Recommended Books

The Hacking of the American Mind: The Science Behind the Corporate Takeover of Our Bodies and Brains by Dr. Robert H. Lustig

Dr. Robert H. Lustig states that parents are destroying the minds of their children with video devices, appeasement, and sugar. He says being bored is a good thing. It leads to daydreaming and that can lead to imagination and innovation. By always providing children with pleasure inducing dopamine hits (candy, soft drinks, video games, and by granting them their every wish) will often lead to depression. Providing a continuous stream of dopamine hits never leads to happiness which explains why we no longer have to wonder why suicide rates continue to increase!

The Salt Fix: Why the Experts Got It All Wrong--and How Eating More Might Save Your Life
by Dr. James DiNicolantonio

We’ve all heard the recommendation: eat no more than a teaspoon of salt a day for a healthy heart. Health-conscious Americans have hewn to the conventional wisdom—that your salt shaker can put you on the fast track to a heart attack—and have suffered through bland but ‘heart-healthy’ dinners as a result.

What if the low-salt advice is wrong?

The Omega-3 Connection: The Groundbreaking Antidepression Diet and Brain Program

Andrew Stoll suggests that restoring our body's natural balance of omega-3s may help alleviate (and prevent) many types of depression--even for those who don't respond to traditional antidepressants. Omega-3s may also prove helpful with other problems, such as the inability to handle stress, memory loss, and cognitive decline. The link goes to Amazon.com.

Brain-Building Nutrition: How Dietary Fats and Oils Affect Mental, Physical, and Emotional Intelligence

Dr. Michael A. Schmidt provides a host of practical dietary information and new, ground-breaking research to support his findings. A remarkable but little known fact is that the brain is nearly 60 percent fat. The book begins with a quiz to measure the reader's brain fatty acid profile, and goes on to demonstrate the role of fat in the brain's structure and functioning. The author helps the reader distinguish between harmful and beneficial fats and oils, and warns the "French Fry Generation" of the dangers of a poor diet. The effects of nutrition on mood, memory and behavior are explained by a number of compelling case studies. Finally, the author presents various strategies for enhancing mental, physical and emotional intelligence through the conscious use of supplements and a healthy diet.

The Brain Diet: The Connection Between Nutrition, Mental Health, and Intelligence

Alan C. Logan is a member of the Harvard Medical School's Mind-Body Medical Institute. The nutrition editor of the International Journal of Naturopathic Medicine, and his articles have been published in Nutrition, Arthritis and Rheumatology, American Journal of Hypertension, Medical Hypotheses, Hospital Physician, and Medical Clinics of North America. The Brain Diet explores the connection between diet and mental health as well as the importance of diet in realizing the full potential of our intelligence. Dr. Logan shows how poor nutrition hinders the development of our children's intelligence and adversely affects mental health and success. Dr. Logan explains the science behind how our brains function, he also provides suggestions for healthy diet. The link goes to Amazon.com.

N-3 Fats: Nutritional Needs, Traditional and Novel Sources and Microbial Production Strategies

N-3 Fatty acids are essential compounds in higher eukaryotes and are linked to various health benefits in humans including cognitive and visual development of infants and reduced risk of cancer, cardiovascular diseases and mental illnesses of adults. Several health authorities and professional organisations have made dietary recommendations for intake of n-3 fatty acids to achieve nutrient adequacy and prevent and treat chronic diseases, e.g. cardiovascular diseases. This book reviews the recent knowledge of nutritional needs and sources of n-3 fat and presents production strategies for microbial DHA and EPA production. The author is Anita Nordeng Jakobsen, Ph.D. The link goes to Amazon.com.

The Paleo Diet for Athletes: A Nutritional Formula for Peak Athletic Performance

Loren Cordain, Ph.D., follows his success of The Paleo Diet with the first book ever to detail the exercise-enhancing effects of a diet similar to that of our Stone Age ancestors. When The Paleo Diet was published, advocating a return to the diet of our ancestors (high protein, plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables), the book received brilliant reviews from the medical and nutritional communities. Jennie Brand-Miller, coauthor of the bestselling Glucose Revolution, called it "without a doubt the most nutritious diet on the planet." Doctors Michael and Mary Dan Eades, authors of Protein Power, said, "We can't recommend The Paleo Diet highly enough."

