The UltraMind Solution: Fix Your Broken Brain by Healing Your Body First [Hardcover]

I first saw Dr. Hyman during PBS's fundraising drive. It was 4 in the morning and I had just gotten my mother back to sleep whom had Alzheimer's and other complicating health factors. I couldn't sleep so I made some decaf tea and flipped on the tv. At first, as usual, I was skeptical. I kept listening though as I wanted to make sure my skepticism was accurate. The more information he laid out the more my skepticism faded into tacit agreement.

After myself having to have dealt with chronic illness for over a decade and a half, I had already come to some of the same understandings as Dr. Hyman. He further enlightened me as to some of the biochemical reasons for this. I knew what he said to be true as my own doctor had used similar testing methods to determine that I was low in zinc, vitamin B12 and D (which is finally catching on, that most of us in the northern latitudes are vitamin D deficient and that deficiency has been linked to some cancers and diseases). I decided I would order his book and see more about this.

I bought both "Ultrametabolism" and "the Ultramind Solution" and I would say, if you had to just buy one book that "the Ultramind Solution" would be sufficient. He deals with a topic, in that book, that is contentious these days but will be found to be standard practice in the future - the idea of heavy metal contamination and how that is just one of the stressors on the body and how that issue needs to be dealt with in order to recover one's health from chronic illness. He mentions his experience with heavy metal poisoning (mercury from his amalgam fillings and from the coal burning community he was living in, in China). There households burn coal and their air is thick with it. He determined that this was part of the reason for his decline into ill health. He was able to reverse his slide into chronic and critical illness and uses his research, what he uncovered during this process, to help his patients.

Dr. Hyman also has an extensive website with updated blog entries and information on the latest on disease, conditions, etc. It is packed with great information at no additional cost. Now, I do have to say that some of the people he has recommended, well, I haven't been as impressed with, as in other doctor's discoveries. Some I find, meh, and one in particular, their advertising and marketing are SO aggressive it has just been a huge turn off and I have deleted them from my inbox! But Dr. Hyman, I find him to be honest, forthright, and his science makes sense. For example, he talks about wheat (the proteins in wheat - gluten) to be a problem for many people. There is more on that on his website if you would like to see some info right now before ordering the book. I had had trouble with bowel pain, constipation, diarrhoea, abdominal distention, pain, lots of pain for YEARS! I had told my GP's about but none of them thought to check me out for Celiac disease. None of them. It took till I was 41 when I found a new doctor who was open minded and progressing along the same path as Dr. Hyman here, looking for the CAUSES of illness rather than just prescribing pharmaceuticals to treat the symptoms. I was tested and bam, there it was, the numbers told the story - I had Celiac disease. I complained of pain for most of my life and NO standard doctor thought to look at this very OBVIOUS probable cause. Most medical practitioners are biased to their own cultural tradition and our's is no exception - our cultural food tradition is wheat and dairy. It is no surprise that both are overlooked so often as primary causes of illness. Not for everyone but for specific groups and/or individuals they are.

Because of my long undiagnosed Celiac disease I had become deficient in many vitamins and minerals (gluten destroys the celia in the intestine and celia are what take the nutrients from food and pass them into your system so you can benefit from the vitamins and minerals in your food). My doctor prescribed quite a few in order to get my levels up to where they should be. I am still on some of them and my levels are slowly coming up. Mineral and vitamin deficiency can cause illness. Specific determination of what mineral or vitamin one is deficient in and treating that SPECIFIC deficiency is vital to improving health.

If you want more information on what is upcoming standard medical procedure and what you should be aware of, get this book. I'm glad I did.

I would encourage everyone to read this book, particularly those that have been given a diagnosis. Before accepting a diagnosis, obtain knowledge from this book before making any decisions on a treatment plan that is right for you and most certainly before you consider taking any drugs. Education is power! The outline in this book is really quite simple and by following the advise, you are not powerless over your disease, you have some control. Enjoy the read!Better Brain Book

This is a very informative book on how our brain, as our body's most sensitive and important organ, is affected by our diet just as we all know that our kidneys and liver are affected by things like acetaminophen and alcohol. The foreward is writte by a Harvard Medical School Prof., a reasonable assurance that this is NOT junk science. The cover sounds like "editor hype" but the book and author offer good, solid information. It worked for me too!