Rating: 
Summary: The Mood Cure
Review: "The Mood Cure" by Julia Ross is an informative and useful follow up Julia's first book, "The Diet Cure." This book provides clear guidelines for the reader to determine her "mood type" then provides detailed physical and nutrition-related description of how and why these moods develop and progress. Finally, an easy to follow supplement and nutritional profile is provided for the reader to begin transforming the Dark Clouds, Blahs, Stress and Sensitivity into a Healthy, good mood. Thanks Julia for another excellent book!
Rating: 
Summary: Prozac, alcohol, coffee,cigarettes ?
Review: Ever wonder why we're drawn to these things? This book is packed with current information about mind nutrition. Included: amino acids, vitamins/minerals, herbs, diet. Most of the emphasis is on amino acids and how they affect our predominant brain nuerotransmitters. If you are taking or considering taking an antidepressant, hooked on coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, chocolate, this book is a must. It tries to explain the biological "why" we are drawn to these things. This is not one of those fuzzy, "Talk to a therapist, or take vitamin C" books. There are 17 pages of notes referencing studies,articles and scientific journals. This book is a good starting point.
One of the previous reviewers brought up a good point: the book could have used some better editing. The author repeats herself. But dont stop reading it - there's fascinating information throughout.
From the inside cover: "the author holds a master's degree in clinical psycology and has been directing counseling programs since 1980."
Rating: 
Summary: needs editing
Review: Few people would argue that sugar is health food. However, you begin to suspect you are reading the rantings of a crazed zealot when this book starts prattling on about sugar being the origin of literal slavery and having once been called "crack" (all of which are utterly irrelevant *even if* true). Um ... get Julia Ross some aminos stat! ;) And get this book an editor.
It's not easy to diagnose yourself with this book considering how according to this book everything, and I do mean everything, including introversion, or a gravely voice, or a small chin is a symptom of some deficiency or other. And in addition there are according to this book no end of deficiencies that may be "producing" a set of symptoms.
And yes, the high protein/high fat/high saturated fat diet she recommends is debatable. In addition the sheer quantity of food you would have to eat to meet her recommendations in all categories would add up to far too many calories for the average female.
That said I am sympathetic to the basic premise of this book that dietary deficiencies can contribute to mood disorders. More power to you if any of its recommendations on diet and supplements help you.
Rating:
Summary: Skeptic Becomes Scientist Becomes Convert
Review: I am a total skeptic. I've been a successful psychotherapist for 25 years. I've had mood difficulties my entire life and have consumed the usual therapies, medications and hormone replacement therapies and remedies without a "cure". What was most helpful about this book was the distinction Ross invites you to make between emotions caused by real events and thoughts versus "false moods" that are physiological states. Psychotherapy doesn't help correct physiological imbalances as efficiently as seeking a physiological remedy. Next, with a simple quiz, she divides these mood states into four basic catagories and invites you to locate yourself into a catagory or two based upon the prevalance of certain symptoms. So far, this is like a detective story with you and your symptoms as the main focus. The plot thickens: She educates you about the nature of the physical imbalance implied by your answers and explains the action of the recommended nutritional supplements aimed at your specific hypothetical problem. She tells you how to know by your response whether it is working and how to recognize when you've gone too far and should stop the intervention. Well, I was desperate. I decided to follow her regimen to the letter. Surprise! Her predictions were absolutely true to my own responses. If she says you can feel a supplement start to work in 10 minutes, then that is what it does. If she saya it takes months, then it does. BUT IT WORKED for me. It is 18 months since I first followed her advice and after a year or more of no supplements, some symptoms began to return. I'm not kidding when I tell you that the results are just as dramatic this time. I'm sold on her advice. One important result of reading this book is that I've learned to differentiate between when I am having a physical problem and when it is an emotional problem. Once you know this, you are more adept at choosing whether to seek psychotherapy, nutritional therapy, or hormonal therapy to address your psychological symptoms. No kidding, this book has set the ground work for me to have a similar quality of life in my post menopausal years as I had as a healthy young person. It restores hope because it applies logic and science. Another helpful thing she said that seems obvious in retrospect is that the "minimal daily requirements" are just that: Minimal to Prevent Symptoms of Disease. Think about it. These guidelines do not spell out "Optimal Daily Requirements" for good health. One note of caution: If you follow her advise too haphazardly or don't stick to the regimen, you will have less than a dramatic response and you will quickly relapse. Really do it. Take the so called "megadoses" for a month or two, while observing the safety precautions she spells-out and you will be amazed. I was. My body told me that I was on the right track almost right away so my initial misgivings about taking supplements were quickly allayed by the obvious better energy and health I was achieving. When I began, I had been so exhausted that for many years, even mild exercise left me feeling wiped out. Now, I am very active again, my depression and anxiety is minimal and I am now rebuilding my physical fitness. I did check out the assertions she makes with other articles in her subject areas, and although I am a lay person, her advise does appear to check out with mainstream research. Good luck! I've reread this book 5-6 times and am still consulting it.
Rating:
Summary: This method works, but have patience when reading the book.
Review: I just tried out the cures in this book and they seem to be working. I want to thank the author for researching this method.
