Excerpt from the Introduction:When we set out to create a cookbook about food and mood, we were inspired to write all about the “happiness” diet. Here’s what happened instead: we were thrust into a pandemic (like everyone else) while working and parenting, and fell into a hole of deep sadness, grief, loss, loneliness, anxiety, depression, and confusion. It felt so ironic that we were writing a cookbook on how to elevate one’s mental health while ours was slowly suffering.
The truth is, together, our mental health, brain health, and mood is a composite of many things—not just one. It’s made up of diet, movement, stress-releasing practices, quality sleep, connection with others, physical safety, community, strong sense of self, past experiences, self-compassion, genetics, and sometimes medication, therapy, and supplements.
We wanted to show our readers how to become the happiest versions of themselves all through a simple shift in diet.
Ta-da! Get those jazz hands out, because here is your before-and-after happiness picture! While there is a big element of truth to this—food absolutely impacts mood and our mental well-being—what we learned is that it’s not a linear process, nor is it human to be happy all the time.
If we hadn’t been mindful of the food we were eating and the thoughts we were thinking during this time, if we hadn’t been committed to balancing our blood sugar (we’ll explain what this means shortly), eating colorful vegetables, getting enough protein, and enjoying healthy sweets, then that small hole we were in would have become a deep, gaping, dark crevasse. There are many pieces to the mental wellness puzzle, and in this book our focus is on food.
Copyright © 2024 by Tamara Green and Sarah Grossman. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
