Book Title: The Better Brain: Overcome Anxiety, Combat Depression, and Reduce ADHD and Stress with Nutrition

Bonnie J. Kaplan, PhD, and Julia J. Rucklidge, PhD

WHAT IF half of all children struggling with ADHD and difficulty regulating their emotions could be treated effectively and safely with nutrients? Two placebo-controlled randomized trials indicate that this is possible, especially the emotional reactivity part. One was conducted in New Zealand (1,2), and the second was a multicentre trial (Oregon Health & Science University, Ohio State University, and University of Lethbridge**) (3). If parents knew about this research, and were given a choice, many would probably opt for nutrients and delay (or totally avoid) psychiatric meds for their child.

These results do not stand in isolation: there are now approximately 50 peer-reviewed showing benefits for mood, anxiety, ADHD, irritability, explosive rage. And there are another 30 or so studies showing benefits of whole-of-diet education, and of B complex enhancement of resilience. In other words, there is a truly large body of scientific evidence from the last two decades which is worthy of our attention.

Then why are parents not informed? And why are the results not covered by the media? Or taught to our physicians? Wouldn’t the public benefit from this information?

The reality is that articles on mental health only rarely touch on nutrition. In fact, looking back over the last 20 years, I can think of only one study on nutritional treatment of mental disorders that was covered by the national media, and it was one on adult depression published in 2017.

It was the lack of public awareness that led me to write "The Better Brain" with my former student Dr. Julia Rucklidge. I retired five years ago, but Julia currently has the most active research program in the world, for evaluating micronutrient treatment (primarily minerals and vitamins) for mental health challenges. Her laboratory is at the University of Canterbury, in Christchurch, New Zealand. A New York publisher Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt saw the value of educating the public about this topic so they published our book in late April.

Our book contains no magic, because there is no magical treatment in the world of mental health. But it does summarize all the research that the media steadfastly ignores – solid, peer-reviewed clinical trials of nutritional treatments and supporting studies of biological mechanisms. Importantly, our book is written at a level appropriate for the general public. We seem to have succeeded at making the book an interesting read (with lots of stories and anecdotes) and at demystifying the topic. The book teaches why all the research results make sense once you learn about the role of micronutrients in brain health.

For instance, did you know that our brain is only about 2% of our body weight, yet it consumes 20-40% of the nutrients we consume? Do you have any idea what our brains actually do with those micronutrients? Here’s a surprise: you have all heard of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine – but did you know that we cannot eat serotonin or dopamine? So how do we get it? Micronutrients enable our brains to manufacture all those wonderful chemicals that enable us to think and feel and talk and move. Minerals and vitamins are used in every one of the metabolic steps, in a way that anyone can understand (especially after reading chapter 2!).

The reception to the book after only a few months has been very positive:

• Michael Pollan tweeted that the book was ‘fascinating’ and Andrew Weil wrote the Foreword. And everyone says that it is a very engaging, easy-to-read book.
• Recent Amazon reviews say things like this:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most important book on nutrition and mental health ever written

5.0 out of 5 stars Transparent. Hype Free. Real info without an agenda!

5.0 out of 5 stars Great profound book

5.0 out of 5 stars Struggling with Mental Health? This is where you Start

But the reception that truly matters to the two authors is the response of the mental health treatment world. Our vision of the future (chapter 12) lays out how nutrition education and nutrition treatment should and could be incorporated into any clinical setting. Some people judge a book’s success in terms of sales – we will judge the success of this book in terms of policy changes.

 **The University of Lethbridge Centre was directed by APrON investigator Dr. Brenda Leung.

Reference: Kaplan, B.J., & Rucklidge, J.J. (2021). The better brain: Overcome anxiety, combat depression, and reduce ADHD and stress with nutrition. Mariner Books, New York, NY.