I found myself using the supplements that she suggested but passing on her food cure method. The selection of food was just too limited for me. I read over the " bad foods" and was trying to figure out what exactly I could eat. I think if you're looking to lose weight in addition to improving your mood, than you should follow her food suggestions. It seems like there's nothing left to eat after she goes through food options. But I guess its worked for her patients on the mood cure since they haven't starved to death.
I'm only giving the book 4 stars out of 5 because the writing isn't clear at times, it's poorly organized, and the author is annoyingly repetitive. For instance, the author mentions that if you fall into more than one of the categories than the methods can address all of them at once. So then I went on a search through the book for some explanation on this and I couldn't find one. I wish the author had found an organized editor to help her format the book, and clarify her writing before it was published. This would have made the book much more enjoyable and accessible to the reader. In addition the author is extremely repetative in her points. In many sections, the author rambled on and on about the same point for pages on end. I don't know what the purpose of this was unless she thinks the readers are all idiots who can't grasp a point and move on. Or maybe she just can't move on! But overall I appreciate her research. This is a valuable book. Just have some patience when reading it.
Rating:
Summary: A great book
Review: I thought this book was very well done, and too the point. You know how when you read something, you just know that it's right, well that's the way I felt about this book. I thought it showed great ability to relate and provided a very valuable way of forming a balanced approach to treatment. I highly recommend this book. I look at it as one that I would like to keep as a reference.
Rating:
Summary: A great book
Review: I thought this book was very well done, and too the point. You know how when you read something, you just know that it's right, well that's the way I felt about this book. I thought it showed great ability to relate and provided a very valuable way of forming a balanced approach to treatment. I highly recommend this book. I look at it as one that I would like to keep as a reference.
Rating:
Summary: I didn't think it would work either, but it really did...
Review: I was, of course, skeptical of this process and how quickly the author said the amino acids can improve moods, but it really really works. This is personal, but I was right on the decision line of suicide and after using the amino acids for two days, I no longer feel like giving in. I know, two days seems like a short time to go from the edge of death to being mostly fine, but it's really true. Amazingly true. I'm not making an effort to stop thinking about death, rather I'm noticing the differences in my mood by lack of hateful and dark thoughts. I'm not over-emotional, nor am I void of emotion. This is the best thing I can think of for people who either don't care to see a psychiatrist (can't afford it) or who don't want to take prescription medicine (I have no health insurance) for help w/ depression. I was amazed that it worked. Many things in her book related to how I feel about myself and about my history, such as starving and dieting. The book is simple, easy to use, and starts w/ a helpful quiz. I agree w/ the others who have said that the author's book is harsh on vegetarian proteins and on soy, which isn't helpful to people who are vegetarians, such as myself. She also recommends trying diets that are unproven in effectivess (blood-type diet) and she makes over-generalized comments, but I took what I could from the book and it has had a huge effect on my life. I've not followed everything she suggests (I'm still eating wheat and soy as these aren't problems for me and I'm taking my aminos when I feel is best for me, not necessarily on a schedule). I don't know that I would be able to make progress in healing from my depression and my eating disorder if it weren't for the suggestions in her book.
Rating: 
Summary: cure or curse?
Review: On the surface, The Mood Cure looks pretty impressive, but a closer examination reveals many problems.The mood questionaire at the beginning of the book is too broad and vague, and since a person's general mood can change from day to day depending on external circumstances, this can be difficult to assess. Testing for allergies is also very difficult, as symptoms can vary greatly in variety and degree. People can even have a positive reaction to a benign substance if they believe it is an allergen. In any case, self-testing is not recommended. Ross is also too critical of carbohydrates and vegetarian diets, and doesn't often make a distinction between whole grains and refined flour. Conversely, she downplays the dangers of a high-fat high-protein diet. Not only that, her comparison of diets today with diets 100 years ago is too broad and scientifically shaky. Cautions about supplements are mainly relegated to the back of the book, and she advocates taking SAM-e and melatonin, both of which are largely untested regarding long-term effects (melatonin can have many short-term side effects, and sales are banned in Canada, France, and Britain). Undocumented/unsubstantiated statements include:
28- the study in which a serotonin deficiency is created.
112- "Take a look at the following sample menu. The word that comes to mind is *satisfying!*"
130- Hydrogenated fats are "one step away from a plastic."
134- "Fat really is jolly."
138- "Casein can be as addictive as gluten."
154- "I defy you to find more beautiful and cheery people than the Thai."
On page 45, she actually cites a study in which tryptophan cured depression in birds. As if that wasn't enough, she even advocates pseudoscientific remedies such as homeopathy and blood type diets. Lack of replication by others, and recent criticism of high-fat and high-protein diets in general does not bode well for this diet. Proceed with caution.
Rating:
Summary: Helpful book
Review: Overall this book is a good compilation of some of the nutrition/mood research available. Most of what I read, I've read elsewhere, but it was nice to have it summarized in one source. I don't agree with some of her opinions (she's an advocate of the Atkins diet and is adverse to vegetarian diets), but most of her advice is good. As other reviewers mentioned, she definitely needs a good editor. Her self-promotional, dogmatic, repetitive writing style detracts from the book's content. This book can be very helpful, but I'd encourage people to read other research to derive a more balanced perspective.
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