the author's ideas more and try his diet for a few months. I figure that I've got nothing to lose (except maybe that statin I take each day). Don't listen to what others have to say about Perlmutter's ideas. Read the book and decide for yourself - is he a visionary or a crazy person? It's an easy read that will make you look at your lifestyle and eating habits and to question what we are told as gospel truth when it comes to food and our diets. You might not agree with all that he says (or any of it), but the book will definitely get you thinking.
niknik says:
This is easily one of the scariest books I've read in a long time. I have a far greater fear of dementia as I age than I do of any cancer or heart attack. And so, the scientific discussion laid out in this book is enough to give me concern. I've long suspected that the government recommendations for a healthy diet are way off-base ever since I read Gary Taubes books, Why We Get Fat, and Good Calories, Bad Calories. The science in this book is easy to read and well-documented, and the author gives you lots of good reasons to consider changing your diet to save your brain any additional trauma from bad dietary choices. But then, right at the end, he reverses himself in a way that makes a lie of the rest of the book. He spends 241 pages explaining how what you eat impacts the health of your brain -- how our carb and gluten-laden diet is a disaster for the health of our brain cells. Then on page 242 he suggests that you only need to eat to protect your brain 90% of the time and then 10% of the time you eat what you want and "let the 10% take care of itself". Hmmm. So I'm to assume that losing 10% of my brain cells is a good tradeoff for that slice of cake or the Friday night pizza and beer? Up until that point, I'd have given the book a 4 or even a 5. That was the strangest non-sequitur I've ever encountered in a work of medical nonfiction.MoreLess
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Guest 6 years ago
Yes, I really likes this book.
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Amazing book. Thank you.Write Review:
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