'The Happiness Diet'

  If you know me then you know I can be a bit of a nerd, and my interest in food is no exception. I  just cracked open a copy of  The Happiness Diet by Tyler Graham and Drew Ramsey MD.  This book with a fat, yummy looking hamburger on the cover is subtitled A Nutritional Prescription for a Sharp Brain, Balanced Mood, and Lean, Energized Body.
I'm not a self help book kind of gal, and I'm wary of anything that tries to restrict the benefits of any whole food to one nutrient or chemical. I'm also wary of those short lists like "Five Foods To Make You Smarter."  I believe variety  is key.  The authors of this book agree, even if they use some handy short lists for people to work from.   The Happiness Diet  looks and sounds like a conventional self help sort of book, and in many ways it is. Some of the information in the book seems rather over the top, and it even has it's own infomercial like website with lots of 'Order Now,' 'Don't Wait' etc. Really, I don't know what to make of all this!
Mostly though my brief perusing has been rewarded with interesting food facts, and tips on buying, storing, and preparing whole foods. It talks about the mood lifting B vitamins found in beets, and why we should be eating meat that's pasture raised. 
 The second time I opened it up I landed on a short paragraph on oranges that gave their peak season, which ones are not good for juicing (Navels), and that you should buy organic because quote..."conventional oranges are often injected with artificial dye to give them uniform color."  Is this true? That's something I didn't know.  They also have "100 Reasons To Avoid  Processed Foods"  in little boxes throughout the book.  Helpful information on selecting, storing, and preparing whole foods is mixed in with those often scary little info. boxes concerning processes foods. It has pages of recipes, a weekly meal plan, information on the workings of the human brain, and to boot its got a positive review by  Nina Plank who wrote one of our favorite books 'Real Food: What to Eat and Why.'  Perhaps we are overdue for this sort of self help book. A book clearly made for the mass market that names and explains why Mesclun is the top food for energy and houses chapters with titles like 'This is your brain on food'  has my appreciation.