Grain Brain
David Perlmutter · 2013
Grain Brain (2013) is a book by David Perlmutter on Nutrition/Brain health. Neurologist David Perlmutter argues that the modern grain- and sugar-heavy diet is silently inflaming your brain, and that swapping carbs for healthy fats can protect your memory, mood, and long-term cognition.
Bestselling, debate-sparking book on carbs, gluten, and brain health with a clear dietary program.
Three of the ideas you’ll keep
The Clif summary of Grain Brain pulls out 7 insights. Here are the first three.
- Treat chronic inflammation as the root cause of brain disease: high-carb, gluten-rich, and sugary foods spark inflammation that damages neurons, so cutting them is your single highest-leverage move for protecting cognition.
- Cap daily carbs aggressively (start near 30-40g, settle under 60g) and cut gluten entirely, because even 'healthy' whole wheat spikes blood sugar harder than table sugar and feeds neurological inflammation.
- Make fat your primary fuel: load up on olive oil, avocados, coconut oil, nuts, eggs, wild fish, and grass-fed meat, and stop fearing dietary cholesterol and saturated fat while ditching omega-6 vegetable oils.
The other 4 — and the full 8-minute summary — are in the app.
What’s inside: 9 chapters
The whole summary runs about 8 minutes, read or listened to.
- The Carb Brain: Why Grains Are Silently Hurting You
- Inflammation: The Common Root of Brain Decline
- Gluten: More Than a Gut Problem
- Blood Sugar and the Brain on Glucose
- Rethinking Fat and Cholesterol
- BDNF: Growing a Better Brain
- Sleep, Hormones, and Hunger
- Supplements and Smart Testing
- The 4-Week Grain Brain Program
Finish Grain Brain tonight.
Read or listen to the full summary in about 8 minutes, then keep the ideas with a minute of review a day. Start with the 2-minute quiz — no card required.
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