Last month was Mental Health Month and under Reviews I posted the first half of A Mind of Your Own. There was so much information that I needed more time to complete the book. Here is Part 2. (Click on this internal link to read Part One if you wish the background for Dr. Kelly’s alternatives to Prozac and other meds for depression: https://www.menupause.info/archives/20669)
Part One of this informative book focused on Dr. Kelly’s change of heart and mind from prescribing traditional medications for anxiety and depression to what she calls “Lifestyle Medicine.” Part Two is aptly entitled “Natural Wellness Treatments for Whole-Body Wellness” and includes these chapters:
Ch. 6- Let Food Be Thy Medicine
Ch. 7- The Power of Meditation, Sleep, and Exercise
Ch. 8- Clean House (Detoxifying Your Environment)
Ch. 9 – Testing and Supplementing
Ch. 10- 4 Weeks to a Natural High (A 30-Day Plan of Action)
These chapters, like Part One, are packed full of information that can be somewhat intimidating as well as helpful. Because there are many protocols to follow, I suggest you engage the help of a natural healing practitioner unless you can see Dr. Kelly in person in New York City. Another alternative is to do this with a friend so you can support each other when you feel overwhelmed, kind of like having a walking partner to get you up and out the door.
A few direct quotes (in Italics) will give you an idea of Dr. Brogan’s commitment to her patients’ mental and physical health:
Food isn’t just fuel; it’s information….The idea that chronic inflammation and a perilous disconnect between the body’s inner ecology and the brain—not low levels of brain chemical—is at the root of most forms of depression will only continue to gain traction in academia and medicine.
Five Main Components of Dr. Kelly’s health-promoting depression-free diet:
Rule #1: Eliminate Processed Food
Rule #2: Eat Whole Foods
Rule#3: Don’t Avoid or Restrict Natural Fats
Rule#4: Go Pro (As in Probiotics)
Rule#5: Eat Mindfully
In discussing the link between psychiatry and meditation, Dr. Brogan writes:
…one reason is that (meditation) stimulates the expression of genes that are powerfully anti-inflammatory in nature and help stabile blood sugar…The scientists theorize that the biological events that take place during meditation essentially prevent the body from translating psychological worry into physical inflammation. (Dr. Brogan herself italicized the last part so I put it in bold.)
.…but prolonged sleep deprivation can have serious consequences, including depression.
In the past three decades, more than 10,000 chemicals have been approved for commercial use in the United States. Among these are more than 85,000 industrial chemicals, 10,000 food additives, 12,5000 personal-care ingredients, 1,000 pesticide active ingredients, and scores of pharmaceutical drugs.
(Dr. Brogan discusses that it is almost impossible to know how harmful these chemicals are, especially when combined to produce a synergistic effect, that is, more powerful when combined than alone. She gives advice and websites on how to avoid them for example, by avoiding certain foods (ex. cans lined with BPA) and choosing “cleaner” personal care items, since “the skin is a major entry point, and what we slather on our skin and lips may make its way to our more vulnerable parts.”)
In Chapter 9 on Testing and Supplementing, Dr. Brogan writes about the importance of nutrients to the brain. Here is one example concerning vitamin B12:
It protects the brain and nervous system, regulated rest and mood cycles, and keeps the immune system functioning properly. A severe deficiency can lead to deep depression, paranoia and delusions, memory loss, incontinence, and loss of taste and smell, among other serious conditions.
This chapter also contains a checklist of several tests she recommends and explains why.
Chapter 10 is the actual program to detox and adopt a healing diet with a 30 day Plan of Action. Her diet is not vegetarian, which I would find difficult to follow. But the recommendations are basically natural and support her protocol. Next posting I will include a recipe that is for all diet: Cauliflower Rice.
A Mind of Your Own is a comprehensive program that makes a great deal of sense, especially because she explains why western medication really doesn’t do the job as well her protocol. But if you are on medication, you need to discuss Dr. Brogan’s “revolutionary” mental health protocol with your doctor if you want to try it.
Published by Thorsons, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, the book varies in price depending on whether you want the Kindle version ($13.99), hardcover ($26.99) and used starting @$13.66, with different prices in Canada.
P.S. I am now posting in two places on my site: my Home Page and for this posting, Reviews.