Page 50 - Spring2012

All Thumbs Book Reviews

The Happiness Diet: A Nutritional Prescription the toxic by-products of the oil industry. One of
for a Sharp Brain, Balanced Mood, the first was produced by John D. Rockefeller’s
and Lean, Energized Body Standard Oil Company and was called Flit. The
by Tyler Graham and Drew Ramsey, MD illustrator for the Flit ad campaign was Theodor
Rodale Books, 2011 Geisel. He achieved greater fame later when he
wrote children’s books like Green Eggs and Ham
Scattered throughout this book are the top under the name of Dr. Seuss.
hundred reasons to avoid processed foods. And It makes perfect sense that inundation with
that is the short list. Reason number one points fake foods and toxic chemicals would have a det-
out that castoreum, which is used as a flavor rimental effect on mental health. So what advice
enhancer in puddings, candies, and some frozen do Graham and Ramsey have? They recommend
dairy desserts, comes from beaver anal glands. I eating foods with key nutrients that promote good
think I’ll pass on dessert. Reason number thirty- mental health, including vitamin B , vitamin
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nine reports that eight ounces of packaged maca- A, vitamin D, minerals, cholesterol and fats. I
roni are permitted by law to contain four and think they’re on to something. They do a good
one-half rodent hairs. Who comes up with this job of explaining why vitamin B , cholesterol
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stuff? Not three hairs, or five, or even four, but and saturated fat are particularly essential, and
four and one-half. Do inspectors actually count recommend getting all these nutrients from real
hairs in macaroni? What if the hair is not from a food, not pills.
rodent? Are all rodent hairs the same length? If The importance of animal fat is emphasized
not, how do you know whether you are looking in more than one section in this book. Good fats
at a third of a hair or two thirds of a hair? Never found in whole milk, butter, eggs, and meat are
mind; I digress. promoted repeatedly. If you want any serotonin
There is some interesting history in this (the “feel-good” hormone) in your brain, you
book. Dr. John Pemberton was injured in the want cholesterol. Today the average American
American Civil War and became addicted to suffers the double whammy of toxic food-like
morphine. He developed an elixir to cure his substances in the commercial food stream along
addiction and called it Pemberton’s French Wine with aggressive propaganda to scare us off all
It makes of Coca, made from Bordeaux wine and extracts the good brain foods. Actually there are other
of coca leaf and kola nut. When Atlanta outlawed whammies, but don’t get me started.
perfect alcohol, he replaced the wine with sugar water There is a good chapter on decoding food
sense that and called the concoction Coca Cola. In 1915 packaging labels. The label "natural" has no real

inundation it came in a six-ounce bottle. Now we have a meaning in the food industry. Our authors prop-
portion size called “Big Gulp” in which you can erly point out that you even have to be wary of
with fake almost swim. These changes to the kinds of foods the "organic" label. Trans fats are still alive and
foods and (I use that term loosely) available have a lot to well in processed foods everywhere, and in some

toxic chemicals do with the reason why mental depression is at cases are being replaced with interesterified fats,
an all-time high in the U.S.
which are probably as bad. After sections on meal
would have a We get more history in the following pages plans and recipes there is a bonus chapter on the
detrimental on the development of Crisco and how the essen- top hundred reasons to avoid supplements which
effect on tial nutrient called cholesterol came to be framed is worth a look. That is followed by an appendix
as public health enemy number one. Then there defining the various kinds of fats. All of this adds
mental health. is the story of pesticides being developed from up to a thumbs UP. Review by Tim Boyd

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