Shawn Talbott - Mental Fitness: Maximizing Mood, Motivation, & Mental Wellness by Optimizing the Brain-Body-Biome

Maximizing Mood, Motivation, & Mental Wellness by Optimizing the Brain-Body Biome

SHAWN M. TALBOTT

PHD, CNS, LDN, FACSM, FACN

The information contained in this book is based upon the research and personal and professional experiences of the author. It is not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician or other health-care provider. Any attempt to diagnose and treat an illness should be done under the direction of a health-care professional.

The publisher does not advocate the use of any particular health-care protocol but believes the information in this book should be available to the public. The publisher and author are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use of the suggestions, preparations, or procedures discussed in this book. Should the reader have any questions concerning the appropriateness of any procedures or preparation mentioned, the author and the publisher strongly suggest consulting a professional health-care advisor.

Turner Publishing Company

Nashville, TN

www.turnerpublishing.com

ISBNs: 9781684426768 (paperback)

9781684426775 (hardback)

9781684426782 (ebook)

Library of Congress 2021021856.

Copyright 2021 by Dr. Shawn Talbott

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the copyright owner.

Cover design by Nicolette Donohoe and Grace Cavalier

Interior design by Gary A. Rosenberg

Printed in the United States of America

A t no time in human history have we ever been so advanced technologically and yet so miserable psychologically.

Its no exaggeration to describe stress, depression, anxiety, and burnout as epidemicsliterally the black plague of our modern times.

Well get into the reasons we feel so terrible soon enough in the chapters to come. But how you feel is not just in your head; its also in your gut, your heart, your immune system, and in many other places inside and outside your actual brain.

Ive been researching, speaking, and writing about the mental fitness topics covered in this book for more than twenty years, and Ive written a dozen previous books on related topics.

I started writing this particular volume in early 2019 as a way to bring together some of the most exciting scientific breakthroughs around the gut-heart-brain axis linking psychology, neurology, biochemistry, physiology, and microbiology into the emerging field of nutritional psychology (which is what the area of my expertise is now commonly called). At the start of 2019, I really didnt think that our collective mental wellness problems could get much worse.

Boy, was I wrong!

National surveys showed that happiness and life-satisfaction levels were at all-time lows, while depression, suicide, drug addiction, and use of prescription antidepressants and pain-killing opioids were at all-time highs.

And then COVID-19 hit.

In the first weeks of 2020, we began to see the emergence of COVID-19 and its subsequent spread around the globe devastating health systems, economies, and individualsboth physically and mentally.

At the time of this writing, more than 100 million COVID-19 cases with now over 3 million deaths have been recorded worldwidewith more than 32 million cases and 500,000 deaths in the United States alone.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in more than half the worlds population being placed under different levels of quarantines and lockdowns to stem the spread of the virus. These restrictions are expected to significantly influence the physical and psychological well-being of everyone affected. Research studies are already showing a clear and consistent increase in mental health issues around the globe, particularly among adolescents and young adults.

Some of the reasons underlying the increase in mental health problems are biological, some are psychological, and some are financial, but they all coalesce toward numerous predictions of a looming mental health crisis that was already bad and is only expected to get worse in a post-COVID world.

I hope you agree with me that there is no physical health without mental health. They are two sides of the same coin, and they are vital for each other and for our ability to reach our peak potential in this one life we have to live.

We will cover many of these topics in Mental Fitness, and well consider how research-supported natural approaches can improve how we feel mentally and perform physically in every aspect of our daily lives.

Thanks for joining me.

Shawn Talbott

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

February 24, 2021

WHAT IS MENTAL FITNESS?

I t might surprise you to realize that the biggest health problems today are not physical ailments such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimers disease but rather are mental conditions such as depression, anxiety, chronic fatigue, sleep deprivation, and everyday stress. In many waysincluding biochemically, physiologically, and behaviorallymental wellness is the overarching umbrella that determines our overall physical health, and mental fitness can be thought of as the optimized state of mental wellness.

For example, when were stressed, were more likely to crave junk food and store belly fat, but when were resilient, we dont succumb to stress-eating and we make better dietary choices. When were tired, were less likely to exercise or meditate, but when we have good sleep quality and metabolism, we have abundant energy levels that can fuel our lifestyle. When were depressed, were less likely to take care of ourselves or interact positively with others, but when we have a good mood, were more likely to love ourselves and apply that love to others.

Each of these aspects of mental wellness, and ultimately mental fitness, drives a specific change in behavior that leads to a negative or positive impact on physical health.

Imagine if your default state was inclined toward mental fitness.

Imagine having naturally high levels of energy so you feel like being physically active on a daily basis.

Imagine being resilient in the face of whatever stressors you encounter on a daily basis so that rather than stepping away from stressful events, you can step into them and take care of business.

Imagine having a naturally positive outlook on life that infects others with positivity rather than a negative and pessimistic view of the world and your place in it.

This book will help you understand how optimizing your mental fitness can not only help you feel better (both quickly and long-term) but also how those changes can improve your physical healthincluding how you look and perform on every level.

According to the World Health Organization, mental health is defined as a state of well-being in which every individual