POTATOES NOT PROZAC by Kathleen DesMaisons PhD

Dr DesMaisons, herself the daughter of an alcoholic, spent twenty years fighting her own mood swings, feelings of inadequacy and excess weight while working with both alcoholics and drug addicts. During all this time she remained convinced that there was more to addiction than a mere lack of will power. However, the chance discovery of a carbohydrate free, protein and vegetable diet, which dramatically improved not only her weight control but her mood swings, and her self esteem, focused her attention on the role of sugar in her own, and her clients' diets.

Putting her patients on a minimum refined sugar, high protein and complex carbohydrate diet proved so successful that she left her job to research her theory that, in sensitive people, an overuse of sugar can unbalance the vital brain chemicals, serotonin and beta-endorphin. Both these chemicals are critical to mood, self esteem, tolerance for pain etc. Her doctoral dissertation included a study of 30 multiple offender drink drivers who took her programme. Over 80% of the participants had become, and remained, sober 18 months after the programme ended.

Potatoes not Prozac explains how sugar, serotonin and beta endorphin are linked and the effects that their fluctuations can have on the individual psyche. Dr DesMaisons guides the readers through a self diagnosis of sugar sensitivity and on through her sugar sensitivity programme. Both text and programme are easy to follow for the layman; for the professional, appendix A details the research basis for her theories.

Published by Pocket Books - ISBN 0-671-77377-1
Recommended Retail Price: £6.99

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THE SUGAR ADDICT'S TOTAL RECOVERY PROGRAMME by Kathleen DesMaisons

A follow up book to Potatoes Not Prozac giving a more detailed regime for those who wish to put her theories into practice. The book is easy to read and follow - and quite gripping as the story unfolds.

Published by Simon & Schuster - ISBN 0-7432-0673-8
Recommended Retail Price: £10.00

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THE ANATOMY OF HOPE by Dr. Jerome Grooper

Such titles are common amongst alternative health writers. So it comes as somewhat of a surprise to find that Dr Grooper holds the Raphael Recanati Chair of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and is an oncologist who has spent 30 years treating cancer patients with complex and sophisticated drugs. Yet he sees hope as an absolutely integral part of any successful treatment.
Using the cases of patients that he has worked with, and his own 20 year struggle with pain after failed spinal surgery, he illustrates how vital a role hope, or the lack of it, plays in the outcome of each case. But he also investigates the nature of this hope - and
the fears or preconceptions that can cause it to stumble. A very readable - and very inspiring - book.

Published by Simon & Schuster @ £6.99
ISBN-13: 978-1416502012

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THE FOOD AND MOOD HANDBOOK by Amanda Geary

Amanda Geary's reworking of her original Food and Mood workshops into a full scale Food and Mood Handbook makes for a fascinating read. As she says, we easily accept that how we feel affects what we choose to eat or drink; more revolutionary is the thought that what we eat or drink affects how we feel.

It is this pathway in its readers that the book invites them to explore via their own cravings. She explains how foods can trigger biochemical reactions, and helps the reader to investigate the foods which may affect them - including those which raise and lower blood sugar levels. Having discussed the most common 'problem foods' Amanda goes on to suggest practical 'good mood' foods, menus, dishes and ways of shopping and cooking.

The book is well designed and very readable and includes a number of recipes for simple 'good mood' dishes, a couple of which we have included opposite - along with Amanda's immensely useful notes about the ingredients.

Published by Thorsons @ £9.99
ISBN 0-00-711423-0

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THE BODY MIND WORKBOOK by Debbie Shapiro

Those who suffer from multiple sensitivities will be only too aware that their problems are multi-factoral and that not only can the sensitivities affect their mood, but their mood can also effect their sensitivities.
Debbie Shapiro sees this connection not as an interesting 'add-on' but as the fundamental principle underlying good and bad health. She sees body and mind not only as linked but as part of one indissoluble whole: the principle of correspondence' which proposes that every natural physical manifestation has a relationship to a non physical sate of.

Having explained the principle Debbie Shapiro then goes on to examine the body in detail, relating each physical element (head, face, ears, arms, spine, upper back, rib cage, ankles, teeth etc) to its spiritual counterpart and showing how the physical element reflects the spiritual state. Then reversing the procedure, she looks at ailments, from abscesses to ulcers, showing the link between common conditions and spiritual or emotional experiences.

A fascinating read for anyone, but especially for anyone who is struggling to make sense of on going and apparently inexplicable ill health.

Published by Vega @ £9.99
ISBN 1-84333-147-0

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