The Good Mood Kitchen: Simple Recipes and Nutrition Tips for Emotional Balance

Underscoring the connection between diet and mental health, Korn, a clinical traumatologist specializing in mental health nutrition and integrative medicine, argues that optimal nutrition prevents and treats mental illness. She asserts that mental illness is often accompanied by a poor diet and digestive problems and offers up a step-by-step process to revamp one’s diet with mental health–focused recipes and tips. She recommends completing a diary for three days to record food intake, mood, and exercise, which is intended to enhance awareness of what one is eating and the resulting energy level and attitude. Korn stresses the benefits of meal planning, prepping for meals a week at a time, and eliminating the microwave, which she says alters the molecular structure of food and its health benefits. She offers valuable insight into digestion, sharing steps to address common ailments including acid reflux and hemorrhoids. Recipes are healthy and appealing, including salmon chowder; arugula, fig, and peach salad; stuffed cabbage; and curried quinoa. Chock full of beneficial tools including shopping lists and a chapter on mood-aiding vitamins and nutrients, this worthwhile guide will convince readers that nutrition is an important influence on mental health. (Sept.)