My Favorite Health and Wellness Books of 2013
 

Grain Brain

The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar–Your Brain’s Silent Killers
By David Perlmutter M.D.

In Grain Brain, Functional Medicine Practitioner and Neurologist, David Perlmutter, has tackled a topic that’s been buried in medical literature: carbs are destroying your brain. His claim is that it’s not just unhealthy carbs like cake and cookies that cause problems, but even “healthy” ones like whole grains that can cause inflammation, which then leads to dementia, ADHD, anxiety, chronic headaches and depression. Dr. Perlmutter explains why your brain thrives on fat and cholesterol, and how you can spur the growth of new brain cells at any age. In fact, according to him, fat avoidance and carbohydrate overconsumption are at the heart of the Alzheimer’s epidemic.  He offers an in-depth look at how we can take control of our “smart genes” through specific dietary choices and lifestyle habits, demonstrating how to remedy our most feared maladies without drugs.

Mind over Medicine

Scientific Proof You Can Heal Yourself 
By Lissa Rankin, M.D.

Clinical trials show that up to 80 percent of patients given a placebo heal themselves with the power of the mind alone. But how?

There is documented evidence that beliefs, thoughts, and feelings can cure the body. And this book not only reveals the data from mainstream medical journals; it tells you step-by-step how you can implement this knowledge to make your body ripe for spontaneous remission or disease prevention.

For years, pioneers in the medical community have been extolling the virtues of the mind’s power to heal the body. Yet their insights into the connection between our physiological states and our thoughts, beliefs, and emotions have long been dismissed by modern medicine as New-Age quackery and pseudoscience. Until now, few have made a definitive, scientifically-documented case that the mind indeed has the power to prevent illness and even cure the body.

Intrigued but skeptical that the mind could heal the body, Western-trained physician Lissa Rankin, M.D. pored over hundreds of objectively evaluated, peer-reviewed studies from medical journals to find proof not just that thoughts and feelings originating in the mind can heal the body, but also that there are clear physiological mechanisms explaining how this happens. In short, the body is equipped with natural self-repair mechanisms that the mind has the power to flip on or off. In Mind Over Medicine, she explains how this process works, proves with extraordinary case studies from the medical literature that it does, and teaches practical techniques you can use to activate the body’s natural self-healing mechanisms, while shutting off the processes that predispose to illness.

Love Your Enemies

How to Break the Anger Habit & Be a Whole Lot Happier 
By Sharon Salzberg and Robert Thurman

Life has a way of thwarting our plans, leaving even the most sainted of us frustrated and fearful at times. But losing our cool causes more problems than it solves. So when people and circumstances conspire against us, how can we douse the white-hot fires of rage? How can we break the cycle of hurt, anger, and revenge to find inner peace and coexist peacefully with the world?

In Love Your Enemies, Sharon Salzberg and Tenzin Robert Thurman draw on ancient spiritual wisdom, modern psychology, and the latest neuroscience to guide us in dealing with troublesome people and situations, and overcoming the real source of our distress, our deep-seated self-centeredness and self-hatred. Based on the popular workshop they teach together, the authors offer practical methods for transforming our relationship to our outer, inner, secret, and super-secret enemies.

Thurman brings to life traditional wisdom teachings such as Shantideva’s advice on replacing anger with patience, and the practice of exchanging self-preoccupation for compassion set out by Dharmarakshita. Salzberg mines her experiences as a leading teacher of insight and loving kindness meditation to relate real-life examples of putting the teachings into practice. Together, the two perspectives give us a well-rounded course in conquering our outer and inner enemies. The material is presented in a warm, accessible manner that welcomes spiritual seekers of all levels, from newcomer to dedicated practitioner.