The Serotonin Power Diet Review

 The easiest way to lose weight is to use your brain.

The easiest way to lose weight is to use your brain.

 Here's why: The brain contains the switch that turns your appetite on and off.

Serotonin, called the satiety or satisfaction chemical, is the brain chemical that turns off your eating. To lose weight you have to know how to activate the "off button'" before you either overeat or chose foods that are not on your diet. Our book will show you how to boost serotonin to stop overeating, to quiet food cravings, and to experience feelings of satisfaction and comfort. 

You don't need to take medication or herbs or special supplements to boost serotonin. All you need to do is follow the simple meal and snack plan in The Serotonin Power Diet and your brain will produce more serotonin. And within hours of following the food plan, you will find yourself feeling full, even after eating diet-size portions of meals. Your cravings will disappear. And for an added bonus, your mood will be better. You'll get this extra benefit because serotonin is also the "good mood" brain chemical. 

Nature gave us a simple way to control our eating and balance our mood just by eating the right foods. During our years of research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, we discovered the connection between eating, emotions and serotonin. By using your brain's natural chemistry, you can:

• Turn off appetite by triggering more serotonin before meals
• Stop the universal carbohydrate craving in the late afternoon by triggering more serotonin before the cravings begin
• Prevent emotional overeating by triggering serotonin during those stressful times
• End the overeating that comes with the use of antidepressants by making the brain produce more serotonin
  

You will find out all about this in our book, The Serotonin Power Diet.

My Take: I think I can safely end with the old adage that bread is the staff of life. I've always mocked those who have subscribed to Atkin-esque diets.  Okay, that's not totally true.  When I was in high school I nearly started on one.  I'd gotten fat.  Ballooned to 118 lbs. Someone gave me copy of the exact diet to follow.  My mom, although not agreeing I'd turned into a Stay-Puff Marshmallow, supported me starting the diet.  I think she saw the merits of eating something healthier than an Oreo shake and french fries.  She took me to the grocery store where we gathered the food.  We were almost finished and I thought I could do it.  I really did.  But when I held that lamb chop, I knew I'd never make it.  

I can't eat veal (baby cow) and I can't eat Fred. Fred was the sheep we bought one year to fatten up and then slaughter for food.  Fred ended up dying of old age and being buried on the family farm with the rest of our beloved family pets.

Since then I've become a master of bread.  Come over on any given Sunday afternoon and I'll prove it.

The theory behind The Serotonin Power Diet is pretty simple.  Serotonin is the chemical that elevates mood.  Serotonin is made when the amino acid, tryptophan, enters the brain. Tryptophan enters the brain after a person eats carbs without eating protein concurrently which results in an elevated mood and appetite is suppressed.  This is a very, very simple explanation but that's the gist.

The book continues to differentiate between hunger and appetite, an important distinction.  The authors discuss eating triggers and how to combat them and how chemicals might impact the process.  The diet itself contains three stages.  But the essential element is that we can combat our appetite by eating or drinking a small serving of carbohydrates before a meal.  

By the way, Diet Coke is not considered a carb.  Apparently, our taste buds can be tricked but our brains know the difference and will not trigger the Serotonin process.  So wrong on so many levels.

The book is contains a plethora of information that is both old and nuggets of new stuff that is not surprising or ground breaking but makes a lot of sense. It certainly justifies my binging on the bread when I eat out at an Italian restaurant.  Okay, I made that up.  Sort of.  Moderation.

Highly recommend this book.  Well written, intelligent, and it tells me almost what I want to hear.  Carbs are good and elevate mood.  Amazing recipe ideas comprises nearly half of the book.  I can't wait to try them.  

But I'm still drinking my Diet Coke.