Book Nook: 'The Amen Solution'

THE AMEN SOLUTION: The Brain Healthy Way to Get Thinner, Smarter, Happier, by Daniel G. Amen, M.D. Three Rivers Press, 354 pp., $16.

Bestselling author Amen, a neuroscientist-psychiatrist who's often on PBS lecturing to admiring audiences, is forthright. "Ignorance is not bliss," he writes about keeping track of what you eat. "It increases your chances for an early death."

Motivation is important, too: " . . . no amount of cheeseburgers, sodas or double-fudge chocolate chip brownies is worth the price of damaging my health and stealing the time I have with my family."

Amen quotes studies showing that overweight people have smaller brains. Good food can make you smarter. That doughnut? Duh.

THE SCOOP Don't let yourself get: too hungry, too angry, too lonely, too tired, Amen writes.

THE BOTTOM LINE You'll learn about your "brain type" and write a "One-Page Miracle" to focus on doing what's best for that brain. His "Nine Ways to Conquer Your Cravings" might help.