Nutritional Influences on Mental Illness: A Source Book of Clinical Research

Nutritional Influences on Mental Illness: A Source Book of Clinical Research

Melvyn R. Werback

Third Line Press, Inc., 360 pp., 1991

Publication of this book is timely as nutritional science is emerging as an essential component of the practice of medicine. The book is a sequel to “Nutritional Influences on Illness” by the same author. In “Nutritional Influences on Mental Illness” the focus is narrowed to psychiatric illness.

The book is aptly described as a “source book for clinical research”. Part I of the book is composed of a thorough review of the literature on the relationship of nutritional abnormality to psychiatric illnesses such as depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, learning disabilities, premenstrual syndrome and so on. Additional chapters address the influence of nutritional abnormality on symptoms such as fatigue, insomnia and aggressive behavior. Most chapters begin with a brief overview on the subject under study followed by a compilation of relevant publications on the topic, fully referenced for any one who wishes to undertake his own further study in the specific area. The presentation is extremely well organized and thorough. However, the author seldom offers his own critical appraisal of the mass of volume he has reviewed.

Part II of the book consists of six practical appendices such as “Common Nutritional Deficiencies,” “Dangers of Nutritional Supplementation” and “Guidelines to Nutritional Supplementation”. Once again, this is largely a compilation of previously published work in this area presented in an organized and easily readable way. The scope is wide, looking at everything from proteins and carbohydrates to vitamins and minerals.

Overall, the author has succeeded in his objective to bring together the plethora of literature on the relationship of nutrition to cognition, emotion and behavior. However, the author leaves it up to the reader to arrive at his own final conclusions and derive from it any therapeutic value. In this respect the book does not represent original work. As a source for clinical research, this book will serve to avoid the tedious task of a literature search. I would recommend it for institutional libraries and for health care workers with a special interest in nutrition.