The Crazy Makers: How the Food Industry Is Destroying Our Brains and Harming Our Children: Amazon.ca: Carol Simontacchi: Books

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Release Date: Jan 1 2008

An unprecedented and impeccably reported look at how American food manufacturers and their "products" may be endangering our minds.

With obesity becoming one of the fastest-growing worldwide epidemics, and manufactured food fueling that trend, The Crazy Makers is timelier than ever. This updated edition includes a new chapter on autism, as well as revised material that illustrates just how much the industry has changed in a few short years.

Based on extensive research, epidemiological evidence, and a formal study of schoolchildren's eating habits, The Crazy Makers identifies how the latest food products may be literally driving us crazy. Carol Simontacchi offers the reader nutritional primers and recipes to help counteract the problems facing us and our children every time we sit down to eat.

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Product Details

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Tarcher; 1 edition (Jan 1 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1585426261
ISBN-13: 978-1585426263
Product Dimensions: 15.2 x 2.5 x 23 cm
Shipping Weight: 363 g

Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #272,052 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #14 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Nutrition > Food Additives
- #76 in Books > Science & Math > Medicine > Pharmacology > Toxicology
- #77 in Books > Medical Books > Pharmacology > Toxicology

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We already worry that our food makes us fat, dull, disease-prone, and sleepy. Now we have to worry that it also makes us crazy. According to certified clinical nutritionist Carol Simontacchi, the food industries that give us packaged, processed, artificially flavored, chemical-ridden, artificially colored, nutrient-stripped pseudo foods such as sodas, processed soups, sugared cereals, and fiberless bread "wantonly destroy our bodies and our brains, all in the name of profit." We Americans (adults and children) eat 200 pounds of sugar and artificial sweeteners each year. Our children's test scores and grades drop. We become violent, illogical, moody, depressed, drug-addicted, and crazy. The reason, according to the author, who is pursuing a doctorate in brain nutrition, is that we're starving our brains with lack of nutrition.

This isn't a process that begins when teenagers start snacking on sodas, chips, and ice cream. Rather, this nutrition deprivation starts in the womb: mom doesn't get the right nutrition (essential fatty acids, high-quality protein, unrefined carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and water), so baby is born already brain-nutrient deficient, says the author. Infant formulas, processed baby food, and sugared cereals exacerbate the problem through the stages of childhood, with kids not getting the nutrition their growing brains need. Simontacchi also skewers prepared foods, additives, over-processed grains, school vending machines, and fast-food chains.

This book isn't only about children. Starbucks and its ilk get a "Crazy Maker Award" for "encouraging us to self-medicate with stimulating beverages that mask the symptoms of nervous system and adrenal exhaustion." We adults are genuinely fatigued, but instead of getting the sleep and rest we need, we succumb to the "marketing hype of sophisticated companies that convinces us that self-medicating with an addictive substance is the answer to our energy crisis." You may not accept all Simontacchi's views, but once you've read this book, you won't reach for a café latte or feed your kids sugar-frosted cereal with the same complacency. --Joan Price --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Why have depression rates soared in the post-WWII era? Why does one in four adults have a mental health crisis in any given year? According to Simontacchi, a clinical nutritionist (Your Fat Is Not Your Fault), the cause is a diet that consists of processed food deficient in crucial nutrients. Turning her attention first to the eating patterns of pregnant women, Simontacchi finds a connection between prenatal nutritional deficiencies (in fatty acids and B complex vitamins, among others) and "hidden" defects, which show up not at birth but later, as poor memory and the inability to concentrate. She also reports on a small study she conducted with teenagers: one group was given a nutritious breakfast drink and the other group was not. The youths who received the drink, she discovered, felt better in six areas of emotion, such as anxiety, depression and vigor. She also finds links between the poor eating habits of teenagers and fatigue, depression and self-destructive behavior. Throughout, Simontacchi documents her arguments with reference to mainstream journal articles and nutritional studies. But her tone is sometimes overwrought: "We are being systematically starved," she writes, eating not real food but "toxic food artifacts" made by food manufacturers. Her comments about the superiority of breast milk over formula may plunge into guilty despair anyone who didn't breast-feed her children for at least a year. But in a more positive vein, she offers pro-active strategies for improved nutritionAincluding pages of sensible suggested recipes for improving not only physical but mental health as well. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars eating ourselves crazy Nov 25 2003

By David Group

Format:Paperback

Simontacchi spells out in detail what is wrong with the modern American diet and what it is doing to the health of our brains. If only half of what she says is true, this country is headed for a mental health train wreck of massive proportions. Though she occasionally makes a statement that is unsupported by evidence and her views on soy are somewhat contradictory, I'm still giving this book five stars, because what she has to say is vitally important. Essential reading.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Changed the way I look at food! Nov 22 2003

By Muneera Fontaine

Format:Paperback

This author very clearly and concisely lays down the argument for why so many people and children are developing diseases and ailments at a record rate. It all can be traced back to what we put in our mouth. How many of us actually sit and read every label of what we eat? How many of us know what all those additives and "natural flavorings" are made of? Ms. Simontacchi made me think twice about what I eat, what I feed my child and the way I approach food shopping in general. This book changed my life, I will never feed any of my future children formula or baby food!

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5.0 out of 5 stars Required reading! Sep 6 2010

By Ien Van Houten

Format:Paperback

I would like to put this book in the hands of every parent, every teacher, and anyone else who is in the business of feeding young people. I would also like to make it required reading for every psychiatrist. Before you hit the mood-altering drugs, please try a good clean diet!

The Crazy Makers: How the Food Industry Is Destroying Our Brains and Harming Our Children [Paperback]

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