"I've watched Mary Beth Albright eat, and I've certainly watched her flourish in her career over the last decade. A true authority on all things food, her book is a departure from the expected and does a world of good through one of our most important places: the dinner table." - Bobby Flay, chef

That mini review from renown chef Bobby Flay truly blew me away with his praise. But when you think about it; Food and Mental Health - need I say more?

I want to thank NetGalley, the author Mary Beth Albright and the publisher W. W. Norton & Company, Countryman Press for providing me with an eARC of this publication. In return, I have promised to provide an unbiased review.

The mission of this book is wonderful. I love that it's tackling diet without being a weight-loss book. I found the ties to mental health really interesting and I think there are many great points being made throughout. That being said, it was a bit dry. There were points where I struggled staying focused on the words on the page. But overall, this is a great book to have on the market right now.

"Food is pleasurable," writes journalist Mary Beth Albright in Eat and Flourish, a brilliant exploration of the connection between food and emotional well-being. This sets the tone for what is to come: a health book that divorces wellness and nutrition from weight-loss goals and diet culture. Instead, Albright explores how what people eat contributes to how they feel--and the key role that pleasure takes in that connection. She grounds this "food-mood revolution" in extensive scientific research, providing a thorough overview of human digestion and the microbiome (the trillions of microbes found throughout the human digestive tract) as a starting point. From there, she brings in different elements of food and food culture: growing food, preparing and cooking it, eating it--and the many ways these interactions with nourishment create neural pathways in the brain that shape and support emotional health.

Eat and Flourish is a compelling and practical guide to how small changes in daily diets might make someone feel their best. Among the countless books extolling the virtues of "healthy" eating, this stands apart because of Albright's focus not just on nutrients but also on the "circle of food, nutrients, pleasure, and connection." Eat and Flourish presents a more intentional way of eating that supports every aspect of how a person feels--physically, mentally and emotionally. And in a world that's rife with chaos, the privilege of being intentional about what and why we eat is not one to be taken lightly. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A very informative read, and a great resource for anyone wanting to improve their health through food. Recommended.

This is a wonderful non-fiction book about eating a whole-food diet to improve mental health.

I found it very informative. I took lots of notes. I liked the small-steps approach for making healthier food choices. This is a great resource for anyone that seeks to improve their health; whether in general or for better mental health.

Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton and Company for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This book is incredibly informative for anyone interested in eating for wellness. That being said, informative can tend to run a little dry, and certain chapters were more dry than others.

I was excited to read this to see if I could utilize things from it for my foods and nutrition class I teach. I can definitely see information from this being beneficial for those students!

Thanks to @netgalley and @w.w.norton for the opportunity to read this!

EAT & FLOURISH by Mary Beth Albright is all about "How Food Supports Emotional Well-Being" and even its beautiful cover evokes positive feelings. Albright, a writer, editor, and executive producer at the Washington Post, divides the book into six chapters dealing with first emotional eating; then pleasure; the gut microbiome; inflammation; nutrients and, finally, how to eat for emotional wellness. The first five provide scientific evidence of the important relationship between well-being and food, while the last provides a flexible four week outline to help incorporate many of the findings in daily life. As Albright points out, some suggested steps (e.g., "buy and eat 30 different plants in one week"), are indeed daunting, but she contends throughout the book that "it's not just what we eat, it's how we eat that affects mental health." Notes, including citations for numerous scientific papers, represent at least ten percent of the text. EAT & FLOURISH received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

Informative and knowledgeable, but reads more like a text book to me than something I’d read for pleasure. If you are up for a serious read about food and health, this would present a lot of good information. For casual reading enjoyment, it’s too dry for me.

I really enjoyed this book that explores the power of whole foods on our mental health through nutrients and the pleasure of eating.

One of the biggest takeaway from this book is the reminder that everyone needs to eat more fiber, and fiber only comes from plants, so move as close as you can to a plant-based, whole foods diet! Ideally we should be eating five cups of fruits/veggies (with emphasis on dark leafy greens) every day. Only 7% of Americans get enough fiber. Our gut microbiome needs fiber to flourish and support our mental health.

Another key takeaway was a great description of exactly WHY stress gives us brain fog and makes us mentally drained: stress leads to excess cortisol which can cause neurons all over our nervous system to weaken and take in too much calcium which damages the neurons, leaving us with literally fewer brain cells, causing memory problems and brain fog! I've never heard that explained so well before. The book is full of many great evidence-based tidbits like this, to help our wellbeing flourish, with special consideration for our mental health. There are some recipes too. I recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley, Countryman Press and Mary Beth Albright for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you're looking for a light and fluffy 'fix yourself with food' book, this isn't it. If you're looking for a traditional cookbook, this isn't that, either. But if you really want to learn about how your body works and how food plays into your overall physical and mental health, this one's a keeper.

While I gained a lot of knowledge from every section, the probiotics chapter was such an eye-opener for me. We've all heard of probiotics and can find plenty of sources for putting them into our bodies, but do we really understand what they are and what they do for us? Now I feel like I really understand what's going on with them - and why they aren't just a one-time, easy fix for what ails us.

The book concludes with suggested theme weeks - Microbiome, Inflammation (which includes 'Breaditation', the meditative art of making bread), Nutrients, and Pleasure. Spending a week focused on one aspect of nutrition and your body is a great way to learn, and make changes that can stay with you for the rest of your life.

My thanks to author Mary Beth Albright, W. W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for allowing me to read a digital advance review copy of this book. This review is my honest and unbiased opinion.

I loved the concept of this book and the way eating for wellbeing was broken down into four foci: microbiome, inflammation, nutrients, and pleasure. I thought this book had just the right amount of science description to make it credible and understandable without being overwhelming.

This book was written by a journalist, so I was surprised at the amount of personal exposition sprinkled throughout. I found it to detract from the content. This book was entirely text, and I think it would have benefited from some infographics to illustrate some of the scientific concepts presented.

Overall, I recommend this book and feel that I got a lot out of it in both perspective and practical guidance.

Thank you to W. W. Norton & Company (Countryman Press) and NetGalley for providing me with an advance copy to review!

Eat & Flourish
by Mary Beth Albright
Pub Date: November 29, 2022
Countryman Press
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book! The cover is gorgeous.
However, this book is a serious read, not a casual read. My patrons will not enjoy reading this book. Almost textbook-like in the dive into the relation to food and mood.
This book is for the serious reader about food and mood and mental health. For this reason I cannot recommend it and will not be purchasing it for our library.

What is presented is very valuable, but as a book with recipes, it has an odd format. I think this book will benefit from some editing.
3 stars

Eat & Flourish by Mary Beth Albright is a serious read, not a casual read. Almost textbook-like in the dive into the relation to food and mood. I recently read a book similar called MindFood and it was presented very differently.
This book is for the serious reader about food and mood and mental health.

What is presented is very valuable but as a book with recipes, it does have a bit of an odd format. I would work on the presentation to be palpable to the more casual reader. The cover is beautiful. And Emotional Well-Being and food is such a great topic. A lot of work went into this book and it shows.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher Countryman Press for the opportunity to read and review Eat & Flourish.

Eat & Flourish by Mary Beth Albright explores how what we eat affects not just our physical health but also how we feel emotionally and mentally.