Summary of Calm Your Mind with Food by Uma Naidoo MD: A Revolutionary Guide to Controlling Your Anxiety

By Justin Reese

DISCLAIMER

 

This book does not in any capacity mean to replace the original book but to serve as a vast summary of the original book.

Summary of Calm Your Mind with Food by Uma Naidoo MD: A Revolutionary Guide to Controlling Your Anxiety

IN THIS SUMMARIZED BOOK, YOU WILL GET:

• Chapter astute outline of the main contents.
• Fast & simple understanding of the content analysis.
• Exceptionally summarized content that you may skip in the original book

 

Calm Your Mind with Food is a comprehensive guide by Uma Naidoo, MD, that explores the connection between diet and anxiety. It provides insights into inflammation's impact on anxiety, gut bacteria's role in controlling anxiety, the six pillars for calming the mind, incorporating anxiety-busting foods, and the best diets for managing anxiety and depression symptoms. The book also offers guidelines for creating an anti-anxiety meal plan and supernutrient-forward recipes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: jUSTIN REESE
• Release date: Dec 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223673286

Book preview

Introduction

The author's first book, published in August 2020, faced challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a lack of momentum and a heavy burden on the author. The pandemic brought attention to mental health and food, and the author felt overwhelmed and anxious, despite receiving accolades and positive reviews.

The author's own experience with anxiety, diagnosed with cancer and facing chemotherapy, helped them understand the power of nutritional psychiatry. However, the author's appearances and talks on television and podcasts further exacerbated their anxiety. Despite maintaining healthy eating habits, the author began to gain weight due to stress and anxiety, which further compounded their anxiety.

The author's anxiety grew over time, leading to a cycle of angst, stress, and anxiety. When planning a new book, the author decided to focus on anxiety, the world's most diagnosed mental health condition. The author discovered that anxiety is intertwined with various aspects of physical health, including immunity, inflammation, leptin response, and metabolism. Studying how anxiety is connected to metabolic disruption and the appetite hormone leptin helped understand why anxiety led to weight gain and the need for moderation in eating healthy foods.

The author shares her journey of overcoming anxiety and stress through various techniques. She began by booking regular massages and spa treatments, practicing alternate nostril breathing, and learning qigong to lower inflammation. She also invested in a time management system to organize her busy days and push back on deadlines.

To manage her diet, she reduced coffee intake and increased water intake to counteract dehydration. She updated her grandmother's golden chai recipe with more anxiety-relieving spices, grounding herself in a positive childhood memory and providing her brain with healing bioactive phytochemicals. She also adapted to leptin resistance through stress management and food choices, avoiding unhealthy choices and focusing on cruciferous vegetables and leafy greens.

The combination of these techniques helped her feel more grounded and focused on the task at hand. However, she still didn't feel completely whole until experiencing two personal events. Her doctor announced that her cancer tests were normal, and she was transferred to the survivorship clinic. This news lifted her from mental shackles and allowed her to eat slowly and mindfully.

The author's experience with cancer and the anxiety it caused helped her feel more whole and free from mental shackles. The author's journey of self-discovery and self-improvement helped her overcome her anxiety and find a sense of balance in her life.

The author shares their personal experience of growing up in South Africa under apartheid, which led to a deep sense of shame and prejudice. The healer helped them understand the importance of their experiences and the trauma they faced, which influenced their anxiety and metabolic struggles. The author's experience with cancer and childhood trauma helped them overcome these burdens and navigate the pressures of a successful book and the fears of living through a global pandemic.

The author believes that mental well-being is for everyone, and anxiety doesn't discriminate. Accessible solutions, such as food and nutrition, are essential for relieving anxiety. Eating is a basic way to strive for good mental health, and the author emphasizes that everyone should engage in daily eating to maintain good mental health.

The author believes that everyone is connected to their brain and body, and that embracing food and nutrition can help calm the mind and alleviate anxiety. The book emphasizes that mental well-being is for everyone, and that everyone should strive for good mental health.

PART I

Fighting the Global Anxiety Epidemic

The author was invited to give a keynote lecture at the first Integrative and Personalised Medicine conference in London, where they were invited to meet His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, who has since become the king of England. Despite the anxiety and fear, the author managed to stay calm and professional. They focused on pranayama, breath work yoga, and mindfulness exercises to manage their anxiety.

As the meeting approached, the author woke up early, meditated, and drank cool water to relieve dehydration. They ate a calming breakfast and practiced their curtsy, focusing on breath work and mindfulness. The meeting was a lively discussion about a whole-body approach to mental health, which led to the author becoming the US ambassador for the UK College of Medicine, leading the Food for Mood Campaign.

Upon returning home, the author reflected on how anxiety had nearly derailed such a game-changing moment in their life. They were grateful for the ability to calm their anxiety through practice, understanding the brain, and a diet that creates a strong foundation for mental health. The experience reminded them of the importance of helping others improve their mental health and overcome anxiety through the powerful medicine of food.

THE ANXIETY EPIDEMIC

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) conducts public opinion polls, including Healthy Minds Monthly, which provide insight into the mental health of the average American. Recent polls have highlighted growing concerns about various stressors, such as social media effects, child health, workplace stress, and economic stability. In March 2020, anxiety was heightened by the rise of COVID-19, with 48% of Americans reporting anxiety about the disease. However, as COVID-specific anxiety receded, it was replaced by worries about returning to the workplace, the war in Ukraine, climate change, inflation, and mass shootings. In October 2022, 79% of adults said that the state of mental health in the United States was a public health emergency.

Anxiety is the most commonly diagnosed mental health condition