part0007

Melancholia shows no mercy. If you currently suffer from depression or care about someone who does, or you just have to look at a doughnut and you gain weight, then this book is for you.

Every so often a book comes along which changes the game and Mad Diet is definitely a game changer. This is not just another diet book. It joins the dots on what is really going on with our food and medicine and is likely to connect with your intuition, an ‘inner knowing’ that goes far deeper than words. It is also a call to action, encouraging Western women to take their power back and make the transition to a healthier, happier life.

The intention of the author shouts even louder than the words on the page. Her message has integrity as it comes from two different, yet powerful, sources. First, the book is a product of her own personal experiences suffering from depression and weight problems, and second it is the product of years of research and her professional insights into the real causes of physical and mental illness. Mental health, food science and nutrition are serious subjects that have been covered by many academics, scientists, researchers and authors but rarely does the life-changing information reach the people those authors are actually writing about – those who so desperately need it. Occasionally a book emerges that can change that and resonate with the people that are actually living the nightmare. I believe Mad Diet is that book!

There is something about Suzanne Lockhart’s writing that is instantly likeable. She describes her west of Scotland, working-class upbringing in a way that will invoke many childhood memories for those of us who grew up in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Lockhart has taken on huge topics – food, medicine, agriculture and industry – and distilled the scope of work into a book which is easily understood and clearly explains why so many women (and men) are struggling with weight and mental health problems. The reader is also encouraged to do their own research while using the information in the book as an easy step guide to self-healing.

Some information regarding the food industry may come as a revelation to you. It was to me, and has left me wondering how we have come to a place where profit appears to be more important than people, their health or the planet. Many of us take for granted and trust that the food available to us is nutritionally beneficial but it is clear that this may not be the case. Suzanne has researched the work of many eminent scientists and doctors who have inspired her to bring forth this knowledge.

I have been an independent nutritional researcher for over 30 years and as a newspaper columnist based in Scotland I fully understand the health challenges facing women in the UK. I also understand the importance of natural healthcare and the growing need for us to take more responsibility for our own health.

This book really grabbed my attention. Not only does it bring together the old clichés of how ‘our psychology becomes our biology’ and ‘we are what we eat’, but goes far deeper to explain in easy-to-understand terms how the food we eat affects both our physical and mental health and how making conscious decisions about what we put in our shopping trolleys can radically change our lives.

Everyone gets the blues from time to time, but depression is a vile condition that rarely comes with much sympathy. Unlike many physical conditions, mental torment is usually invisible and as such is too often ignored or dismissed by society. It often lies hidden, anonymous, undetected, to those looking in as the sufferer puts on the face of the sad clown. Having suffered from a short spell of hormonally related depression and postnatal depression in my twenties I too speak from experience. I wish I had had this information to hand in those dark days, when even as a nutritional researcher I did not have the energy, joie de vivre, nor the concentration to look for a way out of the darkness. Thankfully, I stumbled upon magnesium and vitamin B complex which together with a change in diet helped immensely and I have never looked back. Others have not been so lucky.

I have tested the teachings in Mad Diet to great effect. The power and simplicity of this book could be life-changing but please don’t take my word for it. Why not find out for yourself and try it.