Co-Authors Interview: Judith J. Wurtman, PhD and Nina T. Frusztajer, MD of The Serotonin Power Diet

 

The interview below is conducted by Kay Elizabeth, Editor/Co-Owner of The Cuckleburr Times.


Q: Welcome to internationally renowned scientist Judith J. Wurtman, PhD, and her colleague, Nina T. Frusztajer, MD, co-authors of The Serotonin Power Diet:  Eat Carbs–Nature’s Own Appetite Suppressant–to Stop Emotional Overeating and Halt Antidepressant-Associated Weight Gain. Thanks for agreeing to an author interview with The Cuckleburr Times! Please share with our readers a brief overview of your book.

A: The Serotonin Power Diet explains how boosting brain serotonin, a naturally occurring brain chemical, allows a dieter to lose weight successfully without feeling deprived or succumbing to stress-eating. Serotonin is a natural appetite suppressant and mood-balancer. Increasing brain serotonin naturally by following a serotonin-boosting diet is satisfying and allows the dieter to better cope with stresses that may otherwise lead to overeating. The program is particularly effective for people who have gained weight on antidepressants or who overeat due to stress, menopause, PMS, and seasonal affective disorder (SAD).


Q: The diet book arena is an extremely competitive one and many are vying for that precious shelf space. What is it about The Serotonin Power Diet that will make this program stand out from the crowd?

A: Unlike most calorie-restricted diets, The Serotonin Power Diet switches off the appetite and turns on a good mood. The key is boosting brain serotonin by eating healthy carbohydrates in the right portions and at the right times of the day. Most dieters feel deprived or their mood is in the dumps while losing weight. On The Serotonin Power Diet, the dieter eats a balanced low-fat diet with adequate protein but pasta, potatoes, rice, and many popular snack foods are not only allowed but required – this is music to most dieters’ ears whose periodic restriction of carbs has set them on the lifelong path of yo-yo dieting and a steadily increasing waistline.


Q: Had this book been in your minds for a long time before you both sat down to begin writing it? What gave you the final push to go ahead and write it? How long did it take?

A: The Serotonin Power Diet came out of Judy’s decades of research on the connection between brain chemistry, appetite, mood, and obesity. But it was when we began seeing more and more clients in our weight loss practice who experienced antidepressant-related weight gain as well as stress-induced overeating that it became clear we needed a book to reach the large number of people who experienced similar obstacles to weight loss. It took a year to write the proposal, a year to write the book, and another year to get it to publication.


Q: Do you feel this is the optimal time for this book’s publication rather than say a few years ago or in the future? Or do you feel timing is irrelevant and The Serotonin Power Diet would have been just as well received no matter when it came out?

A: The timing of the book’s publication in paperback is even better than when it came out in hard cover 3 years ago because the number of people taking antidepressants for an increasing array of medical conditions is growing. The financial crisis of 2009 definitely gave many people reasons to overeat but controlling appetite and balancing one’s mood is always a benefit to dieters making The Serotonin Power Diet a timeless program for effective weight loss.

Q: Most laypersons associate serotonin with mood stabilization and not diet. Apart from the weight loss this program can help adherents achieve, would the increased serotonin levels also have the additional benefit of elevating their mood?

A: Absolutely! There’s a reason comfort foods are typically carbohydrates. Non-dieters as well as those who have to lose weight will benefit from the diet. They will find themselves buffered against stress because their serotonin levels will be high. The key is to eat low-fat carbohydrates at the specific times of day to maximize serotonin levels whille limiting calories.


Q: Given the increased serotonin levels this diet produces, how safe would it be to follow this program for an extended period of time, if you had depression for example and were seeking an alternative to taking prescribed medications? Could you follow The Serotonin Power Diet in addition to taking medication or would it be one or the other?

A: Clients and readers who take antidepressants definitely report a more balanced mood, increased mental energy, and even better quality of sleep, but we never advise people to adjust or eliminate their medication regime. All medication intake and other medically-indicated therapy should be supervised by the dieter’s prescribing physician.