Now Dr. Cordain joins with USA triathlon and cycling elite coach Joe Friel to adapt the Paleo Diet to the needs of athletes. The authors show: (1) Why the typical athletic diet (top-heavy with grains, starches, and refined sugars) is detrimental to recovery, performance, and health. (2) How the glycemic load and acid-base balance impact performance. (3) Why consumption of starches and simple sugars is only beneficial in the immediate post-exercise period. At every level of competition, The Paleo Diet for Athletes can maximize performance in a range of endurance sports. The link goes to Amazon.com.

The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It

Based on Stanford University psychologist Kelly McGonigal's wildly popular course "The Science of Willpower," The Willpower Instinct is the first book to explain the new science of self-control and how it can be harnessed to improve our health, happiness, and productivity.

Unaccountable: What Hospitals Won't Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionize Health Care

Dr. Marty Makary is co-developer of the life-saving checklist outlined in Atul Gawande's bestselling The Checklist Manifesto. As a busy surgeon who has worked in many of the best hospitals in the nation, he can testify to the amazing power of modern medicine to cure. But he's also been a witness to a medical culture that routinely leaves surgical sponges inside patients, amputates the wrong limbs, and overdoses children because of sloppy handwriting. Over the last ten years, neither error rates nor costs have come down, despite scientific progress and efforts to curb expenses. Why?

To patients, the healthcare system is a black box. Doctors and hospitals are unaccountable, and the lack of transparency leaves both bad doctors and systemic flaws unchecked. Patients need to know more of what healthcare workers know, so they can make informed choices. Accountability in healthcare would expose dangerous doctors, reward good performance, and force positive change nationally, using the power of the free market.

Unaccountable is a powerful, no-nonsense, non-partisan diagnosis for healing our hospitals and reforming our broken healthcare system. The link goes to Amazon.com.

. . . . and here are some interesting books too.

Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal

The foundations of capitalism are being battered by a flood of altruism, which is the cause of the modern world's collapse. This is the view of Ayn Rand, a view so radically opposed to prevailing attitudes that it constitutes a major philosophic revolution. In this series of essays, she presents her stand on the persecution of big business, the causes of war, the default of conservatism, and the evils of altruism. Here is a challenging new look at modern society by one of the most provocative intellectuals on the American scene.

This book is must reading for every reading Blooded American. It also contains an outstanding short essay by Alan Greenspan (former head of the Federal Reserve) about Gold and Economic Freedom. Yes, he explains the importance of gold and how government manipulation of the economy always leads to financial panics. The link goes to Amazon.com.

This next link goes to the Ayn Rand Center. The title is The Nature of Government. It's a must read for every American.

The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Comsumption

Ted Slanker likes this book because it deals with bad news, bad science, and the many "news" articles that are written to reaffirm myths rather than dispel myths.

The modern human animal spends upwards of 11 hours out of every 24 in a state of constant consumption. Not eating, but gorging on information ceaselessly spewed from the screens and speakers we hold dear. Just as we have grown morbidly obese on sugar, grain-fed meats, grains, nuts, and horrible vegetable oils — so, too, have we become gluttons for texts, instant messages, emails, RSS feeds, downloads, videos, status updates, and tweets.

We're all battling a storm of distractions, buffeted with notifications and tempted by tasty tidbits of information. And just as too much junk food can lead to obesity, too much junk information can lead to cluelessness. The Information Diet shows you how to thrive in this information glut — what to look for, what to avoid, and how to be selective. In the process, author Clay Johnson explains the role information has played throughout history, and why following his prescribed diet is essential for everyone who strives to be smart, productive, and sane. The link goes to Amazon.com.