Remake Your Brain

Thank you NetGallley and BooksGoSocial for letting me read this for an honest review.

My first time reading Dr Leonid Altshuler MD.

A short read, interesting.  I might check his other books on mental health.  

Review shared online

Do you have metabolic syndrome, caused by insulin swings? Feeling depressed, stressed, unable to cope, or overweight? Is your mental and physical health under siege?

Dr. Altshuler wants you to consider a change in diet (to meat and fish only), stress-reducing exercises, and a lifestyle that is continually renewed by nature and healthier thinking. He makes it easy with practical suggestions.

I found this worth reading. I'll try some of the suggestions - and some of them may not be as good a fit. Certainly, it's worth a month of two of experimenting to see if this method will produce awareness of what makes me function well and think positively. You in the same boat? Pick up a copy today.

'When they become depressed they tend to not pay much attention to what they eat and to the amount of physical exercise they perform and it makes the metabolic syndrome worse.'

I suffer from depression and anxiety and have recently developed other health issues which led to me losing my appetite and love of food. Because of this, when it came to reintroducing food it hasn't been easy. Also the lack of exercise has taken its toll. Partly due to being scared to leave the house the other because I don't have the energy.

'Metabolic syndrome and its connection to mental health'

'the neurotransmitters, develop a different variety of mental problems —anxiety, depression, mood swings, anger, irritability, low motivation, problem with attention and concentration, memory problems, insomnia. '

One part I really loved was about feelings and how we treat ourselves and others, how love is an important factor. the world is changing in how we interact with each other. In some cases I think we talk less as we have instant ways of getting in touch with people, either via text messaging or social media but less and less do we actually pick up the phone and talk. At one point we would do the weekly phone call or write a letter, and when we would meet up in the pub or whatever we did we would have loads to discuss. Now we tell everyone everything again via text or social media that sometimes when we do come face to face we have less to talk about. The author makes a good point about love and loneliness.....

Adults need love, too. Many adults suffer from feeling lonely, especially in the big cities. Adults spend too much time having an intimate relationship with modern day technology that is incapable of giving them an adequate amount of love. 

The book also provides guidance on meditation from focusing on an object in the room that you've seen dozens of times and then sitting for 20 minutes and writing everything negative down and doing it for seven days. This has often been suggested to me but not for such a length of time. I do this on and off then I just rip it all up, but the author suggests reading it after the 7 days and picking out the positives.

 'Loneliness comes from the false perceptions that only humans can hear and understand you. Not at all! – You do not need to seek advice only from humans. You can ask the Universe a question. It is better to ask this question before you fall asleep. '

It also focuses on loneliness, one of the biggest things I have to deal with and didn't realise how much until a few years back when a job I loved started to go wrong and then it just continued. It suggests getting out and talking to your surroundings and that everything can give you advice from birds to trees to the universe. A part of me is a bit sceptical of this but in recent years I have been trying to do different hings, I think most of the times things don't work because you don't belive in it like not believing in your own self-worth. That's how we end up ill because we no longer look after ourselves. Later he mentions food is medicine, this bit is true as I have vitamin deficiency brought on by my bad diet or lack of eating. In recent months I've relied on ready meals but most days I just have a smoothie and toast and this needs to change as obviously my body is becoming weaker. So after reading this book I intend to do some meal planning and from next month try to rebuild myself and hopefully my health will improve both mentally and physically.

The book provides guidance on meditation from focusing on an object in the room that you’ve seen dozens of times and then sitting for 20 minutes and writing everything negative down and doing it for seven days.It also focuses on loneliness,This book is well written, easy to understand. Doctors often overlook these relationships even though they must have learned these facts in medical school. Very good information that a lot of people could greatly benefit from.