Table of Contents
A PLUME BOOK
THE BRAIN POWER COOKBOOK
DR. FRANK LAWLIS is a renowned psychologist, researcher, and counselor with more than thirty-five years experience working with families. He is the cofounder of the Lawlis and Peavey Centers for Psychoneurological Change and was named a fellow by the American Psychological Association. The chief content advisor for The Dr. Phil Show, Dr. Lawlis is also the author of The Stress Answer, The ADD Answer, The IQ Answer, and Mending the Broken Bond. He lives in Sanger, Texas.
DR. MAGGIE GREENWOOD-ROBINSON is a popular health and medical writer, and the author of The Biggest Loser, a New York Times bestseller that is the official diet/fitness book for NBCs hit reality show by the same name. She is author or coauthor of more than forty books on nutrition, exercise, weight loss, brain fitness, and health issues such as cancer, including Good Foods vs Bad Foods and 20/20 Thinking. Maggie is a member of the Dr. Phil show Advisory Board and serves on the Advisory Board of Physical Magazine.
ALSO BY DR. FRANK LAWLIS
Mending the Broken Bond
The ADD Answer
The IQ Answer
ALSO BY DR. MAGGIE GREENWOOD-ROBINSON
20/20 Thinking
The Biggest Loser Success Secrets
Foods That Combat Diabetes
From Frank: To my family, my anchor in storms, real and imagined.
From Maggie: To my husband Al, the real chef in the family.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There are many, many people who have made contributions to this work of love. We would like to give great thanks to Shannon Marven for her tenacity to get it through the channels for publication, to Jan Miller for her continuous support, and to Madeleine Morel for helping us get the pieces to work together. Carolyn Carlson, my editor at Penguin, always seems to magnify what seems like a pigs ear into something truly remarkable with her creative mind. We would especially like to thank the many wonderful organizations that have come forth with the recipes that fit our nutritional requirements and offered new taste discoveries for specific desired mood changes.
The book probably would not have happened without the lady who inspired us with her courage and passion on The Dr. Phil Show with a chocolate addiction and a heart of passion for a better, healthier life, Andrea Laudate. As part of her new plan, she contributed the numerous personal recipes (without chocolate) that taste good and are good for you.
Our family support systems have always been the backbone of any project, and wed like to express our appreciation of Susan (Franks wife) and Al (Maggies husband) for their love and support during the writing of this cookbook.
INTRODUCTION
If you picked up this book, chances are you are one of the millions of Americans who are excited by the growing body of research that tells us that food can dramatically affect our brains... not just how we think on a day-to-day basis, but whether or not well retain sharp powers of recall, creativity, and alertness well into our golden years.
As youll find out, many scientists believe that certain foods contain a wealth of powerful natural substances, from antioxidants to phytochemicals to hormones, that are the secret to brain fitness and optimum mental performance. With this cookbook as your guide, incorporating these foods into your weekly menus has never been simpleror more delicious. Whether your concern is being more creative, getting your kids to be more attentive, or soothing the stress of long, weary days, the foods and nutrition strategies we discuss here are key.
By the way, we are a psychologist and a nutrition writer with many years in our fields, and a special interest in how food affects behaviorand it does, enormously. We know, for example, that people are more focused when their brains are producing brain chemicals called dopamine and norepinephrine, while serotonin, another brain chemical, is associated with calmness and good mood. How does nutrition help? Foods that enhance levels of serotonin in the brain are high in carbohydrates. Cereals, pasta, and bread, for example, can help you reduce anxiety because they step up the production of serotonin. This also explains why some people feel like taking a nap after a lunch of spaghetti, since serotonin can also make you feel sleepy.
What if you need to feel alert and wide awake? Can food pep you up? Absolutely. Simply eat a meal rich in protein such as fish or chicken and watch your powers of concentration magnify. Eating protein-rich foods blocks the production of serotonin, boosting alertness, and it even increases levels of dopamine and norepinephrine, another factor that makes you more alert.
Other natural substances in foods include vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytochemicals, and more. Nutrients like vitamin C and folic acid help defeat depression. The minerals iron and boron improve attention, memory, and learning. Antioxidants and phytochemicals protect against brain diseases such as Alzheimers disease. Certain fats enhance memory and other workings of brain function. Theres no end to the good that the right food does for the health of your brain, as well as for your behavior and mood.
Clearly food has the power to both destroy and heal the brain. Just as a nutrient-poor diet can strip the brain of the ability to think and feel appropriately, a nutrient-rich diet can help the brain respond in a positive way to all sorts of psychological crises. Food is one of the most powerful prescriptions you have for maximizing your brain power. By simply eating the right foods, you can control your mind, mood, and memory. However, little of this information has been available to apply to everyday life, until now.
Right now youre probably wondering: Is there a way to naturally jump-start your day? Can you easily fix dinners high in brain-building omega-3 fatty acids? Can you prepare meals that will help your kids do better in school? Can you get your family to eat this stuff? Is there a way to eat to help you with the psychological challenges that inevitably come your way?
The answer to all of those questions, and more, is yes. With delicious recipes from around the country, this book shows you how to easily prepare foods that have been proved in research to build brain power, put an end to stress and blue moods, expand your powers of recall, help relieve pain, boost your intelligence and creativity, and even revitalize your sex life.
Some of you will pick up this cookbook because you love reading recipes. Others, who love to cook and try new dishes, will flip through the pages looking for inspiration. Still others will turn to this book hoping to find strategies for improving brain power. We believe every one of you will find what you are looking for.
That said, let us tell you a little bit about how this book is organized. For starters, it is not organized like a normal cookbook, with chapters focusing on types of dishes (appetizers, main dishes, desserts, and so forth). Instead, weve organized it around psychological issues. Lets say, for instance, you want help on how to reduce your anxiety level. Youd flip over to Chapter Two and read up on Foods That Soothe Stress and Anxiety. Or maybe your sex life needs jazzing up. Check out what we have to say in Chapter Eleven on Aphrodisiac Foods. Once you get to the chapter youre personally interested in, youll find twenty or more recipes, grouped into Starters and Other Delights, Smart Side Dishes, Brain Power Entres, and Energizing Desserts. This cookbook is an amalgam of different tastes, too, from American home cooking to ethnic and international dishes, so theres lots of variety and youll never get bored with any of it. As a bonus, each chapter has specific psychological advice in sections called Smart Tips to help you deal with lifes many hills and valleys.
