Happy book launch day! My goal with this new book is to help you feed your mental health. As I’ve been doing interviews, IG Lives, and the various activities involved in launching a book, I found myself talking more and more about my hope for eaters. You see, as a psychiatrist interested in nutrition, self-nourishment, and building mental resilience, the debate around nutrition has concerned me. For too long the focus has been on meat versus plants or keto versus low-fat instead of taking care of your most important assets: your brain cells.
It’s time to put our eyes back on the real prize: Brain health and mental health! We can all do more to nourish our brains based on the latest evidence that mental health is intimately connected with our diets.
The idea for this book started long before the pandemic, and as I wrote the proposal and pitched the idea I never imagined it would launch during a global crisis and the mental health consequences that have come with it. I hope the ideas and empowering message in the book – that we have the power to coax our brains into grow mode – will help you in your emotional journey ahead. I’ve filled it with illustrations to drive home some key concepts like inflammation and the microbiome, a set of delicious recipes intended to boost your neurons, and a six-week plan to get you started right away!
Today on launch day, I’ve been thinking a lot about a section of the book that most people don’t read: the acknowledgements. If you’ve been following me over the years you know that this is my fourth book! When I think of all the support, mentoring, encouragement, and meaningful relationships involved in the creation of these books, I am flooded with a deep sense of gratitude. Today, I particularly want to thank my publisher Karen Rinaldi and the HarperWave Family. Karen is a legend in the publishing world and has become a dear friend and mentor. Thank you to the David Black Agency and my agent Joy Tutela. And this book was different for me because for the first time, I have had a real team pushing me each day. Thank you Samantha, Jennie, Andrew, Alex, Xiaojue, Kayt, and Katrin. This process with you is a real delight with you and I know that we are just getting warmed up!