Q: Dr Wurtman, you’re no stranger to writing books, with this being your fifth. What special challenges do you face collaborating on a book as opposed to writing alone? Are there unexpected benefits that came to light?

A: Writing the book with Nina was a delight although it did tax our technological know-how. She was in California for most of the book writing and I was writing in Boston, Cape Cod and Miami Beach. So lots of attachments got sent back and forth and we escape the catastrophe of a crashed computer and lost manuscripts. As a physician, yoga instructor, life coach and mom of three beautiful children, Nina brought insight, experience , humor and wisdom to the writing process. Writing can be lonely but it was just fun doing it with Nina.


Q: Tell us a little about how you found a publisher please. Was it a very lengthy process? Did you use outside agencies to help you or did you go it alone? Do you feel the program’s development at a Harvard University affiliated hospital weight loss clinic helped open doors?

A: We credit our agent, Regina Ryan (Regina Ryan Books), with finding Rodale who turned out to be a wonderful publishing house for our book. It took Regina less than a month to seal the deal. We like to believe that the basic science as well as the lengthly clinical experience on which our weight loss program is based helped us find a publisher so fast. Not too many other weight loss books are based on decades of basic research on how the brain, food and emotions interact, and the research was subsequently tested and put into practice for years at a major university hospital clinic.


Q: What is your biggest hope for your book?

A: We know that there are many people who feel their bodies, their social life, their self- esteem and relationships with their family and friends have been altered because they gained weight on antidepressants, mood stabilizers and related medications. The major weight gain that occurs has been often understated, or advice on how to lose the weight is not applicable to people whose brains are making them overeat. Many people who have gained weight on medications would rather be depressed than fat. This book will allow them to stay on their medications, lose weight, regain the thin body that was hidden by medication caused weight gain and return to a happy thinner life. No other book, national weight loss plan, mail order food plan, etc. has even recognized this problem, let alone found ways to help this population. Every time someone writes to us and tells us that they are able finally to lose weight because our diet address their medication induced obesity, we feel that we have made the world a little better.


Q: What’s next for you both?

A: We hope to become advocates in whatever way we can for this group of dieters on antidepressants whose prescribing physicians have had, up until now, nothing to offer for successful weight loss and weight gain prevention.


Q: Do you have a website where readers can find out more about The Serotonin Power Diet?

A: Yes: http://serotoninpowerdiet.com


Q: Thanks very much to you both for your time. Is there anything else you’d like to share in conclusion with our readers?

A: Please tell your readers that there is hope for them if they have gained weight on drugs for mood disorders, fibromyalgia, hot flushes, etc. And we welcome email inquiries and are happy to help people figure out how to follow our diet plan and answer their questions.

KE: And that concludes our interview. I wish you both every success with your book and thanks again for joining us here at The Cuckleburr Times.

Author Bios
Judith J. Wurtman, PhD, co-author of The Serotonin Power Diet: Eat Carbs — Nature’s Own Appetite Suppressant — to Stop Emotional Overeating and Halt Antidepressant-Associated Weight Gain, has discovered the connection between carbohydrate craving, serotonin, and emotional well-being in her MIT clinical studies. She received her PhD from George Washington University, is the founder of a Harvard University hospital weight-loss facility and counsels private weight management clients. She has written five books, including The Serotonin Solution, and more than 40 peer-reviewed articles for professional publications. She lives in Miami Beach, Florida.

Nina T. Frusztajer, MD, co-author of The Serotonin Power Diet: Eat Carbs — Nature’s Own Appetite Suppressant — to Stop Emotional Overeating and Halt Antidepressant-Associated Weight Gain, counsels private weight management clients and is a practicing physician and certified professional life coach. She received her master’s degree in Nutrition from Columbia University and her medical degree from George Washington University. She lives in Boston, MA.

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